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cause I was so certain that you were on board the ship.
And now you have been wrecked. Oh, how much you
must have suffered ! and how I should have wept if you
had been lost. Oh, I should have died too !" And then
she covered her face with her apron, and wept from fear
and joy.
Godber trembled like a criminal. The tears of the
girl fell like burning drops upon his heart. His tender-
ness for her returned for a moment. He clasped her in
his arms, pressed her passionately to his heart, and as
she raised her moist blue eyes, so full of love, the image
of Idalia was effaced from his heart.
But Maria freed herself quickly from him, and ex-
claimed, "Poor Godber, how you tremble ! Come into
the house immediately. The tea shall be ready in a
moment. How glad mother will be when you stand be-
fore her bed. Are you the only one saved ?"
This question turned Godber's thoughts at once to
Idalia. He fell back into his first coldness toward
Maria, and said hurriedly, and in broken words,
"There are others saved. Farewell, for the present.
I must carry them news of the ship."
"Wait a moment," said Maria ; "where are they ?
I'll go with you. Only let me tell mother ; and she
sprang gayly up the wharf, and in a few moments was
again with Godber who had remained motionless, and
in silent despair.
They now walked on together ; he with a troubled
mind, and speaking only in monosyllables ; she, with
sparkling eyes, and with a lively talkativeness quite un-
usual to her. She had so much to tell him ; how she
had longed for his return ; how she had thought of him
