t news Uncle Loveday had to tell, so I sat
up and questioned him. There was little enough; though, delivered
with much pomp, it took some time in telling. Roughly, it came to
this:--

A body had been discovered--the body of a small infant--washed up on
the Polkimbra Beach. This would give an opportunity for an inquest;
and, in fact, the coroner was to arrive that afternoon from Penzance
with an interpreter for the evidence of the strange sailor, who, it
seemed, was a Greek. Little enough had been got from him, but he
seemed to imply that the vessel had struck upon Dead Man's Rock from
the south-west, breaking her back upon its sunken base, and then
slipping out and subsiding in the deep water. It must have happened
at high tide, for much coffee and basket-work was found upon
high-water line. This fixed the time of the disaster at about
4 a.m., and my mother's eyes met mine, as we both remembered that it
was about that hour when we heard the wild despairing cry. For the
rest, it was hopeless to seek information from the Greek sailor
without an interpreter; nor were there any clothes or identifying
marks on the child's body. The stranger had been clothed and fed at
the Vicarage, and would give his evidence that afternoon. Hitherto,
the name of the vessel was unknown.

At this point my mother's eyes again sought mine, and I feared fresh
inquiries about the _Mary Jane_; but, luckily, Uncle Loveday had
recurred to the question of the Tower of Babel, on which he delivered
several profound reflections. Seeing me still disinclined to
explain, she merely sighed, and was silent.

But when Uncle Loveday had broken his fast and, rising, announced
that he must drive down to be present at the inquest, to our
amazement, mother insisted upon going with him. Having no suspicion
of her deadly fear, he laughed a little at first, and quoted Solomon
on the infirmities of women to an extent that made me wonder what
Aunt Loveday would have said had he dared broach such a subject to
that strong-minded woman. Seeing, however, that my mother was set
upon going, he desisted at last, and put his cart at her service.
Somewhat to her astonishment, as I could see, I asked to be allowed
to go also, and, after some entreaty, prevailed. So we all set out
behind Uncle Loveday's over-fed pony for Polkimbra.

There was a small crowd around the door of the "Lugger Inn" when we
drove up. It appeared that the coroner had just arrived, and t