med as if they would fly from their sockets
at this sight, but only for a minute, for a body followed the head,
which was perfectly familiar to me--_it was my goat_.

[Illustration: TOO LATE!]

I dropped upon my bed, overcome by the sudden change from horror to joy,
and laid there for some minutes, till the faithful Nanny came and licked
my ear and brought me back to consciousness again.

I afterward accounted for her unexpected visit by surmising that the
wind must have blown open the outer door and let her into the passage,
as I had never fastened the doors, although the outer ones were provided
with bolts. Then Miss Nanny must have pushed open the door of my room
with a series of prods with her nose, and as she did so the old rug,
which I always threw at the bottom of the door to keep out the draught,
was gradually forced back till she had made sufficient space for the
admission of her body.

Oh, the horrors of that night! Shall I ever forget them? No, not if I
live to the age of Noah, who ran his grandfather, Methuselah, very close
in the race of years.

Day _did_ dawn at last, and putting out my lamp I slept soundly for
several hours; in fact, when I awoke it was mid-day, and the sun shining
down pleasantly from a blue and cloudless sky.

I breakfasted, fed my animals, and then--then! _What of the dead man
lying on the beach?_ I shuddered at the mere idea of going near the poor
fellow. I dreaded gazing upon that face again--it _must_ be done, still
it need not be done _just_ yet. I would take a walk round the island and
see if the storm had thrown up anything else upon the shore, and give
myself time to think what I should do with the dead Frenchman. I would
walk the reverse way round to that which I usually did; that is to go
round past the boathouse, and thus along the east shore. This I did so
that I might make the tour of the island before seeing the dreadful man
again.

Gun on shoulder, and dog at heel, I started slowly along, but had not
gone more than two hundred yards--in fact, had only just got in sight of
the boathouse--when I was startled by its changed appearance. The roof
was completely gone, and so were huge masses of the walls, the stones of
which were scattered thickly about the pathway along which I was
walking. I was so excited by the curious appearance that I actually ran
towards the building, as if the remaining portion had made up its mind
to take its flight after the part which was mis