I lie in thirty, forty years, after an exile that has lasted through eternity. And perhaps she will still be expecting me to-night…"
He started up. Ah, no, he was not dead as he had thought: life was beating within him, surging up strong and tenacious like the eagle amongst the stones.
"I must remain up here all night," he told himself. "If I can get through this night without seeing her I shall be saved."
He went outside and sat down beside Antiochus. The sun was sinking in a crimson sky, the shadows of the high rocks were lengthening over the enclosure and the wind-tossed bushes, and in the same way as he could not distinguish objects clearly in the uncertain light without, so Paul could not tell which of the two desires within him was the strongest. Presently he said:
"The old man cannot speak now, he is dying. It is time to administer extreme unction, and if he dies we must arrange for the body to be moved. It will be necessary…" he added as though to himself, but did not dare to
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