armed at the prospect of being overtaken by darkness and tempest alone
out in the wild, she used her best efforts to move with speed; but she
could scarcely see to pick her steps or take a perfectly direct course,
and now and again she was startled by the flutter of an affrighted
night-bird across her path as she wandered among the sand dunes, toiling
over the yielding soil, the booming of the waves and the melancholy
cadences of the wind as it rose and fell filling her ears.

She was a brave child, entirely free from superstitious fears, and
having learned that the island harbored no burglars or murderers, and
that there was no wild beast upon it, her only fear was of being
overtaken by the storm or lost on the moors, unable to find her way till
day-break.

But, gaining the top of a sand-hill, the star-like gleam of Sankaty
Light greeted her delighted eyes, and with a joyful exclamation, "Oh,
now I can find the way!" she sprang forward with renewed energy, soon
found the path to the village, pursued it with quickened steps and light
heart, although the rain was now pouring down, accompanied with
occasional flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, and in a few
moments pushed open the door of the cottage and stepped into the
astonished presence of the ladies of the party.

She had not been missed till the approach of the storm drove them all
within doors; then perceiving that the little girl was not among them,
the question passed from one to another, "Where is Lulu?"

No one could say where; Grace remembered that she had gone out intending
to take a stroll along the beach, but did not mention in which
direction.

"And she has never been known to stay out so late; and--and the tide is
coming in," cried Violet, sinking pale and trembling into a chair. "Oh,
mamma, if she is drowned, how shall I answer to my husband for taking so
little care of his child?"

"My dear daughter, don't borrow trouble," Elsie said cheerfully, though
her own cheek had grown very pale; "it was in my care he left her, not
in yours."

"Don't fret, Vi," Edward said; "I don't believe she's drowned; she has
more sense than to go where the tide would reach her; but I'll go at
once to look for her, and engage others in the search also."

He started for the door.

"She may be out on the moors, Ned," called Zoe, running after him with
his waterproof coat. "Here, put this on."

"No time to wait for that," he said.

"But you must take time,"