第86章

Leo, bless him! Why, it seems but the other day that Iused to lead him about the streets with a penny whip;and if ever you get out of this placewhich, as father didn't allude to you, perhaps you mayI hope you will think kindly of my whitened bones, and never have anything more to do with Greek writing on flower-pots, sir, if I may make so bold as to say so.""Come, come, Job," I said, seriously, "this is all nonsense, you know.You mustn't be silly enough to go getting such ideas into your head.We've lived through some queer things, and I hope that we may go on doing so.""No, sir," answered Job, in a tone of conviction that jarred on me unpleasantly, "it isn't nonsense.I'm a doomed man, and I feel it, and a wonderful uncomfortable feeling it is, sir, for one can't help wondering how it's going to come about.If you are eating your dinner you think of poison and it goes against your stomach, and if you are walking along these dark rabbit burrows you think of knives, and Lord, don't you just shiver about the back! I ain't particular, sir, provided it's sharp, like that poor girl, who, now that she's gone, I am sorry to have spoke hard on, though I don't approve of her morals in getting married, which I consider too quick to be decent.Still, sir," and poor Job turned a shade paler as he said it, "I do hope it won't be that hot-pot game.""Nonsense," I broke in, angrily, "nonsense.""Very well, sir," said Job, "it isn't my place to differ from you, sir, but if you happen to be going anywhere, sir, I should be obliged if you could manage to take me with you, seeing that I shall be glad to have a friendly face to look at when the time comes, just to help one through, as it were.And now, sir, I'll be getting the breakfast," and he went, leaving me in a very uncomfortable state of mind.I was deeply attached to old Job, who was one of the best and honestest men I have ever had to do with in any class of life, and really more of a friend than a servant, and the mere idea of anything happening to him brought a lump into my throat.Beneath all his ludicrous talk I could see that he himself was quite convinced that something was going to happen, and though in most cases these convictions turn out to be utter moonshineand this particular one especially was to be amply accounted for by the gloomy and unaccustomed surroundings in which its victim was placedstill it did more or less carry a chill to my heart, as any dread that is obviously a genuine object of belief is apt to do, however absurd the belief may be.Presently the breakfast arrived, and with it Leo, who had been taking a walk outside the caveto clear his mind, he saidand very glad I was to see both, for they gave me a respite from my gloomy thoughts.After breakfast we went for another walk, and watched some of the Amahagger sowing a plot of ground with the grain from which they make their beer.This they did in scriptural fashiona man with a bag made of goat's-hide fastened round his waist walking up and down the plot and scattering the seed as he went.It was a positive relief to see one of these dreadful people do anything so homely and pleasant as sow a field, perhaps because it seemed to link them, as it were, with the rest of humanity.

As we were returning Billali met us, and informed us that it was _i_ She _i_ 's pleasure that we should wait upon her, and accordingly we entered her presence, not without trepidation, for Ayesha was certainly an exception to the rule.Familiarity with her might and did breed passion and wonder and horror, but it certainly did not breed contempt.

We were as usual shown in by the mutes, and after these had retired Ayesha unveiled, and once more bade Leo embrace her, which, notwithstanding his heart-searchings of the previous night, he did with more alacrity and fervor than strict courtesy required.

_i_ She _i_ laid her white hand on his head, and looked him fondly in the eyes."Dost thou wonder, my Kallikrates," she said, "when thou shalt call me all thine own, and when we shall of a truth be for one another and to one another? I will tell thee.First, must thou be even as I am, not immortal indeed, for that I am not, but so cased and hardened against the attacks of Time that his arrows shall glance from the armor of thy vigorous life as the sunbeams glance from water.As yet I may not mate with thee, for thou and Iare different, and the very brightness of my being would burn thee up, and perchance destroy thee.Thou couldst not even endure to look upon me for too long a time lest thine eyes should ache; and thy senses swim, and therefore (with a little coquettish nod) shall Ipresently veil myself again." (This, by the way, she did not do.) "No: listen, thou shalt not be tried beyond endurance, for this very evening, an hour before the sun goes down, shall we start hence, and by to-morrow's dark, if all goes well, and the road is not lost to me, which I pray it may not be, shall we stand in the Place of Life, and thou shalt bathe in the fire, and come forth glorified, as no man ever was before thee, and then, Kallikrates, shalt thou call me wife, and I will call thee husband."Leo muttered something in answer to this astonishing statement, I do not know what, and she laughed a little at his confusion, and went on.