ling against an inner conviction. "A shock strong enough to
revolutionise the brain lies in the hands of Providence, to give or to
retain. What man dare meddle with such a cure? I love my wife; she is
my world. Am I to risk her life for a possible relief? To deliberately
court danger that she--she--" He threw out his arms with a gesture of
intolerable impatience. "Oh, it is unthinkable! You don't know what
you are talking about. It is easy for you to talk. You have no heart.
You cannot feel--"

He strode away up the road leading to the hills, and Lilith stood and
watched him go, and picked a leaf of sorrel from the bank by her side
and rubbed it daintily between her small teeth, enjoying the sharp,
pungent taste. Rupert's anger had no power to ruffle her calm.

By and by she also started on her morning promenade, passing by the gate
of Dempster's house, and catching a glimpse of Eve upon the veranda.
There had been thunder-storms in the neighbourhood during the last few
days, and though the actual storms had not yet reached their little
retreat, the atmosphere was heavy and breathless. That morning Eve had
complained of a headache, and had seemed content to remain in the
garden. As she passed by, Lilith saw the nurse come out of the gate,
basket in hand, and turn in the direction of the canal bank. Evidently
she was bound for the barge-omnibus, which should convey her to the
nearest township. Lilith repaired to her own room in the Inn, and set
about the task of answering a pile of letters.

Two hours passed quickly. Then gradually into her preoccupation stole
the sense of something unusual and disturbing. She raised her head, and
sat quietly considering its cause. The little room seemed filled with a
rushing noise; it was not a new noise, but rather an exaggeration of the
one to which she had been accustomed for weeks past--the swirling of the
river.

Lilith rose, and crossed the room to the latticed window. The Inn stood
on the bisecting road between canal and river, within but a few yards'
distance of each; but this morning a strange transformation had passed
over the accustomed scene. The waters of the river were no longer
crystal clear, but of a thick muddy brown; their course was no longer
smiling and leisurely, but rapid and threatening. Upon the surface
floated broken branches and boughs of trees.

Lilith turned instantly and descended the stairs. A sense of happenings
was upon her; ther