But of course he held her fast; until at length she said, ever so kindly, but ever so firmly:
“Let me go, please. I am not quite sane, I think. Oh, I am so glad, so glad you are safe! Thank God with all my heart and soul! Oh, thank Him forever and ever! I do not care that I am shipwrecked on this foreign shore now!” she added, earnestly.
“Nor I; not one whit. I rather like it,” agreed Justin, as he sat her down upon a ledge of rocks and took a seat by her side.
“No more would I, if I had Fore Top Tom foreninst me, and daddy, and could get me tay, and toast, and mate, and granes rigalar,” muttered Judith, dropping into her old place.
“I was so overjoyed to see you safe, that I forgot to ask how you were saved, or where your companions are,” said Justin.
“My companions! Ah, Mr. Rosenthal, how selfish I was to forget them for a moment! They are all lost! Our boat foundered in that last gale! Only myself and Judith Riordan chanced to be saved by having life preservers on, and by being cast ashore by a wave. Our companions are lost!” said Britomarte, solemnly.
“Lost!” repeated Justin, gravely.
And a deep silence fell between them—a reverential silence in tribute to the dead, taken away so awfully; a long silence, broken at length by the voice of Judith, who, reminded of her losses, recommenced her howling.
“Lost!” again repeated Justin. “Well, God’s will be done. All our grief will not restore them to us. And, much as I lament the calamity, I am too happy in this hour of reunion with you to feel inconsolable at any circumstance whatever.”
“How were you saved? Though I am so glad to see you saved that I have scarcely room to feel curious about the manner,” said Miss Conyers.