hould be called immediately if occasion arose. And that was the
first night of many that she passed in undisturbed repose.

In the early morning, entering, she found Peter in sole possession and
very triumphant. They had divided the night, he said, and Hanani had
gone to rest in her turn. All had gone well. He had slept on the
threshold and knew. And now his _mem-sahib_ would sleep through every
night and have no fear.

She smiled at his solicitude though it touched her almost to tears, and
gathered in silence to her breast the little frail body that every day
now seemed to feel lighter and smaller. It would not be for very
long--their planning and contriving. Very soon now she would be
free--quite free--to sleep as long as she would. But her tired heart
warmed to Peter and to that silent _ayah_ whom he had enlisted in her
service. Through the dark night of her grief the love of her friends
shone with a radiance that penetrated even the deepest shadows. Was this
the lamp in the desert of which Bernard had spoken so confidently--the
Lamp that God had lighted to guide her halting feet? Was it by this that
she would come at last into the Presence of God Himself, and realize
that the wanderers in the wilderness are ever His especial care?

Certainly, as Peter had intimated, she knew her baby to be safe in their
joint charge. As the days slipped by, it seemed to her that Peter had
imbued the _ayah_ with something of his own devotion, for, though it was
proffered almost silently, she was aware of it at every turn. At any
other time her sympathy for the woman would have fired her interest and
led her to attempt to draw her confidence. But the slender thread of
life they guarded, though it bound them with a tie that was almost
friendship, seemed so to fill their minds that they never spoke of
anything else. Stella knew that Hanani loved her and considered her in
every way, but she gave Peter most of the credit for it, Peter and the
little dying baby she rocked so constantly against her heart. She knew
that many an _ayah_ would lay down her life for her charge. Peter had
chosen well.

Later--when this time of waiting and watching was over, when she was
left childless and alone--she would try to find out something of the
woman's history, help her if she could, reward her certainly. It was
evident that she was growing old. She had the stoop and the deliberation
of age. Probably, she would not have obtained an _ayah's_ post unde