"There will be more on the other side of the Customs house."
She looked up at him, bravely smiling, though her heart was throbbing
almost to suffocation and she could not speak a word.
He passed on into the crowd and she lost sight of him.
There followed a delay of nearly half-an-hour, during which she stood
where she was in the glaring sunshine, dumbly watching. The town, with
its many buildings, its roar of traffic; the harbour, with its ships and
its hooting sirens; the hot sky, the water that shone like molten brass;
all were stamped upon her aching brain with nightmare distinctness. She
felt as one caught in some pitiless machine that would crush her to
atoms before she could escape.
The gangways were fixed at last, and there was a general movement. She
went with the crowd, Mercer's last words still running through her brain
with a reiteration that made them almost meaningless. On the other side
of the Customs house! Of course, of course she would find Robin there,
waiting for her!
She said it to herself over and over as she stepped ashore, and she
began to picture their meeting. And then, suddenly, an awful doubt
assailed her.
Pages:
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199