n an anchorage. The jetty or the millpond--that was the alternative,
and it was one to put power into the arm and give staying power to the
laboured breath! The moments were flying now, the banks seemed to be
flitting past more quickly than ever. Darsie tried to convert the
paddle into an oar, with which to steer more vigorously for the desired
bank; then came a breathless second of suspense, followed by a sickening
realisation of failure. The punt had swept past the jetty at a distance
just wide enough to make it impossible to grasp the chain, and was now
bearing straight for the wooden gates!

CHAPTER TWELVE.

DARSIE'S SUGGESTION.

With the passing of the jetty, fear awoke for the first time in Darsie's
breast--the fear which arises when the possibility of action is over and
nothing remains but to sit still and await the end. In one moment of
time an incredible number of thoughts flashed through her brain; she
thought of her father and mother, of their grief and pain at the
knowledge of her untimely end; she thought of her brothers and sisters,
of Vie Vernon and plain Hannah, and Dan; she saw a vision of them all
garbed in black, sitting round the study fire, enlarging upon her own
virtues and graces; she thought of Aunt Maria and her responsibility;
she saw a vision of herself, cold and still, being dragged out of the
millpond, with her hair floating like seaweed behind her, and at the
thought a wild rebellion rose in her heart, a determination to fight on,
to fight to the end for her precious life! One or two large trees stood
out from the bank.

Darsie leaped to her feet and, raising the paddle so high above her head
that it caught against the branches, strove to delay the progress of the
punt. The result was to upset her own equilibrium, and as she fell
forward she screamed loudly, a shrill, penetrating scream of panic and
appeal.

With almost startling quickness the answer came, in the form of an
answering cry, close at hand. Round the corner of the next clump of
bushes dashed the figure of Ralph Percival, bareheaded, eager-faced,
and, thank Heaven! unhesitating in action. Not for one fraction of a
second did he hesitate, but with the assurance of one who knows every
inch of the land rushed forward waist-deep into the river; halted there,
and called out a sharp command--

"Your paddle! Stretch out your paddle towards me! Hold hard! Lean out
as far as you can!"

Darsie fell on her knees, a