hought. Silence or subterfuge is the only refuge
for those who dare not speak frankly.

Thus without a word, for they were too honest for pretence, the two
remained together listening to the low sob of the winds and to the rain
that dripped from the leaves, long after it had ceased to fall from the
clouds. This hush of the storm was oppressive more to Harrington than
the lady. She was languid and dreamy lying upon her couch of dry leaves,
very feeble and weeping quietly without a sob, like a helpless child
who has no language but tears and laughter. In this entire prostration
of the nervous system, she forgot--if she had ever been conscious of the
words that filled him with a tumult of painful feelings.

He moved a little from the place where Mabel lay, and burying his face
in both hands, remained perfectly still, lifting a solemn petition
heavenward from his silent heart, not that she might live--not even of
thanksgiving--but a subdued cry for strength rose up with the might of
his whole being, a cry so ardent and sincere, that its very intensity
kept him still.

CHAPTER X.

HOME IN SAFETY.

While this was going on in that struggling heart a black shadow had
crept close to the man, and Agnes Barker stood between him and Mabel,
leaving her in the firelight, but shutting it out from him.

He did not feel the darkness, and the girl stood by him more than a
minute before he looked up.

Mabel moved with a faint expression of pain, as if she felt the shadow
of some evil thing falling athwart the light; but she did not unclose
her eyes, and Agnes, who had been for some time within earshot, spoke
before her presence was recognized.

"Is there anything I can do?" she said in her usual low tones.

James lifted his head, bowed almost to the dust in the humility of his
prayer, and saw this strange girl standing before him, her red garments
glowing in the firelight, her arms folded on her bosom, and her eyes
glittering beneath their long lashes, like half-buried diamonds. She
seemed so like an embodiment of the evil passions he had prayed against,
that he sat mute and pale, gazing upon her.

"You look deathly. You are hurt," she said, stooping toward him with a
gesture at once subtle and fascinating. "I saw her boat engulphed--I saw
you plunge into the stream--the storm was raging through the woods, but
I came through it all."

Still Harrington remained silent, gazing fixedly upon her, so astonished
by her pre