The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1880-08-24


must call her so-Lady Gervase.
AT last ] could do all things for Re
ginald Gervase. Was l to finch, so
that my weakness should let loose upon
him all from which could save him,
and that In such way that he would
never even guess the peril in which he
had been / swear that felt as If for
this very purpose she had, as If by
Providence, been delivered into my
hands. If only that wretched lad had
never caught sight of her But was l
to let such miserable chance as that
destroy Reginald GervaseY What was
1 there for but to counteract chance,
and to do all things for him 7 Suppose
l did murder her, what but good would
have been doneY 1 did not shrink from
thinking tof the thing by its name.
had completely cooled my blood by
now.
But something she must have read, for
it was very far from the birth of hope
of rescue that L saw in hers. She
seemed looking through my eyes into
my heart, as if she feared It more than
the sea. Neither of us spoke word
but, meanwhile, the sea itself rose and
rose, and the wind began to rise too.
/ was absolutely making plans. l
leave her there-it would not be my
fault if she were found drowned. The
body could be recovered at low water,
and buried, and nobody would be the
wiser. l must give up Lottie, of course;
it was one thing to commit a murder,
but quite another to make her the wife
of murderer, even though of one who
had right on his side. 1 could take 1t
into my head to leave England, and
should soon be forgotten.
Can you save me?" she said at last.
"What are you going to do with me ?"
"IY with you ?" / asked. God
knows. What are you doing with Regi-
nald GervaseY Look, the tide will be
waist-high soon. L am his friend. Are
your rights or is your life the dearer to
youp But l can't trust you"
turned faint and sick at heart. How
could nerve myself, even for his sake,
to be strong enough to let this weak
woman dieY Suddenly heavy. wave
swept over the rock, brought her to her
knees, and would have carried her into
deep water at once had l not Instructive
ly thrown the moose round her and held
her so. IT must be done, though; it
was some weaker self that had saved her
for a minute more.
You can save me, and you bid me
sell my rights for my lifel" she said,
with real scorn, and with courage that
startled me. "Yes, you say truly; you
are his friend. Like master, like man.
Should have held her there till she
was drowned? Should L have been able
to face the unspeakable shame of re-
turning to the cliff alone, or should 1
have waited there until the tide had
covered me also? say to myself, and
say to you, what / said to myself
God knows 1 trust not; but / have
never very confidently believed in the
goodness of the good, or the badness of
the bad, or the weakness of the weak or
the strength of the strong, since that
day.
"Ahoy, there Hold on ~ 1 heard a
shout, and the grind of wood on the
rock, and the unshipping of oars. 1
think we were both in the boat before
we knew where we were. She was
saved without my help, and II scarce
know from what, if from anything, 1
had been saved.
Sir Reginald himself was at the helm.
What could 1 do nowY Absolutely
nothing, at last, except give up every
thing to despair. waited for the storm
to burst even there and then.
1t was simply to my amazement that
no look or sign of recognition passed
between the husband and the wife whom
he-he, not I-had saved to destroy him
/ waited in vain.
A" Thank God saw you from the
yacht in time !" said he. 1t was like
you old fellow, to try to break your
neck for nothing, but don't think
both of you could have got up without
damage. May / ask the name of the
lady whom have been lucky enough
to-Allow me to introduce myself"
81 am Lady Gervase!' she said with
q scornful look at me. 81 thank you
Sir, for saving my life"
Lady Gervasel"
You seem surprised am the wifi
of Sir Reginald Gervase, of st. Moor's
May know whom have to thank