At length came
the usual rush of icy wind and the bursting of the great storm. The
thunder crashed and bellowed; the lightning flickered and flared; the rain
fell in a torrent. It passed as it always did, and the sun shone out
again. Gasping with relief, Rachel went out of the oven-like hut into the
cool, sweet air, and sat down upon a tanned bull's hide which she had
ordered her servants to spread for her by the pool of water upon the bank
beneath the trees. It was very pleasant here, and the raindrops shaken
from the wet leaves fell upon her fevered face and hands and refreshed
her.
She tried to forget her troubles for a little while, and began to think of
Richard Darrien, her boy-lover of a long-past hour, wondering what he
looked like now that he was grown to be a man.
"If only you would come to help me! Oh! Richard, if only you would come to
help me," the poor, worn-out girl murmured to herself, and so murmuring
fell asleep.
Suddenly it seemed to her that she was wide awake, and staring into a part
of the pool beneath her where the bottom was of granite and the water
clear. In this water she saw a picture. She saw a great laager of waggons,
and outside of one of them a group of bearded, jovial-looking men smoking
and talking.
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