e to procure all I required, without
exciting more notice and curiosity. My purchases, though they were as
simple and cheap as I could make them, drew largely upon my small store
of money, and as I saw it dwindling away, while I grudged every shilling
I was obliged to part with, my spirits sank lower and lower. I had never
known the dread of being short of money, and the new experience was,
perhaps, the more terrible to me. There was no chance of disposing of
the costly dress in which I had journeyed, without arousing too much
attention and running too great a risk. I stayed in-doors as much as
possible, and, as the weather continued cold and gloomy, I did not meet
many persons when I ventured out into the narrow, foreign-looking
streets of the town.

But on the third day, when I looked out from my window, I saw that the
sky had cleared, and the sun was shining joyously. It was one of those
lovely days which come as a lull sometimes in the midst of the
equinoctial gales, as if they were weary of the havoc they had made, and
were resting with folded wings. For the first time I saw the little
island of Sark lying against the eastern sky. The whole length of it was
visible, from north to south, with the waves beating against its
headlands, and a fringe of silvery foam girdling it. The sky was of a
pale blue, as though the rains had washed it as well as the earth, and a
few filmy clouds were still lingering about it. The sea beneath was a
deeper blue, with streaks almost like a hoar frost upon it, with here
and there tints of green, like that of the sky at sunset. A boat with
three white sails, which were reflected in the water, was tacking about
to enter the harbor, and a second, with amber sails, was a little way
behind, but following quickly in its wake. I watched them for a long
time. Was either of them Tardif's boat?

That question was answered in about two hours' time by Tardif's
appearance at the house. He lifted my little box on to his broad
shoulders, and marched away with it, trying vainly to reduce his long
strides into steps that would suit me, as I walked beside him. I felt
overjoyed that he was come. So long as I was in Guernsey, when every
morning I could see the arrival of the packet that had brought me, I
could not shake off the fear that it was bringing some one in pursuit of
me; but in Sark that would be all different. Besides, I felt
instinctively that this man would protect me, and take my part to the