of which the struggle had occurred, that he conceived the idea
of stopping by its side and awakening Pepeeta from her stupor there.
"She will not notice the difference," he said to himself; "and if she
did not witness the fatal blow I can persuade her that I overpowered the
doctor and forced him to return while she was in her swoon."

Stopping the horse, he lifted her inanimate form from the carriage, bore
it to the side of the brook, laid it gently upon the bank and dashed a
handful of the cold water into her white face. She gasped, opened her
eyes, and, sitting up, looked about her with an expression of terror.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"Do you not remember? You are here in the wood where the doctor overtook
us," he replied.

"And where is he?"

"He has returned."

"Has something dreadful happened?"

"Nothing."

"But I saw you clench with each other, and it was awful! What happened
then? I must have fainted. Did I?"

"Yes, you fainted. Were you so frightened?"

"Oh, terribly! I thought that you would kill each other! It was
horrible, horrible! But where is he now?"

"He has returned."

"Returned? Do you mean that he has gone back without me? How did you
persuade him to do that?"

"How did I persuade him? Ha! ha! I persuaded him with my fists. You
should have seen me, Pepeeta! Are you quite sure that you did not see
me? I should like you to know what a coward he was at last, and how he
went home like a whipped puppy."

"But did he acknowledge that he had deceived me?"

"He did indeed, upon his knees."

"And do you think he has gone, never to return?"

"Yes, he has gone, never to return," he answered, shuddering at the
double meaning of his words. "He made his confession and relinquished
his claim, and I made him swear that he would renounce you forever. And
so we have nothing to do but forget him and be happy. Are you feeling
better now?"

"Yes, I am better; but I am not well; I cannot shake it off. It seems
too dreadful to have been real. And yet how much better it is than if
one of you had been killed! Oh! I wish I could stop seeing it" (putting
her hands over her eyes). "Let us go! Let us leave this gloomy wood. Let
us get out into the sunshine. See! It is getting dark. We must not stay
here any longer."

"Yes, let us go," he said, rising, lifting her gently from the ground
and leading her back to the buggy in which they took their seats and
drove rapidly forward.

In a few moments they