The Shadow of a Man

istic of him and his behaviour! Moya caught up the Australasian (at hand but untouched all this time) and pretended she could see to read

hair was as he had pushed it back an age ago; he drew it nearer

ch my hand

lines, so deep you might have looked for them to fill with blood. T

nothing very tragical had happened. There was none the less a

and her voice nippe

go, you know!"

ink it necessary

isible advertisements. And her tone was b

hear me tell a lie," explained R

have heard it," rejoined Moya. "I

sary," said R

do

ntinued calmly. "You will p

had been intended, no apology was offered, and Rig

onfessed. "But just now I was determined to do

not to call

fellow in t

care to know any

do it," concluded

man they wa

Rigden smiled openly. There was no answering smile from Moya. Her sense of humour, that saving grace of the

ain there was the deeper trouble in his tone, the int

ng to end of this incident, or rather from the beginning to this present point, which was obviously not the end at all. Moya would have given almost anything to know what that re

to entreat her to trust him for once. But for some reason the words ja

d you for an

about that. You're pretty ro

think I a

, you ar

was beginning t

oice, Pelham, just becaus

us peculiarity of this couple never to address each other by a mere Christian name. Either they confined themselves to the personal pronoun, or they made use of expressions which may well be left upon their lovers' lips. But though scarcely aware of the habitual breach, they were mutually aliv

sides lying as you heard? That I shall suffer for,

e was wondering and wondering why he should have run the very smallest risk for the

persisted Rigden. "What on earth is it,

st; "you only left me for two mor

prang to

and little dreamed that he

unaware of

he vowe

istence, in fact? Your c

e was no retreat from the transparent truth. He therefore braced himself to stand

r," he said, jerking a hand towards the store. "

A

I didn't mean to be gone five minutes. You will realise that what I eventually undertook to do for this wretched man made all the di

er to have seen before," murmured Moya,

ence. I didn't

unced Moya, as one stat

gden, "I recog

oke it softly, a suspicion

must have some

; and next moment his heart was leapi

this alone. It was her voice that ran into his soul. She was imploring him to tell her all; there must be no secrets between them; let him but tell her the worst and she would stand by him, against all the world if need be, and no matter how bad the worst might be. She was no child. There was nothing he could not tell her, n

ing that Rigden w

roke and the words failed him. But on the

exacting," he groaned. "I didn't bel

ya. "Goodness! If I were never to exact more than

it, in this i

re's you

glitter, and something

will think better

ev

ways I have been q

very

gain. I can't help it. I am d

d hoofs in the heavy sand. They sat together without a word, each waiting for the other to r

sport; but give me crows to-morrow! What, you there too, Rigden? Rum coincidence! Sor

ection of the barracks, a

"There's no reason why we shoul

oner the better

eturned