"But are you strong enough to walk?" And as I leaned forward toward
her, a quick flash of vivid lightning, directly overhead, lit both our
faces. I marked she did not shrink, and no look of fear came into her
eyes.

"I am quite myself once more," she answered confidently. "It was
despair and loneliness that so disheartened me. I have never been
timid physically, and your presence has brought back the courage I
needed."

There was a natural frankness, a peculiar confidence, about this girl,
that robbed me of my usual diffidence; and as we struggled forward
through the dampening sand, her dress clinging about her and retarding
progress, I dared to slip one arm about her waist to help in bearing
her along. She accepted this timely aid in the spirit with which it
was offered, without so much as a word of protest; and the wind,
battering at our backs, pushed us forward.

"Oh, that troublesome hair!" she exclaimed, as the long tresses whipped
in front of our faces, blinding us both. "I have never before felt so
much like sacrificing it."

"I beg that you will not consider such an act now," I protested, aiding
her to reclaim the truants, "for as I saw it before the darkness fell,
your hair was surely worthy of preservation."

"You laugh at me; I know I must have been a far from pretty sight."

"Do you wish me to say with frankness what I thought of your appearance