lled upon to do is to sit still and smile. Have I been a good friend to
you, or have I not?"

"The best friend in the world," Dan'l answered fervent-like.

"On the strength of that you'll have to trust me a little longer. I can't
afford you more than a little while longer, for my practice is going to
the dogs already. I've sent word home by Tummels that if anyone in
St. Ives falls sick to-day he'll have to send over to Penzance."

The greater part of the afternoon Dan'l slept, and the doctor smoked his
pipe and kept watch. At six o'clock they finished the loaf that had been
packed up with William Sleep's clothes, emptied the doctor's flask,
and fell to discoursing for the last time upon religion. They talked of
it till the sun went down in their faces, and then, just before darkness
came up over the sea, the doctor rose.

There was just light enough for them to pick their way down over the
cliff, treading softly; and just light enough to show that the beach
beneath them was empty. On the edge of the sand the doctor chose a
convenient rock and called a halt behind it. Peering round, he had the
mouth of the cave in full view till the darkness hid it.

"Now's the time!" said he. He took off his coat and lit the lantern under
it, muffling the light. "Seals? Come along, man; I promise you the cave
is just full of sport!"

He crept for the cave, and Dan'l at his heels, the sand deadening all
sound of their footsteps. Close by the cave's mouth he crouched for a
moment, felt the hammer of his gun, and, uncovering the lantern with a
quick turn of the hand, passed it to Dan'l and marched boldly in.

The soft sand made a floor for the cave for maybe sixty feet within the
entrance. It ended on the edge of a rock-pool a dozen yards across, and
deep enough to reach above a man's knees. As the doctor and Dan'l reached
the pool they heard a sudden splashing on the far side of it.

"Hold the lantern high!" sang out the doctor. Dan'l obeyed, and the light
fell full not only on his face, but on the figure of a man that cowered
down before it on the patch of shingle where the cave ended.

"Seals?" cried the doctor, lifting his gun. "What did I promise you?"

With a scream, the poor creature flung himself on his knees.

"Don't shoot! Oh, don't shoot!" His voice came across the pool to them
in a squeal like a rabbit's.

"Eh? Hullo!" said the doctor, but without lowering his gun. "Mr.
Deiphobus Geen, I believe?"