ht have done, Louise handed him
the great bundle the ragged corners of which bore unmistakable signs of
her recent adventure, and he carefully conveyed it to a place of safety.
Then he returned to the spot where she was standing in a sort of open
pool, which was growing wider and deeper with her every motion.

"Please take hold of my hand," he said, with the same quiet courtesy
which he might have shown in asking her for a waltz, though he pressed
his lips firmly together, to keep back the smile which was trembling
there. "Now, can you step up on the end of this board?"

For a moment Louise hesitated. The step was a long one, and, in her
soaked condition, she had lost all her wonted elasticity of motion.
However, something in the stranger's face made her feel that it was best
for her to obey, with as few words as possible; so she mustered all her
strength, made a violent effort, and scrambled up to the end of the
board, striking it with a force which sent it swinging far to the left.
For one instant she balanced herself upon her slippery foothold; then
she fell backward with a suddenness that carried her rescuer with her,
and they both plunged head foremost down into the gray pool below, just
as Grant and Ned came out at the chapel door, to look for their missing
sister.

As a general rule, there was but little observance of Sunday in Blue
Creek. To the Eastern mind, it seemed strange to pass along the busy
streets and see the carpenters hard at work upon a new house, or to
listen to the clicking of the billiard balls in the wide-open rooms. In
such a community, church-going was not a popular way of spending the
time; but, on the next day, the little chapel was filled to overflowing
with the throng that had gathered to hear the new choir. It was Easter
evening, and the bright lights shone down on the masses of flowers on
the altar and the white robes of the boys in the chancel, and on the
closely-packed congregation below. Pipe organs and boy choirs were rare
in the region, and the people of Blue Creek looked upon these as the
means of furnishing an entertainment both novel and inexpensive; so it
was to a large and varied audience that Mr. Nelson had the pleasure of
preaching his Easter sermon. Aside from the regular attendants of the
chapel, there were groups of rough miners alone and with their families,
who were rarely to be found in any church; while, in the foremost rank,
sat Wang Kum and a dozen intimate friends