n you meet them in the street?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"She knows us both," said Walkirk, "and she has now gone to the house to
tell the people who we are; and yet I am surprised that she met us so
serenely. She could not possibly have known that the two men on that
little island were her neighbors in the village of Arden."

I made no answer. I was strangely excited. I had flown to an uninhabited
island to get away from Sylvia, and, if my conscience could be made to
work properly, to get away from all thoughts of her; and here I had met,
most unexpectedly and suddenly, with one who was probably the most
intimate connection of the girl from whom I was flying. I was amazed; my
emotion thrilled me from head to foot.

"It is just like women," remarked Walkirk, as we slowly walked toward
the house, "to put on disguises to conceal their identities, but they
have no respect for our identities. Without doubt, at this moment Mother
Anastasia is telling the lady of the house all about you and your
grandmother, your position in society, and the manner in which you were
furnished with a secretary from the House of Martha."

Still I did not reply. "Mother Anastasia!" I said to myself. "Here is a
gray-garbed sister transformed into a lovely woman. Why should not
another sister be so transformed? Why should not Sylvia be here, in soft
white raiment, with flowers and a broad hat? If one can be thus, why not
the other?" The possibility fevered me.

We found the mistress of the house--the same who was called the Sand
Lady--upon a piazza. Her demeanor had been pleasant enough when we had
seen her before, but now she greeted us as cordially as if we had been
old friends. It was plain enough that Mother Anastasia had told her all
about us. Her brother and the Shell Man were also there, and the first
was friendly and the latter polite. The Mother Superior was on the
piazza, but keeping a little in the background, as if she felt that she
had had her turn.

"And now, Mr. Lover in Check and Mr. Understudy," said the Sand Lady, "I
present you with the freedom of this island, as I have already presented
you with the freedom of the other. If what we happen to be doing
interests you, join us. If it does not, interest yourselves as you
please. That is our custom here."

The mention of the name which I had applied to myself gave me a little
shock. Under the circumstances I did not like it. It was possible that
the Mother Superior of t