ter. But she saw that the reef to which Windham
clung trended in to the shore a little way off, and she called:

"I think I can get out to you--keep hold till I come."

She ran along the beach, but not all the way. As soon as she was
opposite a part of the reef that seemed accessible, she walked straight
into the water, and made her way through it, though it was two or three
feet deep near the rocks. He saw her clamber upon them and start toward
him, springing from one to another, wading across submerged places,
climbing around or over the higher points. And even there, in his
desperate plight, as he watched her coming steadily toward him, her eyes
fixed on the difficult path, and her skirt instinctively gathered a
little in one hand, the sight of her fearless grace thrilled through
him, and filled him with despairing admiration.

She came presently to the edge of a wider gap with clear water beneath,
and paused for an instant. Windham called out:

"Don't jump; you'll be lost!"

She looked at him a moment, studied the rocks again, stepped back, then
forward quickly, and sprang across. She slipped and fell, but got to her
feet again, and came on as before. She went out of Windham's sight, but
in another minute he heard a rustle above him, looked up, and saw her
standing very near the edge, and looking down at him, panting a little,
but otherwise calm.

"Don't stand there; you will fall!" he called to her.

She kneeled down and tried to reach over, but could not. She raised
herself again, and looked all around anxiously, but saw no one; she had
not seen any one since she left him hours before on the cliff. She
looked down at him and asked:

"Can you hold on long?"

"No," he answered, "not very long."

She moved back and lay down on the rock, with her face over the edge. It
was wet and slippery, and inclined forward, so that she had to brace
herself with one hand by a projection just below the brink. Lying so,
she could reach down very near him.

"Take hold of my hand," she said.

He raised one arm with an effort, so that she caught him by the wrist,
and his fingers closed about hers. She tried to pull him up slowly, but
he felt that it was hopeless, and would only result in drawing her off
the rock; so he settled back as before. He noticed that she had given
him her left hand, and saw that there was another reason besides the
necessity of bracing herself with her right. Her wrist was cut and
bleeding.

"O