"You will stay with me?" she whispered.
"I am going to help you down to the stream," he said.
"Don't—don't carry me!" she faltered.
"Of course not! You can walk on this moss if I hold you up."
But she was very reluctant to move.
"I—I don't want you to look at me," she said, at last, with a great sob. "I feel such a fright."
"Don't be a goose, Chirpy!" he said.
That braced her a little. She dried her tears. She even suffered him to raise her to her feet, but she kept her head bent, avoiding his eyes.
"Look where you are going," said Rivington practically. "Here is my arm. You mustn't mind me, you know. Lean hard!"
She accepted his assistance in silence. She was crying still, though she strove to conceal the fact. But as she sank down once more on the brink of the stream, the sobs broke out afresh, and would not be suppressed.