r touch of human hands,
From all brave comradeship with brother-men,
With eyes that see no faces through this dark,
With ears that hear all voices far away,
Why should I cling to misery, and grope
My long, long way from pain to pain, alone?

RUAHMAH: [At his feet.]
Nay, not alone, dear lord, for I am here;
And I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee!

NAAMAN:
What voice is that? The silence of my tomb
Is broken by a ray of music,--whose?

RUAHMAH: [Rising.]
The one who loves thee best in all the world.

NAAMAN:
Why that should be,--O dare I dream it true?
Tsarpi, my wife? Have I misjudged thy heart
As cold and proud? How nobly thou forgivest!
Thou com'st to hold me from the last disgrace,--
The coward's flight into the dark. Go back
Unstained, my sword! Life is endurable
While there is one alive on earth who loves us.

RUAHMAH:
My lord,--my lord,--O listen! You have erred,--
You do mistake me now,--this dream--

NAAMAN:
Ah, wake me not! For I can conquer death
Dreaming this dream. Let me at last believe,
Though gods are cruel, a woman can be kind.
Grant me but this! For see,--I ask so little,--
Only to know that thou art faithful,
That thou art near me, though I touch thee not,--
O this will hold me up, though it be given
From pity more than love.

RUAHMAH: [Trembling, and speaking slowly.]
Not so, my lord!
My pity is a stream; my pride of thee
Is like the sea that doth engulf the stream;
My love for thee is like the sovereign moon
That rules the sea. The tides that fill my soul
Flow unto thee and follow after thee;
And where thou goest I will go; and where
Thou diest I will die,--in the same hour.

[She lays her hand on his arm. He draws back.]

NAAMAN:
O touch me not! Thou shalt not share my doom.

RUAHMAH:
Entreat me not to go. I will obey
In all but this; but rob me not of this,--
The only boon that makes life worth the living,--
To walk beside thee day by day, and keep
Thy foot from stumbling; to prepare thy food
When thou art hungry, music for thy rest,
And cheerful words to comfort thy black hour;
And so to lead thee ever on, and on,
Through darkness, till we find the door of hope.

NAAMAN:
What word is that? The leper has no hope.

RUAHMAH:
Dear lord, the mar