Light between the last two dunes!" called Janet.

"All right!" Some one replied from beyond, then a stillness followed.
Thornly stood guard over the girl as she sat helplessly in the wooden
chair. The ice was melting and dripping from her clothing; the
sou'wester had fallen away from the sweet, worn face, and the pretty
cheeks showed two ominous white spots that bespoke frozen flesh.

"I dare not take you nearer the fire!" Thornly's voice was unsteady. His
own returning circulation and consequent pain made him cruelly conscious
of what he knew she was suffering.

She looked up bravely and smiled. "It's pretty bad," she said with a
quiver. "It hurts, doesn't it?" Then noticing for the first time that
Thornly was less protected than she, for he wore only his heavy
overcoat, which was crusted thick with ice, she forgot her own agony in
genuine alarm.

"Take off those frozen things!" she commanded; "you must be drenched
through and through without an oiler. Make yourself comfortable. I must
go!"

"Go! In heaven's name, go where?" Thornly paused as he was taking off
his cap, over which he had tied a silk muffler, and stared at the girl.

"Why, to Cap'n Billy. You do not understand. He is back in the halfway
house. He may be dead!" A shiver ran over Janet, and she struggled to
her feet. "It is awful for me to sit here! You know nothing. I must
go!"

Thornly firmly held her back.

"His check," she faltered, "take it out of my pocket, please. No, the
left-hand pocket. That's it. Hang it there on the rack by the door. I
may not return, you know."

"There's no time for explanations, Janet." Thornly had followed the
girl's directions mechanically, and now urged her back in the chair. "Of
course I will not let you go, but I am going to Cap'n Billy. Whatever
can be done, I will do. I will bring him on here, or I will stay with
him there until help reaches us; but you must obey what I say and wait
for us. You must trust me."

She looked up at him tear blinded and pitiful.

"Let me go with you," she pleaded. "I am used to it, and after all--what
matters now?"

Thornly seized an oilskin coat from a peg on the wall, and thrust his
arms into it.

"What matters?" he stopped to ask, looking at Janet with a puzzled
stare. "Why, don't you know, little girl, that this is the beginning of
everything for us? Can't you understand?" Over his anxiety and
excitement a sense of joy flooded. "Here!" he cried, trying to cheer
her, "i