led cry, she
sprung to her feet and hurried to the door. The next moment Charles
Osmond saw Tom pass the window; he was unmistakably the bearer of bad
news.

His first panting words were reassuring "Brian says you are not to be
frightened;" but they were evidently the mere repetition of a message.
Tom himself was almost hopeless; his wrath and grief become more
apparent every minute as he gave an incoherent account of the
afternoon's work.

The brutes, the fiends, had half killed the chieftain, had set on him
like so many tigers. Brian and Hazeldine were bringing him home had sent
him on to prepare.

Erica had listened so far with a colorless face, and hands tightly
clasped, but the word "prepare" seemed to bring new life to her. In an
instant she was her strongest self.

"They will never try to take him up that steep narrow staircase. Quick,
Tom! Help me to move this couch into the study."

The little Irish servant was pressed into the service, too, and sent
upstairs to fetch and carry, and in a very few minutes the preparations
were complete, and Erica had at hand all the appliances most likely to
be needed. Just as all was done, and she was beginning to feel that a
minute's pause would be the "last straw," Tom heard the sound of wheels
in the square, and hurried out. Erica stood in the doorway watching, and
presently saw a small crowd of helpers bearing a deathly looking burden.
Whiteness of death redness of blood. The ground seemed rocking beneath
her feet, when a strong hand took hers and drew her into the house.

"Don't be afraid," said a voice, which she knew to be Brian's though a
black mist would not let her see him. "He was conscious a minute ago;
this is only from the pain of moving. Which room?"

"The study," she replied, recovering herself. "Give me something to do,
Brian, quickly."

He saw that in doing lay her safety, and kept her fully employed, so
much so, indeed, that from sheer lack of time she was able to stave off
the faintness which had threatened to overpower her. After a time her
father came to himself, and Erica's face, which had been the last in his
mind in full consciousness, was the first which now presented itself to
his awakening gaze. He smiled.

"Well, Erica! So, after all, they haven't quite done for me. Nine lives
like a cat, as I always told you."

His voice was faint, but with all his wonted energy he raised himself
before they could remonstrate. He was far more injured,