nt, Albert could
not curb his admiration for the scene. His offer of a cigar to his host
had been accepted, and as that quaint man sat quietly enjoying an odor
and flavor he was certainly unaccustomed to, Albert said:

"This experience has been a surprise to me from the moment I met you. I
had an ugly hour's scramble over the rocks and through a tangle of scrub
spruce and briers until I was utterly lost and believed this island an
impassable wilderness. Then you came along and brought me to one of the
most beautiful spots I ever saw. I should like to stay here all summer
and do nothing but look at this magnificent ocean view and sketch these
bold shores."

"Do you paint picturs too?" queried Uncle Terry, suddenly interested.
"Telly's daft on doing that, an' is at it all the time she can git!"
Then he added with a slight inflection of pride, "Mebbe ye noticed some
o' her picturs in the sittin'-room?"

"I saw a lot of pictures there," answered Albert, "but it was too dark
to see them well. I should like to look at them in the morning."

"Ye'll hev plenty o' time," was the reply, "I must pull my lobster traps
fust, an' after that I'll take ye in my dory an' we'll go an' find yer
boat. I guess she must be lyin' in Seal Cove, the only openin' 'twixt
here an' the head she'd be likely ter run into."

"And so your daughter is an artist, is she?" asked Albert, indifferent
now as to where the "Gypsy" was or when he was likely to return to her.
He came near adding that that fact was another surprise, but did not.
Instead he said, "Has she ever taken lessons?"

"No, it comes nat'ral to her," replied Uncle Terry; "she showed the bent
o' her mind 'fore she was ten years old, an' she's pestered me ever
since ter git her canvas an' paints an' sich. But then, I'm willin'
ter," he added in a tender tone. "Telly's a good girl and Lissy and me
set great store by her. She's all we've got in the world;" then pointing
to a small white stone just to the right of where they were, he added,
"Thar's whar the other one's been layin' fer mor'n twenty years."

"This one has grown to be a very beautiful girl," said Albert quietly,
"and you have reason to be proud of her."

Uncle Terry made no reply, but seemed lost in a reverie, and Albert
slowly puffed his cigar and looked out on the ocean, and along the
ever-widening path of moonlight. He very much wished that this fair
girl, so quaintly spoken of, were there beside him, that he might talk