She sat for a long time not daring to move, scarcely breathing,
wondering if this were the end. Then gradually it came to her,
that he was lying in the stillness of utter exhaustion. She felt
for his pulse and found it beating, weakly but unmistakably. He
had sunk into a sleep which she realized might be the means of
saving his life.
Thereafter she sat passive, leaning against a chair, waiting,
watching, as she had waited and watched for so long. Once she
leaned her head upon her hand and prayed "O dear God, let him
live!" But something--some inner voice--seemed to check that
prayer, and though her whole soul yearned for its fulfilment she
did not repeat it. Only, after a little, she stooped very low, and
touched Guy's forehead with her lips.
"God bless you!" she said softly. "God bless you!"
And in the silence that followed, she thought there was a
benediction.
CHAPTER X
THE DESIRE TO LIVE
In the last still hour before the dawn there came the tread of
horses' feet outside the bungalow and the sound of men's voices.
Sylvia looked up as one emerging from a long, long dream, though
she had not closed her eyes all night. The lamp was burning low,
and Guy's face was in deep shadow; but she knew by the hand that
she still held close between her own that he yet lived. She even
fancied that the throb of his pulse was a little stronger.
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