After the fierce hunting by day, the nights were twinkling mysteries
of great shining, diamond stars; and Sirius shone like a white sun. The
rustling silence, the audible stillness of the vast forests lapped the
encampment of the caravan, where the fires died out but still glowed
sufficiently to keep the wild animals at a distance and where the
guards and drivers lay immersed in sound sleep. Lucius was happy in
that mystery; and in the silvery sheen of the night the last memories
of his grief seemed to lift like wisps of disappearing mist.
The travellers had approached the Land of Ophir; and the pillars of
Sesostris would be reached next day. In this last twinkling night of
forest-life, with the stars shining through the foliage like a diamond
cupola above an emerald dome, Lucius had left his tent while all the
others slept. Next to his tent were those of Thrasyllus, Caleb and
Cora. And he saw Cora sitting outside her tent, which was the biggest,
because she was a woman, and made of spotted lynx-hides, whose warmth
resisted the plentiful dew. And she rose and stretched her hands to
the ground, in salutation, and preserved that attitude, shyly.
"Are you not sleeping, Cora?" asked Lucius.
"No, my lord. I cannot sleep when the nights twinkle like this, when
the stars send forth such rays that it is really as though they were
moving to and fro. I feel that I must go on gazing at them until they
fade away."
"Life here in the forest is too wild for you, too lonely...."
"Life in the forest is paradise, my lord. By day Thrasyllus tells me
wonderful things about the mountains and the plants and the animals
and the savage tribes; and so the hours pass till you return from
hunting...."
"And you sing to us and dance in the light of the fire and charm the
rude hunters and Caleb in particular...."
She smiled and made no reply.
Then she continued:
"And the nights are such strange mysteries of sounds and silence and
of radiant stars; and it is as though Sirius grew bigger nightly."
"And you are never frightened?"
"I am not frightened, my lord."
"Not even at night?"
"Least of all at night, because ..."
"Because what?"
"Because then you have returned; and I feel safest where you are."
"From that height yonder, Cora, one can see the sea. I love the sea
and I often miss the sea in the forest. I am glad that we are near
the sea again. As I returned from hunting, I could just catch sight
of a streak of sea from there. I should like to see the sea now,
at night, with all those twinkling stars above it."
"Yes, my lord."
"Come with me ... that is, if you are not frightened."
"I am not frightened, my lord, where you are."
And her heart throbbed in her throat, but not with fear.
They went past the sleeping guards and left the circle of the
watch-fires. She nearly stumbled over the creepers and stones; and
he said:
"Give me your hand."
It was the first time that his hand had met hers. He had never touched
her before. When she felt the warm strength of his hand around her
own small hand, hers lay passive like a captive dove.
"Why are you trembling so?" he asked.
"I don't know, my lord," she stammered.
He smiled and did not speak again.
They climbed the rocky height and he helped her, with his fingers
still grasping hers. He even put his arm round her slim waist, to
support her, and he felt that she was still trembling, as in a fever.
"Look," he said, pointing, "there is the sea."
They both looked out. Around them stretched the forests, all shadow
and denseness and gloom and loneliness and mystery. On one horizon,
gleaming darkly in the night, lay the line of the sea, the Arabian
Gulf, the Erythraean or Red Sea.
"The sea," she stammered. "Yes, the sea, I love it too. I always had it
around me, at Cos. I also miss it in the forest, as you do, my lord."
"To-morrow we shall reach the sea again, Cora.... Cora, I want
you, to-night, this last night ... to dance to me ... here, in the
starlight."
"Yes, my lord," said the slave.
She danced. She softly hummed a tune between scarce-parted lips. The
thin folds of her garment flew to either side; and with her veils she
mimicked the movements of birds' wings. She hovered round and round
on the upland, circling like a swallow.
He stepped towards her; and she ceased dancing.
"Cora," he said, "to-morrow we shall be at Dire, by the pillars of
Sesostris. On the opposite side are Ebal and Usal and Saba, Caleb's
country, to which he wants to return when he is rich."
"Yes, my lord."
"Cora, if you are really fond of Caleb, I will resign you to him."
She trembled and clasped her hands. She fell on her knees and gave
one loud sob.
"What's the matter, Cora?"
"My lord, let me stay with you! Let me dance and sing for you, let me
serve you, let me wash your feet; kick me, beat me, torture me! But do
not send me away! Do not send me away! Keep me! Keep me with you!... I
come from Dryope's slave-school, I have cost you a fortune, my lord! I
am not beautiful, but my voice is good and, my lord, I am a clever
dancer. But, if your lordship is tired of my voice and my dancing,
I will wash your feet; and, when you are angry and want to beat a
slave, you shall beat me and ill-treat me! But keep me, keep me,
wherever you may be!"
She had thrown herself before him and was sobbing and kissing his feet.
And he said:
"Then, Cora, don't you love Caleb?"
"My lord," she said, "I love you--if I must say it!--and I have loved
you from the first moment when Thrasyllus brought me to you. And,
if it please you, my lord, I will die for you. But keep me and do
not give me to Caleb!"
"And if it pleased me, Cora ... that you should not die for me but
live for me? Not only to sing to me and dance to me, but also to throw
your arms around my neck, to lay your breast upon my breast and your
lips upon my lips?..."
She gave a cry as of incredible happiness. Smiling, he raised her
very tenderly and folded her in his arms, close against him.
"Oh!" she cried, in ecstasy, when his lips sought
hers. "Aphrodite! Aphrodite! She has heard my prayer!"
Her little hands ventured to reach out for his head and take it by the
temples. Around them was the solitude of the Ethiopian night; from out
of the forests the flowers filled the air with incense; a spice-laden
aroma was wafted from the sea; and the radiant stars hung above them,
like white suns, with the dazzling glory that was Sirius....