to her role of
Sleeping Beauty; for her woman's nature was asleep and waiting only to
be startled into comprehension. All the afternoon he had played with the
idea till his desire for possession had mastered prudence. What right
had she to imagine him a bloodless being, as passionless as a stone? He
was a man, and a very human one at that. He would prove that to her
without delay. What a fool he had been to have wasted so much time! He
would kiss her till he infected her with his passion; which would not be
difficult if she were like those of her sex who traded on a husband's
trust and confidence!

The glamour of the moment intoxicated his senses: contact with her
person, the perfume of her, her complete helplessness in that retired
spot, assisted to turn him temporarily insane.

Just as desire was about to master reason and self-restraint, a shriek
of terror from Joyce paralysed his nerves and suspended thought.

The arch, already heavily cracked and depending solely for stability
upon structural pressure, being further weakened by the dislodgment of
that particular brick, showed signs of collapsing.

On looking upward, Dalton saw their danger and had time only to spring
backward to a far corner of the room before the arch subsided, bringing
with it a portion of the roof. He stood stock still with Joyce clinging
to his neck, watching the building crashing about him. The shock and
vibration of the fall had brought about the collapse of precarious parts
of the ruined edifice, till, roar followed roar, and the air was thick
with dust.

Dalton momentarily expected the shaking floor to give way beneath their
feet, or the roof to descend upon them and bury them alive. It was
something to remember all his life: his impotence to help himself or his
companion in the midst of the calamity, while believing himself face to
face with the horror of a slow death by entombment.

After a while, when all was still and the dust began to settle, the
spectacle disclosed to view beggared description.

Tons of material lay between them and the stairs up which they had come;
the window was buried behind a dense mass of fallen bricks and mortar; a
great hole torn in the roof showed the sky overcast with clouds.
Possibly there would shortly be rain to add to their misfortune.

How was it possible to extricate themselves from their terrible
predicament? Dalton cast his eyes about him towards an inner chamber,
only to see that the roof