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 suddenly above the treacherous sympathy he had begun to feel for her. He spoke with bitterness.

"I see! You feel pretty sure he'll be in Biskra."

She stared at him. "I think you may mean Mr. Tinker."

"Yes."

She said nothing; but, after looking at him expressionlessly for a moment or two longer, made an odd movement as if she had forgotten that she was in a moving vehicle and meant to rise from her seat and leave him. Then she leaned forward, her hand uplifted to tap on the glass before her and her lips parted in the impulse to speak to the chauffeur.

Ogle caught the uplifted hand and held it.

"Aurélie!" he said. "You can't get out here on the road."

"Why not?" she asked fiercely. "There are some things one prefers to others." Then she released her hand from his, put it over her eyes, and again sank back upon the cushions. "Just a second," she murmured. "Sometimes one must think a little."

"I hope so. Certainly before one does anything absurd." He went on talking, as men do when they begin to feel remorseful. "I don't see why you resent my inference; surely it wasn't an unfair one. How-