down
the beach again; we embarked and pushed off, and the row of
expressionless faces watched us from the shore.

"In silence we visited the famous caverns. As we emerged from the last
of these I essayed some casual talk. To tell the truth, I was
beginning to feel the want of it, and of course I began on the first
topic of local interest--the burglary.

"'The odd thing to me,' said I, 'is that you seem to have no particular
suspicions.'

"'I'd rather you didn' talk of it,' said Old Tom Udy. 'I got my living
to get, and 'tis a day's journey to Bodmin. Tho' you musn' think,' he
added, 'that we bear any gridge.'

"'It seems to me that you men in the Cove treat the whole affair very
lightly.'

"'Iss, tha's of it,' he assented. 'Mind you, tisn' _right_, Seemin' to
me 'tis a terrible thought. Here you be, for the sake of argument, a
Christian man, and in beauty next door to the angels, and the only use
you make of it is to steal groceries. You don't think I'm putting it
too strong?'

"' Not a bit.'

"'Well, I'm glad o' that, because, since you ask me, as a professing
Christian, I cudn' say any less. But you musn' think we bear any
gridge.'

"'I'm sure I wonder you don't. And the police still have no clue?'

"'The police? You mean Sammy Crego, the constable? Why, I've knawed en
from a boy--pretty thing if any person in Polreen listened to he!
No: us han't failed so low yet as to mind anything the constable says.'

"'Then the whole affair is as much a mystery as ever?'

"'Now, look 'ee here; I don't want to tell nothin' more about it.
A still tongue makes a wise head; an' there's a pollack on the end of
your line.'

"The wind stuck in the north-west, and day after day the regal summer
weather continued. I grew tired of hauling in pollack, and determined
to have a try for the more exciting conger. The fun of this, as you
know, does not begin till night-fall, and it was seven o'clock in the
evening, or thereabouts, when we pushed off from the beach. By eight we
had reached the best grounds and begun operations. An hour passed, or a
little more, and then Old Tom Udy asked when I thought of returning.

"'Why, bless the man,' said I, 'we've not had a bite yet!'

"He glanced at me furtively while he lit a pipe. 'I reckoned, maybe,
you might have business ashore, so to speak.'

"'What earthly business should I have in Polreen at this hour?'

"'Aw, well . . . you know best . . . no affair o' mine.