besides, she may be dead. I
have been told that she--" Then I stopped, for my heart seemed to grow
too big for my bosom.

"Died of a broken 'art," mumbled Eli. "The Trezidders killed 'er."

"Tell me more!" cried the stranger, excitedly. Then he added, in calmer
tones, "I may be able to help you."

But I did not speak, whereupon he walked to and fro the cave, making all
sorts of ejaculations, and at times looking savagely at me, as though I
were his enemy.

Presently, however, he grew calm and thoughtful; he seemed to be musing
over what I had told him, as though he had an interest in it. This
surprised me greatly, and set me thinking who he could be, until plans
of action for myself began to form themselves in my brain.

After I had thought awhile I went out of the cave and stood in the bay
called Bedruthen Steps. Accustomed as I had been all my life to the
sight of a fine rock-bound coast, I could not help being awed at the
scene. The great rocks which lift their mighty heads in Kynance Cove
were not equal to these. Often while living at Cap'n Jack's house I had
wandered along the many-coloured cliffs which stretch from Kynance to
the Lizard, and had seen the waves leap on them, sometimes playfully,
sometimes in mad anger, while thousands of streamlets ran down their
rugged sides afterward, as if to laugh at the anger of the sea; but
never had I seen anything so fine, so awe-inspiring as this. For a
moment it made me forget the objects dearest to my heart. The tide was
not high enough to reach the mouth of the cave at which I stood; at the
same time the angry seas rolled madly along the sand, and were churned
into foam by the great rocks along the beach. I had heard about rocks
standing as sentinels, but never until then did I realise the meaning of
the words. That day, however, the meaning of such language was quite
plain. The cliffs stood from three to four hundred feet high, almost
perpendicular, save here and there where some narrow gully sloped
somewhat. These cliffs were dark gray, rough, jagged and forbidding, and
seemed to quietly mock the roving, rushing sea which beat upon them.

Along the beach, perhaps a hundred yards or more from the cliffs, a
number of huge rocks stood alone. I suppose at some time they must have
slipped from the mainland, but that was undoubtedly in the far-back
past. One of them, I remember, was shaped like a spire, and seemed to
look with derision on the foaming waters that somet