But that can never be known, since Cynthia herself never knew. The one sharp and clear fact that remained in her mind as a memory of a summer's evening passed in a boat on a river flowing through fairyland, was provided by a set of circumstances far removed from tales of stormy night-riding after De Wet or the warp and weft of European politics as they fashioned the cere-cloths of the two Dutch republics. Neither the one nor the other should be blamed if they found a boat on the Wye a most pleasant exchange for an eager automobile on roads that tempted to high speed. At any rate, they gave no heed to the time until Cynthia happened to glance at the horizon and saw that the sun was represented by a thin seam of silver hemming the westerly fringe of a deep blue sky. If there was a moon, it was hidden by the hills. "Whatever o'clock is it?" she cried in a voice that held almost a sound of scare. Medenham looked at his watch, and had to hold it close to his eyes before he could make out the hour. "Time you were back at the hotel," he said, swinging the boat round quickly. "I am afraid I have kept you out too long, Miss Vanrenen. It is a perfect night, but you must not risk catching a chill----" "I'm not worrying about that sort of chill--there are others: what will Mrs. Devar think?" "The worst," he could not help saying. "What time is it, really?" "Won't you be happier not to know? We have the stream with us now----" "Mr. Fitzroy--what time is it?" "Nearly half-past ten o'clock. You did not leave the hotel till after half-past eight." "Oh, blame me, of course. 'The woman tempted me and I did eat.'" "No, no. Apples are not the only forbidden fruit. May I vary an unworthy defense? The woman came with me and I didn't care." "But I do care. Please hurry. Mrs. Devar will be real mad, and I shan't have a word to say for myself." Medenham bent to it, and the outrigger traveled downstream at a rare pace. Cynthia steered with fair accuracy by the track they had followed against the current, but the oarsman glanced over his shoulder occasionally, and advised her as to the probable trend of the channel. "Keep a bit wide here," he said when they were approaching a sharp bend. "I believe we almost touched ground in midstream as we came up." She obeyed, and a wide expanse of low-lying land opened before her eyes. "I don't see the lights of the hotel yet," she said, with a note of anxiety. "You are not making enough allowance for the way in which this river turns and twists. There are sections in which you box the compass during the course of a short----" A sharp tearing noise in the bottom of the boat amidships was followed by an inrush of water. Medenham sprang upright, leaped overboard, and caught the port outrigger with his left hand. He was then immersed to the waist, but he flung his right arm around Cynthia and lifted her clear of the sinking craft.