f fell he fell with it." Then the
kind and good-natured little tailor Shales saw me, and I thought he
must have made some signal to the others, for they all stood silent.
I felt sure now that for some reason, unknown to me, it was generally
believed that my father had perished in the landslip. Mrs. Shales
took me by the hand, and gently led me away up the gangway. When we
reached the cottage I asked her whether my father's body had been
found. She told me that it had not, and was not likely to be found,
for if he had really fallen with the landslip his body lay under tons
upon tons of earth. I shall never forget the misery of that night;
kind Mrs. Shales would not leave me, but slept in the cottage. I had
very little doubt that the Raxton people were right in their dreadful
guesses about my father. I had very little doubt that while walking
along the cliff, either to or from the cottage, he had reached the
point at the back of the church at the moment of the landslip, and
been carried down with it, and I now felt sure that the shriek you
and I both heard was his shriek of terror as he fell. I bethought me
of the jewels that my father's sailor friend was to give him, and
searched the cottage for them. As I could not find them, I felt sure
that it was on his return from his meeting with his sailor friend,
when the jewels were upon him, that he fell with the landslip.'

Again Winnie paused as if awaiting some question, or at least some
remark from me.

'Did you make no inquiries about me?' I said.

'Oh yes,' said she; 'my grief at the loss of my father was very much
increased by my not being able to see you. Mrs. Shales told me that
you were ill--very ill. And altogether, you may imagine my misery.
Day after day I got worse and worse news of you. 'And day after day
it became more and more certain, that my father had perished in the
way people supposed. I used to spend most of the day on the sands,
gazing at the landslip, and searching for my father's body. Every
one tried to persuade me to give up my search, as it was hopeless,
for his body was certain to be buried deep under the new tongue of
land.'

'But you still continued your search, Winnie?' I said, remembering
every word Dr. Mivart had told me in connection with her being found
by the fishermen.

'Yes, I found it impossible not to go on with it. But one morning
after there had been a great storm followed by a further settlement
of the landslip, I went out alo