Drowsiness came on apace, but sleep claimed Yermah an instant only. With a tenderness akin to holiness, he occupied himself with Kerœcia’s comfort. He was completely subdued by her helplessness, and she was in every sense sacred to him. “She trusts me,” he whispered softly, as he observed the relaxation of her pose. In his gentleness and solicitude, there was that incipient quality indicated which would make him a kind and indulgent father. She was to him still such a wonderful being that he was intensely interested in her personality. Curious as a boy with a new toy, he longed to arouse her, yet hesitated to do so. He felt diffident about touching her. Before he could decide what to do, she had opened her eyes with a start. “Beloved, I thought thou hadst left me,” she murmured, only half-awake. “No. I am still beside thee. We have both been in dreamland, but thou art more laggard than I.” “I am much refreshed,” she said, apologetically. “Thou wilt pardon my neglect?” “I, too, am renewed,” he answered, stroking her hair affectionately. * * * * * “Thou wilt not forget me when thou art engrossed with affairs of state?” she asked wistfully, as they stood together in the twilight taking leave of each other. He was to go away at daybreak the following morning, and she clung to him in longing farewell. “Remember this,” he answered, taking her face in his hands, and looking deep into her eyes: “Nothing can for one moment blot out thy dear image. The first thought of the day, the last thought of the night is of thee.” “Thou art my whole desire and inspiration. Memory serves thee faithfully. May the energy of the cosmos conserve thy strength of purpose, thy health and happiness,” was Kerœcia’s reply. “To Him who was in the beginning, and shall endure to the end without mutation or change, I commend my sweet love. May angels of content hover over thee, Kerœcia, my treasure!” A tender, lingering embrace, a shower of kisses on eyelids and lips, and then the princess stood alone, straining her eyes into the dark, trying to retain a glimpse of her departing lover. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN THE JEWEL BOOK AND WHAT CAME OF IT On the way home, and for days after his arrival at Tlamco, Yermah thought of what he should do to please Kerœcia. She had said that she wanted to know of all his handiwork and achievements, so he studied out a plan to fulfill her wishes. Being a master in metallurgy, a skillful artificer, and an expert diamond lapidary, he decided to make her a tablet of stones, which should be a book of his life, confident that she understood the language of the genii, since her father’s court copied the letters used in their cuneiform writing from the arrow-head crystals imprisoned in sapphires.