, so longingly, so tenderly, that he
envied the homeland.

There was a long break in the conversation, both evidently wrapped in
thought which could not be disturbed by the whirl of the coach. He was
wondering how he could give her up, now that she had been tossed into
his keeping so strangely. She was asking herself over and over again how
so thrilling an adventure would end.

They were sore and fatigued with the strain on nerve and flesh. It was
an experience never to be forgotten, this romantic race over the wild
mountain road, the result still in doubt. Ten minutes ago--strangers;
now--friends at least, neither knowing the other. She was admiring him
for his generalship, his wonderful energy; he was blessing the fate
that had come to his rescue when hope was almost dead. He could scarcely
realize that he was awake. Could it be anything but a vivid fancy from
which he was to awaken and find himself alone in his berth, the buzzing,
clacking carwheels piercing his ears with sounds so unlike those that
had been whispered into them by a voice, sweet and maddening, from out
the darkness of a dreamland cab?

"Surely we must be almost at the end of this awful ride," she moaned,
yielding completely to the long suppressed alarm. "Every bone in my body
aches. What shall we do if they have not held the train?"

"Send for an undertaker," he replied grimly, seeing policy in jest. They
were now ascending an incline, bumping over boulders, hurtling through
treacherous ruts and water-washed holes, rolling, swinging, jerking,
crashing. "You have been brave all along; don't give up now. It is
almost over. You'll soon be with your friends."

"How can I thank you"' she cried, gripping his arm once more. Again his
hand dropped upon hers and closed gently.

"I wish that I could do a thousand times as much for you," he said,
thrillingly, her disheveled hair touching his face so close were his
lips. "Ah, the lights of the town!" he cried an instant later. "Look!"

He held her so that she could peer through the rattling glass window.
Close at hand, higher up the steep, many lights were twinkling ling
against the blackness.

Almost before they realized how near they were to the lights, the horses
began to slacken their speed, a moment later coming to a standstill. The
awful ride was over.

"The train! the train!" she cried, in ecstacy. "Here, on the other side.
Thank heaven!"

He could not speak for the joyful pride that distend