'I do know it,' I replied; and therefore I am going. By this time to-morrow I hope to have made all necessary preparations, and to be ready for a start. Meanwhile you will stay here--I know you will, because I ask you to comfort and look after Janie until you receive your uncle's consent to go to Madras. And when it arrives, and you have left Mushin-Bunda, I will return to it.'

'And we shall never-never meet again!' she said in a voice so broken as to be almost inarticulate.

I dared not answer her; had I spoken, I must have poured out all my heart.

'You have consented?' were my next words.

'Yes, since you think it best; only I am sorry to be the means of driving you from home.'

If you are though you have no need to be--will you give me one recompense, Margaret ?'

She lifted her eyes inquiringly; speech seemed almost lost to her.

Say you forgive me for what I told you yesterday. I have sorely reproached myself since.'

She stretched out her hand, and met mine in a grasp which, though firm, was cold as that of death.

Then we part friends?'

It was again myself who spoke; she nodded her head in acquiescence, and I felt my prudence evaporating and rushed from the apartment.

Written down, this interview seems nothing; but to those who feel as we do, the misery of years may be compressed into an hour; and that small room, for both of us, was worse than a torturechamber.

I have scarcely seen her since, except at meals; but, as I anticipated, my wife was so delighted to learn that she should retain her cousin's company, that she thought next to nothing of my proposed shooting excursion, except to beg that I would take care of myself, and to wonder how I could like going after those horrid bears' and awful tigers.' Indeed, on the whole, I half suspect the little woman is rather glad to get rid of me, and pleased at the idea of having Margaret all to herself for a few weeks; for she has occasionally displayed the faintest touch of jealousy when I have broken up their tête-à-tête conferences. So I have sent them word down to the Fort to lay my dawk' for me, and I shall start as soon as tomorrow's sun goes down.

I almost think we shall have a storm first; which would pleasantly clear the air, for the sky has been indigo-colour all to-day, and there is a strange heaviness over everything as I write.

I have been packing my portmanteau and cleaning my weapons, until I have fairly tired myself out; but were I to stop to think, I

could never summon courage enough to go. The household is asleep, and has been for hours; and I am sadly in want of rest, for I can hardly keep my eyes open or guide my pen upon the paper-and yet I feel as though I should never sleep again.

Bah! I must be mad or dreaming. I am only starting on an ordinary shooting excursion, and I feel as though I were going to

my grave.

This is folly-monomania; I shall be thankful when the hour comes for me to leave.

Madras, October 20th. It is more than two months since I transcribed a line in this written record of my inmost thoughts; more than two months since that awful, horrible, and most unexpected catastrophe occurred, which I cannot now recall without a shudder, and which, for a time, seemed as if it must obliterate my reason or my life. But I am spared (though I cannot yet say, thank God that it is so); and were it not that my soul seems to die within me, and my energy to languish for want of some one or thing to which I may confide my sorrow, I should not have the courage even now to write the story down. But I must speak, even though it be but to a silent confidante, for my spirit fails for lack of sympathy; and therefore I draw out my old diary, and having read (shall I be ashamed to say with tears ?) what I have written in these foregoing pages, proceed to bring the tale to a conclusion.

Let me try to collect my scattered thoughts, so apt to wander when I approach this miserable subject, and carry them back to the eventful moment when I last left off-to the night of the 12th of August.

I had sat up, packing my wardrobe and writing my diary, until I had fairly tired myself out, and then, having put away my book and writing materials into the table-drawer, I locked it, and lighting a cigar, sat down to think; of what, and in what strain, I and these pages, to my misery, best know.

I had no intention of permitting myself to fall asleep; but it is my custom to smoke just before retiring to bed, and I should have anticipated a broken rest without the indulgence. At the same time my fatigue was greater than I thought, and after a little while drowsiness came over me, and before I knew that sleep was coming I was in the land of dreams.

And such a land! Thank heaven, for those who are not destined in this world to know substantial happiness, that dreams remain to them.

I dreamt that I was with Margaret again on the sea-shore; not riding, but wandering hand-in-hand; not speaking coldly or with averted faces, but eyes to eyes, and heart to heart. I dreamt that I was watching the damask blush which mantled on her cheek, and

listening to the low mellow sound of her rich voice, and that mingled with my own reply came the hoarse murmur of the ocean as it swelled and surged upon the shore.

I dreamt that we were one; not one in the earthly acceptation of the word, but in that fuller sense by which spirits are united to each other, never more to part; and that as we strolled upon the beach together we knew that neither death nor injury could sever us again. And amidst it all I was listening to the hoarse murmur of the waves, which rolled up to our very feet, and broke away, but to return with an energy louder and more imperative than before. I dreamt that as I stood thus, enfolding my new-found treasure in my arms, I started to find that the sky was overcast, and that the tide had surrounded us, and was behind as well as before, and threatening to overwhelm my darling. I dreamt that in my fear and solicitude I drew her backwards, trembling for her safety, and that as I whispered words of love and reassurance, I woke to dream no more.

I woke, at the bidding of a loud and terrified scream from the lips of my native servants, and springing to my feet, became first aware of a sensation of intense chilliness, and next, as my remaining senses gradually returned to me, of a hoarse murmur somewhere near me, which recalled the memory of my dream.

