rection, and a frightened whisper ran through the crowd
as Mr. Woburn hastened across the ground. On the very edge of a broken
tottering wall projecting from the side of the keep sat Rupert--ever an
adventurous little fellow--his face white and his legs dangling. He had
crept up into the keep alone, and climbed as high as he could, just to
give them all a fright. And he had succeeded, but not without risk to
himself, for the shriek of terror which some one gave upon seeing him
had awakened him to a sense of his danger, and looking down upon the
terrified faces below he grew frightened and almost lost the power to
keep his seat. It was a terrible moment, and every one paused in
horror-stricken silence.

[Illustration]

"That's right, Ruey, sit still!" cried a clear, ringing voice. "Shall I
come up to keep you company? But you must get to the other end of the
wall. Don't try to crawl; push yourself along like this," cried Ruth,
sitting on a low fence and propelling herself sideways, clutching it
with her hands on either side, quite regardless of the notice she was
attracting. It was the best thing she could have done, for the boy,
hearing her cheery tones and seeing that the faces below were no longer
upturned in terror, began to regain his courage, and imitated his
cousin's movements, thus getting farther and farther from the dangerous
corner and nearer to the firmer masonry of the keep, through which the
young men were hurrying to his rescue. Slowly and awkwardly he shuffled
along, and reached the end of the wall just as Ruth reached the end of
her fence, for she had kept on all the time for the sake of example.

"Thank God he is safe!" cried Mr. Woburn, as Gerald caught the little
fellow in his arms and disappeared within the walls of the building.

"And this young lady has saved him," said a gentleman who had just
appeared upon the scene. He had been taking a country ramble, had seen
the boy's danger from a considerable distance, and arrived, almost
breathless, in the castle yard just as Rupert was lifted from his
perilous position.

"If he had fainted or turned giddy he must have fallen, and that wall
would not have borne another person. Indeed, if the boy had not been a
very light weight, I am afraid it would have given way;" and as if to
verify his words a small piece of stone, which had probably been
loosened by the boy's movements, came crashing down from the wall.

Ruth was now the universal object of atte