nt up, and Nasmyth held out his hand to Laura.

"I owe it all to you," he said with a curious gleam in his eyes.

The men trooped about them both, and, though they were not as a rule
effusive, some of them thumped Nasmyth's shoulder and some wrung his
hand. Half an hour had slipped by before he was free of them.

He and Laura went slowly back up the climbing gully. It was growing
dark, but a light still streamed down between the pines, and Nasmyth,
who pointed to a tree that had fallen, stood close by, looking down
upon the girl.

"I will ride back with you presently, but you must rest first; and I
have something to say, though if we had not beaten the river I think I
should never have had courage enough," he said. "When you found me
lying in the snow, you took me in; you nursed me back to life, gave me
a purpose, and set me on my feet again."

He paused for a moment. A flush dyed his worn face, and his voice was
strained when he went on again.

"One result was that I went back to the world I once belonged to--it
was really you who sent me--and you know what befell me there," he
said. "I don't think I quite forgot what I owed to you, but I was
carried away. Still, she recognized her folly and discarded me."

He stopped again, and Laura looked at him steadily with a tinge of
colour in her face.

"Well," he continued, "that was when I commenced to understand exactly
what you had been all along to me. I don't know what came upon me at
Bonavista; but though the thing must seem preposterous, I believe I
was in love with you then. Now I have nothing to bring you. You know
all my weak points, and I could not complain if you would not listen
to me. But I have come back to you again."

"Ah!" answered Laura very softly, "after all, it was fortunate that
you went away. I think it was a relief to me when Wisbech took you to
the city."

Nasmyth looked at her in surprise, and she smiled at him. "Derrick,"
she said, "once or twice when you were building the dam you fancied
that you loved me. I, however, didn't want you to fancy. That was only
going far enough to hurt me."

Nasmyth stooped toward her. "In the height of my folly I had an uneasy
consciousness that I belonged to you. Afterwards I was sure. It was a
very real thing, but I naturally shrank from coming to you. I don't
quite know how I have gathered the courage now."

Laura sat still, and he laid a hand on her shoulder. Then she turned
and looked up at him.