"The Doctor has not yet arrived," she said.

This was no unusual occurrence in the Doctor's life. Added to the demands of his profession and their uncertain timing, was the natives' own religion of timelessness. They absolutely refused to live in obedience to clocks, and it was always their mood that dictated their movements.

But Lillian felt an uneasiness which compelled her to walk instead of waiting patiently in the office.

She walked along the docks, watching the fishermen returning from their day's work. Each boat that had made a large catch had a pennant waving on its mast. The wind caught the banners and imprinted on them the same ripples and billows as it did on the skirts of the women, and the ribbons on their hair.

She sat down at a little café and had a dark coffee, watching the boats heaving up and down, and the families taking a walk with all their children. How they installed themselves in the present! They looked at everything that was happening as if nothing else existed, as if there were no work to be done, no home to return to. They abandoned themselves to the rhythm, let the wind animate scarves and hair, as if every undulation and ripple of color and motion hypnotized them into contentment.

By the time she returned to the Doctor's office it was growing dark.

None of the patients showed uneasiness. But the nurse said: "I don't understand. I called the Doctor's home. He left there an hour ago saying he was coming straight to his office."

Just as she turned on the electric lights, they went out again. This often happened in Golconda. The power was weak. But it increased Lillian's anxiety, and to relieve it she decided to walk toward the Doctor's home, hoping to meet him on the way.

The long walk uphill oppressed her. The electric lights were on again, but the houses grew farther apart from each other, the gardens darker and denser as she walked.

Then in an isolated field she noticed a car which had run into an electric pole. A group of people were gathered around it.

In the dark she could not see the color of the car. But she heard the screams of the Doctor's wife.

Lillian began to tremble. He had tried to prepare her for this.

She continued to walk. She was not aware that she was weeping. The Doctor's wife broke away from the group and ran toward Lillian, blindly. Lillian took her in her arms and held her, but the woman fought against her. Her mouth was contorted but no sounds came from it, as if her cries had been strangled. The wife fell on her knees and hid her face in Lillian's dress.