The
passage was bright; he looked up quickly and started.
Sabina was standing beside him, holding the large lamp. Her big hat
had fallen back and her hair made a fair cloud between it and her
white face.
"I thought something had happened to you," she said, "so I brought the
lamp. You stopped working for such a long time," she explained, "I
thought you must have hurt yourself, or fainted."
"No," answered Malipieri. "There is nothing the matter with me. I was
looking at the bricks."
"You must need rest, for it is past ten o'clock. I looked at the
watch."
"I will rest when I get through the wall. There is no time to be lost.
Are you very hungry?"
"No. I am a little thirsty." She looked at the black water, pouring
down the overflow shaft.
"That water is not good to drink," said Malipieri, thinking of what
was at the bottom of the well. "We had better not drink it unless we
are absolutely forced to. I hope to get you out in two hours."
He stood leaning on his crowbar, his dark hair covered with dust, his
white shirt damp and clinging to him, and all stained from rubbing
against the broken masonry.
"It would be better to rest for a few minutes," she said, not moving.
He knew she was right, but he went with her reluctantly, and presently
he was sitting beside her on the marble limbs of the Aphrodite.
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