"Oh!"
Fearing that she would break down and weep, Gray would have left the room, but she checked him with a gesture. She looked up quietly, although the tears were still glistening on her eyelids.
"Please, Captain Gray! I've been so—lonely. You won't go away, just for a while?"
For a while? He would have remained at her side until dragged away, if she wished it so. He saw that she had changed. Some of the life and vivacity had been driven from her delicate face, leaving a wistful tenderness.
He himself showed little sign of the hardships of the last two days, except a firmer set to the wide mouth, and deeper lines about the eyes. He was unshaven, as he had been for some time, and the clothing on his rugged figure was rather more than usually the worse for wear.
The girl noticed a new light in his eyes—somber, even dogged. There was something savage in the determination of the hard face, born—although she did not know it—of his knowledge that the life and safety of Mary Hastings was now his undivided responsibility.
CHAPTER XX
THE TALISMAN
"Poor Uncle Lionel," she said sadly, "he never knew that—the Wusun were here, as he had thought they would be."
"He will have full credit for his achievement when you and I get back home, out of Sungan, Miss Hastings."