mon fishers. At one
end of the bay there is a little group or cluster of rocks whose heads
are raised something above high water, except when in rough weather
the waves come over them green. At low tide they are exposed down to
sand level; and here is perhaps the only little bit of dangerous sand
on this part of the eastern coast. Between the rocks, which are apart
about some fifty feet, is a small quicksand, which, like the Goodwins,
is dangerous only with the incoming tide. It extends outwards till it
is lost in the sea, and inwards till it fades away in the hard sand of
the upper beach. On the slope of the hill which rises beyond the
dunes, midway between the Spurs and the Port of Crooken, is the Red
House. It rises from the midst of a clump of fir-trees which protect
it on three sides, leaving the whole sea front open. A trim
old-fashioned garden stretches down to the roadway, on crossing which
a grassy path, which can be used for light vehicles, threads a way to
the shore, winding amongst the sand hills.

When the Markam family arrived at the Red House after their thirty-six
hours of pitching on the Aberdeen steamer _Ban Righ_ from Blackwall,
with the subsequent train to Yellon and drive of a dozen miles, they
all agreed that they had never seen a more delightful spot. The
general satisfaction was more marked as at that very time none of the
family were, for several reasons, inclined to find favourable anything
or any place over the Scottish border. Though the family was a large
one, the prosperity of the business allowed them all sorts of personal
luxuries, amongst which was a wide latitude in the way of dress. The
frequency of the Markam girls' new frocks was a source of envy to
their bosom friends and of joy to themselves.

Arthur Fernlee Markam had not taken his family into his confidence
regarding his new costume. He was not quite certain that he should be
free from ridicule, or at least from sarcasm, and as he was sensitive
on the subject, he thought it better to be actually in the suitable
environment before he allowed the full splendour to burst upon them.
He had taken some pains, to insure the completeness of the Highland
costume. For the purpose he had paid many visits to 'The Scotch
All-Wool Tartan Clothing Mart' which had been lately established in
Copthall-court by the Messrs. MacCallum More and Roderick MacDhu. He
had anxious consultations with the head of the firm--MacCallum as he
called himself, r