? In the solitude of the great
wilderness he was brought more face to face with his knowledge of life--
of life and its experiences--and the retrospect was like iron entering
into his soul. Her presence was no longer with him: would it ever be
again--for of such was life?

All the old time came back: the sweet time at Seven Kloofs when they had
been together, sometimes for days at a time, either there or at her own
home, especially that blissful day they had spent alone and free from
all interruption, the last of its kind before the rupture came; and it
seemed as though he had not appreciated it enough then--seemed so now,
though in actual fact it would have been impossible for him to have done
so more. He could almost find it in his heart to have cursed Le Sage
for setting up that barrier between them during those last weeks, what
time they could have made the most of the sad sweetness of impending
parting; could have set up a rich barrier of love against the blank and
separation that was to come. And with it all there came over him a wave
of longing--a craving, a yearning--that was perfectly irresistible, but
for the accidents of time and distance, to behold Lalante once more, to
hold her once more to him, to hear the full, love-fraught tones of her
voice, to look into her eyes, let what might happen afterward. This
undertaking had ended in the clouds, and all the buoyant hope which had
sustained him had ebbed.

Thus musing he wandered on mechanically, hardly noting whether game he
had come out to shoot was to be found or not. Then something caught his
gaze. He stood and stared--shading his eyes, and then took a few quick
strides. Something shone: shone but dully--but still shone. It was
only a steel button.

Wyvern was not an excitable man, but now he thought to hear the pulses
of his heart thud violently within his chest. As he stooped and picked
up the button, he picked up something else at the same time. It was a
knife.

A sheath-knife, red with rust, and with an iron handle--quaint and of an
unfamiliar make and pattern. Quickly, but carefully he examined the
ground further, and now his heart beat quicker still. On the ground
were several fragments of what looked like moss-grown bits of pottery.
He bent down and examined them. The largest piece could be nothing else
than the fragment of a skull--a human skull.

Further search revealed more remains, green and crumbly with age.
Wyvern looked up a