The night was intensely dark; there seemed to be neither moon nor stars; and for one moment I stood, uncertain which way to move, and waiting to hear if the cry had only been my fancy, or would be repeated. Too soon it came again, this time louder, more terrified, more piercing than before; and its burden words of fearful import, too fearful to be at first believed. 'Master, master!' it said in Hindustani; master, the sea is on us!' And before I could scarcely realise the meaning of the words, the natives who slept in the verandah had rushed into my presence, and were immediately followed by a huge wave of water, which, with the hollow roar to which I had listened in my dreams, burst into the unprotected sitting-rooms, and washed over my feet.

6

6

'Master,' cried the natives, as they clambered upon tables and chairs, the sea has burst its bounds; the sea is coming on us; the whole cantonment will be under water!'

'Close the doors and windows!' I exclaimed loudly; but no one stirred, and I attempted to set them the example of doing as I said; but it was too late. I perceived a dark volume of water stealing stealthily upon us from all sides, and even as I advanced towards the verandah, a huge wave dashed against me, washing me to the middle, knocking me backwards on the drawing-room table, and carrying away a chair as it retreated. At the same moment, a scream from the women's apartments told me that the sea had reached that quarter; and with no thought but for the safety of those dear to me, I dashed without ceremony into Miss Anstruther's room. I found

her pale and trembling, but just awakened, sitting on the side of her bed with her bare feet in a river of sea-water.

'What is the matter?' she gasped as I entered.

The sea has overflowed the cantonment,' I replied hastily, as I quickly lifted her in my arms; but trust to me, Lionne, and I will take you to a place of safety."

She shuddered, but made no resistance, until I had carried her to the dining-room, now half full of water, and was preparing to wade with her through the verandah, and place her on the roof of the house.

But where is Janie ?' she exclaimed, as she looked with horror

on the advancing mass of water; O, where is Janie ?'

At her question I nearly dropped my burden; for the moment I had entirely forgotten my poor wife, whose screams were patent from the adjoining room.

Go to her,' said Lionne, as she struggled from my embrace, and slid down into the cold waves, against the violence of which she could hardly support herself. 'Go at once! What were you thinking of? She will drown, if you do not take care.'

'Let me

'I am doing as much as I can,' I answered hurriedly. place you in safety first, and then I will return for her. I cannot carry two at once.'

'And you would leave her to the last ?' she said indignantly; 'she, in whom two lives are wrapt in one! O Robert! I did not think it of you.'

'But, my beloved-' I commenced, in an agony at her delay.
'Go!' she said authoritatively; and I left her to her fate, and

went.

I found my poor little wife wet through and screaming for help; and lifting her in my arms, I carried her, buffeting with the water as I went, through the dining- and drawing-rooms to the outer verandah.

'Hold fast-take the greatest care of yourself,' I exclaimed in an agony of fear, as I battled past the white-clad figure which was clinging to the door-posts. 'I will return, Lionne, as soon as ever

I can.'

'I am not afraid; God will take care of me,' was the calm reply; and I strode forwards into deeper and deeper water with each step. When I reached the verandah the struggle was severe, for there the waves were highest and strongest; but although much impeded by Janie's terrified clasp, I managed to wade with her to the foot of the ladder, and as soon as I had accomplished two or three steps of that, the rest was easy. I toiled with my helpless burden up to the roof, despair lending strength to my limbs; and as soon as I had reached it, I found myself in a goodly company of natives, who, with a few unfortunate exceptions, had managed to gain the top of the house as soon as the flood had surprised them.

Having delivered Janie to the care of the ayah, I rushed down again to the assistance of Lionne, my heart throbbing as though it would burst with the fear that my efforts might be made too late. The water was now higher than ever in the verandah, and I began to be afraid that I should have to swim back again. I dashed on as vigorously and quickly as I could towards the door, to the lintels of which I had left her clinging. She was not there!

The dark water was swaying and surging through the deserted rooms; the furniture was floating about in the most dire confusion; trunks, portmanteaus, and other trivial articles knocked up against me at every turn before they drifted out to sea; but my beloved I saw nowhere. In an agony I called upon her name, making the walls resound with my voice, caring nothing who heard or listened to me.

Lionne, Lionne! my dearest, my beloved! where are you? Speak to me.'

But no voice answered mine, no moan or groan reached my ears; and I waded into the chamber which had been my wife's.

Ah, what was that ?-that helpless mass of white drapery clinging about delicately-moulded limbs, which swayed about in one corner, prevented by the wall-thank gracious heaven!-from floating out to sea with chairs and tables, but being knocked against that cruel wall with every motion of the waves, until no apparent life was left in it.

I took her senseless body in my arms, thankful even in that condition to have it there; and lifting the dear white face above the reach of the impetuous tide, laid my cheek against her own, although I believed that human warmth would never again visit it. It was no time for words or even thought. I pressed her to me as fondly as though the waves had been our bridal bed; and resenting the despair which urged me to let the cruel water carry us both away together then and there, battled with it once more, and bore my treasure to the place of safety. But it was with feelings such as no words of mine can describe, that I laid her beauteous form, cold, dripping, on the bare bricks with which the roof is paved. I had already stripped myself of coat and waistcoat for Janie; and there was nothing on which to lay the senseless body of my darling but the wet cloths which the natives could contribute, and an old piece of carpet which was kept up there.

Meanwhile the hoarse flood continued to roll and murmur below, becoming deeper and deeper with each surge of the mass of waters; and cries of distress were heard from the surrounding houses; and the articles of furniture which floated past us began to be mingled with a vision of dead faces turned sightlessly towards the moon, now beginning to struggle out from behind the canopy of dark clouds which had hitherto concealed her. And still I bent above the face