e action caught my
eye. That movement of the arm! It was not--it could not be--no, no, not
Hugo!

A very ordinary person; and Le Geyt bore the stamp of a born gentleman.

He stood up bare at last. He flung out his arms, as if to welcome
the boisterous wind to his naked bosom. Then, with a sudden burst of
recognition, the man stood revealed. We had bathed together a hundred
times in London and elsewhere. The face, the clad figure, the dress, all
were different. But the body--the actual frame and make of the man--the
well-knit limbs, the splendid trunk--no disguise could alter. It was Le
Geyt himself--big, powerful, vigorous.

That ill-made suit, those baggy knickerbockers, the slouched cap, the
thin thread stockings, had only distorted and hidden his figure. Now
that I saw him as he was, he came out the same bold and manly form as
ever.

He did not notice me. He rushed down with a certain wild joy into the
turbulent water, and, plunging in with a loud cry, buffeted the huge
waves with those strong curving arms of his. The sou'-wester was rising.
Each breaker as it reared caught him on its crest and tumbled him over
like a cork, but like a cork he rose again. He was swimming now, arm
over arm, straight out seaward. I saw the lifted hands between the crest
and the trough. For a moment I hesitated whether I ought to strip
and follow him. Was he doing as so many others of his house had
done--courting death from the water?

But some strange hand restrained me. Who was I that I should stand
between Hugo Le Geyt and the ways of Providence?

The Le Geyts loved ever the ordeal by water.

Presently, he turned again. Before he turned, I had taken the
opportunity to look hastily at his clothes. Hilda Wade had surmised
aright once more. The outer suit was a cheap affair from a big
ready-made tailor's in St. Martin's Lane--turned out by the thousand;
the underclothing, on the other hand, was new and unmarked, but fine
in quality--bought, no doubt, at Bideford. An eerie sense of doom stole
over me. I felt the end was near. I withdrew behind a big rock, and
waited there unseen till Hugo had landed. He began to dress again,
without troubling to dry himself. I drew a deep breath of relief. Then
this was not suicide!

By the time he had pulled on his vest and drawers, I came out suddenly
from my ambush and faced him. A fresh shock awaited me. I could hardly
believe my eyes. It was NOT Le Geyt--no, nor anything like him!

Nevert