Moreover, was she not
wont to cross his will and to question his divinity? No, surely it
is not only of her that he thinks, her for whom he had prepared this
splendid tomb with all things needful to unite her with the gods. Surely
he thinks also of himself and that other tomb on the farther side of the
hill whereat the artists labour day by day--yes, and have laboured these
many years; that tomb to which before so very long he too must travel in
just this fashion, to seek his place beyond the doors of Death, who lays
his equal hand on king and queen and slave.
The vision passed. It was so real that Smith thought he must have been
dreaming. Well, he was awake now, and colder than ever. Moreover, the
jackals had multiplied. There were a whole pack of them, and not far
away. Look! One crossed in the ring of the lamplight, a slinking, yellow
beast that smelt the remains of dinner. Or perhaps it smelt himself.
Moreover, there were bad characters who haunted these mountains, and he
was alone and quite unarmed. Perhaps he ought to put out the light which
advertised his whereabouts. It would be wise, and yet in this particular
he rejected wisdom. After all, the light was some company.
Since sleep seemed to be out of the question, he fell back upon poor
humanity's other anodyne, work, which has the incidental advantage of
generating warmth.
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