e had been a good deal given to meditation, a habit which
is frequently a mere sign of mental fallowness; now that his mind was
wearied with the accumulation of a little learning, it knew what work
meant, and did not work except when compelled. Caius walked upon the red
road bordered by fir hedges and weeds, amongst which blue and yellow
asters were beginning to blow, and the ashen seeds of the flame-flower
were seen, for its flame was blown out. Caius was walking for the sake
of walking and in pure idleness, but when he came near Farmer Day's land
he had no thought of passing it without pausing to rest his eyes for a
time upon the familiar details of that part of the shore.

He scrambled down the face of the cliff, for it was as yet some hours
before the tide would be full. A glance showed him that the stone of
baby Day's tablet yet held firm, cemented in the niche of the soft rock.
A glance was enough for an object for which he had little respect, and
he sat down with his back to it on one of the smaller rocks of the
beach. This was the only place on the shore where the sandstone was hard
enough to retain the form of rock, and the rock ended in the small,
sharp headland which, when he was down at the water's level, hid the
neighbouring bay entirely from his sight.

The incoming tide had no swift, unexpected current as the outgoing water
had. There was not much movement in the little channel upon which Caius
was keeping watch. The summer afternoon was all aglow upon shore and
sea. He had sat quite still for a good while, when, near the sunny
island, just at the point where he had been pulled ashore on the
adventurous night when he risked his life for the child, he suddenly
observed what appeared to be a curious animal in the water.

There was a glistening as of a scaly, brownish body, which lay near the
surface of the waves. Was it a porpoise that had ventured so near? Was
it a dog swimming? No, he knew well that neither the one nor the other
had any such habit as this lazy basking in sunny shallows. Then the head
that was lying backwards on the water turned towards him, and he saw a
human face--surely, surely it was human!--and a snow-white arm was
lifted out of the water as if to play awhile in the warm air.

The eyes of the wonderful thing were turned toward him, and it seemed to
chance to see him now for the first time, for there was a sudden
movement, no jerk or splash, but a fish-like dart toward the open sea.