o my heart. My
courage rallied; my arm grew nerved and strong; my footsteps seemed to
grasp the very ground, and with a bold and daring spirit I waited for
the coming shock. On it came, a mighty flood, sweeping high above us
as we struggled in the midst. The blue water moved on, unbroken; for a
moment or two I felt we were borne along with a whirlwind speed; then
suddenly we touched the strand--but only for a second, for the returning
wave came thundering back, and carried us along with it. My senses now
began to wander; the dark and gloomy sea stretched around us; the stars
seemed to flit to and fro; the roar of water and the sounds of human
voices were mingled in my ears; my strength, too, was failing me, and
I buffeted the waves with scarcely consciousness. Just at that moment,
when, all dread of danger past, the gloomy indifference to life was
fast succeeding, I saw a bright gleam of light flying rapidly across the
water; the shouts of voices reached me also, but the words I heard not.
Now falling beneath, now rising above the foamy surface, I struggled on,
with only strength to press home closer to my bosom the form of her my
heart was filled by, when of a sudden I felt my arm rudely grasped on
either side. A rope, too, was thrown around my waist, and I was hurried
inwards towards the shore amid cries of 'All safe! all safe! not too
fast, there!' A dreary indistinctness of what followed even still haunts
my mind. A huge wood-fire upon the beach, the figures of the fishermen,
the country-people passing hither and thither, the tumult of voices, and
a rude chair in which lay a pale, half-fainting form. The rest I know
not.

It was dark--so dark I could not see the persons that moved beside me.
As we passed along the grassy turf in silence, I held a soft hand in
mine, and a fair cheek rested on my shoulder, while masses of long
and dripping hair fell on my neck and bosom. Carried by two stout
peasant-fishermen in a chair, Louisa Bellew, faint but conscious of the
danger past, was borne homeward. I walked beside her, my heart too full
for words. A loud, wild cheer burst suddenly forth, and a bright gleam
of light aroused me from my trance of happiness. The steps were crowded
with people, the large hall so full we scarce could force our way. The
door of the parlour was now thrown open, and there sat the pale, gaunt
figure of Sir Simon Bellew--his eyes staring wildly, and his lips
parted; his hands resting on each arm of