one, to endure the testing
of the rapids,--the man and the woman had not brought to the terrible
ordeal the same strength.

One was drawn into the Elbow Rock rapids by the careless indifference
and the reckless spirit that was born of the life she had chosen; by
her immediate associates and environment; and by the circumstances that
were, at the last analysis, of her own making.

The other braved the same dangers, strong in the splendid spirit that
had set him against such terrible odds to attempt the woman's rescue.
From his work on the timbered mountain-side, from his life in the clean
atmosphere of the hills, and from the spiritual and mental companionship
of that little log house by the river, he had brought to his testing the
splendid strength which enabled him to endure.

Somewhere in that terrible conflict with the wild waters at Elbow Rock,
while the man whose life she had so nearly ruined by her wantonness was
fighting to save her, the soul of Martha Kent went from the bruised and
battered body which Brian drew at last from the vicious grasp of the
currents.

But the man lived.

CHAPTER XXIV.

JUDY'S RETURN.

In the early evening twilight of the day following the tragedy at Elbow
Rock, Betty Jo was sitting on the porch, to rest for a few minutes in
the fresh air, after long hours of watching beside Brian's bed.

A neighbor woman had come to help, but Betty Jo would not leave the side
of the man she loved as he fought his way slowly out of the dark shadow
of the death that had so nearly conquered him. Nor, indeed, would Brian
let her go, for even in those moments when he appeared most unconscious
of the life about him, he seemed to feel her presence. All through
the long, long hours of that anxious night and day she had watched and
waited the final issue;--feeling the dark messenger very close at times,
but gaining hope as the hours passed and her lover won his way nearer
and nearer to the light;--courageous always;--giving him the best of her
strength, so far as it was possible to give him anything;--making him
feel the steady, enduring fullness of her love.

At last, they felt that the victory was won. The doctor, satisfied that
the crisis was safely past, went his way to visit other patients. By
evening, Brian was resting so easily that the girl had stolen away for a
few minutes, leaving the neighbor to call her if he should waken.

Betty Jo had been on the porch but a short time when a ste