and against them she appeared a quiet, white spirit among many
tossed dark shades. When David first saw her, he thought she was looking
at him. But in another moment her beautiful face, which had been pale
enough before, turned as white as her frock and her large eyes widened
with terror. And then David knew that she was looking beyond him and had
seen the horror by the tree. He forgot his own horrified faintness, he
forgot where he was, the doctor--everything but Ruth and that look in
her dear face. He sprang toward her with a piercing cry and outstretched
arms.

"Ruth!" he cried. "Here I am, Ruth, dear. I am coming to you. I'll take
you away!"

It was a single voice raised against the deafening roar of a hurricane.
Only the doctor heard or heeded, and he laid a restraining hand on
David's shoulder.

"You are right," he said. "Take her away as soon as you can. She should
not have come. Is she your sister? Come this way. We will go round," he
went on, without waiting for an answer. "We may be able to reach her
from the other side of the shed."

The firm touch and calm tone partly brought the boy to himself, and he
followed as closely as he could, but only to be beaten back again and
again. That terrific chant was now at its highest and wildest, and he
and the doctor were caught in the human maelstrom and swirled hither
and thither like straws. They were swept far apart, and when they were
quickly driven together again, they had lost sight of Ruth. They were
tossed once more, and thrown outside the fiercest swirl. Standing still,
they held to a tree, gasping, and searched the crowd with their gaze,
trying to find her. She was nowhere to be seen. But while they thus
paused, waiting for breath to go on, they saw a tall man near by,
leaning against a pillar and quietly overlooking the wild scene. He
stood within the circle of torchlight, and they could see him
distinctly. Neither the doctor nor David had ever seen him before and
neither ever saw him again, but they never forgot just how he looked
that night.

He was a very tall man of more than six feet in height. He was very
erect and very slender, with the slenderness that gives a look of youth
as well as grace. There was no tinge of gray in his tawny hair, which
fell heavily back from his high, narrow forehead, without any of the
stiffness seen in his later portraits. He was not more than thirty-five
years of age at this time, but his face was already lined with c