h the
first terrible lurch we were both thrown headlong into the water. I did
my utmost to save her, but it was not to be. A floating spar struck her,
and she went down before my eyes."

For an instant Varrick neither moved nor spoke.

"She is dead?" he interrogated.

"Yes," returned the doctor.

Varrick sank down upon a fallen log, and buried his face in his hands.
For a moment he could scarcely realize Gerelda's untimely fate. He had
not loved her, it was true; still, he would have given his life to have
had her reason restored to her.

For an hour or more Hubert Varrick forgot his own sorrow in alleviating
the terrible distress of others.

When there was no more assistance that he could render he thought it
would be best for him to get away from the place as quickly as possible.

Scarcely heeding whither he went, he took the first path that presented
itself. How far he walked he had not the least idea. In the distance he
saw lights gleaming, and he knew that he was approaching some little
village. He said to himself that it would be best to stop there for a
few hours--until daylight, at least, and to recover Gerelda's body if
possible.

He followed the path until it brought him to the edge of a little brook.
The white, shining stones that rose above the eddying little wavelets
seemed to invite him to cross to the other side. Midway over the brook
he paused.

Was it only his fancy, or did he hear the sound of music and revelry?

He stood quite still and looked around him; the scene seemed familiar.

For an instant Hubert Varrick was startled; but as he gazed he
recognized the place. He must be at Fisher's Landing. Up there through
the trees, lay the home of Captain Carr, the uncle of little Jessie
Bain.

As he stood gazing at it, the clock in some adjacent steeple slowly
struck the midnight hour. He wondered if Jessie was there. How he felt
like telling some one his troubles!

CHAPTER XX.

LOVE IS A POISONED ARROW IN SOME HEARTS.

Early the next morning Varrick was at the scene of the disaster, though
he was scarcely fit to leave his bed at the village hostelry. Most of
the bodies had been recovered or accounted for, save that of Gerelda.

Varrick was just about to offer a large reward to any one who would
recover it, when two fishermen were seen making their way in a little
skiff toward the scene of the wreck.

There was some object covered over with a dark cloak in the bottom of
their