from its twitching jaws.

George did not know that it was near him, but Angela's wild eye fell
upon it. Slowly raising her hand, she pointed at it.

"Look behind you," she cried.

The sound of her voice broke the spell that was upon him.

"Come, give me no more of your nonsense," he said, and then, as much
from vague fear and rampant brutality as from any other reason, again
struck her with the whip.

Next second he was aware of a tremendous shock. The dog had seen the
blow, and had instantly launched itself, with all the blind courage of
its race, straight at the striker's throat. It missed its aim,
however, only carrying away a portion of George's under-lip. He yelled
with pain, and struck at it with the whip, and then began a scene
which, in its grotesque horror, beggars all description. Again and
again the dog flew at him, its perfect silence contrasting strangely
with George's shrieks of terror, and the shrill peals of horrible
laughter that came hurrying from Angela's lips as she watched the
struggle.

At last the dog gripped the man by the forearm, and, sinking its great
teeth into the flesh, hung its weight upon it. In vain did George,
maddened by the exquisite pain, dash himself and the dog against the
ground: in vain did he stagger round and round the glen, tearing at
its throat with his uninjured hand. The brute hung grimly on.
Presently there came an end. As he reeled along, howling for help and
dragging his fierce burden with him, George stumbled over a dead bough
which lay upon the bank of the lake, and fell backwards into the
water, exactly at the spot where the foundations of the old boat-house
wall rose to within a few inches of the surface. His head struck
heavily against the stonework, and he and the dog, who would not loose
his grip, lay on it for a moment, then they rolled off together into
the deep pool, the man dragging the dog with him. There were a few
ripples, stained with little red filaments, a few air-bubbles that
marked the exhalation of his last breath, and George's spirit had left
its enclosing body, and gone--whither? Ay, reader, whither had it
gone?

The outcry brought Philip and old Jakes running down to the lake. They
found Angela standing alone on the brink and laughing her wildest.

"See," she cried, as they came panting up, "the bridegroom cometh from
his chamber," and at that moment some unreleased air within the body
brought it up for an instant to the surface, so