Page:The Wreck.djvu/130

126 . THE WRECK ,

air and slowly disappeared from view across the de- serted fields.

Kamala had been standing for some time behind him by the rail but Ramesh was unaware of her presence. She had expected a summons from him after the eve- ning meal. Her work was now over but no summons had come, so she had herself emerged quietly on to the deck.

But at sight of Ramesh she came to a sudden halt and her limbs refused to carry her farther. The moon shone on his face and his expression showed that his mind was far away — far away from her ; she had no place in his thoughts. Between Ramesh, absorbed in his reverie, and herself she seemed to see the spirit of Night like a gigantic sentinel clad from head to foot in a robe of moonlight, with a finger laid on its lips.

When Ramesh covered his face with his hands and let his head sink upon the table Kamala stole away to her own cabin. She dared not make a sound lest he should hear it and discover that she had come in search of him.

Her cabin loomed dark and forbidding. She shiv- ered as she crossed the threshold, and the full con- sciousness of her forlorn and solitary state swept over

her like a flood. In the darkness the interior of the ramshackle little room seemed to gape at her like the jaws of some strange monster; but what other shelter could she seek? there was no spot in which she could lay her poor little body down and close her eyes with the knowledge that it was hers by right.

She peered in once, then shrank back again. As she recrossed the threshold Ramesh's umbrella fell with a clatter against her tin trunk.

Startled by the noise Ramesh glanced up and rose from his chair. "It's you, Kamala!" he exclaimed, per- ceiving her standing in the doorway of her cabin. "I thought you had turned in long ago. I'm afraid you're

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