beginning of wisdom. God has warned you by
this crime; He warns you still by the bloody grave between our feet; and
if there shall follow no repentance, no improvement, no return to Him,
what can we look for but the following of some memorable judgment?"

Even as I spoke the words, the eyes of my uncle wandered from my face. A
change fell upon his looks that cannot be described; his features seemed
to dwindle in size, the colour faded from his cheeks, one hand rose
waveringly and pointed over my shoulder into the distance, and the
oft-repeated name fell once more from his lips: "The _Christ-Anna_!"

I turned; and if I was not appalled to the same degree, as I return
thanks to Heaven that I had not the cause, I was still startled by the
sight that met my eyes. The form of a man stood upright on the
cabin-hutch of the wrecked ship; his back was towards us; he appeared to
be scanning the offing with shaded eyes, and his figure was relieved to
its full height, which was plainly very great, against the sea and sky.
I have said a thousand times that I am not superstitious; but at that
moment, with my mind running upon death and sin, the unexplained
appearance of a stranger on that sea-girt, solitary island filled me
with a surprise that bordered close on terror. It seemed scarce possible
that any human soul should have come ashore alive in such a sea as had
raged last night along the coast of Aros; and the only vessel within
miles had gone down before our eyes among the Merry Men. I was assailed
with doubts that made suspense unbearable, and, to put the matter to the
touch at once, stepped forward and hailed the figure like a ship.

He turned about, and I thought he started to behold us. At this my
courage instantly revived, and I called and signed to him to draw near,
and he, on his part, dropped immediately to the sands, and began slowly
to approach, with many stops and hesitations. At each repeated mark of
the man's uneasiness I grew the more confident myself; and I advanced
another step, encouraging him as I did so with my head and hand. It was
plain the castaway had heard indifferent accounts of our island
hospitality; and indeed, about this time, the people farther north had a
sorry reputation.

"Why," I said, "the man is black!"

And just at that moment, in a voice that I could scarce have recognised,
my kinsman began swearing and praying in a mingled stream. I looked at
him; he had fallen on his knees, his face wa