g? Have you been
asleep?"

He raised his shoulders to the first question. To the second he
replied merely, "No."

"Why didn't you smoke?" she asked next.

For an instant he looked half-ashamed, then very briefly, "I don't
live on tobacco," he said.

"How very silly of you!" said Sylvia. "It wouldn't have disturbed
me in the least. I smoke cigarettes myself."

Burke said nothing. After a moment he got to his feet.

"Time to go?" she said.

"Yes. I think we ought to be moving. We have some miles to go
yet. You sit still while I get the horses in!"

But Sylvia was on her feet. "No. I'm coming to help. I like to
do things. Isn't it hot? Do you think there will be a storm?"

He looked up at the sky. "No, not yet. It'll take some time to
break. Are you afraid of storms?"

"Of course not!" said Sylvia.

He smiled at her prompt rejoinder. "Not afraid of anything?" he
suggested.

She smiled back. "Not often anyway. And I hope I don't behave
like a muff even when I am."

"I shouldn't think that very likely," he observed.

They put in the horses, and started again across the veldt. The
burning air that blew over the hot earth was like a blast from a
furnace. Over the far hills the clouds hung low and menacing, A
mighty storm seemed to be brewing somewhere on the further side of
those distant heights.

"It is as if someone had lighted a great fire just out of sight,"
said Sylvia. "Is it often like this?"

"Very often," said Burke.

"How wonderful!" she said.

They drove on rapidly, and as they went, the brooding cloud-curtain
seemed to advance to meet them, spreading ominously across the sky
as if it were indeed the smoke from some immense conflagration.

Sylvia became silent, awed by the spectacle.

All about them the veldt took on a leaden hue. The sun still
shone; but vaguely, as if through smoked glass. The heat seemed to
increase.

Sylvia sat rapt. She did not for some time wake to the fact that
Burke was urging the horses, and only when they stretched
themselves out to gallop in response to his curt command did she
rouse from her contemplation to throw him a startled glance. He
was leaning slightly forward, and the look On his face sent a
curious thrill through her. It was the look of a man braced to
utmost effort. His eyes were fixed steadily straight ahead,
marking the road they travelled. His driving was a marvel of skill
and confidence. The girl by his side for