“Ain’t nothin’ to skeer ye, child,” the captain said, patting the girl’s cheek as he stopped at the threshold. “It’s all right. He’s in there waitin’,” and he closed the door upon them. Then he walked straight toward Aunty Bell, two big tears rolling down his cheeks, and, laying his hand upon her shoulder, said, “Caleb’s got his lights trimmed, an’ Betty’s found harbor. The little gal’s home.” * * * * * In another room, some miles away, before a window that looked upon the sea, sat a woman, with cheeks tight pressed between her hands. The low-lying drowsy moon shed a white light on her thoughtful face and silvered the fluff of loosened hair that fell about her shoulders. She had sat there for hours—long after the house was silent. Outside the world was still: only the lapping of little wave-tongues along the shore was heard; the croaking of frogs in the marsh, and the cry of the night-hawk circling as he flew. On the desk beside her lay an open letter with a Paris postmark. It had come by the late mail. Once in a while her eyes would rest on the shimmer of silver framing the Ledge. Then some remembrance of the day would rush over her: the anxious waiting for the verdict; Sanford’s upraised hand as he entered the cabin; the gaunt outline of the wrecked trestle and the ghostly lantern that burned above the head of the dying man. From out the turmoil of these contending memories one face shone clear and strong, with fixed and questioning eyes. In that one look she had read his inmost depth. She had caught the sudden uplifting of the lids, the wondering glance at her joyous words of praise, and the shadow that followed. “It is best so,” she whispered to herself at last. “It is the only way. I did not mean to hurt him,—only to help. Help him—and me.” With a tired, listless air, she rose from her seat, folded the letter slowly, and locked it in her desk. THE END. The Riverside Press CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U. S. A. ELECTROTYPED AND PRINTED BY H. O. HOUGHTON AND CO. FICTION AND TRAVEL By F. Hopkinson Smith. CALEB WEST, MASTER DIVER. Illustrated. 12mo, $1.50. TOM GROGAN. Illustrated. 12mo, gilt top, $1.50. A GENTLEMAN VAGABOND, AND SOME OTHERS. 16mo, $1.25. COLONEL CARTER OF CARTERSVILLE. With 20 illustrations by the author and E. W. Kemble. 16mo, $1.25. A DAY AT LAGUERRE’S AND OTHER DAYS. 16mo, $1.25. A WHITE UMBRELLA IN MEXICO. Illustrated by the author. 16mo, gilt top, $1.50. GONDOLA DAYS. Illustrated. 12mo, $1.50. WELL-WORN ROADS OF SPAIN, HOLLAND, AND ITALY, traveled by a Painter in search of the Picturesque.