When the terraces and gardens were left behind, a running stream or two had to be crossed, and they found themselves beside the ancient reservoir which supplied the town with water. After passing this, they came to a place where three roads met, and where a Turkish guard was always stationed. This was a serious danger; he might demand their passports, and they had none. "What shall we do if he does?" Shushan whispered. Jack pointed to his purse. But, happily, the Turk gave them no trouble, being fast asleep in his little booth by the roadside. When they got into the open country, their road lay over rocks, which rang to the feet of their horses. At first the sound almost scared them, used as they were to fear. But for the present, in all the wide landscape, there was no one to hear, and nothing to dread. They rode out into the still night--no mist, no dew, the stars flashing down, the great planets bright enough to cast perceptible shadows. The brilliant, shimmering starlight lent the campaign a beauty not its own; there was a kind of glamour over everything. Jack's spirits rose with the sense of freedom and solitude. He and Shushan put their horses at full speed, and they seemed to be flying through the clear still air,--not cold, but cool enough after the hot day to be refreshing. "Are you frightened, love? Are we going too fast for you?" he asked, hearing a little sigh, and slackening his pace accordingly. "No; but I never rode like this before. When Cousin Thomassian brought me to Biridjik, it was "_Jevash!_ _Jevash!_" (a Turkish word, which may be rendered in English, "Take it easy"). "Do you like it, my Lily?" "I like it well," she answered, breathless but rejoicing. "Go on fast again; I like it well." Did Jack like it? There was a light in his eye, a bounding rapture in his every vein, as they flew along, alone with each other in that desolate waste, which to them was as the Garden of Eden. After a while they drew rein again, that they might talk. "They tell me"--Jack spoke dreamily, out of a depth of half-realized delight--"they tell me the Garden of Eden was _here_, in this land of yours." "So our fathers say," Shushan answered. "And it is lovely enough, at least in spring, when the flowers are out. If only we were not afraid,--always." "That was what struck me," Jack said, "when, after my long illness, I began to get strong, and to notice what went on about me. Always, over every one, there seemed to hang the shadow of a great fear." "But I suppose, in your England also, there are sin and sorrow." "A great deal of both, my Lily. But in England law is _against_ wickedness and cruelty, and stops them if it can. Then there is the same law in England for all. There are not two kinds of people, one booted and spurred to ride, and the other bridled and saddled to be ridden. It took me a good while to understand that was the case here, and I was among the bridled and saddled."