disappeared from sight. Once more only was anything seen of him, when
brought near the surface, perhaps, by an eddy in the stream, a hand
emerged, and for an instant the fingers quivered in the air.

With a sort of desperate horror Armstrong gazed upon the appalling
spectacle. The expression of anguish on the face of the drowning
fisherman, as his distended eyes met his own, froze his blood, and
left a memory behind to last to his dying day. Fascinated, his
eyes dwelt on the spot where the fisherman sunk, and for a moment a
terrible temptation was whispered into his ear quietly, to drop into
the river, and accompany the spirit of the drowned man. But it lasted
only a moment, and the instinct of life resumed its power.

It was not long ere his condition was discovered from the shore, when
chilled and shivering he was taken off by a boat that put out to
his rescue. On arriving at his home, Faith, excessively alarmed,
immediately dispatched the faithful Felix for the doctor.




CHAPTER XXV.

How sweetly could I lay my head
Within the cold grave's silent breast,
Where sorrow's tears no more are shed,
No more the ills of life molest.

MOORE