ore, that a tree or some such object, to which the
letters CC referred, once stood on what was now a pathway joining the
cottage.

We paused in our search for the day, resolving on the morrow to try our
luck by digging a deep hole in the garden at the spot which we _thought_
was the axis of the different radial measurements.

"Begum" followed us about like a district surveyor, and seemed to know
something was on foot as well as himself.

Our work of fishing, shooting, and field work seemed quite in the
background, and very insignificant compared with my treasure hunt; but
Alec seemed to be quite indifferent to it; in fact, I think he had an
idea that my fall had slightly shaken my brain, and perhaps addled it. I
more than suspected this, for I noticed he kept his eye ever on me, and
would scarcely let me out of his sight. Good, faithful fellow!

"What say you to a sail this evening, Crusoe?"

"Just the thing, Monday; it is such a glorious night, and the cool
breeze will do us good. What do you say to a drag with the trawl?"

"The very thing; more fish are caught in one night than in two days, so
let's set to at once, that is, after a good substantial tea."

The meal being finished, we soon got the trawl and gear aboard the
"Anglo-Franc," and away we went in the lovely moonlight, scouring the
bottom of the Perchee between the head of Jethou and the tail of Herm.
The latter island looked delightful in the pale greenish light of the
moon, while Crevichon towering up against the sky, with the moon behind
it, caused it to look like a silhouette cut out of black cardboard.

"Who would be stifled up in a town with wealth and its attending cares,
in preference to this life of liberty I was leading?" I asked myself,
and for answer gave, "While one is young, full of health, and with no
encumbrances, a Bohemian life is all very well; but what when a wife and
family are dependent on one? That puts a different complexion on the
matter, for one can roam no more."

I recollect this night well, for I revelled in its very antithesis to
life in England. Everything seemed so strange and quiet; the great black
rocks casting their shadows over the phosphorescent waves; the
star-studded sky, with the pale round moon, across which a gentle breeze
wafted silvery gauze-like clouds; the feeling of motion, the sense of
freedom, the love of labour to haul the net, the expectation of what
would be our luck, the merry badinage between my co