"The watter's i' the hoose!" cried she, in terror, and proceeded to rise. "Lie still, bairn," said Tibbie, authoritatively. "Gin the watter be i' the hoose, there's no ootgang. It'll be doon afore the mornin'. Lie still." Annie lay down again, and Tibbie resumed: "Gin we be i' the watter, the watter's i' the how o' his han'. Gin we gang to the boddom, he has only to open's fingers, an' there we are, lyin' i' the loof o' 's han', dry and warm. Lie still." And Annie lay so still, that in a few minutes more she was asleep again. Tibbie slept too. But Annie woke from a terrible dream--that a dead man was pursuing her, and had laid a cold hand upon her. The dream was gone, but the cold hand remained. "Tibbie!" she cried, "the watter 's i' the bed." "What say ye, lassie?" returned Tibbie, waking up. "The watter's i' the bed." "Weel, lie still. We canna sweyp it oot." The water was in the bed. And it was pitch dark. Annie, who lay at the front, stretched her arm over the side. It sunk to the elbow. In a moment more the bed beneath her was like a full sponge. She lay in silent terror, longing for the dawn. "I'm terrible cauld," said Tibbie. Annie tried to answer her, but the words would not leave her throat. The water rose. They were lying half-covered with it. Tibbie broke out singing. Annie had never heard her sing, and it was not very musical. "Saviour, through the desert lead us. Without thee, we cannot go. Are ye waukin', lassie?" "Ay," answered Annie. "I'm terrible cauld, an' the watter's up to my throat. I canna muv, I'm sae cauld. I didna think watter had been sae cauld." "I'll help ye to sit up a bit. Ye'll hae dreidfu' rheumatize efter this, Tibbie," said Annie, as she got up on her knees, and proceeded to lift Tibbie's head and shoulders, and draw her up in the bed. But the task was beyond her strength. She could not move the helpless weight, and, in her despair, she let Tibbie's head fall back with a dull plash upon the bolster. Seeing that all she could do was to sit and support her, she got out of bed and waded across the floor to the fireside to find her clothes. But they were gone. Chair and all had been floated away, and although she groped till she found the floating chair, she could not find the clothes. She returned to the bed, and getting behind Tibbie, lifted her head on her knees, and so sat. An awful dreary time followed. The water crept up and up. Tibbie moaned a little, and then lay silent for a long time, drawing slow and feeble breaths. Annie was almost dead with cold. Suddenly in the midst of the darkness Tibbie cried out, "I see licht! I see licht!" A strange sound in her throat followed, after which she was quite still. Annie's mind began to wander. Something struck her gently on the arm, and kept bobbing against her. She put out her hand to feel what it was. It was round and soft. She said to herself: