The Argosy — page 81: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

68 The Missing Rubies. could never clearly understand the way in which their deliverance had come to pass. He had a vague remembrance of taking a wild leap with the girl in his arms; and then the roar deafened him, and a thick cloud blotted out everything from his sight. When the noise ceased, and the mists cleared away from his brain, he found himself lying on the side of the embankment. And down below, at the bottom of the bank, lay the prostrate figure of the woman who had saved his life. Yes, she had saved him! He had come there to die, and yet, here he stood, alive and strong, with the sweet breath of morning blowing softly on his face, and the quiet fields around him. A bird on a hawthorn-bush broke out suddenly into an ecstasy of jubilant shakes and trills ; a burst of sunlight bathed the buttercup meadows in wonderful glory ; and God’s earth rejoiced in the splendour of the bright young day. It was May-time, fresh and balmy as the May- time of his boyhood, when he had carried light burdens of blossom- laden boughs, and sung old songs for very joy of heart. Then he sprang down the steep bank and hastened to the un- conscious girl lying among the long grass. Her poor little white face looked very childish as the sunlight shone upon it; her hat had ‘fallen off, revealing a small head covered with sunny, rippling hair, which had escaped from its pins and broken into soft curls. Very gently he swept back the golden-brown tresses that were hanging -over her forehead, and, lifting her lightly, rested her head upon his knee. There was no one at hand to bring water. The nearest habitation “was a cottage in the far corner of the field; and he was wondering -anxiously what he should do. At last, slowly and wearily, the eyelids unclosed, and the deep-coloured eyes met his with a be- wildered look which filled him with intense pain. She was only a girl, quiet and sensitive by nature, needing all her strength to do her little share of work in the world. What if that desperate struggle for his life had broken the very mainspring of her existence? ‘We are both quite safe now,” he said, softly. She took in the full meaning of his words, and the light that came quickly into her face at once dispelled his fears. For a second or two she lay quite still, and he felt that she was drinking in all the sweetness of a great deliverance. ‘There was not a sound to break the stillness of the place, except the birds’ songs, and the faint rustle of the long grass. Yet Godwin Earle was distinctly conscious that this was the most sacred moment he had ever known in his life. ‘“‘T shall be strong again in a few minutes,” she said, speaking in a very quiet voice, and lifting her head from its resting-place. ‘‘ Every- thing is a little confused. I think I must have had a fall.” He helped her to rise, and then picked up her hat from the grass, watching her silently while she tried, with unsteady fingers, to smooth her hair and set her dress in order. Just for an instant the be- COMMIEGOOOKS»€@) m