were unknown
to those who buried them--were interred; and where the victims of the
Plague reposed by scores. Even Gethin had not escaped the ravages of
that fell scourge; and, what was very singular, had suffered from it
twice over; for, on the occasion of an ordinary burial having taken
place many generations after the first calamity, in the same spot, the
disease had broken forth afresh, and scattered broadcast in the little
hamlet ancient death. The particulars of the catastrophe, so
characteristic of this home of antique legend and hoary ruin, were
engraven on a stone above the spot, which had never since been
disturbed.

In a lone corner, as though seeking in its humility to be as distant
from the sacred edifice as possible, was a quaint old cross. It was
probably not so old by half a dozen centuries as the grave-mounds on the
rock where the ruined castle stood, but it seemed even older, because
there were words cut in its stone in a tongue that was no longer known
to man. Seated on the low wall beside it, Richard was transferring to
his sketch-book this relic of the past in his usual intermittent
manner--now gazing out upon the far-stretching sea, here blue and
bright, there shadowed by a passing cloud; now down into the village,
which stood on a lower hill, with a ravine between. He had seen the
post-cart come and go--for it came in and went out simultaneously at
that out-of-the-way hamlet, where there was no one to write
complainingly to the papers concerning the inefficiency of the mail
service--and it was almost time for Harry to come and fetch him, as she
had appointed. But presently the reason for her absence made itself
apparent in the person of her father. It was not unusual for old
Trevethick, at the close of the day, to call at the cottage in the
ravine, which the guide to the ruin inhabited in the summer months, and
see how business was doing in that quarter. If he had no eye for the
picturesque, he had a very sharp one for the shillings which were made
out of it; and Richard was not surprised to see the landlord descending
the opposite hill. "This will keep Harry at home; confound him!"
muttered the young man to himself, and then resumed his occupation. As
there was now no one to watch for, he worked with more assiduity, and
with such engrossment in his subject that he was first made conscious
that he was not alone by the sudden presence of a shadow on his
sketch-book. He looked up, not a little start