p of sand and bushes
washed by milky foam. It looked to be straight below me, and on the
instant I let go of the spar. I strained Flora to my breast, and made a
feeble attempt to swim. There was a roaring and singing in my ears, a
blur of shadows before my eyes, and the next thing I remembered was a
tremendous crash that I thought had shattered every bone in my body.

The instinct of life was so strong that I must have scrambled at once to
my feet. I had been flung into a hillock of wet sand and grass, and with
such force that the deep imprint of my body was visible. I looked about
me, dizzy and stunned, and immediately saw Flora lying huddled in a
thick clump of bushes a few feet to the left. I knew not if she was dead
or alive, but as I staggered toward her I discovered a great foaming
wave rolling up the beach. Rallying what strength I could, I
seized the girl and dragged her back as far and as quickly as I was
able. The wave broke with a crash, hurling its curled spray almost to
our feet. I dropped my burden, and reeled over in a deathly faint. When
I came to my senses--I could not have been unconscious more than a few
minutes--the chilly gray dawn had driven away the shadows of the night.
A bleak and disheartening prospect met my eyes in every direction.
Straight in front the sea rolled to the horizon, still tossing and
tumbling. Behind me, and to right and left, stretched a flat, dreary,
marshy coast, scarred with rocks, thickets and evergreens.

It was a familiar enough scene to me--I had often visited the shores of
Hudson Bay--and I gave it but a glance. Flora lay close beside me, her
head and shoulders pillowed on a clump of weeds, and at the first I
thought she was dead. But when I had risen to my knees with some pain
and difficulty--I was as weak as a cat--I found that she was breathing.
I set myself to restore her, and chafed her cold hands until the blood
began to circulate freely. Then I poured a few drops of brandy between
her lips--I fortunately had some in a small flask--and it was no sooner
swallowed than she opened her lovely eyes. I could see that she was
perfectly conscious, and that she knew me and remembered all; but when I
lifted her gently in my arms she made a weak effort to draw back, and
looked at me with a sort of horror.

"My darling, what is the matter?" I cried.

"Hush, Denzil, not that name," she replied faintly. "Oh, why were we
spared? You must forget all that I told you, even as I