same of Salissa's mistress--was at its loveliest on a clear
May morning. The island appeared first as a flattened cone, intensely
green. Then, as the steamer drew nearer, the cliffs which embraced the
natural harbour shone out dazzlingly white. The sea rolled lazily, a
belt of foam across the reef which almost blocked the entrance to the
bay. Beneath the cliffs, right under them, the colour of the water
turned to the palest blue. On the south side of the bay was a sandy
beach, and above it a small village, seen to be a village afterwards,
at first no more than splashes of bright colour, blue and red. Behind
the village, sloping upwards, was a broad stretch of cultivated land.

"Vineyards," said Mr. Phillips, who had voyaged much about the
Cyrenian Sea.

On the north side of the bay, opposite the cottages, a promontory ran
out into the water. On it, sometimes on its very edge, sometimes drawn
a little back with a space of smooth rocks in front of it, was the
house built by King Otto, Konrad Karl's unfortunate predecessor on the
Megalian throne. Perhaps that king himself had a taste for the
fantastic. Perhaps he was only a commonplace man who had the luck to
employ an architect of airy genius. The house was the palace of a
dream of fairyland. It was built of the white stone of the island.
Long windows opened on balconies supported on white pillars which
stood in the water. There were little glistening spires which rose
from steep patches of red roof. There were broad shaded porches and
flights of shallow white steps which led down into the water. The
ground plan of the house followed the outline of the promontory on
which it stood. Only in the upper storey did the eye find rest in a
straight line. There nine great windows, green jalousied, gave upon a
wide balcony. At one place where the rock had been eaten into by the
sea, the architect had built over water which sighed and gurgled
among mysterious green shades under vaulted roofs among the
foundations of the house.

Miss Daisy, standing on the bridge, clapped her hands and then stood
silent and motionless in an ecstasy of delight. Mr. Phillips, his eyes
on the girl, rang the ship's engines to "Dead Slow" and sent a man to
summon Captain Wilson.

The steamer slid slowly through the water towards the opening at the
south end of the protecting reef. Captain Wilson came on deck. Mr.
Donovan followed him. He stood leaning over the bulwarks just forward
of the bridge. Mi