"But it may not be. Hunger or cold can starve thee, and waters drown;
swords can slay thee, or sickness sap away thy strength. Had it not been
for the false Atene, who disobeyed my words, as it was foredoomed
that she should do, by this day we were across the mountains, or had
travelled northward through the frozen desert and the rivers. Now we
must await the melting of the snows, for winter is at hand, and in it,
as thou knowest, no man can live upon their heights."

"Eight months till April before we can start, and how long to cross
the mountains and all the vast distances beyond, and the seas, and the
swamps of Kor? Why, at the best, Ayesha, two years must go by before we
can even find the place;" and he fell to entreating her to let them be
wed at once and journey afterwards.

But she said, Nay, and nay, and nay, it should not be, till at length,
as though fearing his pleading, or that of her own heart, she rose and
dismissed us.

"Ah! my Holly," she said to me as we three parted, "I promised thee and
myself some few hours of rest and of the happiness of quiet, and thou
seest how my desire has been fulfilled. Those old Egyptians were wont
to share their feasts with one grizzly skeleton, but here I counted four
to-night that you both could see, and they are named Fear, Suspense,
Foreboding, and Love-denied. Doubtless also, when these are buried
others will come to haunt us, and snatch the poor morsel from our lips.

"So hath it ever been with me, whose feet misfortune dogs. Yet I hope
on, and now many a barrier lies behind us; and Leo, thou hast been
tried in the appointed, triple fires and yet proved true. Sweet be thy