rom the first
lock.

"The ceremony of flooding was to be performed by the woman, her
husband's position entitling her to this distinction. Between the river
and the head of the cutting had been left a strong bank of earth,
pierced some distance down by a hole, which hole was kept closed by
means of a closely-fitting steel plate. The woman drew the lever
releasing this plate, and the water rushed through and began to press
against the lock gates. When it had attained a certain depth, the
sluices were raised and the water poured down into the deep basin of the
lock.

"It was an exceptionally deep lock. The party gathered round and watched
the water slowly rising. The woman looked down, and shuddered; the man
was standing by her side.

"'How deep it is,' she said.

"'Yes,' he replied, 'it holds thirty feet of water, when full.'

"The water crept up inch by inch.

"'Why don't you open the gates, and let it in quickly?' she asked.

"'It would not do for it to come in too quickly,' he explained to her;
'we shall half fill this lock, and then open the sluices at the other
end, and so let the water pass through.'

"The woman looked at the smooth stone walls and at the iron-plated
gates.

"'I wonder what a man would do,' she said, 'if he fell in, and there was
no one near to help him.'

"The man laughed. 'I think he would stop there,' he answered. 'Come, the
others are waiting for us.'

"He lingered a moment to give some final instructions to the workmen.
'You can follow on when you've made all right,' he said, 'and get
something to eat. There's no need for more than one to stop.' Then they
joined the rest of the party, and sauntered on, laughing and talking, to
the picnic ground.

"After lunch the party broke up, as is the custom of picnic parties, and
wandered away in groups and pairs. The man, whose duty as host had
hitherto occupied all his attention, looked for the woman, but she was
gone.

"A friend strolled by, the same that had put the question to him about
love and vanity.

"'Have you quarrelled?' asked the friend.

"'No,' replied the man.

"'I fancied you had,' said the other. 'I met her just now walking with
her husband, of all men in the world, and making herself quite agreeable
to him.'

"The friend strolled on, and the man sat down on a fallen tree, and
lighted a cigar. He smoked and thought, and the cigar burnt out, but he
still sat thinking.

"After a while he heard a faint rustling of