d they intrusted her
to his care as they would have done with a conductor on the train, or
with the driver of the stage. He was simply the boatman to them--a very
good-looking fellow, it is true, but not dangerous, because he was not
the young lady's social equal. He always treated her with the utmost
respect and deference.

The breeze was fresh, and in a few moments Leopold landed her on the
narrow beach beneath the lofty rock. The maiden left the boat, climbed
the high rock, and wandered about among the wild cliffs and chasms, all
alone, for Leopold could not leave the inanimate Rosabel--which the rude
sea might injure--to follow the animate and beautiful Rosabel in her
ramble on the shore.

She was gone an hour, and then an other hour. He called to her, but she
came not, and even the warning of the muttering thunder did not hasten
her return. But she came at last, and Leopold hastened to get under way,
though he feared that the storm would be down upon him before he could
reach the Orion.

"We are going to have a tremendous shower," said Leopold, anxiously, as
he shoved off the boat.

"I'm not afraid; and if I get wet, it won't hurt me," replied Rosabel,
who actually enjoyed the flashing lightning and the booming thunder, and
gazed with undaunted eyes upon the black masses of cloud that were
rolling up from the south-east and from the north-west.

"It looks just exactly as it did on the day the Waldo was wrecked,"
added Leopold. "It blew a perfect hurricane then, and it may to-day."

"If you are alarmed, Leopold, we can return," suggested Rosabel.

"We can hardly do that, now, for the tide has risen so high that the
beach is nearly covered, and my boat would be dashed to pieces, if we
have much of a squall."

"Do you think there is any danger?" asked the fair maiden, who was
deeply impressed by the earnest manner of the boatman.

"I hope not," replied he, more cheerfully, for he did not wish to alarm
her. "If I can only get into Dipper Bay, which is hardly half a mile
from here, we shall be all right; and we may have time to run into the
river."

Dipper Bay was a little inlet, almost landlocked, in which the water was
deep enough to float his sloop at this time of tide, and its high rocky
shores would afford him a perfect protection from the fury of any
squall, or even hurricane. But Leopold felt that his chances of reaching
this secure haven were but small, for the breeze was very light.

The Rosabel w