He
fancied that once or twice he had caught the faintest sign of a
break in her voice.
"You really mean to hazard this adventure?" he cried, softly, in
his astonishment. "You, whom wild horses couldn't drag into the
wilderness, as you once told me!"
"Yes," she affirmed, drawing her stool back out of the increasing
heat of the fire. Her face was almost entirely in shadow now, and
she did not look at Philip. "I am beginning to--to love
adventure," she went on, in an even voice. "It was an adventure
coming up. And when we landed down there something curious
happened. Did you see a girl who thought that she knew me--"
She stopped, and a sudden flash of the fire lit up her eyes, fixed
on him intently from between her shielding hands.
"I saw her run out and speak to you," said Philip, his heart
beating at double-quick. He leaned over so that he was looking
squarely into Miss Brokaw's face.
"Did you know her?" she asked.
"I have seen her only twice--once before she spoke to you."
"If I meet her again I shall apologize," said Eileen. "It was her
mistake, and she startled me. When she ran out to me like that,
and held out her hands I--I thought of beggars."
"Beggars!" almost shouted Philip.
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