shore. The young fisherman found himself alone in a world
of water and grey mist. He stopped rowing and leaned forward on his
oars.

"To see her here, of all places!" he muttered. "Not a word, scarcely a
look, after all this long heartbreak! Well, perhaps it is better so.
And yet to know she is so near! How beautiful she is! And I love her
more than ever. That is where the sting lies. I thought that in this
rough life, amid all these rude associations, where nothing could
remind me of her, I might forget. And now--"

He clenched his hands. The mist was all around and about him,
creeping, impalpable, phantom-like. The dory rocked gently on the
swell. From afar came the low persistent murmur of the ocean.

* * * * *

The next day Ethel Lennox declined to visit Si's shore. Instead she
went to the Point and sketched all day. She went again the next day
and the next. The Point was the most picturesque part of the shore,
she averred, and the "types" among its inhabitants most interesting.
Agnes Bentley ceased to suggest another visit to Si's shore. She had a
vague perception that her companion did not care to discuss the
subject.

At the end of a week Mrs. Bentley remarked: "What in the world can
have happened to Young Si? It's a whole week since he was here for
milk or butter. He ain't sick, is he?"

Mr. Bentley chuckled amusedly.

"I 'low I can tell you the reason of that. Si's getting his stuff at
Walden's now. I saw him going there twice this week. 'Liza Walden's
got ahead of you at last, Mary."

"Well, I never did!" said Mrs. Bentley. "Well, Young Si is the first
that ever preferred 'Liza Walden's butter to mine. Everyone knows what
hers is like. She never works her salt half in. Well, Young Si's
welcome to it, I'm sure; I wish him joy of his exchange."

Mrs. Bentley rattled her dishes ominously. It was plain her faith in
Young Si had received a severe shock.

Upstairs in her room, Ethel Lennox, with a few undried tears
glistening on her cheeks, was writing a letter. Her lips were
compressed and her hand trembled:

"I have discovered that it is no use to run away from fate," she
wrote. "No matter how hard we try to elude it, and how sure we are
that we have succeeded, it will rise and meet us where we least expect
it. I came down here tired and worn out, looking for peace and
rest--and lo! the most disquieting element of my life is here to
confront me.

"I'm going to confes