ike water beneath a gentle breeze.

"Thou deniest me," he went on with gathering strength, "and that thou
canst not do, that thou mayest not do, for Ayesha, thou hast sworn, and
I demand the fulfilment of thine oath.

"Hark thou. I refuse thy gifts; I will have none of thy rule who ask no
Pharaoh's throne and wish to do good to men and not to kill them--that
the world may profit. I will not go with thee to Kor, nor be bathed in
the breath of Life. I will leave thee and cross the mountains, or perish
on them, nor with all thy strength canst thou hold me to thy side, who
indeed needest me not. No longer will I endure this daily torment,
the torment of thy presence and thy sweet words; thy loving looks, thy
promises for next year, next year--next year. So keep thine oath or let
me begone."

Still Ayesha stood silent, only now her head drooped and her breast
began to heave. Then Leo stepped forward; he seized her in his arms and
kissed her. She broke from his embrace, I know not how, for though she
returned it was close enough, and again stood before him but at a little
distance.

"Did I not warn Holly," she whispered with a sigh, "to bid thee beware
lest I should catch thy human fire? Man, I say to thee, it begins to
smoulder in my heart, and should it grow to flame----"

"Why then," he answered laughing, "we will be happy for a little while."

"Aye, Leo, but how long? Why wert thou sole lord of this loveliness of
mine and not set above their harming, night and day a hundred jealous
daggers would seek thy heart and--find it."

"How long, Ayesha? A lifetime, a year, a month, a minute--I neither know
nor care, and while thou art true to me I fear no stabs of envy."

"Is it so? Wilt take the risk? I can promise thee nothing. Thou
mightest--yes, in this way or in that, thou mightest--die."

"And if I die, what then? Shall we be separated?"

"Nay, nay, Leo, that is not possible. We never can be severed, of this
I am sure; it is sworn to me. But then through other lives and other
spheres, higher lives and higher spheres mayhap, our fates must force a
painful path to their last goal of union."

"Why then I take the hazard, Ayesha. Shall the life that I can risk to
slay a leopard or a lion in the sport of an idle hour, be too great a
price to offer for the splendours of thy breast? Thine oath! Ayesha, I
claim thine oath."

Then it was that in Ayesha there began the most mysterious and thrilling
of her many changes. Y