Margaret, who had fainted, quickly returned to consciousness; and from the remarks she made while Janet was putting on her dry clothing, she seemed scarcely aware of what had occurred, nor till the other girls, who had speedily dressed, gathered round her, did she understand the danger in which she had been placed. "Who is he? Can ony o' ye tell me the brave laddie's name? that I may thank him and love him for saving my bairn," asked Janet. Some of the girls gave one name, some another. "Na, na, he is neither o' them," exclaimed one of the elder girls. "He is young Alec Galbraith, whose father and mother live in the big house over the links there. He gangs to the school, and my brothers ken him weel." Taking her bairn in her arms, Janet hastened homewards. The boys had already started for school, ignorant of the danger to which their sister had been exposed. Janet placed her on the bed, and now, for the first time, giving way to her feelings, burst into tears. "I'll ne'er again trust you to that treacherous sea, my own sweet bairn," she exclaimed, bending over her. "If it had taken you away, I could na have lived to come home and see the poor boys breaking their hearts, and they would have had no one left to care for them. But our God is kind and merciful, and we maun lift up our hearts to Him in praise and thanksgiving." "I will try to do so, dear Janet, though I feel that I cannot be grateful enough to Him," said Margaret, in a faint voice, and comprehending perhaps now far more than before, from the unusual agitation of her nurse, the fearful peril through which she had been preserved. "And, Janet," she added, in a whisper, "I should like to thank, with my whole heart, the brave boy who swam out to me and brought me safely on shore. I remember seeing him running along the rocks and coming towards me, and then I felt sure I was safe." "Yes, we will thank him. If I had to live a hundred years, I would thank him to the end of my days," exclaimed Janet. "But his parents are rich people, and a poor body like me can give him ne'er more than empty thanks." "But if they come from the bottom of our hearts he'll prize them," observed Margaret. "And do ye ken who he is?" "Ay, that I do--he is Donald's class-mate, no other than Alec Galbraith, your brother is always talking about." "Oh, I am so glad," exclaimed Margaret. "I can believe all Donald says of him. I must go with you and thank him too, and I will never more be jealous though he keeps at the head of the class, and Donald is only second. He must be as brave as he is clever, or he would not have risked his life to save that of a poor little stranger girl like me, and then to have gone away without even stopping to be thanked."