hese, so clear to the sight, so heartbreakingly unattainable....

And then his conscience turned upon him, reminding him of the promise
(completely driven out of his mind by his grim adventure before dawn,
together with the emotional crisis of mid-morning) to display some sort
of a day-signal of distress.

For something like half an hour he was busy with the task of nailing a
turkey-red table-cloth to a pole, and the pole in turn (with the
assistance of a ladder) to the peak of the gabled barn. But when this
was accomplished, and he stood aside and contemplated the drooping,
shapeless flag, realizing that without a wind it was quite meaningless,
the thought came to him that the very elements seemed leagued together
in a conspiracy to keep them prisoners, and he began to nurse a
superstitious notion that, if anything were ever to be done toward
winning their freedom, it would be only through his own endeavour,
unassisted.

Thereafter for a considerable time he loitered up and down the dooryard,
with all his interest focussed upon the tidal strait, measuring its
greatest and its narrowest breadth with his eye, making shrewd guesses
at the strength and the occasions of the tides.

If the calm held on and the sky remained unobscured by cloud, by eleven
there would be clear moonlight and, if he guessed aright, the beginning
of a period of slack water.

Sunset interrupted his calculations--sunset and his wife. Sounds of some
one moving quietly round the kitchen, a soft clash of dishes, the
rattling of the grate, drew him back to the door.

She showed him a face of calm restraint and implacable resolve, if
scored and flushed with weeping. And her habit matched it: she had
overcome her passion; her eyes were glorious with peace.

"Hugh"--her voice had found a new, sweet level of gentleness and
strength--"I was wondering where you were."

"Can I do anything?"

"No, thank you. I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am."

"For what, in Heaven's name?"

She smiled.... "For neglecting you so long. I really didn't think of it
until the sunlight began to redden. I've let you go without your lunch."

"It didn't matter--"

"I don't agree. Man must be fed--and so must woman. I'm famished!"

"Well," he admitted with a short laugh--"so am I."

She paused, regarding him with her whimsical, indulgent smile. "You
strange creature!" she said softly. "Are you angry with
me--impatient--for this too facile descent from heroics to