rd and paling
into fairest rose. The sullen clouds caught brightness at their summits,
and took upon themselves the semblance of Alpine heights touched by the
mystic glory of the dawn, and a clear silver radiance flashed across the
ocean for a second and then vanished, as though a flaming torch had just
flared up to show the troublous heaving of the waters, and had then been
instantly quenched. As the evening came on the weather steadily
cleared;--and presently a pure, calm, dark-blue expanse of ether
stretched balmily across the whole width of the waves, with the evening
star--the Star of Love--glimmering faintly aloft like a delicate jewel
hanging on the very heart of the air. Far away down in the depths of the
"coombe," a church bell rang softly for some holy service,--and when
David Helmsley awoke at last from his death-like swoon he found himself
no longer alone. A woman knelt beside him, supporting him in her
arms,--and when he looked up at her wonderingly, he saw two eyes bent
upon him with such watchful tenderness that in his weak, half-conscious
state he fancied he must be wandering somewhere through heaven if the
stars were so near. He tried to speak--to move,--but was checked by a
gentle pressure of the protecting arms about him.

"Better now, dearie?" murmured a low anxious voice. "That's right! Don't
try to get up just yet--take time! Let the strength come back to you
first!"

Who was it--who could it be, that spoke to him with such affectionate
solicitude? He gazed and gazed and marvelled,--but it was too dark to
see the features of his rescuer. As consciousness grew more vivid, he
realised that he was leaning against her bosom like a helpless
child,--that the wet grass was all about him,--and that he was
cold,--very cold, with a coldness as of some enclosing grave. Sense and
memory returned to him slowly with sharp stabs of physical pain, and
presently he found utterance.

"You are very kind!" he muttered, feebly--"I begin to recollect now--I
had walked a long way--and I was caught in the storm--I felt ill,--very
ill!--I suppose I must have fallen down here----"

"That's it!" said the woman, gently--"Don't try to think about it!
You'll be better presently."

He closed his eyes wearily,--then opened them again, struck by a sudden
self-reproach and anxiety.

"The little dog?" he asked, trembling--"The little dog I had with
me----?"

He saw, or thought he saw, a smile on the face in the darkness.