close behind her caught her in his arms, almost too late for both of them.
So nearly down was she already, that her weight bent him over the rocky
side, till it seemed as if he must yield, or his body snap. For he bent
from the waist, and looked as if his feet only kept a hold on the ground.
It was all over in a moment, but in that moment it made a sun-picture on my
brain, which returns, ever and again, with such vivid agony that I cannot
hope to get rid of it till I get rid of the brain itself in which lies the
impress. In another moment they were at my side--she with a wan, terrified
smile, he in a ruddy alarm. I was unable to speak, and could only, with
trembling steps, lead the way from the dreadful spot. I reproached myself
afterwards for my want of faith in God; but I had not had time to correct
myself yet. Without a word on their side either, they followed me. Before
we reached Connie, I recovered myself sufficiently to say, "Not a word to
Connie," and they understood me. I told Wynnie to run to the house, and
send Walter to help me to carry Connie home. She went, and, until Walter
came, I talked to Mr. Percivale as if nothing had happened. And what made
me feel yet more friendly towards him was, that he did not do as some young
men wishing to ingratiate themselves would have done: he did not offer to
help me to carry Connie home. I saw that the offer rose in his mind, and
that he repressed it. He understood that I must consider such a permission
as a privilege not to be accorded to the acquaintance of a day; that I must
know him better before I could allow the weight of my child to rest on his
strength. I was even grateful to him for this knowledge of human nature.
But he responded cordially to my invitation to lunch with us, and walked by
my side as Walter and I bore the precious burden home.

During our meal, he made himself quite agreeable; talked well on the topics
of the day, not altogether as a, man who had made up his mind, but not the
less, rather the more, as a man who had thought about them, and one who did
not find it so easy to come to a conclusion as most people do--or possibly