Without another word we both rose to our feet, and stood side by side for a minute, looking down on the little grave beneath us.

I would have gladly changed places then with the lonely English girl, who had pined away in this remote island.
After that short, silent pause, we went slowly homeward along the quiet, almost solitary lanes.

Twice we met a fisherman, with his creel and nets across his shoulders, who bade us good-night; but no one else crossed our path.
It was a profound monotony, a seclusion I should not have had courage to face wittingly.

But I had been led into it, and I dared not quit it.

How long was it to last?
.