Afterwards
By Kathlyn Rhodes
“Dr. Anstice”—the girl spoke slowly, and her voice was curiously flat—”how much longer have we—before dawn?”
Without replying, the man glanced at his watch; and when he spoke his voice, too, was oddly devoid of tone.
“I think—only an hour now.”
“Only an hour.” In the gloom of the hut, the girl’s face grew very pale. “And then——” She broke off, shuddering.
“Miss Ryder, don’t think of it. After all, we need not give up hope yet. An hour—why, heaps of things may happen in an hour.”
A wan little smile touched the girl’s lips, and she came a step nearer her companion.
“Don’t let us buoy ourselves up with false hopes,” she said quietly. “In your heart, you know quite well that nothing on earth can save us now. When the sun rises”—despite herself she shivered—”we shall die.”
The man said nothing for a moment. In his heart he knew she spoke the truth; yet being a man he tried once more to reassure her.
“Miss Ryder, I won’t allow that.” Taking her hand he led her once more to the rude bench on which she had spent the night. “There is a chance—a faint one, I admit, but still an undeniable chance.”
“You mean——?” Although she tried to speak calmly he heard the tiny thrill of hope in her voice, and in his soul, he wondered whether, after all, he was not acting cruelly in speaking thus.
“I mean our absence must have been noticed long ago. When we did not return in time for the picnic lunch or tea, someone must have wondered where we were; and it is quite possible we were seen to enter the Temple earlier in the day.”
Genre: Fiction And Literature | Romance Books
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Kathlyn Rhodes
Born in 1877, in Thirsk, Yorkshire, Annie Kathleen Rhodes was the daughter of brewer Quintin Rhodes, and his wife Sarah Annie. She was educated at home by a governess, and then at a school in Old Southgate, North London, and Gordon House, Scarborough.
Biography.
After the death of her father in 1896, Rhodes’ family moved to Scarborough, where her mother died, in 1907. Following the bombardment of Scarborough in 1914, Rhodes and her sister May moved to Staines, to be near their elder sister Hilda, living there (except for a time in Kendal, during WWII) for the rest of their lives. Rhodes died in 1962.
Rhodes’ first novel was privately published in 1899, but it was only around 1906 that her real writing career took off. She wrote fiction for both children and adults, the latter being mostly romantic fiction inspired by her 1908 trip to Egypt. Her children’s books largely fall into the girls’ school story genre.
Kathlyn Rhodes was the author of Many Waters (1899), The Will of Allah (1908) Sweet Life (1908), The Desert Dreamers (1909), Flower of Grass (also titled: The Relentless Desert) (1911), Schoolgirl Honour (1912), The Wax Image and Other Stories (1912), Dodo’s Schooldays (1913), The Making of a Soul (1914), Afterwards (1915), The Lure of the Desert (1916), The Straight Race (1916), Sands of Gold (1918), The City of Palms (1919), The Golden Apple (1920), Courage (1921), Under Desert Stars (1921), Schoolgirl Chums (1922), A Desert Cain and Other Stories (1922), Desert Lovers (1922), Desert Justice (1923), Wild Heart of Youth (1923), Who is Sylvia? (1924), The Head of the House (1924), Under the Orange Trees (1925), The Mirage of the Dawn (1926), The Green Journey (1927), The Valley of Enchantment (1929), The Golden Flower (1930), The Little Silver Leaves (1931), Out of the Wilderness (1932), Allah’s Gift (1933), The Boat of the Sun (1934), Crime on a Cruise (1935) and The Lady Was Warned (1936).
Kathlyn Rhodes
