ascelles must have saved you," whispered he,
regretfully; "and I would never have forgiven him!"

Cecil did not make any verbal answer, but, as usual, her face was
not so reticent. Lascelles felt himself rather _de trop_ as he
concluded,--"Well, if they are on for a spoon already, I may as well
be looking after my car."

"There's your Bullgine," cried Du Meresq, with some alacrity. "I daresay
it has been there an hour: no fear of losing a train in this leisurely
country!"

"Well, adieu, Miss Rolleston; I trust you will not suffer from your
soaking. You will have an hour or two to wait, I am afraid, before the
gale goes down, and Du Meresq will hardly fulfil his promise of getting
you home in good time for dinner."

"We are only too lucky to require another dinner; but I suppose we shall
be in an awful scrape," answered Cecil, speaking quickly and nervously,
for somehow she began to half dread being alone with Bertie. "Good-bye,
Captain Lascelles. Here's your coat, which you were so good as to spare
me; I am afraid it is not a valuable acquisition in its present spongy
state;" and "Good-bye, old man," from the two friends as Lascelles ran
off; shooting a momentary humorous glance of intelligence at Du Meresq.

The former, as he settled himself in the locomotive, thought rather
seriously of the "situation" he had left his friend in. He rather
wondered at Bertie, who appeared dangerously in earnest this time. To be
sure, she was a nice enough girl, and very "coiny," he believed; but
though convinced that such a marriage would be a piece of good fortune
for his friend, remembering the convenience of their mutual partnership,
he sincerely hoped he would "behave badly," and get out of the scrape
somehow.

CHAPTER XXII.

AT LAST.

The breeze was dead,
The leaf lay without whispering in the tree;
We were together.
How, where, what matter? Somewhere in a dream,
Drifting, slow drifting down a wizard stream.
--The Wanderer.

"It is just as well," said Du Meresq, laughing, "we have not got to take
him back again. The experiment of three in that birchen bark is too
expensive to repeat; and we could not throw him over as a Jonah, since he
is the only one of us who can swim."

"I ought never to have come! And, now we can think of wordly things
again, only fancy what a rage papa will be in about it all. It is a
curious fact, Bertie, the very la