ng some drooping
boughs. Then his heart sank again, for he told himself that it was only
fancy; and he shivered again as he felt how utterly exhausted Pete must
be. Every moment he felt sure that he would see that little, dark speck
disappear, but still it was there; and at last the watcher's heart began
to throb, for the boat must have caught against those boughs. It was
not moving.

The watcher would not believe this for a long time, but at last he
uttered a cry of joy, followed by a groan; for, though the boat was
there, the dark speck which represented Pete's head had disappeared;
and, to make the watcher's despair more profound, the boat began to move
once more, unmistakably gliding from beside the trees. All was over
now, for Nic felt that to struggle longer was hopeless: there was
nothing more to be done but lie down and die.

He held his hands over his brows, straining his failing, aching eyes to
keep the boat in sight as long as he could; and then a strange choking
sensation came into his throat, and he rose to his knees, for there was
a flash of light from the water close to the boat, and another, and
another. There was a strange, indistinct something, too, above the tiny
line made by the gunwale, and it could only mean one thing: Pete had
overtaken it, climbed in, and the flashes of light came from the
disturbed surface of the river.

Pete must be trying to row her back to take him up.

The intense sensation of relief at knowing that the brave fellow was
alive and safe seemed more than Nic could bear. He was already upon his
knees. His face was bowed down upon his hands, and for a few minutes he
did not stir.

At last, with a wave of strength and confidence seeming to run through
every fibre of his body, Nic rose up, feeling fully rested; and, as he
shaded his eyes once more to gaze down the river at the boat, the cloud
of despair had floated away, and the long reach of glistening water
looked like the way back to the bright world of hope and love--the way
to home; while the thought of lying down there to die was but the filmy
vapour of some fevered dream.

Pete was coming back to him: there could be no mistake about that, for
Nic could see more clearly now, and there were moments when he could
distinctly see the flashing of the water when the oars were dipped.

"Oh!" cried Nic, with his excitement rising now to the highest pitch,
"and there was a time when I looked upon that brave, true-hearte