we!"

"Fancy! No joke about that--thirst!"

"Yet it was only the beginning of what he did for us. Starvation and
wild beasts and snakes and the fever--he saved us from all. Yet he had
nothing to begin with--no tools or weapons, only his burning glass.
Can you wonder that I--that I--"

She stopped and looked down, the color mounting swiftly under the dark
coat of tan that covered the exquisite complexion he remembered so
pleasantly.

"My word!" he remonstrated, amazed and disquieted. "Surely not that!
It's--it's impossible! It can't be possible!"

"Do you think so?" she whispered. "If you but knew the half--the
tenth--of what he has done!"

The rusty side of the tramp loomed up above them. The boat crew flung
up their oars, and Lord James steered in alongside, under the sling
that was being lowered for the rescued lady. She pointed up at it, and
met the reproachful, half-dazed glance of her companion with a look of
compassionate regret for his disappointment. Yet she made no effort to
conceal the love for his friend and rival that shone with tender
radiance from her candid eyes.

"You should know him--his true, his real self!" she said. "Hasten
back. Do not delay to come aboard with me. Hasten ashore and to the
cleft. See for yourself."