m.

Two soldiers were on guard here also. The door was closed.

Holmes went quietly forward and showed a paper to one of the sentries.

Chris waited with a beating heart. Suddenly, with a sob, she turned and
clung to her husband's arm. "Trevor, I--I am afraid!"

"There is no need," he said.

"I have never seen death," she whispered. "Will he seem--different?"

He looked at her for a second in such a way that her eyes fell from his.

"Would you like me to go in first?" he asked.

"No--no. Only, Trevor, hold my hand! You won't let go? Promise!"

He did not promise, but somehow without words he reassured her. The door
opened before them, and they entered.

CHAPTER X

THE INDESTRUCTIBLE

Within the room all was dim.

An arm-chair piled with many pillows stood facing the open window, and as
her eyes became accustomed to the twilight Chris discerned the outline of
a figure that reclined in it. At the same moment there came to her the
sound of a voice, husky and difficult, yet how strangely familiar.

"Ah, but the tide--the tide!" it said. "Can we not hold it back my dear
Max--a little longer? It rushes up so fast--so fast. Soon all will be
gone. Only a picture in the sand, you say? But no, it is more than that.
See, it is greater than all the things in the world--greater than
the Sphinx, _ma petite_--greater than your Cleopatra's Needle. Ah, you
laugh, because you have no need of it. But yet it is your own, and so
will it always be. Do you hear the tide among the rocks, _mignonne_? It
is there that my heart is buried. Come with me, and I will show you the
place--if the tide permit."

There came a gasp, and silence.

Some one guided Chris gently forward till she stood behind the great
chair at the window, looking down upon the black head that rested
against the pillow. Her fear had passed, but yet she drew no nearer.
Instinctively she stood and waited.

Suddenly, and more clearly, the voice spoke again.

"We must climb, _cherie_, we must climb. We dare not stay upon these
rocks. It is steep for your little feet, but to remain here is to die.
_Alors_, we will say our prayers and go. _Le bon Dieu_ will keep us safe.
And we have been--pals--since so long."

A softer note in the last sentence made her aware that he was smiling.
She bent a little above him. But still she waited.

"_Comment_?" he said. "You are afraid? But why, my bird of Paradise? Is
it life that you fear--this little life of shadows