As I did so Desiree threw her hands gropingly above her head and
fell fainting to the ground.
Harry sprang forward in time to keep her head from striking on
the rock and knelt with his arms round her shoulders. We had
nothing, not even water, with which to revive her; he called her
name aloud appealingly. Soon her eyes opened; she raised her hand
and passed it across her brow wonderingly.
"God help me!" she murmured in a low voice, eloquent of distress
and pain.
Then she pushed Harry aside and rose slowly to her feet, refusing
his assistance.
"In the name of Heaven, what is it?" Harry demanded, turning to
me.
"We have found the devil at last," I answered, with an attempt to
laugh, which sounded hollow in my own ears.
Desiree could tell us nothing, except that she had felt herself
drawn forward by some strange power that had seemed to come from
the baneful, glittering eyes. She was bewildered and stunned and
unable to talk coherently. We assisted her to the wall, and she
sat there with her back propped against it, breathing heavily
from the exhaustion of terror.
"We must find water," I said, and Harry nodded, hesitating.
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