. Whatever you are satisfied to do shall be my law."

Her loving assurance cheered him greatly, for he answered in a hopeful
voice:

"Wait patiently until I return, and then we will decide what is best to
do."

When it came time to leave their trysting-place he drew from an inside
pocket a small pocketbook, worn and stained, and handed it to Liddy. She
opened it and found a bunch of faded violets and a lock of golden hair.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE MAINE COAST.

There is no part of the New England shores so charming as the coast of
Maine. From Cape Elizabeth on the west to Quoddy Head on the east, there
are over a thousand large and small islands, nearly all of which are of
bold formation and most of them wholly or in part covered with a growth
of spruce and fir. The shores of these islands, as well as the mainland,
are mainly rock-ribbed, with many high cliffs, at the foot of which the
ocean surges beat unceasingly. Deep fissures and sea caverns into which
the green water, changed to yeasty foam, ever churns and rushes by day
and night, are common; and when storms arise it bellows and roars like
an angry bull. Here the clinging rock-weeds and broad kelpie float and
wave idly or are lashed in anger by the waves that seem always trying to
tear them loose from the rocks.

Locked in the embrace of these bold shores are countless coves, inlets
and harbors, many so land-locked that never a ripple disturbs their
surface, and here the fishhawk and seagull seek their food and build
their nests undisturbed by man. No sound except the unceasing murmur of
the winds in the fir trees, or the low-voiced neighboring ocean, breaks
the stillness. Along the rocky shore and over these green-clad cliffs
one may wander for days in absolute solitude, seeing or hearing naught
of humanity or the handiwork of man. Here may be found the wondrous
magic and mystery of the sea in all its moods--pathetic, peaceful or
grand, and its society, where none intrude. Here, too, wedged among the
wave-washed rocks, can be found many a tale of shipwreck, despair and
death, or whispers of luxuriant life in tropical lands, and all the
flotsam and jetsam of the ocean, cast ashore to bleach like bones in a
desert, year in and year out.

Safe harbors are numerous, though not easy of access, for sunken ledges
or merciless reefs guard them from approach. In places are deep bays,
notably Somes Sound, connected with the ocean by an inlet a few rods
wide. O