fever had been increased by want of nourishment; and a few spoonfuls of this restorative, which with the tenderest care I put to her pale lips, revived her.
In an hour's time my anxiety was immensely relieved, and though her face looked like a fading white rose, she could smile and speak to me.
An hour, however, exhausted her feeble strength, and the white rose changed to burning crimson as she fell asleep again; assuring me that, when evening came, she should be able to continue her journey.
I sat by the window, not to disturb her while she slept. The coolies lay at a little distance under the shadow of the avenue of trees through which the last mile of dusty road swept. Far overhead I heard the scream of the circling kite; and with a stupid kind of interest I watched a goat disposing itself to rest in a strip of shadow under the eaves of one of the outhouses. A lean, dust-coloured bullock limped painfully along by the mud wall of the compound, looking with a dissatisfied eye at the dry tufts of burnt-up grass in the white dust. Within was shadow and comparative coolness, but the bare room was almost as dreary as the wide wariness of the outside world. The fate that had led Laura from the chances of the happy life of England with its green Summer and cool air seemed trebly cruel, and the bitterest pang I had yet suffered for her sake tore my heart as I turned from the ghastly waste upon which the window opened to look upon her sleeping form. She lay in perfect tranquillity, breathing quickly, but, as I fondly hoped, with healthful regularity and ease.
As the leaden-footed hours crept slowly by and still she slept, the assurance of her well-being, with which this slumber had at first soothed my anxiety, changed to alarm.
The flush of fever had again faded, and the wan pallor of her cheek and the complete prostration of her form, as she lay hour after hour on her pillow, absolutely motionless, terrified me. From time to time I knelt by her side and spoke her name in a soft whisper, for the day was passing, and the hours of silent watching had reduced me to a state of intense anxiety as to the future. If we were to go on with our journey, the termination of which was still a long march distant, Laura must awake and take some refreshment, and if she was too ill to
