Page:Arthur Machen - The Hill of Dreams.djvu/248

THE HILL OF DREAMS and unashamed. To his eyes it seemed as if these revellers recognised him as a fellow, and smiled up in his face, aware that he was in the secret. Every instinct of religion, of civilisation even, was swept away; they gazed at one another and at him absolved of all scruples, children of the earth and nothing more. Now and then a couple detached themselves from the swarm, and went away into the darkness, answering the jeers and laughter of their friends as they vanished.

On the edge of the pavement, not far from where he was standing, Lucian noticed a tall and lovely young woman who seemed to be alone. She was in the full light of a naphtha flame, and her bronze hair and flushed cheeks shone illuminate as she viewed the orgy. She had dark brown eyes, and a strange look as of an old picture in her face; and her eyes brightened with an argent gleam. He saw the revellers nudging each other and glancing at her, and two or three young men went up and asked her to come for a walk. She shook her head and said 'No thank you' again and again, and seemed as if she were looking for somebody in the crowd.

'I'm expecting a friend,' she said at last to a man who proposed a drink and a walk afterwards; 238