e pushed his way through the little crowd, which had
now gathered round, and started at a run; for the news had brought
almost all those gathered round the peep show to the shore, the
excitement of somebody being drowned being superior even to that of the
peep show, to the great majority; though a few, who had no hope of
obtaining the necessary pennies, had lingered behind, and seized the
opportunity for a gratuitous look through the glasses.

James ran upstairs and changed his clothes without seeing his mother,
and then, taking down one of his lesson books, set to work, shrinking
from the idea of going out again, and being made a hero of.

Half an hour later there was a knock at the front door, and a few
minutes after his mother called him down. He ran down to the parlour,
and there found the showman.

"Oh, I say," the boy broke out, "don't say anything more about it! I do
hate being thanked, and there was nothing in swimming ten yards in a
calm sea. Please don't say anything more about it. I would rather you
hit me, ever so much."

The sergeant smiled gravely, and Mrs. Walsham exclaimed:

"Why didn't you come in and tell me about it, Jim? I could not make out
at first what Mr.--Mr.--"

"Sergeant Wilks, madam."

"What Sergeant Wilks meant, when he said that he had called to tell me
how grateful he felt to you for saving his little grandchild's life. I
am proud of you, Jim."

"Oh, mother, don't!" the boy exclaimed. "It is horrid going on so. If I
had swum out with a rope through the surf, there might be something in
it; but just to jump in at the edge of the water is not worth making a
fuss about, one way or the other."

"Not to you, perhaps, young gentleman, but it is to me," the showman
said. "The child is the light of my life, the only thing I have to care
for in the world, and you have saved her. If it had only been by
stretching out your hand, I should have been equally grateful. However,
I will say no more about it, but I shall not think the less.

"But don't you believe, madam, that there was no credit in it. It was
just the quickness and the promptness which saved her life. Had your
son hesitated a moment it would have been too late, for he would never
have found her. It is not likely that your son will ever have any
occasion for help of mine, but should there be an opportunity, he may
rely upon it that any service I can render him shall be his to the
death; and, unlikely as it may seem, it may yet t