The Sheik

Under the awning of the tent Diana was waiting for Gaston and the

horses, pulling on her thick riding-gloves nervously. She was wrought

up to the utmost pitch of excitement. Ahmed Ben Hassan had been away

since the previous day and it was uncertain if he would return that

night or the next. He had been vague as to how long he would be

absent. There had been a constant coming and going amongst his

followers--messengers arriving on exhausted horses at all hours of the

day and night, and the Sheik himself had seemed unusually preoccupied.

He had not condescended to give any reason for the special activity of

his people and she had not asked him.

In the four weeks that had elapsed since she had promised him her

obedience she had been very silent. The fear and hatred of him grew

daily. She had learned to stifle the wild fits of rage and the angry

words that leaped to her lips. She had learned to obey--a reluctant

obedience given with compressed lips and defiant eyes, but given, and

with a silence that surprised even herself. Day after day she had

followed the usual routine, dumb unless he spoke to her; and with his

own attention occupied with matters beyond the four walls of his tent

he had not noticed or did not trouble to heed her silence. Lately he

had left her very much alone; she had ridden with him almost daily

until the last week, when he had announced curtly that in the meantime

the length of her rides must be curtailed and that Gaston would

accompany her. He had not offered any explanation, and she had not

sought one. She had chosen to see in it merely another act of tyranny

imposed on her by the man whose arbitrary exercise of power over her

and whose tacit possession of her galled her continually. And under the

sullen submission a wild fury of revolt was raging. She searched

feverishly for means of flight, and now the Sheik's absence seemed to

have given her the chance she had been waiting for. In the solitude of

the previous night she had tossed impatiently from side to side of the

big couch, vainly trying to find some means of taking advantage of her

comparative freedom to effect her escape. Surely she could find some

way of avoiding Gaston's vigilance. Excitement had kept her awake half

the night, and in the morning she had had hard work to keep her

agitation hidden and to appear as usual. She had even been afraid to

order the horses any earlier in her nervous terror lest the valet

should suspect there was any reason behind the simple request. After

her petit dejeuner she had paced the tent, unable to sit still,

dreading lest any moment might bring the return of the Sheik and

frustrate her hopes.