Then I saw you start
running, and I knew you were cut off. I yelled to you, but I couldn't
make you hear. So I had to give chase."
His arm tightened a little about her.
"I am sorry you were scared," he said. "Are you feeling better now?"
She could not understand him. He spoke with such entire absence of
anxiety. In spite of herself her own fears began to subside.
"Yes, I am better," she said. "But--tell me more. Why didn't you go back
when you saw what had happened?"
"I couldn't," he said simply. "Besides, even if they launched the
lifeboat, the chances were dead against their reaching you. I thought of
a rope, too. But that seemed equally risky. It was a choice of odds. I
chose what looked the easiest."
"And carried me here?" she said.
The light, shining weirdly in upon his face, showed her that he was
smiling.
"I couldn't stop to consult you," he said. "I saw this hole, and I made
for it. I climbed up with you across my shoulder."
"You are wonderfully strong," she said, in a tone of surprise.
He laughed openly.
"Notwithstanding my size," he said. "Yes; I'm fairly muscular, thank
Heaven."
Evelyn's mind was still working round the problem of deliverance.
"We shall have to stay here for hours," she said, "even if--if----"
He interrupted her with grave authority.
"There is no 'if,' Miss Harford," he said. "We may have to spend some
hours here; but it will be in safety.
Pages:
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238