His brown face was set in stern, unwavering
lines.
Furtively Matilda watched him, still with that uneasy feeling at
her heart. There was something enigmatical to her about this man's
hard endurance, but she did not resent it any longer. It awed her.
Several seconds passed ere abruptly he turned and spoke. "I am
going back. Will you tell Sylvia? Say I can manage all right
without her if she is--happier here!" The barely perceptible pause
before the word made Matilda avert her eyes instinctively though
his face never varied. "I wish her to do exactly as she likes.
Good-bye!"
He held out his hand to her suddenly, and she was amazed by the
warmth of his grasp. She murmured something incoherent about
hoping she had not been very unpleasant. It was the humblest
moment she had ever known.
He smiled in reply--that faint, baffling smile. "Oh, not in the
least. I am grateful to you for telling me the truth. I am sure
you didn't enjoy it."
No, to her own surprise, she had not enjoyed it. She even watched
him go with regret. There was that about Burke Ranger at the
moment which made her wonder if possibly the harsh conception she
had formed of him were wholly justified.
As for Burke, he went straight out to his horses, looking neither
to right nor left, untied the reins, and drove forth again into the
_veldt_ with the dust of the desert rising all around him.
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