CHAPTER XII.

Westminster Abbey.

Next morning Jack and Rose went out for a walk along the beach.  Out in the little bay a man and a woman were sailing and enjoying themselves, for the sound of their laughter came across the water to the shore.  Jack was just remarking to Rose that they in the boat were carrying a good deal of sail, when a sudden squall upset the boat.  The man was not a swimmer, but as he came to the surface he managed to seize upon the overturned boat and support himself.

When the accident happened, Browning shouted to some boatmen farther up the beach to come with a boat quickly, and, throwing off coat, vest and shoes, he plunged in and swam toward where the boat capsized.  Rose was left on the beach, wringing her hands and crying.  The accident was not far from shore, and Jack was a strong swimmer.  He reached the spot in time to grasp the arm of the woman as she came to the surface.  She was half smothered by the water, and completely rattled, for the fear of death was full upon her, so she madly clung to Browning.  He made the best struggle that he could, but the woman carried him under before the boat arrived.  As the two rose to the surface, the boatmen managed to seize them and draw them into the boat, but the woman was senseless, and Browning was almost so, and fearfully exhausted.

As the boat was rowed to the shore and Rose saw Browning lying limp and helpless in it, she went off in a dead faint, and was so upset and nervous that it was determined to return to London that evening.  When out of sight of the place and of the sea, she rapidly recovered, and was soon her old self, but she reproached Jack, and with an adorable smile told him she never would have believed that he would, on the very first opportunity, go off, half kill himself for another woman, and compel her to make such a spectacle of herself down on the beach before all those villagers.

The old days began again in London; Browning and Rose were all in all to each other, and Sedgwick and Grace were likewise in the seventh heaven of love’s ecstasy.

In Nevada parlance, Sedgwick would have wagered two to one with Browning, on the measure of their respective happiness.

The happy couples visited every point of interest in and about London.

One day they went through Westminster Abbey.  Sedgwick hardly spoke during the visit, and as they entered the carriage to return home, Rose said:  “Mr. Sedgwick, I am disappointed; I thought our great national chamber of death would greatly interest you.”

“So did I,” said Browning, “but I suppose a foreigner cannot understand just how English-born people feel toward that spot.”