FROM THE GATES OF THE GRAVE. "The best is yet to be, The last of life, for which the first was made: Our times are in His hand, Who saith `A whole I planed, Youth shows but half: see all, nor be afraid!'" Rabbi Ben Ezra. She was not dead. "Still alive, but perfectly unconscious," was the report that met Gerald as he reached the lodge. "They have not told Captain Chancellor how bad it is," added Mr Thurston's informant, "for he was severely stunned himself, and the hearing it might do him harm. He thinks Mrs Chancellor escaped unhurt." A little later Gerald caught a glimpse of the Chilworth surgeon. This gentleman seemed glad to get hold of some responsible person. "Mrs Chancellor's brother-in-law, Mr Thurston, I presume," he began, and Gerald did not think the slight mistake worth correcting. "I have sent to Chilworth to telegraph for Dr Frobisher, of Marley. I suppose I did right?" "Most certainly," answered Gerald. "You see I had no one to consult--we must keep it from Captain Chancellor as long as possible, he has had a narrow escape himself--and I feel the responsibility very great. There is no wonder they thought Mrs Chancellor was killed, at first--I almost thought so myself when I first came." "Then what is your opinion now?" Gerald ventured to ask, fancying a shadow of hope was inferred by the surgeon's manner. "I think there is a slight hope, a very slight one. It will hang on a thread for some days at the best, but she is young and very healthy, though not strong. If she escapes, however, it will be little short of a miracle. Can you tell me how it happened? It seems an extraordinary thing altogether; the ponies were not wild, the coachman tells me, and had been driven several times."