rayers and extemporise them as
of old, but there was no more satisfaction in the effort than in
asking a favour of an empty room. Sometimes, and especially during the
hideous nights, when she slept but little, and only in short snatches,
she felt tempted to take something, stimulant or sedative; but this
temptation she resisted bravely, and, the whole time, an extra cup of
tea or coffee for the sake of the momentary relief was the only excess
she committed. If she had not exercised her will in this, her case
would have been hopeless; but, as it was, her self-denial, and the
effort it entailed, kept up her mental strength, and helped more than
anything to save her.

To beguile the long hours, she often stood in the dining-room window
looking out. The window was rather above the road, so that she looked
down on the people who passed, and she could also see over the hedge
on the opposite side of the road into the meadow beyond. Small things
distracted her sometimes, though nothing pleased her. If two rooks
flew by together, she hoped for a better day; if one came first, she
would not accept the omen, but waited, watching for two. By a curious
coincidence, they generally passed, first one for sorrow, then two for
mirth, then three for a wedding; and she would say to herself, first,
bad luck, then good luck, then a marriage; and wonder how it would
come about, but anyhow--"I shall succeed!" would flash from her and
stimulate her.

One day, as she stood there watching, she saw a horseman come slowly
down the road.

"A bowshot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley sheaves,
The sun came dazzling through the leaves,
And flamed upon the brazen greaves
Of bold Sir Launcelot."

Beth's attention sharpened to sudden interest. As he came abreast of
the window, the rider looked up, and Beth's heart bounded at the sight
of his face, which was the face of a man from out of the long ago,
virile, knightly, high-bred, refined; the face of one that lives for
others, and lives openly. He had glanced up indifferently, but, on
seeing Beth, a look of interest came into his eyes. It was as if he
had recognised her; and she felt herself as if she had seen him
before, but when or where, in what picture, in what dream, she could
not tell.

With the first flush of healthy interest she had experienced for a
long time, she watched him till he was all but out of sight, then shut
her eyes that she might