"There is no place for me to go," said Necia, blankly, "except the Mission, and I have no way of getting there."
"Don't you worry. I'll furnish the means, and you'd better go to-night"—she flinched—"yes, to-night; there's no use prolonging your agony. I'll get a boat ready and send a trusty man with you. The current is swift, and if he rows well you can make it by to-morrow evening. That's only one night out, and I'll put some blankets aboard so you can wrap up and have a sleep."
"I feel as if I'd never sleep again," she sighed.
"Now, now, this will come out all right yet. I'd take you down there myself, but I've got to stay here. I've got work to do. Yes, I've sure got work of importance ahead of me."
"I must go back and get some clothes," she said, At which he would have demurred had he not seen that she could not travel in her present condition.
"Very well. But don't let anybody see you."
"Of course not."
"It's getting late, and your folks will be abed." He looked at his watch. "Midnight! Be here in an hour, and I'll have the skiff ready."
The light of sacrifice was in Necia's eyes, and her cheeks were blanched with the pallor of a great resolution. She did not stop to reason why or how she had been led to this disposal of her future, but clutched desperately at Stark's plan of rescue from her agonizing predicament.
"I'll be here in an hour," she said, simply.