s, on account of a royalty to be fixed by
mutual agreement. But it would have to be a libretto _numero un_."

He looked at her but did not say a word.

When she was gone he sat down again by the round table and stared at the
cloth, with his head bent and his muscular, large-boned arms laid one
upon the other.

And presently he swore under his breath.

Meanwhile Mrs. Shiffney and Claude were making their way through the
crowded and noisy street toward the unfinished Suspension Bridge which
spans the gorge, linking the city to the height which is crowned by the
great hospital. Beyond the hospital, opposite to the Grand Rocher, a
terrific precipice of rock beneath which a cascade leaps down to the
valley where lie the baths of Sidi Imcin, is a wood of fir-trees
commanding an immense view. This was the objective of their walk. The
sun shone warmly, brightly, over the roaring city, perched on its savage
height and crowding down to its precipices, as if seeking for
destruction. Clarions sounded from the woods, where hidden soldiers were
carrying out evolutions. Now and then a dull roar in the distance, like
the noise of a far-off earthquake, proclaimed the activities of men
among the rocks. From the bazaars in the maze of covered alleys that
stretch down the hill below the Place du Chameau, from the narrow and
slippery pavements that wind between the mauve and the pale yellow house
fronts, came incessant cries and the long and dull murmur of voices.
Bellebelles were singing everywhere in their tiny cages, heedless of
their captivity. On tiny wooden tables and stands before the insouciant
workers at trades, and the indifferent sellers of goods, were set vases
of pale yellow jonquils. Round the minarets fluttered the pigeons. And
again, floating across the terrific gorge, came the brave notes of the
military clarions.

"There is something here which I have never felt in any other place,"
said Mrs. Shiffney to Claude. "A peculiar wildness. It makes one want to
cry out. The rocks seem to have life almost under one's feet. And the
water in that terrible gorge, that's like a devil's moat round the city,
is more alive than water in other places. It's so strange to have known
you in Mullion House and to find you here. How eternally interesting
life is!"

She did not always think so, but at this moment she really found life
interesting.

"I shall never forget this little time!" she added. "I haven't enjoyed
myself so much for