roat and shoulders and bust, so classic that not one woman
in a hundred but would envy her their possession.

And then, what was equally as striking, what a contrast in speech,
expression, and ways! Timid to the verge of bashfulness, utterly
unaffected, and yet sincere, tender, and thoughtful in each and every
utterance; a beautiful flower grown to perfection among the rocks of
this seldom visited island, untrained by conventionality and unsullied
by the world. "I wonder how she would act if suddenly dropped into the
Nasons' home, or what would Alice think of her!" Then as he noted the
sad little droop of her exquisite lips, and as she, wondering at his
silence, turned her pleading eyes toward him, there came into his heart
in an instant a feeling that, despite all her timidity and all her lack
of worldly wisdom, he would value her love and confidence far above any
woman's he had ever met!

Then, recalling the hint as to her nature disclosed by Uncle Terry, he
resolved to probe it there and then, or at least to draw her out a
little.

"Miss Terry," he said gently, "do you know I fancy that living here as
you have all your life, within sound of the sad sea waves, has woven a
little of their melancholy into your nature and a little of their pathos
into your eyes. I thought so the first time I saw you, and the more I
see of you the more I think it is so."

Telly was looking at him curiously when he began this rather pointed
observation, and at its close her eyes fell and the two rose leaves in
her cheeks increased in size. For a moment she hesitated, and then as
she answered he detected a note of pain in her voice.

"The ocean does sound sad to me," she said, "and at times it makes me
very blue. Then I am so much alone and have no one in whom to confide my
feelings. Mother would not understand me, and if father thought I wasn't
happy it would make him miserable." Then turning her pathetic eyes full
upon her questioner she added: "Did you ever think, Mr. Page, that the
sound of the waves might be the voices of drowned people trying to be
heard? I believe every human being has a soul, and for all we know, if
they have gone down into the ocean, their souls may be in the water and
possibly are trying to speak to us."

"Oh, no, no, Miss Terry," responded Albert hastily, "that is all
imagination on your part and due to your being too much alone with your
own thoughts. The ocean of course has a sad sound to us all, if we st