had suddenly
grown so strangely loud and insistent that it was in a half-dazed
fashion she at length heard her name--"_Kathleen!_"

"Kathleen!" he whispered again, hoarsely.

She looked him full in the face, and once more their eyes met in a long,
grave gaze.

The man's face flushed, and he half rose from his seat with an impetuous
movement; but Kathleen stopped him with a glance.

"Will you go and fetch my work? I left it in the tent," she said,
speaking very clearly and distinctly; "and then will you go on reading?
I will find the place while you are gone."

She took the book from his hand, and he rose and stood before her.

There was a mute appeal in his silence, and she raised her head slowly.

Her face was white to the lips, but she looked at him unflinchingly; and
without a word he turned and left her.

Mrs. Drayton was resting in the tent on Tuesday afternoon. With the help
of cushions and some low chairs, she had improvised a couch, on which
she lay quietly with her eyes closed. There was a tenseness, however, in
her attitude which indicated that sleep was far from her.

Her features seemed to have sharpened during the last few days, and
there were hollows in her cheeks. She had been very ill for a long time,
but all at once, with a sudden movement, she turned her head and buried
her face in the cushions with a groan. Slipping from her place, she fell
on her knees beside the couch, and put both hands before her mouth to
force back the cry that she felt struggling to her lips.

For some moments the wild effort she was making for outward calm, which
even when she was alone was her first instinct, strained every nerve and
blotted out sight and hearing, and it was not till the sound was very
near that she was conscious of the ring of horse's hoofs on the plain.

She raised her head sharply, with a thrill of fear, still kneeling, and
listened.

There was no mistake. The horseman was riding in hot haste, for the thud
of the hoofs followed one another swiftly.

As Mrs. Drayton listened her white face grew whiter, and she began to
tremble. Putting out shaking hands, she raised herself by the arms of
the folding-chair and stood upright.

Nearer and nearer came the thunder of the approaching sound, mingled
with startled exclamations and the noise of trampling feet from the
direction of the kitchen tent.

Slowly, mechanically almost, she dragged herself to the entrance, and
stood clinging to the canv