to be done. We'll strip Lisle, and you and Crestwick can share your
dry things with him. Then one of you had better gather cedar twigs for
him to lie on."

CHAPTER XXXI

LISLE GOES TO ENGLAND

Lisle had with some difficulty been dressed in dry clothes, and he lay
with his eyes shut on a couch of cedar sprays beside a fire, when Batley
rose and turned to Nasmyth.

"I don't think we need be anxious," he said. "The warmth is coming back
to him and he's breathing regularly. The knock on the head must have been
a bad one, and it's very likely that he got another thump or two washing
down the rapid, and the water was icy cold; but he'll feel better after a
few hours' sleep."

Nasmyth was inclined to agree with this prediction and he stood up
wearily.

"Then you won't want me for a little while," he replied, walking away
from the fire.

Having given most of his clothes to Lisle, he was very lightly clad and
the night was cold. He shivered as he plodded over the shingle, aching in
every limb, but he looked about eagerly and after a while he found the
cache. It was uncovered, but there were signs that Gladwyne had only
begun his task when he had been surprised by the arrival of the party
which had followed him.

Nasmyth did not pause to think what Lisle's wishes might be, or whether
he would resent his action. So far, he had kept his promise; but, with
physical weariness reacting on his mental faculties, he was only
conscious of a hazy idea that Gladwyne's death had released him from his
pledge. The traitor had expiated his offense; the tragic story must never
be raked up again.

Stooping over the receptacle, he dragged out the different articles in
it, and avoiding a direct glance at them or any attempt to enumerate
them, he gathered them up and striding over the shingle hurled them as
far as possible into the river. It cost him several journeys, but his
heart grew lighter with every splash. When at last the work was finished
and he had refilled the hole and scattered the stones that had covered
it, he sat down with a great sense of relief. A burden which had long
weighed upon his mind was gone; Mrs. Gladwyne and Millicent were safe at
last from the grief and shame that a revelation would have brought them.
Exhausted and confused as he was, he could not tell whether he felt any
sorrow for Gladwyne's tragic end; the man had passed beyond the reach of
human censure, one could only let his memory sink into obl