ld free mankind from one of its most grievous
foes, and add a precious treasure to the scientific storehouse of the
world....

"It's a difficult task--almost superhumanly difficult!" His black eyes
snapped at the thought of the difficulties in the way. "But thank God
I'm young and full of hope--the hope that belongs to youth--and with
luck I believe I'll win through in the end...."

A sudden shaft of rosy light, striking slantwise through the windowless
aperture in the wall, brought him to a standstill.

"Sunrise! My God--I--I'd forgotten!" In an instant the youth and
enthusiasm were wiped out of his face as by a ruthless hand, and he
started to his feet. "Miss Ryder, forgive me! I've been talking like a
fool, and you sit there listening like an angel, while all the time----"

"Hush, please!" She laid her hand on his arm, and through the sleeve of
his thin riding-suit he felt the chill of her slender fingers. "It isn't
time--yet. Let us pretend until the last minute. You know--you haven't
asked me what I intend--intended"--for a second she faltered--"to make
of _my_ life!"

Inwardly cursing his own folly, Anstice sat down again beside her and
took her hand in his as a brother might have done.

"Well, what is ... was...." He, too, bungled over the tense, but she
pretended not to notice his confusion. "What are you going to be--or do?
I hope your dreams are as wild as mine!"

"Not quite!" Her tone robbed the words of all offence. "Mine are very
humble dreams, I'm afraid! You see"--for a second her voice shook, but
she steadied it and continued to speak--"there's a man in Egypt whom I
am--was--oh, what can I say?--whom I was to marry--some day."

"Really? You're engaged?" A fresh pang of pity shot through his heart.

"Yes. He's an engineer--in the Irrigation Department--and the best man
in all the world!" For a moment love triumphed over death, and its glory
illuminated the gloom of that fatal place of imprisonment with a hint of
immortality. "That's _my_ ambition, Dr. Anstice--to love him and marry
him, and be a true and faithful wife--and perhaps"--her voice sank a
note--"perhaps in time to bear his children. That"--said Hilda Ryder,
and now her eyes were full of dreams--"would be to me the most glorious
destiny in the world!"

Her soft voice trembled into silence, and for the space of twenty
heart-beats the two sat motionless, only their hands seeking the mutual
comfort which their warm contact might well bri