of her narrow upbringing by which she had been reared
in ignorance of the primal facts of life and all that was common
knowledge to the flapper of the day. But to his fastidious nature her
unsophisticated innocence was the most captivating of any of the
qualities he had met with in girls, and it became his most earnest
desire to preserve it undefiled. The sweet simplicity of her mind he
regarded as even more precious than her beauty. Having spent a decade in
acquiring a disgust for a certain type of woman, he was inclined to
over-estimate his surprising good fortune, and was content in the hope
that time was on his side. Like a flower unfolding to the sun, the
treasures of her womanhood would be all his one day, drawn forth by the
warmth of his steady devotion.

The obstacles in his way, however, seemed to increase as circumstances
combined to fret and tantalise his hopes.

* * * * *

The night wore on--the Eastern night of cloudless moonlight with the
scents of the earth rising from harvested fields to mingle with the
pungency of smouldering fires. Somewhere an owl persistently hooted.

Joyce recalled the superstition that the owl was a bird of ill omen and
should not be allowed to perch in the neighbourhood of a sick room.
Immediately she was seized with foreboding and her husband was
dispatched to scare away the prophet of evil. On his return she was
trembling and hysterical.

"You must let me give you something, darling," he pleaded. "You'll
collapse for want of food, and how then can you look after Baby?" It was
inspiration which suggested the child's need of her, for she patiently
submitted and drank a glass of milk. She changed her gown for a silken
kimono, and sought rest among the pillows of her bed which adjoined the
crib. Then, in subdued tones, she reproached her husband for never
having studied the simple diseases of childhood,--so necessary in their
case, when for months together they were expected to live in camp, far
from the Station, and the reach of medical aid.

"It is criminal," she cried. "If it had been a dog you would have known
what to do. But your own child!" words failed her.

"The next time we come out we shall bring 'Good-eve.' I believe it gives
everything you want to know and a lot besides."

"There'll never be a 'next time,'" she moaned. "Please God, when my pet
is better he shall never again be taken so far from the doctor. This is
the end of all ca