have
helped him to understand could he but grasp it. As he munched his bread
he tried desperately to think, to remember; but all within him was a
passionate misery, capable only of groans and curses. An intolerable
weariness possessed his limbs. After sitting for a while with his back
against the wall, he could not longer hold himself in this position,
but sank down and lay at full length; and even so he ached, ached, from
head to foot.

Perhaps an hour had passed, and it was now quite dark within the
temple, when two of the men appeared with blazing torches, for they, by
means of flint and iron, had lit a fire in a hollow hard by, and meant
to keep it up through the night as a protection against wolves. They
brought Basil a draught of water in a leather bottle, from a little
stream they had found; and he drank gratefully, but without a word. The
torchlight showed bare walls and a shattered roof. Having searched all
round and discovered neither reptile nor beast, the men made a bed of
leaves and bracken, with a folded cloak for a pillow, and invited their
master to lie upon it. Basil did so, turned his face away, and bade
them leave him alone.

What was that memory at the back of his mind? In the effort to draw it
forth he ground his teeth together, dug his nails into his hands. At
moments he forgot why he was wretched, and, starting up, strained his
eyes into the darkness, until he saw the face of Sagaris and heard him
speaking.

For a while he slept; but dreadful dreams soon awoke him, and,
remembering where he was, he shook with horror. Low sounds fell upon
his ear, movements, he thought, in the black night. He would have
shouted to his men, but shame kept him mute. He crossed himself and
prayed to the Virgin; then, raising his eyes, he saw through the broken
roof a space of sky in which a star shone brilliantly. It brought him
comfort; but the next moment he remembered Sagaris, and mental anguish
blended with his fears of the invisible.

Again sleep overcame him. He dreamt that an evil spirit, with a face he
knew but could not name, was pursuing him over trackless mountains. He
fled like the wind; but the spirit was close behind him, and wherever
he turned his head, he saw the familiar face grinning a devilish
mockery. A precipice lay before him. He leapt wildly, and knew at once
that he had leapt into fire, into hell. But the red gleam was that of a
torch, and before him, as he opened his eyes, stood one of hi