the edges of feathery flying clouds; and all the sodden autumn
night was still at last, save for the gurgling waters of a little
stream down the rocky glen.

The Sunrise bell was striking eleven when they reached the bridge across
the Walnut, and the beacon light from the dome began to twinkle a welcome
now and then through the dripping branches of the leafless trees.
A few minutes later, Victor Burleigh brought Elinor safely to
Lloyd Fenneben's door.

"We made it in before midnight, anyhow," he said carelessly.

Elinor looked up in surprise. The terrors of the night still possessed her.

"What a horrible nightmare it has all been. The storm, the river,
the rocks, and the darkness, and that dreadful something behind us
in the cave. Was there really anything, or did we just imagine it all?
It will seem impossible when the daylight comes."

Victor looked at her with a wonderful light in his wide-open brown eyes.

"Yes," he said in a deep voice. "It will seem impossible when
daylight comes. But will it all be as a horrible nightmare?"

"No, no; not all." Elinor's face was winsomely sweet. "Not all,"
she repeated. "It is fine to feel one's self so safeguarded as I have been.
I shall always remember you as one with whom I could never again be afraid."

Burleigh turned hastily toward the door, and, having delivered
her to the care of her uncle, he bade them both good night.