"I'm terrible cauld, an' the watter's up to my throat. I canna muv, I'm
sae cauld. I didna think watter had been sae cauld."
"I'll help ye to sit up a bit. Ye'll hae dreidfu' rheumatize efter
this, Tibbie," said Annie, as she got up on her knees, and proceeded to
lift Tibbie's head and shoulders, and draw her up in the bed.
But the task was beyond her strength. She could not move the helpless
weight, and, in her despair, she let Tibbie's head fall back with a
dull plash upon the bolster.
Seeing that all she could do was to sit and support her, she got out of
bed and waded across the floor to the fireside to find her clothes. But
they were gone. Chair and all had been floated away, and although she
groped till she found the floating chair, she could not find the
clothes. She returned to the bed, and getting behind Tibbie, lifted her
head on her knees, and so sat.
An awful dreary time followed. The water crept up and up. Tibbie moaned
a little, and then lay silent for a long time, drawing slow and feeble
breaths. Annie was almost dead with cold.
Suddenly in the midst of the darkness Tibbie cried out,
"I see licht! I see licht!"
A strange sound in her throat followed, after which she was quite
still.
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