Yet, curiously, behind all his disappointment, even contempt, there yet lurked in his soul an odd liking for the young man.  Guy was most strangely likable, however deep he sank.  Unstable, unreliable, wholly outside the pale as he was, yet there ever hung about him a nameless, indescribable fascination which redeemed him from utter degradation, a charm which very curiously kept him from being classed with the swine.  There was a natural gameness about him that men found good.  Even at his worst, he was never revolting.

He seemed to Burke a mass of irresponsible inconsistency.  He was full of splendid possibilities that invariably withered ere they approached fruition.  He had come to regard him as a born failure, and though for Sylvia’s sake he had made this final effort, he had small faith in its success.  Only she was so hard to resist, that frank-eyed, earnest young partner of his.  She was so unutterably dear in all her ways.  How could he hear the tremor of her pleading voice and refuse her?

The memory of her came over him like a warm soft wave.  He felt again the quick pressure of her arm about his neck, the fleeting sweetness of her kiss.  How had he kept himself from catching her to his heart in that moment, and holding her there while he drank his fill of the cup she had so shyly proffered?  How had he ever suffered her to flit from him down the rough kopje and turn at the bottom with the old intangible shield uplifted between them?

The blood raced in his veins.  He clenched his hands in impotent self-contempt.  And yet at the back of his man’s soul he knew that by that very forbearance his every natural impulse condemned, he had strengthened his position, he had laid the foundation-stone of a fabric that would endure against storm and tempest.  The house that he would build would be an abiding-place—­no swiftly raised tent upon the sand.  It would take time to build it, infinite care, possibly untold sacrifice.  But when built, it would be absolutely solid, proof for all time against every wind that blew.  For every stone would be laid with care and made fast with the cement that is indestructible.  And it would be founded upon a rock.

So, as at last he drifted into sleep, Guy lying in a deathlike immobility by his side, there came to him the conviction that what he had done had been well done, done in a good cause, and acceptable to the Master Builder at Whose Behest he was vaguely conscious that all great things are achieved.

CHAPTER VI

THE RETURN

When the morning broke upon Blue Hill Farm the sand-storm had blown itself out.  With brazen splendour the sun arose to burn the parched earth anew, but Sylvia was before it.  With the help of Fair Rosamond and, Joe, the boy, she was preparing a small wooden hut close by for the reception of a guest.  He should not go back to that wretched cabin on the sand if she could prevent it.  He should be treated with honour.  He should be made to feel that to her—­and to Burke—­his welfare was a matter of importance.