sist me. Then she started to her feet The horror of sudden
death had done this, and had given her a convulsive energy of recoil
from a hideous fate. Thus she sprang forward, and ran for some
distance. I hastened after her, and, seizing her arm, drew it in mine.
But at that moment her short-lived strength failed her, and she sank
once more. I looked all around--the shore was only a few yards off. A
short distance away was a high, cone-shaped mass of ice, whose white
sheen was distinct amid the gloom. I recognized it at once.

"Courage, courage!" I cried. "We are at Montmorency. There is a house
not far away. Only one more effort."

She raised her head feebly.

"Do you see it? Montmorency! the ice-cone of the Falls!" I cried,
eagerly.

Her head sank back again.

"Look! look! We are saved! we are near houses!"

The only answer was a moan. She sank down lower. I grasped her so as to
sustain her, and she lay senseless in my arms.

There was now no more hope of any further exertion from her. Strength
and sense had deserted her. There was only one thing to be done.

I took her in my arms, and carried her toward the shore. How I
clambered up that steep bank, I do not remember. At any rate, I
succeeded in reaching the top, and sank exhausted there, holding my
burden under the dark, sighing evergreens.

Rising once mere. I raised her up, and made my way to a house. The
inmates were kind, and full of sympathy. I committed the lady to their
care, and fell exhausted on a settee in front of the huge fireplace.

CHAPTER VIII.

I FLY BACK, AND SEND THE DOCTOR TO THE RESCUE.--RETURN TO THE SPOT.
--FLIGHT OF THE BIRD.--PERPLEXITY, ASTONISHMENT, WONDER, AND DESPAIR.
--"PAS UN MOT, MONSIEUR!"

A long time passed, and I waited in great anxiety. Meanwhile, I had
changed my clothes, and sat by the fire robed in the picturesque
costume of a French _habitant_, while my own saturated garments were
drying elsewhere. I tried to find out if there was a doctor anywhere in
the neighborhood, but learned that there was cone nearer than Quebec.
The people were such dolts, that I determined to set out myself for the
city, and either send a doctor or fetch one. After immense trouble, I
succeeded in getting a horse; and, just before starting, I was
encouraged by hearing that the lady had recovered from her swoon, and
was much better, though somewhat feverish.

It was a wild journey.

The storm was still raging; the road was abom