Lingard，leaningback，claspedhishandsroundhisknees。Heseemednottobelisteningandd’Alcacer，pullingacigarettecaseoutofhispocket，lookedforalongtimeatthethreecigarettesitcontained。Itwasthelastoftheprovisionhehadonhimwhencaptured。D’Alcacerhadputhimselfonthestrictestallowance。Acigarettewasonlytobelightedonspecialoccasions；andnowtherewereonlythreeleftandtheyhadtobemadetolasttilltheendoflife。Theycalmed，theysoothed，theygaveanattitude。Andonlythreeleft！Onehadtobekeptforthemorning，tobelightedbeforegoingthroughthegateofdoom——thegateofBelarab’sstockade。Acigarettesoothed，itgaveanattitude。Wasthisthefittingoccasionforoneoftheremainingtwo？D’Alcacer，atrueLatin，wasnotafraidofalittleintrospection。Inthepausehedescendedintotheinnermostdepthsofhisbeing，thenglancedupatthenightsky。
Sportsman，traveller，hehadoftenlookedupatthestarsbeforetoseehowtimewent。Itwasgoingveryslowly。Hetookoutacigarette，snapped—tothecase，bentdowntotheembers。Thenhesatupandblewoutathincloudofsmoke。Themanbyhissidelookedwithhisbowedheadandclaspedkneelikeamasculinerenderingofmournfulmeditation。Suchattitudesaremetwithsometimesonthesculpturesofancienttombs。D’Alcacerbegantospeak：
\"Sheisarepresentativewomanandyetoneofthoseofwhomtherearebutveryfewatanytimeintheworld。Notthattheyareveryrarebutthatthereisbutlittleroomontop。Theyaretheiridescentgleamsonahardanddarksurface。Fortheworldishard，CaptainLingard，itishard，bothinwhatitwillrememberandinwhatitwillforget。Itisforsuchwomenthatpeopletoilonthegroundandundergroundandartistsofallsortsinvoketheirinspiration。\"
Lingardseemednottohaveheardaword。Hischinrestedonhisbreast。D’Alcacerappraisedtheremaininglengthofhiscigaretteandwentoninanequabletonethroughwhichpiercedacertainsadness：
\"No，therearenotmanyofthem。Andyettheyareall。Theydecorateourlifeforus。Theyarethegraciousfiguresonthedrabwallwhichliesonthissideofourcommongrave。Theyleadasortofritualdance，thatmostofushaveagreedtotakeseriously。Itisaverybindingagreementwithwhichsincerityandgoodfaithandhonourhavenothingtodo。Verybinding。Woetohimorherwhobreaksit。Directlytheyleavethepageanttheygetlost。\"