whispered, as if she feared that even the
fairies and sprites might be eavesdropping; but, had she lilted it in
her heart only, still, I think, I should have heard it.

A maid there was in the North Countree;
A gay little, blythe little maid was she.
Her dream of a gallant knight came true.
He wooed her long and so tenderlee.
And, day by day, as their fond love grew,
Her spinning wheel stood with its threads askew;
It stood.--It stood.--It stood with its threads askew.

CHAPTER XXI

The Beachcombers

The Autumn, with its shortening days and lengthening nights, was upon
Golden Crescent, but still the charm and beauty of its surroundings
were unimpaired.

I never tired of the scenes, for they were kaleidoscopic in their
changing. Even in the night, when sleep was unable to bind me, I have
risen and stood by my open window, in reverie and peaceful
contemplation, and the dark has grown to dawn ere I turned back to bed.

It was on such an occasion as I speak of. I was leaning on the window
ledge, looking far across the Bay. The sea was a mirror of oily calm.
A crescent moon was shining fairly high in the south, laying a streak
of silver along the face of the water near the far shore. It was a
night when every dip of an oar would threaten to bring up the reflected
moon from the liquid deep; a night of quiet when the winging of a
sea-fowl, or the plop of a fish, could be heard a mile away. In the
stillness could be heard the occasional tinkle, tinkle of a cow-bell
from the grazing lands across the Bay.

As I listened to the night noises, I heard the distant throb of a
launch out in the vicinity of the Ghoul Rock. Suddenly, the throbbing
stopped and I fancied I caught the sound of deep voices. All went
still again, but, soon after, my ear detected the splashing of oars and
the rattle of a badly fitting rowlock.

I watched, peering out into the darkness. The moon shot swiftly from
under a cloud and threw its white illuminant like a searchlight sheer
upon a large rowing boat as it crept up past the wharf, some fifty
yards out from the point.

I counted five figures in the boat, which was heading up the Bay.

A cloud passed over the moon again and the picture of the boat and its
occupants vanished from my sight.

Strange, I thought, why these men should arrive in a launch, leave it
so far out and come in with a rowing boat of such dimensions, when
there was good, safe and convenie