looked upon their niece, from all
she told them, as a creature almost amphibious; but still they were
often uneasy about her, and would gladly have kept her well inland. She,
however, laughed at any such idea; and their discipline was to let her
have her own way. But now a thing happened which proved forever how much
better old heads are than young ones.

For Mary, being tired of the quiet places, and the strands where she
knew every pebble, resolved to explore Goyle Bay at last, and she chose
the worst possible time for it. The weather had been very fine and
gentle, and the sea delightfully plausible, without a wave--tide after
tide--bigger than the furrow of a two-horse plough; and the maid began
to believe at last that there never were any storms just here. She had
heard of the pretty things in Goyle Bay, which was difficult of access
from the land, but she resolved to take opportunity of tide, and thus
circumvent the position; she would rather have done it afoot, but her
uncle and aunt made a point of her riding to the shore, regarding the
pony as a safe companion, and sure refuge from the waves. And so, upon
the morning of St. Michael, she compelled Lord Keppel, with an adverse
mind, to turn a headland they had never turned before.

The tide was far out and ebbing still, but the wind had shifted, and was
blowing from the east rather stiffly, and with increasing force. Mary
knew that the strong equinoctial tides were running at their height; but
she had timed her visit carefully, as she thought, with no less than an
hour and a half to spare. And even without any thought of tide, she was
bound to be back in less time than that, for her uncle had been most
particular to warn her to be home without fail at one o'clock, when the
sacred goose, to which he always paid his duties, would be on the table.
And if anything marred his serenity of mind, it was to have dinner kept
waiting.

Without any misgivings, she rode into Basin Bay, keeping within the
black barrier of rocks, outside of which wet sands were shining. She
saw that these rocks, like the bar of a river, crossed the inlet of
the cove; but she had not been told of their peculiar frame and upshot,
which made them so treacherous a rampart. At the mouth of the bay they
formed a level crescent, as even as a set of good teeth, against the
sea, with a slope of sand running up to their outer front, but a deep
and long pit inside of them. This pit drained itself very n