reck. Eyes more accustomed than hers to the outline of the country
could have seen inland dismantled cottages and unroofed sheds, groups
of still frightened and restive cattle, a snapped flagstaff, a fallen
tree. But Jeanne knew none of these things. Her face was turned towards
the ocean and the rising sun. She felt the sting of the sea wind upon
her cheeks, all the nameless exhilaration of the early morning
sweetness. Far out seaward the long breakers, snow-flecked and white
crested, came rolling in with a long, monotonous murmur toward the
land. Above, the grey sky was changing into blue. Almost directly over
her head, rising higher and higher in little circles, a lark was
singing. Jeanne half closed her eyes and stood still, engrossed by the
unexpected beauty of her surroundings. Then suddenly a voice came
travelling to her from across the marshes.

She turned round unwillingly, and with a vague feeling of irritation
against this interruption, which seemed to her so inopportune, and in
turning round she realized at once that her period of absorption must
have lasted a good deal longer than she had had any idea of. She had
walked straight across the marshes towards the little hillock on which
she stood, but the way by which she had come was no longer visible. The
swelling tide had circled round through some unseen channel, and was
creeping now into the land by many creeks and narrow ways. She herself
was upon an island, cut off from the dry land by a smoothly flowing
tidal way more than twenty yards across. Along it a man in a
flat-bottomed boat was punting his way towards her. She stood and
waited for him, admiring his height, and the long powerful strokes with
which he propelled his clumsy craft. He was very tall, and against the
flat background his height seemed almost abnormal. As soon as he had
attracted her attention he ceased to shout, and devoted all his
attention to reaching her quickly. Nevertheless, the salt water was
within a few feet of her when he drove his pole into the bottom, and
brought the punt to a momentary standstill. She looked down at him,
smiling.

"Shall I get in?" she asked.

"Unless you are thinking of swimming back," he answered drily, "it
would be as well."

She lifted her skirts a little, and laughed at the inappropriateness of
her thin shoes and open-work stockings. Andrew de la Borne held out his
strong hand, and she sprang lightly on to the broad seat.

"It is very nice of you,"