MYSTERY OF AMAGANSET. 339 



" The tramp of men disturbed the scene, as they 

 brought in a body from the wreck. Bessie passed into 

 the inner room, whither in a moment her mother brought 

 in her stout arms the form of a young, slender, fair- 

 haired girl, whose face of very delicate beauty was now 

 almost heavenly in what seemed at first the peace of 

 death. 



" They laid her in Bessie's bed, and in an hour by dili- 

 gent care had succeeded in restoring animation if not 

 consciousness. Once she had murmured ' Philippe,' 

 and Bessie sprang up with a flush on her countenance 

 at the sound, but, sinking back with a half-suppressed 

 moan, continued her exertions in silence. 



" In the mean time the bodies of several men were 

 brought into the old kitchen. Among them was one 

 richly dressed, and bearing marks of rank and wealth, for 

 those were days when travelers wore more of the insignia 

 of position than now. He was young and strong, and it 

 was manifest that he was not dead. But a strange stu- 

 por, whether of cold or otherwise, had taken possession 

 of him, and he lay motionless on the floor before the fire, 

 until a sharp cry from the inner room reached his be- 

 numbed senses. 



" The lady had at length opened her eyes, and a sense 

 of her position slowly dawned on her intellect. A few 

 questions in French, which Bessie understood and an- 

 swered, sufficed to explain all, and then she wailed aloud 

 in the perfect abandonment of woe 



"'Philippe, mon Philippe! oh Mon Dieu, il est mort ; 

 mon ame, mon cceur, mort, mort !' and she sank back 

 fainting on the pillow. 



" He heard that cry, and rose to his feet. At first, for 

 an instant, he seemed to be confused, but the next mo- 



