ssurance that appeared almost careless.

At first she could make out little of the lines. They were all dark in
tint, thin, tinged with plum colour. There seemed to be no curves in
them--and at first she could not comprehend that he was drawing her
figure. But after a little while curves appeared; long delicate outlines
began to emerge as rounded surfaces in monochrome, casting definite
shadows on other surfaces. She could recognise the shape of a human
head; saw it gradually become a colourless drawing; saw shoulders, arms,
a body emerging into shadowy shape; saw the long fine limbs appear, the
slender indication of feet.

Then flat on the cheek lay a patch of brilliant colour, another on the
mouth. A great swirl of cloud forms sprang into view high piled in a
corner of the canvas.

And now he seemed to be eternally running up and down his ladder,
shifting it here and there across the vast white background of canvas,
drawing great meaningless lines in distant expanses of the texture,
then, always consulting her with his keen, impersonal gaze, he pushed
back his ladder, mounted, wiped the big brushes, selected others smaller
and flatter, considering her in penetrating silence between every brush,
stroke.

She saw a face and hair growing lovely under her eyes, bathed in an
iris-tinted light; saw little exquisite flecks of colour set here and
there on the white expanse; watched all so intently, so wonderingly,
that the numbness of her body became a throbbing pain before she was
aware that she was enduring torture.

She strove to move, gave a little gasp; and he was down from his ladder
and up on hers before her half-paralysed body had swayed to the edge of
danger.

"Why didn't you say so?" he asked, sharply. "I can't keep track of time
when I'm working!"

With arms and fingers that scarcely obeyed her she contrived to gather
the white wool covering around her shoulders and limbs and lay back.

"You know," he said, "that it's foolish to act this way. I don't want to
kill you, Miss West."

She only lowered her head amid its lovely crown of hair.

"You know your own limits," he said, resentfully. He looked down at the
big clock: "It's a full hour. You had only to speak. Why didn't you?"

"I--I didn't know what to say."

"Didn't know!" He paused, astonished. Then: "Well, you felt yourself
getting numb, didn't you?"

"Y-yes. But I thought it was--to be expected"--she blushed vividly under
his astonished gaze: