s a little.
I felt that I could not repass that dreadful rock, so determined to
go across the sands to Polkimbra, and homewards around the cliffs.
Still gazing at the sea as one fascinated, I made along the length of
the beach. The storm had thrown up vast quantities of weed, that
lined the water's edge in straggling lines and heaps, and every heap
in turn chained and riveted my shuddering eyes, that half expected to
see in each some new or nameless horror.

I was half across the beach, when suddenly I looked up towards
Polkimbra, and saw a man advancing towards me along the edge of the
tide.

He was about two hundred yards from me when I first looked. Heartily
glad to see any human being after my great terror, I ran towards him
eagerly, thinking to recognise one of my friends among the Polkimbra
fishermen. As I drew nearer, however, without attracting his
attention--for the soft sand muffled all sound of footsteps--two
things struck me. The first was that I had never seen a fisherman
dressed as this man was; the second, that he seemed to watch the sea
with an absorbed and eager gaze, as if expecting to find or see
something in the breakers. At last I was near enough to catch the
outline of his face, and knew him to be a stranger.

He wore no hat, and was dressed in a red shirt and trousers that
ended in rags at the knee. His feet were bare, and his clothes clung
dripping to his skin. In height he could not have been much above
five feet six inches, but his shoulders were broad, and his whole
appearance, cold and exhausted as he seemed, gave evidence of great
strength. His tangled hair hung over a somewhat weak face, but the
most curious feature about the man was the air of nervous expectation
that marked, not only his face, but every movement of his body.
Altogether, under most circumstances, I should have shunned him, but
fear had made me desperate. At the distance of about twenty yards I
stopped and called to him.

I had advanced somewhat obliquely from behind, so that at the sound
of my voice he turned sharply round and faced me, but with a
terrified start that was hard to account for. On seeing only a
child, however, the hesitation faded out of his eyes, and he advanced
towards me. As he approached, I could see that he was shivering with
cold and hunger.

"Boy," he said, in an eager and expectant voice, "what are you doing
out on the beach so early?"

"Oh, sir!" I answered, "there was such a dre