"Elsie," he said, "the canoe is all right, look!"
Down in the long, smooth swell at the foot of the rapids, it lay sluggishly. The man dipped his paddle and began to move almost imperceptibly towards shore. The girl drew a long breath.
"He's safe."
"Yes," said Clark earnestly, "he's very safe. Now I want to talk to you."
She brightened at once. "Do."
"I've wanted to talk to you for months. Do you remember what we spoke of last?"
"Destiny," she said softly.
He nodded. "I see it plainly to-day, more plainly than ever before. Sometimes when a man is in deep water his sight gets keener. What I have been through in the last seven years is only a phase, it's not an epoch. I was meant to do it, and I did it with all my heart. Now I'm going to do something else, in order that the works may prosper. You have helped me to make that decision."
"I?" she whispered faintly.
He put a hand on her arm—it was his only caress.