"Here?—on L'Etat?"
"Yes—inside. I'll show you some time, perhaps, if—"
"Is this where you came ashore?" he asked, as she came to a stand on a rough black shelf up which the waves hissed white and venomous.
"We—we always landed here when we swam across," she said, with a little break in her voice, as it came home to her again that Bernel would swim the Race no more.
"Nance dear, don't give up hope. He may come back yet."
"I have only you left, and they want to kill you," she said sadly.
"I wish I could come with you," as the dark waters swirled below them. "It feels terrible to let you go into that all alone."
"It is nothing. The tide is dead slack, and I have these"—swinging the bladders in her hand—"if I get tired. Oh, if Bern had only taken them—"
"I will kneel on the ridge and pray for your safety till I see your light. Dear, God keep you, and bless you for all your goodness and courage!"
He strained her to him again, as if he could not let her go to that colder embrace that awaited her below.