arm. Nothing in sight. Wait. . .what was that? Either her eyes
deceived her or there was a pale resonance, little more than a shadow
of light, just beyond the hill in front of her. From where she stood
the path hooked left to skirt its base before finding a narrow pass
between ever larger foothills. But above and to her right came the
soft, inviting sheen. Torn between fear and the need for shelter, she
moved cautiously a short way into the brush.

The climb was not steep, but try as she might she could not make it
noiselessly. More than once she missed her footing, stumbled, and fell
through thick leaves with a muted sound like walking through corn. In
truth the noise of her falling was not great, and except for a short
gasp on one occasion no sound escaped her lips. But in that quiet of
night she was sure that it carried.

Finally reaching the hilltop, she looked down on a slight recession, in
the center of which lay a small, rounded clearing. A dim lantern was
hung on a post at one end, seeming lost and forlorn in the wilderness.
All around it there was nothing to be seen except a broad, flat bench
on which a man might rest, and no sign that it was anything more than a
traveler's light, left to mark a trail, that would go on glowing for
years unattended.

Still she took nothing for granted. She approached the clearing and
slowly, very slowly left the cover of the trees. She made her way
silently to the post and examined it closely. She heard something step
through the bushes to her left and her heart was in her throat. She
whirled, relaxed and nearly fainted.

The man's face and hands were black.

"Thank God," she managed, swooning still. The man, perhaps fifty, clad
in camouflaged cover-suit and jacket, remained at his distance. When
she had recovered herself she saw that he regarded her kindly, but made
no attempt to help her stand.

"What have we here?" he said in a dry voice, with just a corner of a
smile. "Another ebony wanderer? And in the middle of the night. I
was just getting ready to leave."

"I guess so." Now that she was no longer moving, the cold pierced her
clothes and she shivered once more.

"Well, I guess we'd better get you out of it. Have you strength to
walk?"

"Yes..... How do I know I can trust you?"

"You have no choice." He left the light as it was.

He led the way, and after hesitating she walked with him for several
miles without speaking, climbing ever h