Anna heard their voices, and went to meet them. "I must be careful how I
speak," she said, addressing Mrs. Carleton, "for I feel sure Cora
understands much more than she can find language to express, but I have
to tell you that ever since about an hour after midnight I have been all
alone. He sleeps."

The ladies gave the child some shells to play with, and went to where
his body lay. They drew the sail over the low wall which they had made
around him and completely covered in the little room.

"That will keep any eagles or wolves away while daylight lasts," said
Mrs. Carleton, "but we must bury the poor fellow's body before night.
The thought of having it devoured or mutilated when it is in our power
to prevent it, is more than either of us could bear, for in addition to
the forlorn state that we found him in, his genius and his gentle
breeding made both of us take an interest in him. Beside, his being a
Virginian, and the last person to speak with Dudley, gave him a claim on
my friendship."

They went up to the castle and did not return until just before sunset,
when they brought with them many beautiful wild flowers, which, as we
have said, abounded on the island. They also gathered branches of the
fragrant fir balsam, with which they lined the fissure in the rock on
which Ralph's body was lying. Folding around the latter a robe of rich
brocade, they lowered it tenderly into the tomb that nature had wrought.
As Anna laid the face cloth over the marble features, she started back.
The resemblance which had attracted and held her attention during the
night, had come out vividly since the morning. The likeness was to her
own mother, and was as marked as if Ralph had been her son. They covered
his silken winding-sheet with flowers until the sepulchre was filled,
then they laid flat stones across his resting place, and began to build
a cairn over all. They continued building until the sun went down,
little Cora bringing stones in her baby hands and placing them with the
same precision that she saw her mother and Miss Vyvyan were doing.

"We have made everything secure now, Anna," said Mrs. Carleton, "but we
will come again to-morrow and add more stones to the cairn, and every
time we come to the beach we will do the same. Will you take charge of
the manuscript? We do not know what the future may bring. He wished his
brother Ronald to see it, and we may, perhaps, some day have it in our
power to carry out his wish. Now