He unbuttoned and removed her shoe, and as he firmly pressed the foot and ankle, she flinched and sighed.

“I think there are no bones broken, but probably you have wrenched and sprained the ankle, for it is much swollen already.  Now, little girl, I must go back for some assistance.  You will have to be taken out through the window, and I am afraid to attempt carrying you down the ladder unaided and in the darkness.  I might break your neck, instead of your ankle.”

“Oh, please don’t leave me here!”

She stretched out her arms pleadingly, and tears sprang to his eyes as he noted the pallor of her beautiful face and the nervous fluttering of her white lips.

“I shall leave Hero and the lantern with you, and you may be sure I shall be gone the shortest possible time.  The danger is over now, even the lightning is comparatively distant, and you who have been so brave all the while certainly will not prove a coward at the last moment.”

He took her up as easily as if she had been an infant, and laid her tenderly down on one of the pew cushions; then placed the lantern on the pulpit desk, and came back.

“Slip your hand under Hero’s collar, to prevent him from following me if he should try to do so, and keep up your courage.  Put yourself in God’s hands, and wait here patiently for Douglass.  Don’t you know that I would not leave you here an instant, if it could be avoided?  God bless you, my white dove.”

He stooped and kissed her forehead, then hurried away, and after a moment Regina knew that she and her dog were once more alone in the ancient church, with none nearer than the dead, who slept so soundly, while the soft summer rain fell ceaselessly above their coffins.

CHAPTER X.

The town clock was striking nine when the renewal of welcome sounds beneath the window announced to Regina that her weary dark vigil was ended.  Soon after Mr. Lindsay’s departure, the lantern above the altar grew dim, then went out, leaving the church in total darkness, relieved only by an occasional glimmer from the electric batteries that had wheeled far away to the north-east.  Erect and alert Hero sat beside his mistress, now and then rubbing his head against her shoulder, or placing his paw on her arm, as if to encourage her by mute assurances of faithful guardianship; and even when the voices outside cheered him into one quick bark of recognition, he made no effort to leave the prostrate form.

“All in the dark?  Where is your lantern?” asked Mr. Lindsay, as he climbed through the window.

“It went out very soon after you left.  Can you find me? or shall I try to come to you?”

“Keep still, Regina.  Come up the ladder, Esau, and hold your torch so that I can see.  It is black as Egypt inside.”

In a few moments the ruddy glare streamed in, and showed the anxious face of the sexton, and the figure of Mr. Lindsay groping from pew to pew.  Before that cheerful red light how swiftly the trooping spectres and grim phantoms that had peopled the gloom fled away for ever!  What a blessed, comforting atmosphere of love and protection seemed to encompass her, when, after handing one of the pew cushions to the sexton, Mr. Lindsay came to the spot where she lay.