Lady Ingleby put her hand into his, and he helped her to her feet. She stood beside him gazing, with wide startled eyes, at the expanse of sea, the rushing waves, the tiny strip of sand. "The tide seems very high," said Lady Ingleby. "Very high," agreed Jim Airth. He stood close beside her, but his eyes still eagerly scanned the water. If by any chance a boat came round the point there would still be time to hail it. "We seem to be cut off," said Lady Ingleby. "We _are_ cut off," replied Jim Airth, laconically. "Then I suppose we must have a boat," said Lady Ingleby. "An excellent suggestion," replied Jim Airth, drily, "if a boat were to be had. But, unfortunately, we are two miles from the hamlet, and this is not a time when boats pass in and out; nor would they come this way. When I saw you, from the top of the cliff, I calculated the chances as to whether I could reach the boats, and be back here in time. But, before I could have returned with a boat, you would have--been very wet," finished Jim Airth, somewhat lamely. He looked at the lovely face, close to his shoulder. It was pale and serious, but showed no sign of fear. He glanced at the point of cliff beyond. Twenty feet above its rocky base the breakers were dashing; but round that point would be safety. "Can you swim?" asked Jim Airth, eagerly. Myra's calm grey eyes met his, steadily. A gleam of amusement dawned in them. "If you put your hand under my chin, and count 'one--two! one--two!' very loud and quickly, I can swim nearly ten yards," she said. Jim Airth laughed. His eyes met hers, in sudden comprehending comradeship. "By Jove, you're plucky!" they seemed to say. But what he really said was: "Then swimming is no go." "No go, for me," said Myra, earnestly, "nor for you, weighted by me. We should never get round that eddying whirlpool. It would merely mean that we should both be drowned. But you can easily do it alone. Oh, go at once! Go quickly! And--don't look back. I shall be all right. I shall just sit down against the cliff, and wait. I have always been fond of the sea." Jim Airth looked at her again. And, this time, open admiration shone in his keen eyes. "Ah, brave!" he said. "A mother of soldiers! Such women make of us a fighting race." Myra laid her hand on his sleeve. "My friend," she said, "it was never given me to be a mother. But I am a soldier's daughter, and a soldier's widow; and--I am not afraid to die. Oh, I do beg of you--give me one handclasp and go!" Jim Airth took the hand held out, but he kept it firmly in his own. "You shall not die," he said, between his teeth. "Do you suppose I would leave any woman to die alone? And _you_--you, of all women!--By heaven," he repeated, doggedly; "you shall not die. Do you think I could go; and leave--" he broke off abruptly.