As he looked he became aware of something moving between him and the spot of light. He was a brave young man, yet his heart beat a little quicker as he strained his eyes to see what the moving object was. Again it passed in view, and this time it looked to be something climbing; another moment and it was on the edge of the reservoir. [Page 63] [Page 63] Now, plainly outlined between him and the strip of light sky, he saw the figure of a woman, a slender girl with flowing hair. Quick as a flash came the horrible thought that she had come there to die—that she intended to commit suicide. With a choking cry of horror he ran swiftly towards her. [Page 64] [Page 64] CHAPTER IV. STORY OF THE GIRL WHO ATTEMPTED SUICIDE. Richard Treadwell sat moodily on a bench, half supporting the limp form of the girl he had just saved from death. He had caught her just as she threw up her hands with a pitiful, weak cry, ready to spring into the reservoir. “My dear young woman, don’t take on so,” he said, vexedly, as the girl leaned against his shoulder, and sobbed in a heart-broken, distracted manner. “You are safe now.” As if that could be consolation to a woman who was seeking death which sought her not. “Really, I am sorry, you know, but there’s[Page 65] a good girl, don’t cry,” making a ludicrous attempt to console her. “I did it before I thought; if I had known how much you would have been grieved, I—I assure you, upon my honor, I wouldn’t have done it. I—I haven’t much to live for, either, still when I saw what you intended to do—it shocked me that you should be so desperate. Now that it’s all over I wouldn’t cry any more. I’d laugh, as if it were a joke, you know. I’d say the fates had saved me for some treat they had reserved for me. There, that’s better, don’t cry, you are not hurt—not even wet.” [Page 65] The girl
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