of the
hottest places I ever was in, I thought that this would not matter; but
when at sunrise on the following morning I saw a veil of miasmatic mist
hanging over the surface of the ground, I changed my opinion. However,
neither Stella nor Tota seemed the worse, so as soon as was practical
we started homewards. I had already on the previous day sent some of the
men back to the kraals to fetch a ladder, and when we reached the cliff
we found them waiting for us beneath. With the help of the ladder the
descent was easy. Stella simply got out of her rough litter at the top
of the cliff, for we found it necessary to carry her, climbed down the
ladder, and got into it again at the bottom.

Well, we reached the kraals safely enough, seeing nothing more of
Hendrika, and, were this a story, doubtless I should end it here
with--"and lived happily ever after." But alas! it is not so. How am I
to write it?

My dearest wife's vital energy seemed completely to fail her now that
the danger was past, and within twelve hours of our return I saw that
her state was such as to necessitate the abandonment of any idea of
leaving Babyan Kraals at present. The bodily exertion, the anguish of
mind, and the terror which she had endured during that dreadful night,
combined with her delicate state of health, had completely broken her
down. To make matters worse, also, she was taken with an attack of
fever, contracted no doubt in the unhealthy atmosphere of that accursed
valley. In time she shook the fever off, but it left her dreadfully
weak, and quite unfit to face the trial before her.

I think she knew that she was going to die; she always spoke of my
future, never of _our_ future. It is impossible for me to tell how sweet
she was; how gentle, how patient and resigned. Nor, indeed, do I wish
to tell it, it is too sad. But this I will say, I believe that if ever
a woman drew near to perfection while yet living on the earth, Stella
Quatermain did so.

The fatal hour drew on. My boy Harry was born, and his mother lived
to kiss and bless him. Then she sank. We did what we could, but we had
little skill, and might not hold her back from death. All through one
weary night I watched her with a breaking heart.

The dawn came, the sun rose in the east. His rays falling on the peak
behind were reflected in glory upon the bosom of the western sky. Stella
awoke from her swoon and saw the light. She whispered to me to open the
door of the hut. I did