You have been out here eight years; she was a child of ten when you left England! You certainly have not seen her, and as I know pretty well every woman who has been in this station for the last five or six years, I can answer for it that you have not seen anyone in the slightest degree resembling her." "That is what I have been saying to myself, Doctor, but that does not in the slightest degree shake my conviction about it." "Then you must have dreamt it," the Doctor said decidedly.

"Some fool of a poet has said, 'Visions of love cast their shadows before,' or something of that sort, which of course is a lie; still, that is the only way that I can account for it." Bathurst smiled faintly.

"I don't think the quotation is quite right, Doctor; anyhow, I am convinced that the impression is far too vivid to have been the result of a dream." "By the way, Bathurst," the Doctor said, suddenly changing his conversation, "what do you think of this talk we hear about chupaties being sent round among the native troops, and the talk about greased cartridges.

You see more of the natives than anyone I know; do you think there is anything brewing in the air ?" "If there is, Doctor, I am certain it is not known to the natives in general.

I see no change whatever in their manner, and I am sure I know them well enough to notice any change if it existed.