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The elements, as is their wont upon such occasions, gave forth no clear
reply.
None the less, while the moist south wind, shorn of the sting of
midday, relaxed his pores and passed over his cheek like a warm caress,
there exhaled from those limitless spaces a sense of joyous
amplitude--of freedom and exhilaration.



CHAPTER XVIII


And now, in the sunlit hour of dawn, he was bathing again. An excellent
habit. It did him good, this physical contact with nature. Africa had
weakened his constitution. Nepenthe made him feel younger once
more--capable of fun and mischief. The muscles were acquiring a fresh
tone, that old zest of life was coming back to him. His health, without
a shadow of doubt, had greatly improved.
While disporting himself in amphibious joy among the tepid waves he
seemed to cast off that sense of unease which had pursued him of late.
It was good to inhale the harsh salty savour--to submit himself to these
calming voices--to float, like a careless Leviathan, in the blue
immensity; good to be alive, simply alive.


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