suddenly, as though to detain her, and Hope's last shred of self-control
deserted her.

She uttered a smothered cry and fled.




III

THE FRIEND IN NEED

The road that led to the cantonments was ill-made and stony, but she
dashed along it like a mad creature, unconscious of everything save the
one absorbing desire to escape. Ronnie was not in sight, but she
scarcely thought of him. The light was failing fast, and she knew that
it would soon be quite dark, save for a white streak of moon overhead.
It was still frightfully hot. The atmosphere oppressed her like a leaden
weight. It seemed to keep her back, and she battled with it as with
something tangible. Her feet were clad in thin slippers, and at any
other time she would have known that the rough stones cut and hurt her.
But in the terror of the moment she felt no pain. She only had the sense
to run straight on, with gasping breath and failing limbs, till at last,
quite suddenly, her strength gave out and she sank, an exhausted,
sobbing heap, upon the roadway.

There came the tread of a horse's hoofs, and she started and made a
convulsive effort to crawl to one side. She was nearer fainting than she
had ever been in her life.