"I've had rather a curious time, since we parted." Then he told her, as briefly as he could, the story of his adventures.
And she listened--well, as Desdemona of old listened to Othello; that is to say, her star-like eyes were fixed on his face, as if they were chained there, and she listened, sometimes her breath growing fast, sometimes with an exclamation of amazement, of fear.

Her interest, her absorption were so intense that perhaps she was not conscious that imperceptibly he had drawn closer to her, so that his arm was touching her dress and his face was very near hers.

Woman is never so charming to us men as when she is listening to the story of our lives; and, oh, what a sympathetic listener was this beautiful, dainty girl, with her wide-open eyes, her red, parted lips, her little sighs and murmured exclamations! "Oh, it is wonderful!" she breathed at last.

"It it like a story in a book! I can see it all--you tell it so well; and yet I feel you are not telling half.

And this Donna Elvira--what a good, kind woman she must be!" "She is," assented Derrick.