ray rocks from which all
this beauty had been won inch by inch; then the great peaks of the
mountain amphitheatre against the sky--in all, beauty enough for a
thousand gardens here concentrated in one enchanting spot.

[Illustration: THE WASHER-WOMEN]

"That picturesque village on the height is Grimaldi," said Verney.

"The original home of the clowns, I suppose," said Baker.

"English and Americans always say that; they can never think of anything
but the great circus Hamlet," replied Verney. "In reality, however,
Grimaldi is one of the oldest of the noble names on this coast--the
family name of the Princes of Monaco."

"Who are worse than clowns," said the Professor, sternly. "The Grimaldi
who was a clown at least honestly earned his bread, but the Grimaldis of
the present day live by the worst dishonesty. Monaco, formerly called
the Port of Hercules, may now well be called the Port of Hell."

"Well," said Inness, "if Monaco, on one side of us, represents
l'Inferno, Bordighera, on the other, represents Paradiso, and so we are
saved."

"It depends upon which way you go, young man," said the Professor, still
sternly.

After a while we came back to the bench among the hyacinths where we had
left Margaret, and found Lloyd with her, looking at the sea; the lovely
garden overhangs the sea, whose beautiful near blue closes every
blossoming vista. It had been decided that we were to go homeward by way
of the Bone Caverns, and as Mrs. Trescott was fond of bones, and wished
to see their abode, I offered to remain and drive home with Margaret.

"Let me accompany Miss Severin," said Lloyd. "I have seen the caverns,
and do not care to see them again."

I looked at Margaret, thinking she would object; she seldom cared for
the society of strangers. But in some way Mr. Lloyd no longer seemed a
stranger; he had crossed the numerous little barriers which she kept
erected between herself and the outside world, crossed them probably
without even seeing them. But none the less were they crossed.

So we left them in the sunny garden to return homeward at their leisure,
and, descending to the road, went eastward a short distance, and turned
down a narrow path leading to the beach. It brought us under the
enormous mass of the Red Rocks, rising perpendicularly three hundred
feet from the water. Inness, who was in advance, had paused on a little
bridge of one arch over a hollow, and was holding it, as it were, when
we came up. "Be