heavy frown. His helplessness always
oppressed him far more than the pain he had to endure. He cursed the dog
under his breath.

"Oh, I am sorry!" a voice said suddenly some seconds later. "Let me get
them for you!"

Durant looked round sharply. A brown-faced girl in a short, cotton dress
stood in the doorway. Her head was bare and covered with short, black,
curly hair that shone wet in the sunshine. Her eyes were very blue. For
some reason she looked rather ashamed of herself.

She moved forward barefooted and picked up Durant's crutches.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said again. "I didn't know there was any one here
till I heard Caesar knock something down."

She dusted the tops of the crutches with her sleeve and propped them
against the table.

"Thanks!" said Durant curtly. He was not feeling sociable--he could not
feel sociable--on that day of all days in his life's record.

Yet, as if attracted by something, the girl lingered.

"It's lovely down on the shore," she said half shyly.

"No doubt," said Durant, and again his tone was curt to churlishness.

Then abruptly he felt that he had been unnecessarily surly, and wondered
if he was getting querulous.

"Been bathing?" he asked, with a brief glance at her wet hair.

She gave him a quick, friendly smile.

"Yes, sir," she said; and added: "Caesar and I."

"Fond of the sea, eh?" said Durant.

The soft eyes shone, and the man, who had been a sailor, told himself
that they were deep-sea eyes.

"I love it," the girl said very earnestly.

Her intensity surprised him a little. He had not expected it in one who,
to judge by her dress, must be a child of the humble fisher-folk. His
interest began to awaken.

"You live near here?" he questioned.

She pointed a brown hand towards the sand-dunes.

"On the shore, sir," she said. "We hear the waves all night."

"So do I," said Durant, and his voice was suddenly sharp with a pain he
could not try to silence. "All night and all day."

She did not seem to notice his tone.

"You live in the cottage on the cliff?" she asked.

He nodded.

"I came last week," he said. "I hadn't seen the sea for nearly a year. I
wanted to be alone. And--so I am."

"All alone?" she queried quickly.

He nodded again.

"With my servant," he said. He repeated with a certain doggedness: "I
wanted to be alone."

There was a pause. The girl was standing in the doorway. Her dog was
basking in the sunshine not a yard away. She look