of the water, the huge wheel, which was but a
little distance from where she hung, gave one sudden revolution,
sounding like a death-dirge through the water, which came foaming and
dashing up against the boat, and, as it swept away again, bore with it
the light form of Gertrude!

CHAPTER XLI.

SUSPENSE.

Let us now revisit the country seat of Mr. Graham. The old gentleman,
wearied with travels and society not congenial to his years, is pacing
up and down his garden walks; his countenance denoting plainly enough
how glad he is to find himself once more in his cherished homestead. It
is supposed that such satisfaction arose from the circumstance that the
repose of his household is rendered complete by the absence of its
excitable mistress, whom he has left in New York. This was like the good
old times.

Emily and Gertrude, too, are closely associated with those good old
times; and it adds greatly to the delusion of his fancy to dwell upon
the certainty that they are both in the house, and that he shall see
them both at dinner. Yes, Gertrude is there, as well as the rest,
saved--she hardly knew how--from a watery grave that almost engulfed
her, and established once more in the peaceful and endeared spot, now
the dearest to her on earth.

When, with some difficulty, restored to consciousness, she was informed
that she had been picked up by some humane persons who had pushed a boat
from the shore to rescue the sufferers; that she was clinging to the
chair, which she had probably grasped when washed away by the sudden
rushing of the water, and that her situation was such that, a moment
more, and it would have been impossible to save her from the flames,
close to which she was drifting. But of all this she had herself no
recollection. From the moment when she committed her light weight to the
frail tenure of the rope until she opened her eyes in a quiet spot, and
saw Emily leaning anxiously over the bed upon which she lay, all had
been a blank to her senses. A few hours from the time of the terrible
catastrophe brought Mr. Graham to the scene, and the next day restored
all three in safety to the old mansion-house in D----. This venerable
habitation, and its adjoining grounds, wore nearly the same aspect as
when they met the admiring eyes of Gerty on the first visit that she
made Miss Graham in her early childhood--that long-expected and
keenly-enjoyed visit, which proved a lasting topic for her young mind to
dwe