ing and
see the skipper, if he's there."

With this thought, he started off, hoping to find the "Gull" still
lying off the little wharf. The skipper seemed almost like an old
friend, already; and, however rough he might be, he came from
Hastings, and this fact alone made the boy long for a sight of his
face. So he hastened along the sand, toward Culm, with an eye and ear
for everything which he passed. Great boulders, all green and fringed
with sea-weed, were strewn everywhere,--in the yellow sand of the
beach, in the line of the tide and waves which whitened themselves to
foam, and murmured hoarsely against them. In some places the great
mass of the rock came down so near the water's edge that only a
slender path of pebbles was left between it and the waves. In high
tide, Noll thought, this narrow way must be quite covered, and he
wondered why the sea did not carry it quite away. But in other places
the beach was broad and smooth, quite wide enough for many horsemen to
ride abreast. This morning the sea was peaceful and calm. Neither did
it look so vast and illimitable as on the previous night. The tide was
going out, stranding great quantities of glittering weeds and all
sorts of curious objects, the sight of which made Noll's heart glad;
but, without stopping to examine or preserve them, he hastened on,
hoping to soon catch sight of the "Gull." But in this he was
disappointed. No sooner had he passed the curve of the shore than he
saw that the skipper and his craft were gone. There were his trunks to
see to, however; so he kept on, though at a slower pace, wondering if
those dull-looking fishermen could tell him when the "Gull" would
return.

Not half so fair or comely did the dozen houses look as in the gold of
sunset. Such racked, weather-beaten dwellings Noll had never seen
before. It was a mystery how they could ever stand in a high gale. Not
a solitary vestige of anything green was there to enliven the
barrenness. Long lines of seine were stretched upon stakes, and
dangled from the sides of boulders upon the shore. In the sand some
dirty-faced children were playing, who got up and ran away at his
approach. A little farther on he came upon two fishermen dividing a
basket of fish. They looked up, stared, and nodded respectfully.

"When did the skipper go?" Noll asked, pausing.

"Ben, ye mean?" asked one of the men, suspending his labor to take a
more leisurely survey of the questioner.

"Yes, Ben