, languorous shadows
streaked the silvered ground with black. In the dark jungle of elder
bushes there opened long vistas of silver light, as unreal as the black
tops of the far-away trees. In the unreality of the night the earth
itself seemed unreal, all things appeared as shadows swimming in a
dream sea of soft radiance.

Payne left his tent and walked out into the marvelous night, unsoothed
by its beauty, not caring whither he went. Annette's eyes had promised
she would return, and he went toward the sand prairie where he knew she
rode sometimes in the cool of the evening. He came abruptly upon the
wire of his line fence, and for a moment stood gripping the wires and
looking off into the distance, over the sand prairie. He found himself
presently by the gate he had cut in the wire as an entrance to Flower
Prairie, and stood entranced by the dreamy beauty of the spot. In the
center of the park the bowllike sand of a long dried-up water hole
seemed overlaid by a thin sheet of silver, and the tiny palms that
circled its shores were dark pillars, topped by a crown of silver
leaves. The effect of the moon upon the water of the Prairie's tiny
spring lake was like magic. In its silver gleam the trees, shrubs and
even the flowers upon its bank were reflected vividly, and a fish
swimming near the surface lifted the water in a gentle, rolling swell.

Payne looked, and in place of the lake he seemed to behold a swimming
pool and to sense an atmosphere that was like a drug. He opened the
gate and stepped out on the sand prairie. As in moments of crisis,
when unseen, unknown forces take a life in hand, he was for the moment
like a man in a dream, unconscious of his movements, incapable of
intention. He leaned against the gatepost to think. The soft
thud-thud of an unseen horse, walking slowly somewhere out upon the
prairie, brought him up with a jerk. He peered into the moonlight in a
vain effort to see. Placing his ear to the ground he caught the sound
again and after a moment made out that the hoof beats were coming
slowly toward his fence.

Payne stepped within his own line and closed the gate.

Presently he flung it open again and stood in the shade of a palmetto,
waiting. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he was not a victim of the
night's magic. It was Annette on her pony; she had kept the promise of
her eyes. But her appearance gave Roger a shock. Her hair was
disheveled. Her hands hung limply upon the