ng the yellow sands, the waves rolling in and breaking at their
feet. Again his eloquence charmed her. He told her his name, and how
he was captain of a trading vessel. Instinctively he seemed to
understand her character--her romantic, ideal way of looking at
everything. He talked to her of the deep seas and their many wonders;
of the ocean said to be fathomless; of the coral islands and of waters
in whose depths the oyster containing the pale, gleaming pearl is
found; of the quiet nights spent at sea, where the stars shine as they
never seem to shine on land; of the strange hush that falls upon the
heaving waters before a storm. He told of long days when they were
becalmed upon the green deep, when the vessel seemed

"A painted ship upon a painted ocean."

With her marvelous fancy and quick imagination she followed him to the
wondrous depth of silent waters where strange shapes, never seen by
human eye, abound. She hung upon his words; he saw it, and rejoiced in
his success. He did not startle her by any further compliment, but
when their walk was ended he told her that morning would live in his
memory as the happiest time of his life.

After a few days it seemed to become a settled thing that Beatrice
should meet Hugh Fernely. Lillian wondered that her sister so often
preferred lonely rambles, but she saw the beautiful face she loved so
dearly grow brighter and happier, never dreaming the cause.

For many long days little thought of Hugh Fernely came to Beatrice.
Her mind ran always upon what he had told her--upon his description of
what he had seen and heard. He noted this, and waited with a patience
born of love for the time when she should take an interest in him.

Words were weak in which to express the passionate love he felt for
this beautiful and stately young girl. It seemed to him like a fairy
tale. On the morning he first saw Beatrice he had been walking a long
distance, and had lain down to rest on the cliffs. There the beautiful
vision had dawned upon him. The first moment he gazed into that
peerless face he loved Beatrice with a passion that frightened himself.
He determined to win her at any cost.

At last and by slow degrees he began to speak of her and himself,
slowly and carefully, his keen eyes noting every change upon her face;
he began to offer her delicate compliments and flattery so well
disguised that it did not seem to her flattery at all. He made her
understand that he beli