colours of the morning were upon
it. Then we were to go right to the top of Snowdon and take a mid-day
meal at the hut there, and in the evening go down to Llanberis and
sleep there. To-morrow morning we were to go to dear old Carnarvon
and see again the beloved sea. I find now that her plan was to bring
you and me together in this sensational way.'

'Will she join us?' I asked.

'I know no more than you what will be Sinfi's next whim. At the last
moment yesterday I was surprised to find that I was not to come with
her here, as she was not to sleep in the camp last night because she
had promised to see a friend at Capel Curig. And now, shall I tell
you how she inveigled me into taking my part in this Snowdon play she
was getting up? She told me that she had the greatest wish to
discover how the "Knockers' echoes," as they are called, would sound
if, in the early morning, she were to play her crwth in one spot and
I were to answer it from another spot with a verse of a Welsh song.
It seemed a pretty idea, and it was agreed that when I reached the
llyn I was to go round it to the opening at the east, pass through
the crevice, and wait there till I heard her crwth.'

'Well, Winnie, I must say that the way in which our Gypsy friend
manipulated you, and the way in which she manipulated me, shows a
method that would have done credit to any madness.'

'You? How did she trick you?'

I was determined not to talk about myself till I had felt my way.

'Winnie, dear,' I said, 'seeing you is such a surprise, and my
illness has left me so weak, that I must wait before talking about
myself. I shall be more able to do this after I have learnt more of
what has befallen you. You say that Sinfi proposed to bring you to
Wales; but where were you when she did so? And what brought you into
contact with Sinfi again after--after--after you and I were parted in
Raxton?'

'Ah! that is a strange story indeed,' said Winifred. 'It bewilders me
to recall it as much as it will bewilder you when you come to hear
it. I, too, seem to have been ill, and quite unconscious for months
and months.'

'Winnie,' I said, 'tell me this strange story about yourself. Tell it
in your own way, and do not let me interrupt you by a word. Whenever
you see that I am about to speak, stop me--put your hand over my
mouth.'

'But where am I to begin?'

'Begin from our first meeting on the sands on the night of the
landslip.'

But while I spoke I thought I obs