Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-15

when he was dead, and then she could die
also
| The pool was all gone by this time, leaving
| a funnel shaped hollow in the sand where it
| had been If any water still leaked through
from without, it lost itself under the sand, and
| the man and the girl were at the bottom of
| great natural we'll that was quite dry. Baraka
| looked up, and on a pinnacle, three hundred
| feet above her head. she vuture sitting
| in the sun 1t would sit there till she
dead, for it knew what coming; then it
would spread its wings little and let itself
down awkwardly half flying and half scramb
ling. When it had finished, it would sit and
look at her bones and doze, till it was able to
| fly away
Baraka thought of all this; but her face did
| not change: and when she had once seen the
vulture she did not look at it again, but kept
her eyes fixed without blinking on her COM
panion's bent head To her he seemed the
most handsome that had ever lived.
Baraka was very young. and was considered
beautiful too, among the wild people to whom
she belonged. But her father had chosen her
name in an evil hour; for she was indeed not
blessed since she was to die so young; and
the man with the beard of spun gold and the
very white skin did not love her. and would
not even make prentense of loving, though
for what was left of life she would have been
almost satisfied with that.
THE hours passed, and the sun rose higher
in the sky and struck deeper into the
| SHADY well. I'LL IL was almost overhead, dLu
there was scarcely any shadow left. 1t be-
came very hot and sitting, because the pas
sage through which the air had entered with
the water was shut up. Then the traveller
took OIL his loose jacket, and opened his fan
mel shirt at the neck. and turned up his sleeves
for GOODNESS, and crept backward into the hol-
low where the ruby mine was. to shelter him.
self from the sun. But Baraka edged away
| to the very foot of the cliff, where there re-
| NAMED belt of shade even at noon: and as
cok Oh ~ ha~
ment in her hands and slowly famed her little
| feet Neither he nor she had spoken in many
hours, and she could see that in the recess of
| the rock he was sitting as before, with his
forehead against his hands, which were clasped
| on his knees in the attitude and bearing of
despair.
He began to be athirst now, in the heat. If he
had not known that there was no water he
could easily have done without it through a
| long day: but the knowledge that there was
| none, and that he was never to drink again,
parched his life and his throat and his tongue
till it felt like dried fig in his mouth. He
did not feel hunger. and indeed he had little
| food in wallet he carried: but he could not
have eaten without water and it did not occur
| to him that Baraka might be hungry. Per-
| haps, even if he had known that she was, he
| would not have given her of what he had ;
| he would have kept it for himself What
was the life of a wild hill girl compared with
| his? But the vulture was watching him. as
| we'll as Baraka, and would not move from
its pinnacle till the end. though days might
pass.
| The fever began to burn the traveler.-the
| fever of thirst which surely ends in raving
madness as he knew. for he had wandered
much in deserts, and had seen men go mad
| for lack of water His hands felt red hot the
pulses were hammering at his temples and
his tongue became as hot as baked clay He
would have borne great pain for time if it
could have brought sleep for this was much
| worse than pain. and it made sleep impossible.
] He tried to take account of what he felt for he
was strong. and was conscious that the heat
| of the fever. and the throbbing in his arteries.
and the choking dryness in his mouth and
throat were not really his main sensation. but
only accessories to it or consequences of it
The real suffering was the craving for the
| sight the touch, and the taste of water: to
see it alone would be relief even if he was
not allowed to drink. and to dip his hands
| into stream would be heaven though he
was not permitted to taste drop
Baraka not thirsty yet, because she
| had drunk her fill in the morning, and was not
used to drink often: it was enough that she
could look at the man she loved, for the end
would come soon enough without thinking
about it
| All day long the traveller crouched in the
hollow of the ruby cave and Baraka watched
him from her place When it grew dark the
vulture the pinnacle of rock thrust its
head under its wing. AS soon as Baraka could
L Il Il