t me with one hand by my dress between the
shoulders, and told me again to swim hard for the shore. It seemed
hopeless, at first, for the current was frightful--oh, frightful! It
washed us under and tried to carry us out again. But Pats pushed hard,
and after an awful struggle--it seemed a lifetime--we we reached the
shore."

"Ah, good!"

But in the speaker's face there came no enthusiasm. She closed her eyes,
leaning back in her chair as if from physical weakness. The Princess got
up, and once more came and stood by the girl's chair, and gently patted
a shoulder.

"Tell me the rest later. There is no haste."

"I shall feel better for telling it now. I started to climb up the bank.
It was steep, all stones and gravel, and a few little bushes. The stones
gave way and kept letting me down--slipping backward. He was still in
the water. I heard him tell me to go slow and not hurry. He was very
calm, and his voice came up from beneath me, for--" and here she
laughed, a little hysterical laugh--more of a sob than a laugh, as if
from over-taxed nerves--"for I seemed to be sitting on his head."

The Princess also laughed, responsively.

"I shall never know just how it happened, but in one of my struggles the
whole bank seemed to slide from under me into the river. I clung to a
bush and called to him, and tried to look down, but--he was gone."

A silence followed. The Princess rested her cheek against Elinor's hair,
and murmured words of comfort. "How long ago did this happen?"

"A month ago."

More from sympathy than from conviction the Princess said:

"He may return. Stranger things have happened. Perhaps he was carried
out to sea--and rescued."

Elinor shook her head. "He was buried beneath the rocks and gravel. If
he had risen to the surface, I should have seen him, for the day was
clear. No, I know where he is. I see him, all night long, in my sleep,
lying at the bottom of the river, his face looking up."

"My child," said the Princess, "listen. With your sorrow you have
precious memories. From what you have _not_ told me of your Pats, I
know him well. He loved you. That is clear. You loved him. That is also
clear. Alone with him in this cottage through an endless winter, and
perfectly happy! _Voyons_, you confessed all when you said 'we were
happy!' He was the man of a woman's heart! With no hesitation, he gave
his life for yours: to save you or die with you. Tell me, what can
Heaven offer that is better tha