"Gwen!" he said. "Mawredd anwl![[2]] what is the meaning of this? Another of thy witch ways! Tell me, woman—art thou in that boat, or here? No more of thy mad tricks!"
"Mad tricks?" said Gwen fiercely. "What dost mean, Hugh Morgan?"
"Yes, mad tricks," said Hugh angrily. "Didn't I see thee half an hour ago on Traeth-y-daran, with the waves dashing round thee? and hasn't Ivor Parry ventured his life in that cockle shell to save thee?"
"Mad, indeed!" replied Gwen, bringing her white face close to his. "Who is maddest—thee or me, Hugh Morgan? Dost think Ivor Parry would risk his life to save me? It was not me who ran so wildly over the cliffs through the wind and rain to-day. I am not the only one, I am glad to say, whose heart is burning and aching. Look nearer home, man. If I am mad, I never left the girl who loved me all her life to marry a croten[[3]] of a girl who did not love me, and who loved somebody else. 'Tis thou art mad, Hugh Morgan, and 'twas thy wife Gwladys who ran through the storm to Traeth-y-daran this morning," and she burst into one of the long shrieking fits of laughter which had latterly become the terror of Mwntseison.
Hugh looked at her in horrified amazement. His mind was a chaos of troubled thoughts, and, as a shout from the crowd caught his ear, he turned again to watch the boat, but it was gone.
There had been a slight lull in the storm, during which Will and Ivor had striven hard to reach the shore; but the wind rose again, and the sea, as if regretting its momentary gentleness, suddenly increased in violence. A monstrous wave, towering higher than any that had hitherto assailed them, came rolling with foaming crest towards the boat. Ivor and Gwladys realised at the same moment that to escape its powerful mass was impossible. With one impulse they stood up.
"'Tis death!" cried Gwladys.
"But together!" answered Ivor, as he clasped her in his arms; and together they were washed out of the boat, and carried away by the rushing wave.
Will struggled for a while to keep afloat but soon sank, never to appear again. The excitement on the beach was intense. They were now aware that it was not Gwen for whom Ivor had risked his life, for she was amongst them, and they looked round to see who was missing.
In the seething, foaming inrush of waters, the tossed and struggling figures clasped in each other's arms were sometimes visible, rolling over and over, but ever carried nearer to land.