side of the harbour mouth to catch a glimpse of this
new addition to the fauna of the sea, a long-tailed porpoise or seal.
The tide was now coming in. There was a slight breeze, and the surface
of the water was rippled so that it was only at moments that anyone
could see clearly into the deep water. After a spell of watching a
woman called out that she saw something moving up the channel, just
below where she was standing. There was a stampede to the spot, but by
the time the crowd had gathered the breeze had freshened, and it was
impossible to see with any distinctness below the surface of the
water. On being questioned the woman described what she had seen, but
in such an incoherent way that the whole thing was put down as an
effect of imagination; had it not been for the children's report she
would not have been credited at all. Her semi-hysterical statement
that what she saw was 'like a pig with the entrails out' was only
thought anything of by an old coastguard, who shook his head but did
not make any remark. For the remainder of the daylight this man was
seen always on the bank, looking into the water, but always with
disappointment manifest on his face.

Eric arose early on the next morning--he had not slept all night, and
it was a relief to him to move about in the light. He shaved himself
with a hand that did not tremble, and dressed himself in his wedding
clothes. There was a haggard look on his face, and he seemed as though
he had grown years older in the last few days. Still there was a wild,
uneasy light of triumph in his eyes, and he kept murmuring to himself
over and over again:

'This is my wedding-day! Abel cannot claim her now--living or
dead!--living or dead! Living or dead!' He sat in his arm-chair,
waiting with an uncanny quietness for the church hour to arrive. When
the bell began to ring he arose and passed out of his house, closing
the door behind him. He looked at the river and saw the tide had just
turned. In the church he sat with Sarah and her mother, holding
Sarah's hand tightly in his all the time, as though he feared to lose
her. When the service was over they stood up together, and were
married in the presence of the entire congregation; for no one left
the church. Both made the responses clearly--Eric's being even on the
defiant side. When the wedding was over Sarah took her husband's arm,
and they walked away together, the boys and younger girls being cuffed
by their elders into a dec