tood on a kind
of landing-place, while a skiff drifting far off in the shadows told its
own tale.

Mr. Carson rowed at once to retrieve the truant boat, and towed it back
to its owners.

"We thought we had tied it securely," explained Mr. Beverley. "We were
utterly aghast when we came back and found it had drifted. It would have
been a horrible experience to stay here all night. If the sea rose we
might even have been imprisoned for days. We were fools to come, but I
didn't realize the danger."

"The sea is much rougher already," said Mr. Carson. "It'll be a ticklish
matter to get out again, and the sooner we do it the better. Will you go
first and I'll follow on after?"

"It's like you, Lorna, to come to rescue us. I always called you my good
angel," choked Irene, as she entered the skiff. "I thought just now I
was never going to see you again in this world. Let's get out of this
horrible place as fast as we can. It's like Dante's Inferno. I've never
been so frightened in all my life."

One after the other the two skiffs started on their risky exit from the
grotto, scraping and bumping against the roof with the water on a level
with the gunwale; one wave indeed overflowed and soused them, but the
next moment they sighted the sky and grazing through the entrance they
gained the open water.

It was only when, in the clear afternoon daylight he turned to thank his
rescuer that a flash of recognition flooded Mr. Beverley's face.

"Cedric Houghten! You! You!" he stammered, as if almost disbelieving the
evidence of his own eyes.

"Yes, it is I; but having seen me, forget me," returned Mr. Carson, his
dark face flushed and his hand on the oar. "It's the one favor you can
do me for saving you. Let me vanish as I came, and don't try to follow
me. I only hope we may never cross each other's paths again."

"Cedric! Come back!" yelled Mr. Beverley, as the skiff shot away. "Man
alive! We've been searching for you for years. Don't you know that we've
proved your innocence! Come back, I say, and let me tell you."

* * * * *

It was late that evening, after a very long talk with Mr. Beverley, that
Lorna's father explained to her the circumstances that had cleared his
name.

"David had no more embezzled the money than I, and, thank God, he has
no idea I ever distrusted him. When a further sum went, Mr. Fenton set a
trap, and discovered to his infinite grief that it was his own son who
had