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 yourself, why don't you try to meet him unveiled somewhere and have a chat with him?"

Dubiously she shook her head again. "I don't know how to manage it. He does not go to the Christian houses to which I go. Besides none of my Greek friends would care to take the risk of arranging a meeting."

"I'll do it," I declared.

Her face flushed with pleasure. "You are just the same madcap as ever. Paris hasn't robbed you of any of your spirit. How often I have wished you were here—only I did not know whether you had become so wise that you would not do foolish things any more."

For some time we discussed the matter, though without arriving at any feasible plan. At length I left her, radiantly cheerful, and went into the nursery to lie down, in order to leave the guestroom entirely to her. My little cousins, three in number, were already on their beds, and I stretched myself out on the divan.

Instead of being cooler on the island, the oppression of the atmosphere was more intense. There seemed something ominous in the heavy stillness of the air, only broken by the noise of the yelling dogs in the distance.

I was just beginning to dose off, when my couch swung to and fro like a hammock.

My little eight year old cousin raised her head from her bed and stared at me across the room.