"Her first answer to our further questions was enough to convince us that we were not, mistaken.
"'But, Miss Poles,' we asked, 'why go so fast, and fatigue yourself to such an extent?'
"'To tire out my body,' she replied, casting down her eyes; 'bodily suffering sometimes has the effect of relieving the soul's agony.'
"'You suffer then?' asked Périères, trying to keep his countenance.
"'Suffer!' she exclaimed.
"At the same time, as if to call heaven to witness, she turned her eyes upward, and we saw the eye-lashes of her upper lids standing straight out above her spectacles.
"'Miss Poles,' I resumed in a mild tone, 'it is not right to flee from your friends because you are suffering. Périères and I have not done anything, and yet, ever since this morning you have put us in a terrible state of anxiety about you.'
"'It is true,' said she, touched by my eloquence. 'I have been unjust. Forgive me.'
"She put out her hand, and we shook it heartily.
"'Suppose,' suggested Périères, 'that whilst we are waiting for the caravan we take a short rest below there, under that magnificent sammor, which reminds me of the one in the garden of the Governor of Singate? We know that you are not tired. Miss Poles, but our horses are blown, and I am sure you will have mercy on them.'