d; Joyce was allowed to weep into her
hands till exhausted.

Only when it was getting dismally dark did he arouse himself from his
abstraction and take up again the task of cheering her.

"Can't we dig ourselves out?" Joyce asked before the darkness descended
wholly upon them.

"Without implements of any sort?" Even the knife was lost in the
confusion, and in any case it would have been utterly useless.

"Do you think they are sure to find us?"

"I am confident of it--in the morning. It will be too late and dark for
them to think of looking here tonight, but in the morning someone is
sure to find the car and discover our whereabouts."

"How hungry we shall be!" she sighed, and Dalton laughed.

"How thirsty we shall be, is more to the point!--Poor child!" taking her
hand in his and recalling how near he had been to madness. He was not
too far from it even now with her hand resting confidingly in his, and
the consciousness of their unique position.

"Anyhow, there is the sky and fresh air, and at least we are not quite
alone. I have you!" she said with dangerous flattery.

"Yes. You have me," he returned eagerly. "And I--have--_you_!"

"What about snakes?" she asked, casting her eyes about her fearfully.

"They are more upset than we. At any rate, I don't believe we'll be
troubled by snakes tonight. You will have to forget we are lost, so to
speak, and talk till you are tired, and then try to sleep."

"Sleep--here?"

"On the rug."

"I couldn't. It is so uncomfortable!"

In the growing darkness, he was again mastered by the evil thoughts
which had possessed him in the moments preceding the catastrophe. Their
isolation produced a host of ungoverned impulses. As the evening
advanced his manner changed, growing suggestive of possession; his
manner became more tender.

"You will always remember tonight!--there will never be another like it
in your life," he whispered, leaning towards her and stealing her hand.
"You have been horribly frightened, haven't you?"

"I am more hopeful now, thinking of the morning," she returned, her soft
breath on his cheek. "It is only the snakes I fear!"

Dalton drew her into his arms. "I shan't let you think of snakes, you
pretty little thing! At last I have you close. You have tantalised me
with your loveliness every day, till Fate has given you to me!" his lips
found hers and pressed them roughly. "Wake up, sleeping Princess! see,
this night is ours. Let me love you as I w