his guests to
land, led them down the beach to the enclosure, where the wet sand was
covered with leaping shining fish, some gasping their last in the
sunshine, and some seeking the temporary shelter of a deeper pool in the
middle. Bob, Mr. Binks's grandson, was busy collecting them and putting
them into large baskets, assisted by a clever little Irish terrier,
which ran hither and thither catching the fish in its mouth, and
carrying them to its master like a retriever, much to Isobel's
amusement, for she had certainly never seen a dog go fishing before.

It was a pretty sight, and a much easier way, Isobel thought, of earning
your living than venturing out with nets and lines; and she resolved to
tell the Sea Urchins about it, so that they might make a small balk for
themselves on their desert island, if the colonel would allow them. She
and her mother wandered round the old abbey, while Mr. Binks was engaged
in giving some directions to Bob; but there was nothing to be seen
except a few tumble-down walls and a fragment of what might once have
been part of an east window. They were lifting away the thick ivy which
had covered a corner stone, when, looking up, Isobel suddenly caught
sight of a familiar figure coming towards them across the rough broken
flags of the transept.

"O mother," she whispered, "it's Colonel Smith!" and advancing rather
shyly a step or two, she met him with a beaming face.

"Why, it's my little friend again!" cried the colonel. "Hunting for more
antiquities? I wish you would find them. This is surely your mother"
(raising his hat).--"Your daughter will, no doubt, have told you, madam,
what an interesting discovery she made on my island. I feel I am very
much indebted to her."

"She was equally delighted," replied Mrs. Stewart. "She has talked
continually about this wonderful stone and its runic inscription. I am
hoping to be able to take a sketch of it before we leave. I hear there
is carving on the lower portion, as well as the runes."

"So there is, but it's half hidden by the soil. I'm taking some of my
men to-morrow to dig it out of the ground and raise it up, and am
sending for a photographer to take several views of it. It is of special
value to me, owing to the particular Norse dialect employed, which is
similar to that on several monuments in the Isle of Man, and shows that
the same race of invaders must have swept across the north, and probably
penetrated as far as Ireland."

"I