"He knocked at the door—I knew his knock immediately. Then he said outside, 'Don't be afraid'—I knew his voice too. And then he opened the door and came in, and I thought at first it was a Bedouin, for he wore Eastern clothes, but he whispered, 'Mother,' and it was Gordon himself."
"O my dear eyes, you have been dreaming," said Fatimah, whereupon the old lady looked reproachfully at her and said—
"How can you say that, Fatimah? I clasped my arms around his neck, and he put his arms about me and kissed me, and then——"
"Well?"
The old lady thought for a moment. "I think I must have fainted," she said. "I cannot remember what happened then."
"O my lady, O my heart, you have been sleeping for nearly an hour," said Fatimah.
"Sleeping?"
"Yes, but a little after eleven o'clock you were restless and threw out your arms and I covered them up again."
The joyful gleam had now gone from the old lady's eyes, and a troubled look had taken the place of it.
"Do you say that Gordon has not been here, Fatimah?"