He feared not death, yet he desired ardently to live, for life to him was Nina.

She had promised to come, to follow him, to share his danger and his splendour.

But with her by his side he cared not for danger, and without her there could be no splendour and no joy in existence.
Crouching in his shady hiding-place, he closed his eyes, trying to evoke the gracious and charming image of the white figure that for him was the beginning and the end of life.

With eyes shut tight, his teeth hard set, he tried in a great effort of passionate will to keep his hold on that vision of supreme delight.

In vain! His heart grew heavy as the figure of Nina faded away to be replaced by another vision this time--a vision of armed men, of angry faces, of glittering arms--and he seemed to hear the hum of excited and triumphant voices as they discovered him in his hiding-place.