The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

392
The Highland Monthly.
and feminine instincts. Respectably laden, she faced the
but apparently drew a com-
stream for the return journey ;
parison between the current and her burden, to the
advantage of the latter, for she retreated and annexed a
frying pan, which she hung upon her left arm. Even then
the old beldame hesitated. L}Mng near was a light wicker
work chair of inviting shape and proportions. VVitli one
hand she swung it upon her head, feet upwards, and thrust-
ing her head partially through an oval aperture in the back,
prepared to buffet the stream.
It was another illustration of the> miser and the jar of
gold.
How it happened Flora could not say, but simul-
taneously with an extra puff of wind there was a splash and
a shrill scream ; then a tumbling bundle of rags, legs and
arms came down the river. In a moment Flora had thrown
the bridle over the stunted branch of a fir tree, and
gathering her skirts, rushed down the slope to the water's
edge. A huge, travelled boulder breasted the stream
about twenty yards higher up, and upon the direction the
drowning woman took depended her life. On the off side>
the current would sweep her into mid stream, where human
aid could not avail her, on the other, she must pass within
arm's length of the bank upon which Flora, quivering and
speechless with excitement, stood ready to render help.
For a moment the silent sprawling mass hovered, as it were,
between life and death ; then rested against the stone ;
finally swung round, and with a rush came in Flora's
direction. Pale but resolute, she bent down, and grasped
with one hand the whins on the bank, extending the other
over the peaty current. There was but time for one
c)utch ; were it missed, a life must go !
-Help
!
Help
! !
In the agony of her excitement Flora had uttered the
appeal for aid, but it was not now needed, for her left hand
grasped firmly the clothes of the drowning woman, and in
a second more, the unconscious form of a pale, uninviting
piece of humanity lay stretched on the grass.