And there I waited for the end.
What an eternity that was!
I strained my ears to hear approaching steps. I beard the gurgle of the stream and the slow drip of water from the rocks, but nothing more. The star-light was just bright enough to prevent an absolute surprize.
But I was utterly fatigued. My eyes alone, which bore the burden of the defence, remained awake; the rest of me was dead, from heavy hands to feet, and the body which I could hardly have dragged down to the stream again.
I waited for the end. I sat beside Jacqueline, holding her hand with one of mine, and my revolver in the other. There was a faint flutter at her wrist. I fancied that it had grown stronger during the past half-hour.
But I was unprepared to hear her whisper to me, and when she spoke I was alert in a moment.
"Paul!" she said faintly.
"Jacqueline!"
"Paul! Bend down. I want to speak to you. Do you know I have been conscious for a long time, my dear? I have been thinking. Are you distressed because of me?"
"My dear!" I said; and that was all that I could say. I clasped her cold little hand tightly in mine.