from the line
as you can in case of a smash.'

Mabel turned a little pale, for she had not understood till then that
there was any real danger. 'Keep close to me, Dolly,' she said, as
they went down the slope; 'we're safe here.'

The fog had gathered thick down in the meadows, and nothing could be
seen of the abandoned train when they had gone a few paces from the
foot of the embankment; the passengers were moving about in excited
groups, not knowing what horrors they might not be obliged to witness
in the next few minutes. The excitement increased as one of them
declared he could hear the noise of an approaching train. 'Only just
in time--God help them if they don't pull up!' cried some, and a woman
hoped that 'the poor driver and stoker were not on the engine.'

Dolly heard this and broke from Mabel with a loud cry--'Mabel, we've
left Frisk!' she sobbed; 'he'll be killed--oh, my dog will be
killed--he mustn't be left behind!'

And, to Mark's horror, she turned back, evidently with the idea of
making for the point of danger; he ran after her and caught the little
silvery-grey form fast in his arms. 'Let me go!' cried Dolly,
struggling; 'I must get him back--oh, I must!'

'He'll have jumped out by this time--he's quite safe,' said Mark in
her ear.

'He was sound asleep in his basket, he'll never wake if I don't call
to him--why do you hold me? I tell you I _will_ go!' persisted Dolly.

'No, Dolly, no,' said Mabel, bending over her; 'it's too late--it's
hard to leave him, but we must hope for the best.' She was crying,
too, for the poor doomed dog as she spoke.

Mark was hardly a man from whom anything heroic could be very
confidently expected; he was no more unselfish than the generality of
young men; as a rule he disliked personally inconveniencing himself
for other people, and in cooler moments, or without the stimulus of
Mabel's presence, he would certainly have seen no necessity to run the
risk of a painful death for the sake of a dog.

But Mabel was there, and the desire of distinguishing himself in her
eyes made a temporary hero out of materials which at first sight were
not promising. He was physically fearless enough, and given to acting
on impulses without counting the consequences; the impulse seized him
now to attempt to rescue this dog, and he obeyed it blindly.

'Wait here,' he said to Mabel; 'I'll go back for him.'

'Oh, no--no,' she cried; 'it may cost you your life!'

'Don't stop him, Mab