III—The Stranger.The day seemed endless, but when darkness came at last, so great was my nervous tension that I burst into tears. I sobbed as I had not sobbed since my childhood days, and then, utterly worn out and spent, I sank into the sleep of pure exhaustion and the whole world was blotted out.
The sun was well up when I awoke, and I awoke to find a man watching me.
For the moment I thought it was only the breaking of a dream and waited for the man to fade away, but he smiled gravely at me, and I knew he was real.
I went sick with fear. The man was sitting on a rock not five paces from me, and he was nonchalantly smoking a cigarette. He was a man about middle age and had a pleasant face, with big, calm, grey eyes. He was clean shaven, with a strong chin and a firm humorous mouth. He
