a public-house like a madman, that he had risen suddenly and rushed out into the night, and that some, following him, had heard a sound in the water, and hastened, terrified, to the river’s edge. The catastrophe might have been an accident--none could be sure that it was not--they could only say that in the darkness it had been impossible to discover him at first, and that, when he was found and dragged up from the river, the light on his face showed at once that he was dead. The doctors talked of some injury which his head had received, but the time he had been in the water was long enough to account for death--and Nat realised, with feelings which cannot be described, that another had gained the fate he had desired. For an instant he saw the dead form on a shutter, and then, in its turn, it was carried past him and away. And then, as the crowd of people hastened after it, he knew that Tina Gillan was standing by his side. He had felt her touch on his arm, and recognised it; and, as he turned his head, he saw her face. She was strangely attired, in a black silk evening dress, with necklace and bracelets upon her neck and arms, and over these things a black cloak lined with fur, which hung loose except where it was fastened at her throat; whilst an old black hat had been flung upon her hair, which was elaborately arranged, and glistening with pins of golden filigree. It did not seem strange to Nat that he should find her at his side--he was too much bewildered to be surprised that night--nor, considering the sight on which she had been looking, could he be amazed at the expression of her face--her eyes wide and wild, her cheeks and forehead twitching, whilst her limbs shook so that she could scarcely keep upon her feet. She clung to his arm, and kept muttering to him to ‘take her away from the river, to take her away from it,’ and, himself in such a condition that he was scarcely able to obey her, he half clung to her, half supported her to the streets. At the bridge he stood still, but fresh restlessness seized on her, and her low voice began muttering in his ear again. ‘Take me away from the river. I cannot bear to see it. I am going mad. Take me away from it.’