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I

"Dr Anstice"--the girl spoke slowly, and her voice was curiously flat--"how , the lanced at his watch; and when he spoke his voice, too, was oddly devoid of tone

"I think--only an hour now"

"Only an hour" In the gloorew very pale "And then----" She broke off, shuddering

"Miss Ryder, don't think of it After all, we need not give up hope yet An hour--why, heaps of things irl's lips, and she came a step nearer her companion

"Don't let us buoy ourselves up with false hopes," she said quietly "In your heart you know quite well that nothing on earth can save us now When the sun rises"--in spite of herself she shivered--"we shall die"

Thefor aa man he tried once more to reassure her

"Miss Ryder, I won't allow that" Taking her hand he led her once ht "There is a chance--a faint one, I admit, but still an undeniable chance"

"You h she tried to speak calmly he heard the tiny thrill of hope in her voice, and in his soul he wondered whether, after all, he were not acting cruelly in speaking thus

"I o When we did not return in time for the picnic lunch or tea, someone must have wondered where ere; and it is quite possible ere seen to enter the Temple earlier in the day"

"That awful Temple!" The horror in her eyes made his heart beat pitifully over her "If only I had not been so foolish as to insist on entering! You didn't kno dangerous it was to go in, but I did--at least, I knew sooand then--the uncanny silence, the sudden knowledge that ere not alonethat so us--and then those awful ony of reme, against the wall

"Miss Ryder, don't go over it all again!" Although it seemed certain that they had only an hour to live, Anstice could not bear to see her suffer now "Don't let us think of what has happened--let us try to iine that we are saved--as indeed we lance out of the empty -space as he spoke, and his heart sank to note the lightening of the Indian night's soft dusk