"She is quite, quite dead," he said again.
"She is alive," answered Dunstan; "stop not now one moment, or we shall
lose her."
His dark face glowed, and his unwinking eyes watched her face for the
least sign of life. Ten minutes, a quarter of an hour, passed, and time
seemed facing death--the swift against the immovable and eternal.
Gilbert, the strong and masterful in fight, humbly and anxiously
watched his man's looks for the signs of hope, as if Dunstan had been
the wisest physician of all mankind; and indeed in that day there were
few physicians who knew how to do what the man was doing. And at last
the glow in his face began to fade, and Gilbert's heart sank, and the
horror of so disturbing the dead came upon him tenfold, so that he let
the slender arm rest on the stones, and sighed. But Dunstan cried out
fiercely to him.
"For your life, go on! She is alive! See! See!"
And even as Gilbert sadly shook his head in the last collapse of
belief, the long lashes quivered a little with the lids and were still,
and quivered again, and then again, and the eyes opened wide and
staring, but broad awake; and then the delicate body shook and was half
convulsed by the miracle of life restored, and the slight arms
quickened with nervous strength, resisting the men's strong hands, and
a choking cough brought the bright colour to the pale cheeks.
Then Gilbert lifted her from the pavement to the stone rim of the well,
that she might breathe better, and presently the choking ceased, so
that she lay quite still with her head against his breast, and her
weight in his arms.
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