Beforedescendingthefewstepsthegirlturnedherfaceoverhershoulderandsaidquickly：“Youweretobesetuponwhileyouslept。“Jimtellsmeheexperiencedasenseofdeception。Itwastheoldstory。Hewaswearyoftheseattemptsuponhislife。Hehadhadhisfillofthesealarms。Hewassickofthem。Heassuredmehewasangrywiththegirlfordeceivinghim。Hehadfollowedherundertheimpressionthatitwasshewhowantedhishelp，andnowhehadhalfamindtoturnonhisheelandgobackindisgust。“Doyouknow，“hecommented，profoundly，“IratherthinkIwasnotquitemyselfforwholeweeksonendaboutthattime。““Oh，yes。Youwere，though，“Icouldn’thelpcontradicting。
`Butshemovedonswiftly，andhefollowedherintothecourtyard。Allitsfenceshadfalleninalongtimeago；theneighbours’buffaloeswouldpaceinthemorningacrosstheopenspace，snortingprofoundly，withouthaste；theveryjunglewasinvadingitalready。Jimandthegirlstoppedintherankgrass。Thelightinwhichtheystoodmadeadenseblacknessallround，andonlyabovetheirheadstherewasanopulentglitterofstars。
Hetoldmeitwasabeautifulnight——quitecool，withalittlestirofbreezefromtheriver。Itseemshenoticeditsfriendlybeauty。Rememberthisisalove-storyIamtellingyounow。Alovelynightthatseemedtobreatheonthemasoftcaress。Theflameofthetorchstreamednowandthenwithaflutteringnoiselikeaflag，andforatimethiswastheonlysound。“Theyareinthestoreroomwaiting，“whisperedthegirl；“theyarewaitingforthesignal。““Who’stogiveit？“heasked。Sheshookthetorch，whichblazedupafterashowerofsparks。“Onlyyouhavebeensleepingsorestlessly，“shecontinuedinamurmur。“Iwatchedyoursleep，too。“
“You!“heexclaimed，craninghisnecktolookabouthim。“YouthinkIwatchedonthisnightonly!“shesaid，withasortofdespairingindignation。
`Hesaysitwasasifhehadreceivedablowonthechest。Hegasped。