ace could Culm Rock be?

All around the boundless waste of waves flashed and glittered under
the sun, and the "Gull" sailed steadily on her course with not a
fleck of land in sight,--nothing around but the vast blue of the
sea,--above, only the great azure arch of sky. It was a new and
strange sight to Noll Trafford. He lay on his back on the bale, and
looked up into the wonderful depths of the blue dome, where no clouds
sailed, and speculated about his destination. Somehow, the bright
vision of a pleasant sea town with a shining beach of sand and pebbles
had faded, and in its stead there was doubt and perplexity. Was it
only a rock, as the name suggested, and no town? However, Uncle
Richard was there, and that was one comfort; and perhaps the skipper
was only joking, after all. He wished, though, that he might know what
to expect; he wondered why he had not thought to ask Mr. Gray before
starting. He lay a long time listening to the rush of water about the
vessel, a strange and unusual sound to his ears. By and by a brawny
hand touched his shoulder, and a gruff voice said,--

"Lookee here, lad!" Noll turned about and saw the skipper. "'Twa'n't
manners in me to laugh at ye, I 'low," said he, good-humoredly; "but
'twas droll, ennyhow. Hain't ye never been to Culm afore?"

"Never," said Noll.

"An' ye don't know nuthin' what it's like?"

"No; how should I?" said his passenger; "I didn't know there was such
a place in the world a month ago."

The skipper looked incredulous once more. "An' now ye goin' there to
live!" he exclaimed; "why, there ben't but one house there fit fur
such as you, an' 'tain't there ye're bound, not by a long shot!"

"But _one_ house! Whose is it?" cried Noll, eagerly.

"Why, it be one Trafford's, one o' the strangest--" A sudden
expression in the boy's face checked the words on the skipper's
tongue, and the truth began to dawn upon his slow brain. "Great
fishes!" cried he, falling back a step or two, "ye ben't goin'
_there_?"

"Yes," said Noll, as quietly as he could. "Why not?"

The skipper gave him a long, steady survey, and then stumped away
across the deck without another word, leaned over the rail, and began
to whistle. Noll looked after him, half determined to follow and
demand what he meant, yet half dreading to learn that all his visions
were a great way from the truth. Perhaps it would be better to wait,
he thought; night would bring the journey to an end, a