. And the indignant clamour of the rushing
shoals, dragged off to sea against their will, rose and fell in the
lulls of the thunder beyond. Sally wanted to quote Tennyson's "Maud"
about them, but she couldn't for the tremendous wind.

The propensity to throw stones into the water, whenever there are
stones and water, is always a strong one, even when the water is black
mountain ranges, foam-ridged Sierras coming on to crush us, appalling
us, even though we know they are sure to die in time. Stones were
thrown on this occasion by Sally and her stepfather, who was credulous
enough to suppose that his pebbles passed the undertow and reached
the sea itself. Sally was prevented by the elements from misusing
an adjective; for she wanted to say that the effect of a stone thrown
into such a sea was merely "homoeopathic," and abstained because her
remark would have been unheard.

Fenwick wanted to say that it was like the way a man dies and vanishes
into the great unknown. He, too, refrained from this, but only partly
for the same reason. Its want of novelty made another.

All the others soon wanted to say it was time to go home to bed, and
tried to say it. But practice seemed easier, and they all turned to
go, followed by Fenwick and Sally, cheerfully discussing the point of
whether Sally could have swum out into that sea or not. Sally wanted
to know what was to prevent her. Obvious enough, one would have said!

* * * * *

But Rosalind noticed one thing that was a pleasure to her. The
moment Sally came in, her husband's dream-afflictions went out. Had
he ever spoken of one in her presence? She could recall no instance.
This evening the return to absolute cheerfulness dated from the
reappearance of Sally after she had changed everything, and made her
hair hold up. It lasted through fried soles and a huge fowl--done
enough this time--and a bread-and-butter pudding impaired by too many
raisins. Through the long end of a game of chess begun by Sally and
Dr. Conrad the evening before, and two rubbers of whist, in which
everybody else had all the good cards in their hands, as is the case
in that game. And through the visit to Neptune above recorded.

But when, after half-an-hour's chat over the day's events with
Rosalind, midnight and an extinguished candle left Fenwick to himself
and his pillow in the little room next hers with no door between,
which Mrs. Lobjoit's resources dictated, there came