slands. The grass that was before the
inn door was long and of that dry green hue that did not suggest
verdure, for all the juices had gone back into the ground. It was swept
into silver sheens by the wind, and as they crossed it to reach the road
where the cart stood, the wind came against them all with staggering
force. The four ladies came out in spite of the icy blast, and attended
them to the cart, and stood to watch them as they wended their way up
the rugged road that led over a hill.

The cart was a small-sized wooden one--a shallow box on wheels; no
springs, no paint, had been used in its making. Some straw had been
spread on the bottom, and on this Caius was directed to recline. His
bags also were placed beside him. O'Shea himself sat on the front of the
cart, his legs dangling, and the boy, who was "no more froightened of
the journey than a sea-gull is of the sea," perched himself upon one
corner of the back and looked out backwards, so that his face was turned
from Caius, who only knew that he was a slim lad because he had been
told so; a long gray blanket-coat with capuchin drawn over the head and
far over the face covered him completely.

Caius opposed his will to the reclining attitude which had been
suggested to him, and preferred to sit upon the flat bottom with the
desire to keep erect; and he did sit thus for awhile, like a porcelain
mandarin with nodding head, for, although the hardy pony went slowly,
the jolting of the cart on the rough, frozen road was greater than it is
easy for one accustomed to ordinary vehicles to imagine.

Up the hill they went, past woods of stunted birch and fir, past upland
fields, from which the crops had long been gathered. They were making
direct for the southern side of the island. While they ascended there
was still some shelter between them and the fiercest blast of the gale,
and they could still look down at the homely inn below, at the village
of fishers' sheds and the dancing waters of the bay. He had only passed
one night there, and yet Caius looked at this prospect almost fondly. It
seemed familiar in comparison with the strange region into which he was
going.

When the ridge was gained and the descent began, the wind broke upon
them with all its force. He looked below and saw the road winding for a
mile or more among the farms and groves of the slope, and then out
across a flat bit of shrub-covered land; beyond that was the sand,
stretching here, it seemed,