IX. THE STRANGE LADY
Moonrise with a great and growing moon opened over all those flats, making them seem flatter and larger than they were, turning them to a lake of blue light. The two companions trudged across the moonlit plain for half an hour in full silence. Then MacIan stopped suddenly and planted his sword-point in the ground like one who plants his tent-pole for the night. Leaving it standing there, he clutched his black-haired skull with his great claws of hands, as was his custom when forcing the pace of his brain. Then his hands dropped again and he spoke.
“I’m sure you’re thinking the same as I am,” he said; “how long are we to be on this damned seesaw?”
The other did not answer, but his silence seemed somehow solid as assent; and MacIan went on conversationally. Neither no
