musician, and
her daughter, who had a lovely voice, sang duets and songs for our
amusement; and, with the aid of the two Misses Delamere, made up some
tolerable glees and choruses, in the latter of which we all joined at
intervals, to the confusion of the whole effect,--of the singing in point
of tune, and of the rowing in point of time.

As we were rounding Horn Point, Thornton said to Mrs. Bagshaw, "Do you
know, there are some such splendid ferns grow in a little ravine you can
see there on the side of that hill. Do let us land and get some."

"What do you want ferns for?" asked I, innocently.

"Silence in the boat, three," cried Glenville. "What a hard-hearted
monster you must be!" he whispered in my ear.

"Oh, do let us land," said Miss Delamere, "I do so want some common
bracken"--or whatever it was, for she cared no more than you or I about
the ferns--"I want some for my book, and mamma says we really must
collect some rare specimens before we go home." Mrs. Bagshaw guessed
what sort of flower they would be looking for--heartsease, I suppose, or
forget-me-not; but she very good-naturedly agreed to the proposal, and
Hawkstone undertook to show us where we could land. We were soon ashore,
and Hawkstone said, "You must not be long, gentlemen, if you please, for
the wind is rising, and it will come on squally before long; and we have
wind and tide against us going back, and a tough job it is often to round
the lighthouse hill."

"All right," said Thornton, "how long can you give us?"

"Twenty minutes at the most," said the boatman, "and you will only just
have time to mount the cliff and come back."

I heard an indistinct, dull murmur, half of the sea and half of the wind,
and, looking far out to sea, could fancy I saw little white sheep on the
waves. We left Glenville with Hawkstone talking and smoking. They were
really great friends, although in such different ranks in life. Glenville
used to rave about him as a true specimen of the old Devon rover. He was
a tall, well-proportioned man, with a clear, open face, very ruddy with
sun and wind and rough exercise, a very pleasant smile, and grey eyes,
rather piercing and deep set. The brow was fine, and the features
regular, though massive. The hair and beard were brown and
rough-looking, but his manner was gentle, and had that peculiar courtesy
which makes many a Devon man a gentleman and many a Devon lass a lady,
let them be of ever so humble an origi