“What has become of him?” they cried; and several answered at once:
“He just beckoned a cab, jumped in, and was driven away, refusing to answer any questions.”
And strange to say, not one in that crowd knew his name or anything about him. He was quite strange to them all. And the reporters, in graphically describing the affair for the evening papers, could only refer to him as “the handsome and mysterious rescuer of Miss Van Lew from a watery grave, the unknown hero,” etc., while earnestly requesting him to announce himself to a curious and admiring public.
Later on Viola’s father appeared in print, thanking the unknown savior of his daughter’s life, and begging the favor of his acquaintance; but no reply came to any of these overtures—the man’s identity remained as deeply hidden as if he had sunk forever under the swirling waves of the deep river from which he had rescued Viola.
Meanwhile, our heroine being taken home and resuscitated with difficulty from her unconscious condition, was quite ill for a week, from the shock and wetting she had received.
She knew nothing of the stranger who had snatched her back to life as she was sinking a second time beneath the cold waves, for she was unconscious when he grasped her; but as she began to convalesce, and heard from Aunt Edwina the story of her rescue, she became greatly interested in her unknown savior.
“Oh, how stupid it was in everybody not to find out his name! I shall never be happy till I know him and can thank him for saving my life!” she cried, eagerly.
Wise Aunt Edwina presently began to grow uneasy over her niece’s anxiety about the handsome unknown. She said to herself:
“Come; this will not do. If she ever finds him out she will be falling in love with him, the silly, romantic child, and as like as not, he may be some handsome ne’er-do-well not fit for her to speak to, so I will disenchant her if I can.”
And the next time Viola began to dilate on her anxiety to know her rescuer, she cleared her throat, the dear, shy old lady, and observed, gently: