The Lamp in the Desert

ng, so overwhelmingly full of enchantment. Day after day slipped by in what seemed an endless succession. Night followed magic night, and the spell wound closer and ever closer about her. She some

ness, the fruit of the lotus which assuredly she was eating day by day. All her nerves seemed dormant, all her energies lulled. Sometimes she wondered if the sound of running water had this stultifying effect upon her, for wherever they went it followed them. The snow-fed streams ran e

e had ceased to feel anything now, but a dumb and even placid acquiescence in this lethargic existence, and Ralph Dacre was amply satisfied therewith. He had always been abundantly confident of his power to secure her happiness, and he was blissfully unconscious

when Stella would shine as a queen-his queen-among an envious crowd. Her position assured as his wife, even Lady Harriet herself would have to lower her flag. And how little

la thought of the man, well knowing that few women liked him, and one evening, as they sat together in the scented darkness with the roar of th

ritten to Tommy it's almost the same thing. Besides, I don't suppose

ut she was often slow of speech in those da

him. Your brother Tommy is a deal more intimate with him than I am, though I have stabled with him for over four years. He's a very cle

bout it. She seemed to be slow in bringing her mind to bear upon the subject. "I agree wi

s that is what he likes. But he's a cold-blooded sort of cuss. I don't be

s voice sounded rather wea

arvel at languages. And he dabbles in Secret Service matters too, disguises himself and goes among the natives in the bazaars as one of themselves. A fellow like that, you know, is simply priceless to the Government. And he is as tough as leath

it dimly, as through a luminous veil. The scent of Dacre's cigar hung in the air, fragrant, aromatic, Eastern. He was sleepily watching his wife's pure profile as she gazed into her world of dreams. It was evident that she took small interest in Monck and his probable career. It was not surprising. Monck was not the sort

But I wouldn't change places. with him even if he wins to the top of the tree. People who make a specialty o

ung wife's grave face, savouring life with the zest of the epicur

flood of light across the sleeping valley before he finally threw away

heart? Where are those wa

ively, without enthusiasm. "My thoughts a

same!" he said, laying his

ly watching the moonlight," she said. "So

g us forth out of the garden of Eden, I hope? That would be a litt

doubt if the plea of inoffensiveness wo

me we went to our lair. I believe you would sit here till sunrise if I would let

a quick shiver went through her. She made a slig

most convulsively, she grasped

ht about ten yards from where they sat. Dacre raised himself with leisurely self-ass

tion in her hold. "What is it?" she whispered. "What can it b

elf from her hand and stood up. "It's more probably some filthy old beggar who fondly think

started up, holding him back. "Oh, don't go, Ra

! I don't want Peter to help me kick a beastly native. In f

I have a feeling-I am afraid-I-" She broke off panting, her f

may be a snake-charmer, and if so the sooner he is got rid of the better. There! What did I tell you?

strange figure slowly detached itself from the shadows and crept towards them. It was clad in native garments and shuffled along in a

ently. "Please do! It may be a snake-charmer as you sa

the bowed, misshapen creature approaching them. In fact he was only

rmity bent him almost double, but he was so muffled in rags that it was difficult to discern any tangible human shape at all. A tangled b

moment spoke in the weak accents of an old, old man. "Will his most gracious excellency be pleased to

o utterly out of place in that moonlit paradise. But Dacre's curiosity was evidently aroused. To her urgent whisper to send the man away he pai

de!" he made kindly rejoinder. "I

seeming to utter the words through parched lips. "Will not his excellency deign to give

"I think I shall have to find out what he want

entreated. "I am not used to th

ne? If I were Monck, I should invite him to join the party. Not being Monck, I propose to hear what he has to say and the

attered by her evident anxiety on his be

up. But the feeling of dread remained upon her. In some fantastic fashion the beauty of the night had beco

neasiness, and his treatment of it stung her into the determination to dismis

he said lightly. "Don't lie awake for me! When I have got rid of this old Arabian

h her hands gripped together, fighting the old intolerable misgiving that even the lulling magic all around her had never succeeded in stilling. What was she doing in this garden of delights with a m

do her duty also, whatever it might entail. Ralph should never know, never dimly suspect. And that other-he would never know either. His had been but a passing fancy. He trod the way of ambition, and there was no room in his life for anything besides. If she had shown him her heart, it had been but a momentary glimpse; and he had forgotten already. She w

some disguise, learning the secrets of that strange native India that had drawn him into her toils? She tried to picture that hidden life of his, but could not. The keen, steady eyes, set in that calm, emotionless face, held her persistently, defeating imagination. Of one thing only was she certain. He might baffle others, but by no amount of ingenuity could he ever deceive her. She woul

d the voice, "till m

he cast the memory