of war; and again he looked upon cities besieged; still
again upon armies in long alignment waiting for the word that would bring
the final shock of battle. The faint roar of water far below added an
under-note of reality to his dream; and still he saw, as upon a tapestry
held in his hand, the struggles of kingdoms, the rise and fall of
empires. Upon the wide seas smoke floated from the guns of giant ships
that strove mightily in battle. He was thrilled by drum-beats and the cry
of trumpets. Then his mood changed and the mountains and calm stars
spoke an heroic language that was of newer and nobler things; and he
shook his head impatiently and gathered his cloak about him and rose.

"God said, 'I am tired of kings,'" he muttered. "But I shall keep my
pledge; I shall do Austria a service," he said; and then laughed a little
to himself. "To think that it may be for me to say!" And with this he
walked quite to the brink of the chasm and laid his hand upon the iron
cable from which swung the bridge.

"I shall soon be free," he said with a deep sigh; and looked across the
starlighted hills.

Then the cable under his hand vibrated slightly; at first he thought it
the night wind stealing through the vale and swaying the bridge above the
sheer depth. But still he felt the tingle of the iron rope in his clasp,
and his hold tightened and he bent forward to listen. The whole bridge
now audibly shook with the pulsation of a step--a soft, furtive step, as
of one cautiously groping a way over the unsubstantial flooring. Then
through the starlight he distinguished a woman's figure, and drew back. A
loose plank in the bridge floor rattled, and as she passed it freed
itself and he heard it strike the rocks faintly far below; but the figure
stole swiftly on, and he bent forward with a cry of warning on his lips,
and snatched away the light barricade that had been nailed across the
opening.

When he looked up, his words of rebuke, that had waited only for the
woman's security, died on his lips.

"Shirley!" he cried; and put forth both hands and lifted her to firm
ground.

A little sigh of relief broke from her. The bridge still swayed from her
weight; and the cables hummed like the wires of a harp; near at hand the
waterfall tumbled down through the mystical starlight.

"I did not know that dreams really came true," he said, with an awe in
his voice that the passing fear had left behind.

She began abruptly, not heeding his words