of his faith or art; so had he placed them in her power, given her a chance to so use this trust.  She almost groaned aloud as she recalled him, and recalled, sorely against her will, a horrible tale she had once read, of a Brahmin who murdered a little child for her worthless silver anklets.  Joost was a veritable child to her, powerless before her ability, trusting in her good faith, a child indeed, even if he had not placed his secret in her grasp.  And it was he—­this child—­that she, with her superior strength, was going to rob!

She shivered.  Why was he not Rawson-Clew?  Why could not he take better care of himself and his possessions?  She could have done it with a light heart then; there would have been a semblance of fight in it; but now—­now it could not be done.  Logic, the pitiless solvent, has no action on those old long-transmitted instincts; it may argue with, but it cannot destroy, those vague yearnings of the natural man towards righteousness.  Julia did not argue, she only obeyed; she did not know why.

She picked up the lantern, and moved to go; as she did so, the barn door, lightly fastened, blew open.  A rush of rain and wind swept in, the smell of the wet earth, and the sight of the tossing trees, and massed clouds that fled across the sky.  For a moment she stood and looked, hearing the wild night voices, the sob of the wet wind, the rustle and mutter of the trees—­those primitive inarticulate things that do not lie.  And in her heart she felt very weary of shams and pretences, very hungry for the rest of reality and truth.  She turned away, and made the round of the barns systematically, and without haste; she did not hurry past the resting-place of the blue daffodils, they were safe from her now and always.

It was not till some weeks later that she saw, and not then without also seeing it was quite impossible to disprove the proposition, that there was something grimly absurd in the idea which had possessed her that night—­the thought of stealing to prove a lie, and acting dishonourably to pay a debt of honour.  At the time she did not think at all, she acted on instinct only.  Thank God for those dumb instincts, making for righteousness, which, in spite of theologians, are implanted somewhere in the heart of man.

So she went the rounds, fastened the barns, and came out of the last one, locking the door after her.  Outside, she stood a second, the rain falling upon her bare head, the wind blowing her cloak about her.  And she did not feel triumphant or victorious, nor reluctant and contemptuous of her weakness; only somehow apart and alone, and very, very tired.

CHAPTER VIII

POOFERCHJES AND JEALOUSY