t.

'No, no; none o' that!' he cried. 'Let him get out himself. The water is
not deep enough to drown him yet, if he is not carried away by the
backwash.'

'Julien! Julien!' screamed Estelle, making frantic efforts to free
herself and go to him. 'You must save him, Thomas--you shall!'

But the boy had been swept beyond their reach by the under-current, and
for the moment they thought he would indeed be lost. He was drawn into
the whirl of waters, and sucked under. Beside herself with grief and
terror, Estelle clasped her hands over her eyes that she might not see
him drown. She was deaf to Thomas's urgent appeals that she would be
quiet and let him save her. Julien was in danger, and it was Thomas's
fault. If she could have broken away from that firm grip, she would have
jumped into the surging flood after her brave defender.

Meantime, Mrs. Wright, weary with the toils of the day, and feeling
comfortable and cosy in her big armchair by the lire, knitted peacefully
till, drowsiness overtaking her, she laid back her head and closed her
eyes. The wood crackled cheerily in the great chimney, the faint murmur
of the sea made the old lady still more sleepy, and in a few minutes she
was in dreamland.

And so Jack found her when he came home. The stillness of the whole
place showed him the children must be absent, and a vague alarm seized
upon him. His fears for Estelle were easily roused. Yet fear or danger
seemed very far from that bright, cheerful kitchen. Putting down the
armful of things he was carrying, he gazed tenderly at his mother as he
warmed his fingers over the genial flames. He could not bear to awaken
her, and surely it was not necessary. She would never be sleeping so
peacefully unless their little girl were safe. Yet something tugged at
his heart, making him stir uneasily. The movement, slight though it was,
awoke his mother. She opened her eyes, gazed at him a few moments
sleepily, and sat up with a laughing remark about her own laziness.

'Where's Missy?' asked Jack, as soon as he had answered all her
questions about his fishing and the luck he had had.

'They were playing on the beach,' she said, putting her cap straight
before taking up her knitting. 'M. Julien came to join her in watching
for your return. Did you not see them on your way up? If they are not
there, they must be in the caves,' she added hastily, seeing her son's
face change, and instantly becoming a prey to all sorts of fears. 'They