The road was deserted, just as it had been on that dripping night when she had answered his summons to Tommy’s sick bed.  She recalled that wild rush through the darkness, his grim strength, his determination.  The iron of his will had seemed to compass her then.  Was it the same to-night?  Had her freedom already been wrested from her?  Was there to be no means of escape?

Through the jungle solitudes there came the call of an owl, weird and desolate and lonely.  Something in it pierced her with a curious pain.  Was freedom then everything?  Did she truly love the silence above all?

She drew her cloak closer about her.  Was there something of a chill in the atmosphere?  Or was it the chill of the desert beyond the oasis that awaited her?

They emerged from the thickest part of the jungle into a space of tangled shrubs that seemed fighting with each other for possession of the way.  The road was rough, and Monck slackened speed.

“We shall have to leave the car,” he said.  “There is a track here that leads to the ruined palace.  It is only a hundred yards or so.  We shall have to do it on foot.”

They descended.  The moonlight poured in a flood all about them.  They were alone.

Stella turned up the narrow path he indicated, but in a moment he overtook her.  “Let me go first!” he said.

He passed her with the words and walked ahead, holding the creepers back from her as she followed.

She suffered him silently, with a strange sense of awe, almost as though she trod holy ground.  But the old feeling of trespass was wholly absent.  She had no fear of being cast forth from this place that she was about to enter.

The path began to widen somewhat and to ascend.  In a few moments they came upon a crumbling stonewall crossing it at right angles.

Monck paused.  “One way leads to the palace, the other to the temple,” he said.  “Which shall we take?”

Stella faced him in the moonlight.  She thought he looked stern.  “Is not the picnic to be at the palace?” she said.

“Yes.”  He answered her without hesitation.  “You will find Lady Harriet and Co. there.  The temple on the other hand is probably deserted.”

“Ah!” His meaning flashed upon her.  She stood a second in indecision.  Then “Is it far?” she said.

She saw his faint smile for an instant.  “A very long way—­for you,” he said.

“I can come back?” she said.

“I shall not prevent you.”  She heard the smile in his voice, and something within her thrilled in answer.

“Let us go then!” she said.

He turned without further words and led the way.

They entered the shadow of the jungle once more.  For a space the path ran beside the crumbling wall, then it diverged from it, winding darkly into the very heart of the jungle.  Monck walked without hesitation.  He evidently knew the place well.