y find Jim, or perhaps meet Jake and Carrie
coming back."

He went to the gun-room and took down a heavy ten-bore, that would make
a loud report, for the fog he had seen from the window was getting
thick. Then he put some cartridges in his pocket, and finding a pair
of waders, went back and smiled when he met Mrs. Winter's curious
glance.

"Carrie may be glad of the waders," he said. "There's sometimes a
little water in the hollows, and I don't expect Jake knows the driest
way. Now I'll get off."

Mrs. Winter let him go. She was beginning to feel alarmed, but Dick's
quick, resolute movements comforted her. He had been careful not to
hint there was a risk, but if there was, he would know the best way of
meeting it. Dick did not hurry when he went down the freshly-raked
gravel drive, but when he reached the road he walked as fast as the
heavy gun would let him. Carrie was on the sands, it was past
low-water, and Jake did not know much about the gutters through which
the tide ran up the bay. Dick did know, and had sometimes seen a
white-topped bore roll like a wall of foam across the flats when the
moon was full. To-night, when wind was coming, the tide would rise
fast.

It was rough walking across the marsh, where he was forced to jump
ditches and wind about among deep holes, and he was glad to reach the
sands. Stopping for a few moments, he took off his boots. The sand
was cold, but he meant to strike the shortest line across the bay and
in places the mud was soft. He knew one can pull one's naked foot
loose where one's boots would stick; moreover, Carrie would like the
waders dry.

Dick began to think about Carrie as he set out across the flats. He
liked her much, and admitted that it cost him an effort not to fall in
love with her; Carrie had made him feel that this could not be allowed.
Sometimes he wondered why, and sometimes he thought he knew; but then
he suspected that Jim would marry Evelyn. Dick approved Jim, but
doubted if he was altogether the man for Evelyn. Perhaps, however,
when he came to think about it, he really meant that Evelyn was not the
girl for Jim. There was a difference----.

He pulled himself up. He was fond of Evelyn, although he knew her
faults; besides, the fog was thick and he must keep his proper course.
He ought to strike the big gutter soon and was anxious about the tide:
it would soon run up the hollows in the flats. He wondered where
Mordaunt was, because Lanc