"Say, things are all right in there with them two, and it's my turn now,"
he said. "Cute as she can be, and knows the game! Twice a widow, and
knows the game! Waiting, she is down in Cairo, where the orange blossom
blows. I'm in it; we're all in it--every one of us. Cousin Hylda's free
now, and I've got no past worth speaking of; and, anyhow, she'll
understand, down there in Cairo. Cute as she can be--"
Suddenly he swung himself down to the deck below. "The desert's the place
for me to-night," he said. Stepping ashore, he turned to where the
Duchess stood on the deck, gazing out into the night. "Well, give my love
to the girls," he called, waving a hand upwards, as it were to the wide
world, and disappeared into the alluring whiteness.
"I've got to get a key-thought," he muttered to himself, as he walked
swiftly on, till only faint sounds came to him from the riverside. In the
letter he had written to Hylda, which was the turning-point of all for
her, he had spoken of these "key-thoughts." With all the childishness he
showed at times, he had wisely felt his way into spheres where life had
depth and meaning.
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