ever return? It is, as you must know, a most desperate and hopeless
undertaking. For thousands of years men have tried that journey, and
failed."

"But may he not be baffled and turn back? There is some hope in that.
He will find out that it is impossible." And Edith for a moment grasped
at that thought.

"You will think me one of Job's comforters," said Dudleigh, with a
melancholy smile. "But I think it is a poor mark of friendship to hide
the truth. It is better for you to know all now. The fact is, there
would be some hope of his return if he were any other than Sir Lionel
Dudleigh. But being what he is, he will follow his purpose to the end.
He is a man of unflinching courage and inflexible determination. More
than this, he announced to his friends before he left that he would
either bring back the truth about the sources of the Nile, or else he
would not come back at all. So now he has not only his resolution to
impel him, but his pride also."

"This hope, then, fails me utterly," said Edith, after a long pause.

"I fear so."

"He is, in fact, the same as dead."

"Yes, as far as you are concerned, and your present needs."

"This is terrible!"

"Miss Dalton, I do not know what to say. I can only say that my heart