ooped suddenly and impulsively
kissed the back of her hand lightly and was gone. For a fleeting moment
she was angry. No man had kissed her hand before; but the thought of his
liberty was swept away by another:

'Little enough when he may be going to his death!'

It was a sight to see that man and horse, surrounded by an eager crowd of
helpers, scrambling down the rough zigzag, cut and worn in the very face
of the cliff. They stumbled, and slipped; pebbles and broken rock fell
away under their feet. Alone close to the bonfire stood Stephen,
following every movement with racing blood and beating heart. The
bonfire was glowing; a constant stream of men and women were dragging and
hauling all sorts of material for its increase. The head of the swimmer
could be seen, rising and falling amid the waves beyond the Skyres.

When about twenty feet from the water-level the path jutted out to one
side left of the little beach whereon the sea now broke fiercely. This
was a place where men watched, and whence at times they fished with rods;
the broad rock overhung the water. The fire above, though it threw
shadows, made light enough for everything. The squire held up his hand.

'Stop! We can take off this rock, if the water is deep enough. How much
is it?'

'Ten fathoms sheer.'

'Good!' He motioned to them all to keep back. Then threw off all his
clothes except shirt and trousers. For an instant he patted Hector and
then sprang upon his back. Holding him by the mane he urged him forward
with a cry. The noble animal did not hesitate an instant. He knew that
grasp of the mane; that cry; that dig of the spurless heels. He sprang
forward with wide dilated nostrils, and from the edge of the jutting rock
jumped far out into the sea. Man and horse disappeared for a few
seconds, but rose safely. The man slid from the horse's back; and,
holding by the girth with one hand, swam beside him out to sea in the
direction the swimmer must come on rounding the sunken rocks.

A wild cheer broke from all on the cliff above and those already
scrambling back up the zigzag. Stephen kept encouraging the men to bring
fuel to the bonfire:

'Bring everything you can find; the carts, the palings, the roofs, the
corn, the dried fish; anything and everything that will burn. We must
have light; plenty of light! Two brave men's lives are at stake now!'

The whole place was a scene of activity. Stephen stood on the edge of
the cli