"I have had the most pleasant hours of my life!" declared Dorothy. "It has been like heaven here; I am sorry to go. And oh! how dark and drear to-morrow will be in the bindery, after such a pleasant outing here."
"You need not return to the bindery to-morrow unless you wish," whispered Langdon, still holding the girl's little hand in his.
Dorothy's heart beat high. Was handsome Harry Langdon about to propose to her? she wondered.
But no! the words she was waiting for did not fall from his lips, although he had plenty of opportunity as they walked down the gayly festooned path that led to the wharf.
"Perhaps he means to wait until he gets on the boat," she thought, with a fluttering heart.
Poor little Dorothy! there was no one to warn her against him. How was she to realize that the thought of marriage had never entered his head, and that he was of the kind who smile on and flatter women and then ride away, little caring how many broken hearts are left behind?
Dorothy's pretty, innocent face had captivated his fancy, but he would never have dreamed of making her his wife.
As they neared the boat, so great was the crowd clambering on board that Dorothy would have been separated from her companion had she not clung to his arm.
"You need never go back to the book-bindery, Dorothy," he managed to whisper again.
At that moment they stepped aboard the steamer and started toward the upper deck.
It had been a happy day for Dorothy, but a most miserable one for poor Jack. Contrary to his expectations, he finished the task allotted to him much sooner than he had anticipated, and by two o'clock he was ready to quit the book-bindery for the day.
Hurrying home, he quickly changed his clothing, smiling the while as he thought of putting the wish into execution that had been in his heart all day, of joining the crowd up at West Point; and how delighted Dorothy would be to see him – what a surprise it would be to her!
His mother and his cousin watched him out of sight from their humble cottage door, and then turned back to their duties with a sigh. They had hoped that he would spend the day with them.
With a joyful heart Jack boarded the boat for West Point, but when he reached there and found that Dorothy was not among the group, his disappointment knew no bounds.
"My tender-hearted little darling!" he thought. "She would not join them for a day's pleasure because she thought I could not go, and she is having a lonely time of it at home."
Back to the city Jack posted in all haste, and although the hour was late when he reached there – the clocks in the belfries sounding the hour of nine – still he could not refrain from stopping a moment at the cottage, just to let Dorothy know how cruelly fate had tricked him.
To his great consternation, he learned there, from the lady who kept the boarding-house, that Dorothy – his Dorothy – had left the house at two o'clock that afternoon with handsome Mr. Langdon, and that they had started for Staten Island for a day's outing.
He stood quite still, stupefied with amazement too great for words, and a white, awful horror broke over his face and shone in his eyes.
"Tell me about him again!" he cried, hoarsely. "What was he like – this man who took Dorothy away?" And as he listened to the description his face grew stormy with terrible wrath, for it tallied exactly with that of the man who had put Dorothy in the cab and rode away with her.
Like a lightning's flash Jack tore down to the Staten Island wharf, and was just in time to catch the out-going boat. He would surprise them, he told himself, and tear little Dorothy, his promised bride, from his rival's arms, or die in the attempt.
All the way down the bay Jack paced the deck in a tumult of fury that increased with every breath he drew.
The half hour that it took to reach his destination seemed as endless as the pangs of purgatory to lost souls. He never knew how the journey was made, or how he reached the island – flaming with lights on this gala night, and gorgeous with flags and gilded banners.
There were few passengers going down to Staten Island. The steamer had come to take the revellers back to the city, and the gang-plank was no sooner lowered than the crowd rushed aboard with happy laughter and gay repartee. Among the first to gain a foothold on the stairway that led to the upper deck were Harry Langdon and Dorothy; and here, face to face, they met – Jack!
"Unhand that young girl!" he cried, sternly, facing Langdon. "You have no right to be here with her."
Langdon started back, and glanced in haughty amazement at the broad-shouldered, fair-haired young man confronting him.
But without waiting for him to answer, Jack turned to Dorothy, holding out his hands to her, saying huskily:
"Leave him, little one, and come with me."
But Dorothy threw back her head with rising anger.
"How dare you, Jack Garner!" she cried, stamping her tiny foot, her blue eyes flashing. "I shall never speak to you again for this —never!"
"Step out of our way," cried Dorothy's companion, "and allow this young lady and myself to pass!"
"You shall never pass me with her!" cried Jack, furiously, his hand stealing involuntarily to his breast pocket.
"Step aside; we wish to go on deck!" returned Langdon, haughtily, "and we intend to do so!"
"You will never go on deck with her, unless it be over my dead body!" cried Garner, his face white as death, his voice trembling with excitement, and his brown eyes flashing like living coals of fire.
"You can not prevent me," retorted Langdon, in a sneering, contemptuous voice. Then, turning to Dorothy, he added: "I am glad that I am here to stand between you and this intrusive fellow. Come; I will thrust him aside, and we will go on deck, my dear."
The familiarity with which he addressed his companion stung Jack to madness.
"You can pass on deck alone, but not one step shall you proceed with that young girl! Try it at your peril!" shouted Jack, hoarsely.
Langdon did not heed the terrible warning, but attempted to push past with his companion; and in that instant the passengers crowding up from below heard the wild, piercing, terrified cry of the young girl ring out on the night air, and mingled with it the report of a revolver – three shots in quick succession – and the voice of a man crying out in mortal agony: "My God! I am shot!" and the next instant a beautiful, fair-haired girl plunged from the deck down, down into the dark, mad waves, and the seething waters closed quickly over her golden head and white, lovely, childish face.
In an instant there was the most intense excitement and confusion on board the steamer. Young girls fainted, women cried aloud, and strong men stood fairly paralyzed with horror. Great God! the steamer was backing slowly over the spot where the girl had gone down, and where she would reappear. Nothing could save her now.
Chapter IV
All in an instant the cry rang from lip to lip: "There's a man overboard!" Will he save her? Oh, heavens, is he too late to save the life of the beautiful, rash girl who had plunged into the mad waters scarcely a moment before, or will it mean death for both of them?
He had disappeared beneath the steamer. The next moment that passed seemed the length of eternity to the horrified spectators who lined the dock and the decks, straining their eyes looking down into the dark waters lighted up so fitfully by the pallid moonlight.
He rose, and a great cry broke from every lip. He was alone, and almost instantly he disappeared again. And again he rose, still alone. Every heart sank. People held their breath. Useless, useless to hope. The poor girl's fate was sealed.
Then a mighty cheer broke forth. The waters parted, and they saw him again. This time he was making for the shore, holding in one arm the body of the luckless young girl whom he had risked his own life to save.
Suddenly they heard him utter a sharp cry.
"A rope! A rope! I am sinking!"
In