rehead. Columbine had declared that
the man was an oaf, and he felt inclined to agree with her. And yet
there was something in the intensity of the fellow's eyes that held his
attention, the possibility of the actual existence of an unknown element
that did not fit into that conception of him. They were not the eyes of
a mere animal. There was no vagueness in their utter stillness. Rather
had they the look of a man who waits.

Curiosity began to stir within him. He wondered if by judicious probing
he could penetrate the wall of aloofness with which his companion seemed
to be surrounded. It would be interesting to know if the fellow really
possessed any individuality.

Airily he broke the silence. "Are you going to take me straight into the
temple of the sun? I thought I was out to see the fishing."

The remote blue eyes came back as it were out of the far distance and
found him. There came to Knight an odd, wholly unwonted, sensation of
smallness. He felt curiously like a pigmy disturbing the meditations of
a giant.

Rufus looked at him for several seconds of uninterrupted rowing before,
in his deep, resounding voice, he spoke. "They won't be taking up the
nets for a goodish while yet. We shall be back in time."

"The idea is to give me a run for my money first, eh?" inquired Knight
pleasantly.

He had not anticipated the sudden fall of the red brows that greeted his
words. He felt as if he had inadvertently trodden upon a match.

"No," said Rufus slowly, speaking with a strangely careful accent, as if
his mind were concentrated upon being absolutely intelligible to his
listener. "That was not my idea."

The spirit of adventure awoke in Knight. There was something behind this
granite calmness of demeanour then. He determined to draw it forth, even
though he struck further sparks in the process.

"No?" he said carelessly. "Then why this pleasure trip? Did you bring me
out here just to show me--the 'Pit of the Burning'?"

His eyes were upon the dazzling glory of the newly risen sun as he threw
the question. Rufus's massive head and shoulders were strongly outlined
against it. He had ceased to row, but the boat still shot forward,
impelled by the last powerful sweep of the oars, the water streaming
past in a rush of foam.

Slowly, like the hammer-strokes of a deep-toned bell, came Rufus's voice
in answer. "It wasn't to show you anything I brought you here. It was
just to tell you something."

"Really?" Knigh