It was
sweet and sisterly. He knew then that he had not fallen in love
with her. The feeling that was akin to jealousy seemed to be of
the beautiful something for which Mercedes stood in Thorne's life.
Gale then grasped the bewildering possibilities, the infinite wonder
of what a girl could mean to a man.
The other haunting intimations of change seemed to be elusively
blended with sensations--the heat and thrill of action, the sense
of something done and more to do, the utter vanishing of an old
weary hunt for he knew not what. Maybe it had been a hunt
for work, for energy, for spirit, for love, for his real self.
Whatever it might be, there appeared to be now some hope of
finding it.
The desert began to lighten. Gray openings in the border of shrubby
growths changed to paler hue. The road could be seen some rods
ahead, and it had become a stony descent down, steadily down.
Dark, ridged backs of mountains bounded the horizon, and all seemed
near at hand, hemming in the plain. In the east a white glow grew brighter
and brighter, reaching up to a line of cloud, defined sharply below by
a rugged notched range. Presently a silver circle rose behind the
black mountain, and the gloom of the desert underwent a transformation.
From a gray mantle it changed to a transparent haze. The moon
was rising.
"Senor I am cold," said Mercedes.
Dick had been carrying his coat upon his arm. He had felt warm,
even hot, and had imagined that the steady walk had occasioned
it.
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