Yorke flushed. He felt as guilty and uncomfortable as if he had been detected in an act of killing a human being.
"See, he cannot make any way! Oh, poor little Dick! I am—so—sorry. I am so fond of him, and he is such a nice——." She stopped and turned her head away as if she could not go on, and could look no longer.
"I threw the piece of wood," said Yorke. "I didn't see the dog; he's so small—oh, for goodness sake, don't cry! It's all right."
He got out of his coat with the cool quickness of a man who is used to emergencies in the sporting way, and running across the sand, sprang into the sea, and struck out.
Leslie was too astonished for a moment to realize what he had done, then she raised her voice with a warning cry.
"The current!" she called to him. "The current. Oh, come back, please come back!"
CHAPTER V.
APPRECIATED GENIUS.
Yorke soon found himself out of his depth, and almost as quickly discovered what the young lady meant by shouting, "The current!" But he was a good swimmer—there was scarcely anything Yorke Auchester could not do, except earn his living—and, though he found his boots and clothes very much in the way, he got through the waves at a fair pace, and reached the black and tan.