ly striking against the globe of glass. The
tent-door was open, and just outside stood Ibrahim, with his head and
face wrapped up in a shawl with flowing fringes, to see that the native
waiter did his duty properly. Through the opening came the faint sound
of running water and the distant noise of the persistent barking of
dogs. The opulent smell of the rich and humid land penetrated into the
tent and mingled with the smell from the dishes.

Nigel's face was radiant. They had got right away from modern
civilization into the wilds, and, manlike, he felt perfectly happy. He
looked at Ruby, seeking a reflection of his joy, yet a little doubtful,
too, realizing that this was an experiment for her, while to him it was
an old story to which she was supplying the beautiful interest of love.
She answered his look with one that set his mind at rest, which thrilled
him, yet which only drew from him the prosaic remark:

"The cook isn't so bad, is he, Ruby?"

"Excellent," she said. "I don't know when I've had such a capital
dinner. How can he do it all in a tent?"

She moved her chair.

"This table's a little bit low," she said. "But I've no business to be
so tall. In camp one ought to be the regulation size."

"Have you been uncomfortable?" he exclaimed, anxiously.

"No, no--not really. It doesn't matter."

"I'll have it altered, made higher somehow, to-morrow. We must have
everything right, as we're going to live in camp for some time."

She got up.

"I won't take coffee to-night," she said. "It would be too horrid to
sleep badly in a tent."

"You'll see, you'll sleep splendidly out here. Every one does in camp.
One is always in the air, and one gets thoroughly done by the evening."

"Yes, but I shan't be working so hard as you do."

She went to the tent-door.

"How long shall we be in the Fayyum?" she asked, carelessly. "How long
were you in it last year?"

"Off and on for nearly six months."

She said nothing. He struck a match and lit a cigar.

"But of course now it's different," he said. "If you like it, we can
stay on, and if you don't we can go back presently to the villa."

"And your work?"

"I ought to be here, so I hope you will like it, Ruby."

He joined her at the tent-door.

"But this winter I mean to live for you, and to try to make you happy.
We'll just see how you like being here. Do you think you will like it?
Do you feel, as I do, the joy of being in such perfect freedom?"

He put his