ferred to--

"Free of my pain, free of my burden of sorrow,
At last I shall see thee--"

What ages it was since she had sung that song! And this man, this
James Hambleton, it appeared, had heard her sing it; and somehow, by
fate, he had been tossed into the same adventure with herself.

Unconsciously, Agatha's generous heart began to swell with pride in
James's strength and courage, with gratitude for his goodness to her,
and with an almost motherly pity for his present plight. She would
admit no more than that; but that, she thought, bound her to him by
ties that would never break. He would always be different to her, by
reason of that night and what she chose to term his splendid heroism.
She had seen him in his hour of strength, that hour when the overman
makes half-gods out of mortals. It was the heart of youth, plus the
endurance of the man, that had saved them both. It had been a call to
action, dauntlessly answered, and he himself had avowed that the
struggle, the effort, even the final pain, were "worth living for!"
Thinking of his white face and feeble voice, she prayed that the high
gods might not regard them worth dying for.

CHAPTER XI

THE HOME PORT

The darkness of the night slowly lifted, revealing only a gray, leaden
sky. There was no dawn such as had gladdened their hearts the morning
before, no fresh awakening of the day. Instead, the coldness and gloom
of the night seemed but to creep a little farther away, leaving its
shadow over the world. A drizzling rain began to fall, and the
wanderers on the beach were destined to a new draft of misery. Only
Agatha watched, however; James gave no sign of caring, or even of
knowing, whether the sun shone or hid its face.

He had slept fitfully since their hour of wakefulness together in the
night, and several times he had shown signs of extreme restlessness.
At these periods he would talk incoherently, Agatha being able to catch
only a word now and then. Once he endeavored to get up, bent,
apparently, upon performing some fancied duty far away. Agatha soothed
him, talked to him as a mother talks to a sick child, cajoled and
commanded him; and though he was restless and voluble, yet he obeyed
her readily enough.

As the rain began to descend, Agatha bethought herself earnestly as to
what could be done. She first persuaded James to drink a little more
of the milk, and afterward took what was left herself--less than half a
cupful.