Though he was dead, his stiff arms kept the children propped against the bank.

But just at the turning of the tide the one with the ankle-weight slipped and was drowned.
The other was found next morning by the inland people, high and dry.
And some _do_ say," Taffy wound up, "that his brother was not really drowned, but turned into a bird, and that, though no one has seen him, it is his voice that gives the '_crake_,' imitating the sound made by John's heart when it burst; but others say it comes from John himself, down there below the sands." There was silence for a minute.

Even Honoria had grown excited toward the end.
"But it was unfair!" she broke out.

"It ought to have been the convict-child that was saved." "If so, I shouldn't be here," said George; "and it's not very nice of you to say it." "I don't care.

It was unfair; and anyone but a boy "-- with scorn--" would see it." She turned upon the staring Taffy--"I hate your tale; it was horrid." She repeated it, that evening, as they turned their faces homeward across the heathery moor.