grey, and I am not without hopes that it will in
time come quite right.--L. H. H.

"Thou hast slept long, my Baboon," said old Billali.

"How long, my father?" I asked.

"A round of the sun and a round of the moon, a day and a night hast thou
slept, and the Lion also. See, he sleepeth yet."

"Blessed is sleep," I answered, "for it swallows up recollection."

"Tell me," he said, "what hath befallen you, and what is this strange
story of the death of Her who dieth not. Bethink thee, my son: if this
be true, then is thy danger and the danger of the Lion very great--nay,
almost is the pot red wherewith ye shall be potted, and the stomachs of
those who shall eat ye are already hungry for the feast. Knowest thou
not that these Amahagger, my children, these dwellers in the caves,
hate ye? They hate ye as strangers, they hate ye more because of their
brethren whom _She_ put to the torment for your sake. Assuredly, if once
they learn that there is naught to fear from Hiya, from the terrible
One-who-must-be-obeyed, they will slay ye by the pot. But let me hear
thy tale, my poor Baboon."

This adjured, I set to work and told him--not everything, indeed, for
I did not think it desirable to do so, but sufficient for my purpose,
which was to make him understand that _She_ was really no more, having
fallen into some fire, and, as I put it--for the real thing would have
been incomprehensible to him--been burnt up. I also told him some of the
horrors we had undergone in effecting our escape, and these produced a
great impression on him. But I clearly saw that he did not believe in
the report of Ayesha's death. He believed indeed that we thought
that she was dead, but his explanation was that it had suited her to
disappear for a while. Once, he said, in his father's time, she had done
so for twelve years, and there was a tradition in the country that many
centuries back no one had seen her for a whole generation, when she
suddenly reappeared, and destroyed a woman who had assumed the position
of Queen. I said nothing to this, but only shook my head sadly. Alas!
I knew too well that Ayesha would appear no more, or at any rate that
Billali would never see her again.

"And now," concluded Billali, "what wouldst thou do, my Baboon?"

"Nay," I said, "I know not, my father. Can we not escape from this
country?"

He shook his head.

"It is very difficult. By Kor ye cannot pass, for ye would be seen,
and as soon as those fierce