Antinea's face is almost touching mine. A strange light flickers in her great eyes.
Beyond, I see the gleaming eyes of King Hiram. Beside him, there is a little table of Kairouan, blue and gold. On that table I see the gong with which Antinea summons the slaves. I see the hammer with which she struck it just now, a hammer with a long ebony handle, a heavy silver head ... the hammer with which little Lieutenant Kaine dealt death....
I see nothing more....
[!-- Chapter 17--]XVII
THE MAIDENS OF THE ROCKS
I awakened in my room. The sun, already at its zenith, filled the place with unbearable light and heat.
The first thing I saw, on opening my eyes, was the shade, ripped down, lying in the middle of the floor. Then, confusedly, the night's events began to come back to me.
My head felt stupid and heavy. My mind wandered. My memory seemed blocked. "I went out with the leopard, that is certain. That red mark on my forefinger shows how he strained at the leash. My knees are still dusty. I remember creeping along the wall in the room where the white Tuareg were playing at dice. That was the minute after King Hiram had leapt past them. After that ... oh, Morhange and Antinea.... And then?"
I recalled nothing more. I recalled nothing more. But something must have happened, something which I could not remember.