st office, but handed it directly to a mail agent on a
passing train.

His reason for this act could not be easily misunderstood. Evidently, he
did not care that the Mr. Dinsmore to whom he had written should know
his exact whereabouts. But his precaution was unnecessary; for, before
the summer months had run by, he was to meet Mr. Dinsmore under
circumstances most trying to himself.

CHAPTER III.

SWEPT OUT TO SEA.

Mr. Noman's farm was a large one, and ran clear down to the shore,
terminating there in a singular formation of sand and rocks, known
throughout that region as "The Camel Humps." A small cove lay west of
the formation, while the main waters of the sound stretched out to their
widest extent from the south and east. The only point, therefore, where
the "humps" touched the mainland was at the north, and even this point
of contact was so narrow as simply to furnish a roadway down upon the
"humps" themselves.

Of these "humps"--for there were, as their name suggested, but two--the
northern one was much the smaller, embracing perhaps an acre of rough
soil, covered with a stunted grass, and dotted here and there with red
cedars. The southern one, on the other hand, covered also with a scanty
vegetation and scattered trees, broadened out so as nearly to land-lock
the cove behind it, and cause its waters to rush in or out, according to
the tide, through an exceedingly contracted passage at its extreme
southwestern end, popularly known as "the sluiceway."

The point of contact of the southern with the northern hump, like the
northern hump with the mainland, was also very narrow, and to its
narrowness was added another feature--it was so low, or, in more
technical language, it was so nearly on a level with the high-water
mark, that when there happened to be a strong wind from any eastern
quarter, the waters of the sound, on the incoming tide, would rush with
great force over the slight barrier and mingle with the waters of the
cove, making an island, for the time, of the larger and more southern
hump.

Three-quarters of a mile off shore, and a little to the northeast of
these humps, was an island of an irregular shape and a few acres in
extent, bearing the name of Sheep Island. The name had belonged to it
since colonial days, but the reason therefor was unknown, unless at that
early period some enterprising farmer had used the island as pasture
ground for animals of that kind, which gave the island its titl