nelt before her. She
looked at him long and intently, with large, calm eyes, then said softly
and sweetly:--

"I believe you, and pity you, sir. You have suffered much."

He bowed his head, and pressed the hem of her skirt to his lips.

"I thank you," he said brokenly.

"Is there nothing?" she said after a pause, "nothing that I can do?"

He shook his head. "Nothing, madam. You have given me your belief and
your divine compassion. It is all that I ask, more than I dared dream of
asking an hour ago. You cannot help me. I must dree my weird. I would
even ask of your goodness that you say nothing of what I have told you
to Colonel Verney or to any one."

"Yes," she said thoughtfully. "If I cannot help you, it were wiser not
to speak. I might but make your hard lot harder."

"Again I thank you." He kissed the hem of her robe once more, and rose
to his feet with a heart that sat lightly on its throne.

The day began to break. With the first faint flush Landless woke the
slaves, who at length yawned and shivered themselves into consciousness
of their surroundings. "What are we to do now?" demanded Patricia.

"We had best strike through that belt of woods until we come to some
house, whence we may get conveyance for you to Verney Manor."

"Very well. But oh! do not let us enter the forest here where we saw
that fearful face. Let us walk along the shore until the light grows
stronger. It is still night within the woods."

Landless acquiesced with a smile, and the four--he and Patricia in
front, the negroes straying in the rear--set out along the shore. The
air was chill and heavy, but there was no wind, and the unclouded sky
gave promise of a hot day. In the east the rosy flush spread and
deepened, and a pink path stretched itself across the fast subsiding
waters. The wet sand dragged at their feet, and made walking difficult;
moreover Patricia was chilled and weary, so their progress was slow.
There were dark circles beneath her eyes, and her lips had a weary,
downward curve; her golden hair, broken from its fastenings, hung in
damp, rich masses against her white throat and blue-veined temples, and
amidst the enshrouding glory her perfect face looked very small and
white and childlike. The magnificent eyes carried in their clear, brown
depths an expression new to Landless. Heretofore he had seen in them
scorn and dislike; now they looked at him with a grave and wondering
pity.

As the sun rose, the shipwrecked pa