But I didn't, you say--not here, at all
events. So perhaps not there either. I was afraid that I should--how I
was afraid! There was a woman in Dongola who spoke some English--very
little, but enough. She had been in the 'Kauneesa' of Khartum when
Gordon ruled there. She was sent to question me. I had unhappy times in
Dongola."
Trench interrupted him in a low voice. "I know. You told me things which
made me shiver," and he caught hold of Feversham's arm and thrust the
loose sleeve back. Feversham's scarred wrists confirmed the tale.
"Well, I felt myself getting light-headed there," he went on. "I made up
my mind that of your escape I must let no hint slip. So I tried to think
of something else with all my might, when I was going off my head." And
he laughed a little to himself.
"That was why you heard me talk of Ethne," he explained.
Trench sat nursing his knees and looking straight in front of him. He
had paid no heed to Feversham's last words. He had dared now to give his
hopes their way.
"So it's true," he said in a quiet wondering voice. "There will be a
morning when we shall not drag ourselves out of the House of Stone.
There will be nights when we shall sleep in beds, actually in beds.
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