re the sand will be soft, that
makes it necessary to have a guide in travelling over the beach. The
people here become accustomed to the appearance of the soft places, but
it seems that O'Shea must have been deceived by the moonlight."

"I do not blame him for the accident," said Caius, "but for what
happened afterwards."

Her slight French accent gave to each of her words a quaint, distinct
form of its own. "O'Shea is--he is what you might call _funny_ in his
way of looking at things." She paused a moment, as if entirely conscious
of the inadequacy of the explanation. "I do not think," she continued,
as if in perplexity, "that I can explain this matter any more; but if
you will talk to O'Shea----"

"Madam," burst out Caius, "can it be that there is a large band of
lawless men who have their haunts so near this island, and you do not
know of it? That," he added, with emphatic reproach, "is impossible."

"I never heard of any such band of men."

Madame Le Maitre spoke gently, and the dignity of her gentleness was
such that Caius was ashamed of his vehemence and his reproach. What he
wondered at, what he chafed at, was, that she showed no wonder
concerning an incident which her last statement made all the more
remarkable. She began to turn to go towards the house, and the mind of
Caius hit upon the one weak point in her own acknowledged view of the
matter.

"You have said that it is not safe for a stranger to walk upon the sands
without a guide; if you doubt my statement that these men threatened my
life, it yet remains that I was left to finish my journey alone. I do
not believe that there was danger myself. I do not believe that a man
would sink over his head in these holes; but according to their belief
and yours, madam----"

He stopped, for she had turned round with a distinct flash of
disapproval in her eyes.

"I do not doubt your statement." She paused, and he knew that his
accusation had been rude. "It would not occur to me"--there was still
the slight quaintness of one unaccustomed to English--"that you could do
anything unworthy of a gentleman." Another pause, and Caius knew that he
was bound over to keep the peace. "I think O'Shea got himself into
trouble, and that he did the best he could for you; but O'Shea lives not
far from your own house. He is not my servant, except that he rents my
husband's land." She paused again.

Caius would have urged that he had understood otherwise, or that
hitherto he