I turned and saw a young man sauntering slowly down the pathway. He was
very fair, and, to me, seemed very handsome. He had blue eyes, and his
hair was a mass of short, crisp flaxen curls. From the way in which the
Major regarded him as he came lounging up, I could see that the old
soldier was very proud of his young Adonis of a nephew. The latter
lifted his hat as he opened the wicket, and bade his uncle good-morning.
Me he did not for the moment see.

"Miss Hope is not up yet, I suppose?" he said. "I trust she is none the
worse for her tumble over the weir."

"Our little water-nymph is here to answer for herself," said the Major.
"The roses in her cheeks seem all the brighter for their wetting."

George Strickland turned smilingly towards me, and held out his hand. "I
am very glad to find that you have suffered so little from your
accident," he said. "When I fished you out of the river last night you
looked so death-like that I was afraid we should not be able to bring
you round without difficulty."

Tears stood in my eyes as I took his hand. "Oh, sir, how brave, how
noble it was of you to act as you did! You saved my life at the risk of
your own; and how can I ever thank you enough?"

A bright colour came into his cheek as I spoke. "My dear child, you must
not speak in that way," he said. "What I did was a very ordinary thing.
Anyone else in my place would have done precisely the same. I must not
claim more merit than is due for an action so simple."

"To you it may seem a simple thing to do, but I cannot forget that it