All in a moment there arose a great hubbub of excitement. All eyes turned upon the spot where Aline had broken through the thin crust of ice and gone down into the cold, dark waves. With the thoughtlessness born of excitement, the crowd made a rush for the spot. Some slipped and fell, and were heedlessly trampled, and deserted in the terrible rush. A panic was imminent. It seemed as if all were bent upon satiating a wild curiosity, and the solid ice, beginning to tremble beneath the burden upon it, might have broken through, and precipitated the crowd, pell-mell, into the same dark waves that had ingulfed Aline; but, at that moment, a loud, stern, authoritative voice rang out clearly and sharply: “Stand back, all of you! Do you not see that you are liable to cause her death as well as your own? Go back before the ice breaks through with your weight!” The stern voice seemed to put reason into their bewildered minds. There was a moment of flurry and indecision, and then the excited crowd began to veer toward the shore. No one was left in the vicinity of the dangerous ice except little Max, screaming piteously on the brink of the abyss into which his sister had disappeared. But, an instant more, and the form of a tall, handsome man was seen crossing the ice, carefully yet fearlessly. As he neared the thin ice, he threw himself carefully down upon it, and crept slowly along to the edge of the precipice. He had thrown off his coat, and was in his shirt sleeves, so that every one knew what was in his mind, and no one was surprised to see him drop cautiously over the ragged edge of the ice, and so down into the deep, running water. CHAPTER XXXVIII. It was an act of heroic daring that appealed to all, even to hearts less brave. A cry rose up from the shore, a shout of admiration for the hero’s bravery, a cheer to give him courage in his daring deed. Some one drew little Max away from his perilous position, and carried him screaming to the shore, where Mrs. Rodney had fallen down fainting with the shock of Aline’s fall. Some men went for a rope, knowing instinctively that it would be needed if Aline Rodney and the adventurous hero were ever rescued from the river. When they had found one, fortunately near at hand, they returned, and went over the ice cautiously, by lying down flat upon it and creeping slowly along. Then they peered over the icy edge of the opening into the dark, swirling river. Joy! joy! The icy current had not swept the hero away. He was there, with his head above the waves, and supporting on his arm the drenched form of a girl whose dark head drooped heavily, and whose chill, white face and closed eyelids showed that death or deadly unconsciousness had stolen upon her. He looked up and saw them peering down at him, and shouted, hoarsely: “A rope, quick, with a slip knot! I cannot sustain her much longer. I am freezing to death!”