A Colonial Wooing
its channel. A piercing cry went up as she disappeared, a cry that was more than one for help, yet he who so plainly heard it had no such thought. She had not cried out "help!" but "John!"
In an instant, seeing what had happened, John Bishop had freed himself of his coat and heavy boots and plunged into the creek, before his companions had realized what had really happened. A few strokes brought him to the spot where Ruth had sunk, and the moment he reached it she reappeared, her hair floating at full length upon the surface of the water and her eyes widely opened, but staring vacantly at the sky, after a single glance of recognition. John placed an arm beneath her shoulders, and thus bearing his fainting burden, with no little difficulty stemmed the current and reached the shore.
John had but followed an ordinary impulse; he had seen a human being in imminent danger and snatched her from it, so he thought; but what meant that strange feeling in his breast when he looked so steadily into her vacant, staring eyes, as he laid her
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