bove water nought was to be seen but a
bleak, rocky, forbidding coast, a grey sky with sleet driving across it,
and an angry indigo sea covered with white wavelets. Nothing was to be
felt but a stiff cutting breeze, icy particles in the air, and cold
blood in the veins. Below water all was calm and placid; groves of
sea-weed delighted the eye; patches of yellow sand invited to a siesta;
the curiously-twisted and smashed-up remains of a wreck formed a subject
of interesting contemplation, while a few wandering crabs, and an
erratic lobster or two, gave life and variety to the scene, while the
temperature, if not warm, was at all events considerably milder than
that overhead. In short, strange though it may seem, Edgar was in
rather an enviable position than otherwise, on that bleak November day.

Some two years or so previous to the day to which we refer, Edgar, with
his diving friends, had returned to England. Mr Hazlit had preceded
them by a month. But Edgar did not seek him out. He had set a purpose
before him, and meant to stick to it. He had made up his mind not to go
near Aileen again until he had made for himself a position, and secured
a steady income which would enable him to offer her a home at least
equal to that in which she now dwelt.

Mr Hazlit rather wondered that the young engineer never made his
appearance at the cottage by the sea, but, coming to the conclusion that
his passion had cooled, he consoled himself with the thought that, after
all, he was nearly penniless, and that it was perhaps as well that he
had sheered off.

Aileen also wondered, but _she_ did not for a moment believe that his
love had cooled, being well aware that that was an impossibility. Still
she was perplexed, for although the terms on which they stood to each
other did not allow of correspondence, she thought, sometimes, that he
_might_ have written to her father--if only to ask how they were after
their adventures in the China seas.

Miss Pritty--to whom Aileen confided her troubles--came nearer the mark
than either of them. She conceived, and stoutly maintained, that Edgar
had gone abroad to seek his fortune, and meant to return and marry
Aileen when he had made it.

Edgar, however, had not gone abroad. He had struck out a line of life
for himself, and had prosecuted it during these two years with untiring
energy. He had devoted himself to submarine engineering, and, having an
independent spirit, he carved his wa