What had happened!
Those who were sliding down that icy incline could not stop to see, and those who were on the ground below covered their eyes that they might not. Yet opened them again to stare helplessly at the dangling figure of a girl outside that terrible slide. For in a moment, when the clutching fingers must unclose, the poor child must drop to destruction. That was inevitable.
Then they saw it was Dorothy, who hung thus, suspended between life and death. Dorothy in her white and pink, the daintiest darling of them all, who had so enjoyed her first—and last!—day at this sport.
Fresh shudders ran through the onlookers as they realized this and the Lady Principal sank down in a faint. Then another groan escaped them—the merest possibility of hope.
Behold! The girl did not fall! Another’s small hand reached over the low side of the toboggan and clutched the blanket-covered shoulder of the imperiled child. Another hand! the other shoulder, and hope grew stronger. Someone had caught the falling Dorothy—she and her would-be-rescuer were now moving—moving—slowly downward along the very edge—one swaying perilously with the motion, the other wholly unseen save for those outstretched hands, with their death-fast grip upon the snowy wool.
Down—down! And faster now! Till the hands of the tallest watchers could reach and clasp the feet, then the whole precious little body of “Miss Dixie,” their favorite from the Southland.
But even then, as strong arms drew her into their safe shelter, the small hands which had supported her to safety clung still so tight that only the Bishop’s could loose their clasp.
“Gwendolyn! You brave, sweet girl! Let go—let go. It’s all right now—Dorothy did not fall—You saved her life. Look up, my daughter. Don’t faint now when all is over. Look up, you noble child, and hear me tell you: Dorothy is safe and it is you who saved her life. At the risk of your own you saved her life.”
Clasped close in his fatherly arms, Gwendolyn shuddered but obeyed and looked up into the Bishop’s face.
“Say that again. Please. Say that again—very slow—if it’s the—the truth.”