Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-23

| rr aul, Wlth sudden thrill of ioy. he re
| varIa =. mat at point a few hundred
b he hsd 20 .he north of their present position
| ne mad passed a great pile of rocks faiion
| Srass detached from the sides of III. o.,ar
| eansing precipfce., The spot was invisible
hind ~nsr os ne now stood. being hidden be-
ne judged that the summit of tbis In, roa uu.
| a amass was certainly above high-water rnarI
| .neIe ne and Mademoiselle Riviera mnst
shoI'Id h III the eob of the tide, unless they
| snouio De SO fortunate as to attract tho
h14ce or some passing boat ~
| makLng known his intention. Idris added
| H a,u Usi me, this is no time for ceremony. ;"
he lifted her in his arms, and She witb :.
| sudden and natural revuIsion In f.vnr % q
| nIe submitted to his WILL placing her arms
ar wu MS neck to steady her person.
;ts ne niot uiumming sea- as if bent on securing
| rns sGlihs, came foaming with Threatening
| 11apuity over the bare stretch of sand
| eurowing forward long streamlets. that like
uassr creatures In race, seemed striving
| the cliff '' a. the ioot OF
d,nough Lorelie Riviere was but a light
| weisht, Idris progress was necessarily slow
ran;dI ILL seep ms foot sank deeper into the
| apiuIy .molsten1ng sand, and ere long the
wafer itself was swirling round his ankles
ana nlng1ng its sparkling spray against the
H Hss ;, OF the precipice And yet in all his
| NE ne mad never experienced the nure io,,
| tna1 niied him at that moment. The rvo.
| nan Whom he most loved was recIininp
withln ms arms and clasped so closely to
l Iivxr
against his own, and her hair touchinp he
| cneek; mere was subtle charm in the
| stual what wonder. then that he de-
| siIea 70 prolong 1t, and that he moved at a
| fallen crags? 'e piie VI
The desired haven was gained at last and
Mademoiseile Riviere. partly by her own
| efforts and partly with the helm of JJr;s
| clambered up the face of the sIinnerv ava
weed rocks, the top of which formed
an irregular. hummocky platform. a few
| yards in extent. Ae"
/ saved: she murmured, sinking down
and scarcely able to repress a tendency to
! cry. But will not the tide cover this
Ledge !Eo g.. ,ouo,, '"'S
weed beside her. "Samphire! 1t never grows
below salt water. We are quite safe"
Mademoiselle Riviere clasped her hands
| ner lips moved, and Idris knew that she
was breathing silent prayer. '''e
| You have saved my life," she said look
ing up at him with gratitude shining from
her eyes; How can thank you?"
Though he had seen MademoiseIle Riviera
| put once, and then for a moment only:
though this was his first time of conversing
with her, 1dris intuitively felt that she was
| that though happiness might be possible
apart from her, such happiness would be
| but the shadow of that derivabIe from her
| undivided love.
| Fortune was certainly fayoring him He
would have given half his wealth to any
| one who could have brought about such a
situation as the present and 10. the event
| had happened naturally, of itself and with
| out any generalization on his part 1t was
| wonderful Many hours might pass ere he
! and Mademoiselle Riviere could quit the
spot where they now were. He determined
to make good use of this golden opportunity.
| He would exert all his powers to gain a
| place, If not in her affection, at least in her
| friendship, SO that her feeling on parting
| from him should contain something of re-
| gret.
| How can 1 thank your she repeated
| BY not thanking me. How did the acct
| dent happen?"
| MY hat was the cause of it all. 4 was
| standing on the edge of the cliff when the
wind carried it off to the sands below. Not
| clambered down The Stairs of David after
| it. The ladder gave way, and 1 fell. A
sudden stop, and L remember no more"
at was well the ground at the foot of
| the cliff was soft sand said IdriS.
1T was well, you say" replied Made
moiselle Riviere with shiver 81 shall
never forget the sensation of falling through
| the air.
Does your ankle still pain your Idris
| asked, observing that she shrank from plac-
| ing her left foot on the ground.
| "A little" she smiled.
''You are sure it is not disocated-
| broken?'
"Oh no; it is merely sprain- How long
| shall we have to remain here?" she added
This was question that Idris himself had
| been considering. 1t appeared that Made
| moisele Rtviere. on setting out for her
! walk, had not told any one of the direc
/ ton she had intended to take; Idris had
| been similarly negligent Hence it was very
| unlikely that men from Ormsby would
come cruising along the shore in boats to
search for them. To scale the precipice was
| out of the question. To shout for aid would
be of little avail, for the cliff above
them was lofty, and the high road ran
considerable distance from its edge, there
| was little probability that their voices would
| be heard Their position rendered it i'm
noSSihla n signals that WOul1
| be visible at Ormsby, that town being sit
uated just behind the cliff that formed one
extremity of the bay.
II fear said Idris, after considering all
these things, that our captivity is de-
pendent upon the good graces of the tide
"And the tide will be several hours In
turning" said Mademoiselle Riviere. "Well,
1 suppose 1 must play the philosopher, and
accept the situation 1t is certainly better
to be here than under the waves
If her beauty charmed 1dris. her manner,
pleasant and without affectatlon, charmed
So interested had he been in her COM
partnership that he had hitherto failed to
notice that the face of the overhanging
cliff was pierced by a deep cavern, the
mouth of which was on a level with the
top of their rocky platform.
What is this?" he said. stepping for
ward to take a closer view. "a cave, as l
live. A coast-guard's place for watching
smugglers, l suppose
THAT must be the 'Hermit's Cave" said
upon it, 80 named from an ancient reciuse
who is said to have made it his home. 1
am told that the chair in which he sat is
still to be seen, cut out of the solid rock.
Excellent! You must occupy that seat,
mademoiselle. 1t will be more pleasant
there than sitting out here upon this slip
perry, windy rock"
She rose, glad of the proposed change,
for the wind was playing confusion with
her hair. Observing her vince, as her left
foot touched the ground, Idris said, with
smile:
You had better let me carry you
Lorelie colOred, neither asserting nor OPP
posing Since Idris had carried her once
it would be prudery to resist now, and
so, knowing that she must either accept
his aid or else crawl to the spot upon her
hands and knees, she intrusted herself to
his arms and in this way gained the en-
trance of the cave, which was of consider
able extent, and strewn with logs, planks
and odd pieces of timber.
Where does all this wood come FROM"
she asked.
'Wreckage timber, probably; doubtless
placed here by the coast guard to be used
as firing in cold weather. See! here is the
hermits seat you spoke Of" said Idris.
indicating a piece of rock jutting from
the wall of the cave near its entrance. 1t
had been followed out by art into the
rude resemblance of an arm chair, and