He tried to think . How long had he ? Not more than twenty minutes at the outside . Well , death was sure and he would meet it bravely . But to wait -- to wait helplessly ! He should go ; mad with the horror of it before those endless minutes would have passed ! He took something from his pocket and bent his , head over it , pressing his lips to it repeatedly . And then , when he raised his face again , a dory was coming around the headland on his right , and Helen Fraser was in it . Reeves was dizzy again with the shock of joy and thankfulness . He ran down over the little stretch of sand still uncovered by the tide and around to the rocks of the headlands against which the dory was already grating . He sprang forward impulsively and caught the girl 's cold hands in his as she dropped the oars and stood up . `` Helen , you have saved me ! How can I ever thank you ? I -- '' He broke off abruptly , for she was looking up at him , breathlessly and voicelessly , with her whole soul in her eyes . He saw in them a revelation that amazed him ; he dropped her hands and stepped back as if she had struck him in the face . Helen did not notice the change in him . She clasped her hands together and her voice trembled . `` Oh , I was afraid I should be too late ! When I came in from the field Aunt Hannah said you had not come back -- and I knew it was tide time -- and I felt somehow that it had caught you in the cave . I ran down over the marsh and took Joe Simmon 's dory .
If I had not got here XXXXX time -- '' She broke off shiveringly .
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