d fro, like a leaf in a strong wind; but
he steadied her by holding her down on her seat, both of her hands
caught in his.

"I had scarcely pushed out into midstream ere I fancied I heard a low,
choking cry. The woman had wrenched one of her hands free, and like a
flash she had torn off her thick veil, and then I saw a sight that made
the blood run cold in my veins, for over her mouth a thick scarf was
wound, which she was trying to tear off with her disengaged hand.

"Her companion caught her hand with a fierce imprecation on his lips,
and the struggle that ensued between them made the boat rock like a
cradle. In an instant he had forced her back into her seat, and drawn
the veil down over her face again.

"But in that brief instant, by the bright light of the moon, I had
caught a glimpse of a face so wondrous in its loveliness and its
haughtiness that I was fairly dazed. I did not know what to do or say, I
was so bewildered.

"'You must make quicker time!' cried the gentleman, turning to me.

"At last we reached the island, and despite her struggles, he lifted her
out of the boat. Then he thrust a bill into my hand, saying grimly, 'You
can return now.'

"But while he was speaking, never for an instant did his hold relax upon
the girl's arm, though she writhed under his grasp.

"I hesitated a moment, and he turned to me with the look of a fiend on
his dark, handsome face.

"'I said you might _go_,' he repeated.

"'I will double that sum if you know how to keep your tongue still,' the
man said, thrusting another bill into my hand.

"As I pushed out into midstream the girl grew frantic. With an almost
superhuman effort she succeeded in removing the woolen scarf which had
been wound so tightly about her mouth, then with a cry which I shall
never forget while life lasts, she shrieked out piteously, as she threw
out her white arms wildly toward me:

"'Help! help! Oh! help, for the love of Heaven! Don't desert me! Come
back! oh, come back and save me!'

"The blood fairly stood still in my veins. Her companion hurled her back
so quickly that she completely lost her balance, and fell fainting in
his arms.

"'Go!' he cried, angrily, 'and not one word of what you have seen or
heard!'

"I can not desert a lady in distress, sir,' I answered.

"With a fury such as I have never seen equaled, he turned and faced me
in the moonlight.

"'I will give you just one moment to go!' he cried, his right hand
creeping tow