.

." A flare of lightning and again the menacing roll of thunder.

Then, sudden as the swoop of a bat, the electric burners quivered and went out, leaving only the glow of the fire to pierce the gloom.

In the dim light she could see his face bent over her--the face of her man, the man she loved, and all that was woman and lover within her leaped to answer the call of her mate--the infinite, imperious demand of human love that has waited and hungered through empty days and nights till at last it shall be answered by the loved one.
For a moment she lay unresisting in his arms, helpless in the grip of the passion of love which had engulfed them both.

Then the memory of the shadows--the sentinels with drawn swords--came back to her.