oral superiority upon her. I do
not think she would have turned state evidence and accused me, but I
was by no means assured of her disinterested regard. She contented
herself, for a few days afterwards, with meeting me privately and
mysteriously communicating unctuous reminiscences of our joint crime,
without suggesting a repetition. Her intimacy with me did not seem to
interfere with her general relations to her own species in the other
children in the hotel. Perhaps I should have said before that her
popularity with them was by no means prejudiced by her infelix
reputation. But while she was secretly admired by all, she had few
professed followers and no regular associates. Whether the few whom
she selected for that baleful preeminence were either torn from her by
horrified guardians, or came to grief through her dangerous counsels,
or whether she really did not care for them, I could not say. Their
elevation was brief, their retirement unregretted. It was however
permitted me, through felicitous circumstances, to become acquainted
with the probable explanation of her unsociability.

The very hot weather culminated one afternoon in a dead faint of earth
and sea and sky. An Alpine cloudland of snow that had mocked the
upturned eyes of Greyport for hours, began to darken under the folding
shadow of a black and velvety wing. The atmosphere seemed to thicken
as the gloom increased; the lazy dust, thrown up by hurrying feet that
sought a refuge, hung almost motionless in the air. Suddenly it was
blown to the four quarters in one fierce gust that as quickly dispersed
the loungers drooping in shade and cover. For a few seconds the long
avenue was lost in flying clouds of dust, and then was left bare of
life or motion. Raindrops in huge stars and rosettes appeared
noiselessly and magically upon the sidewalks--gouts of moisture
apparently dropped from mid-air. And then the ominous hush returned.

A mile away along the rocks, I turned for shelter into a cavernous
passage of the overhanging cliff, where I could still watch the coming
storm upon the sea. A murmur of voices presently attracted my
attention. I then observed that the passage ended in a kind of open
grotto, where I could dimly discern the little figures of several
children, who, separated from their nurses in the sudden onset of the
storm, had taken refuge there. As the gloom deepened they became
silent again, until the stillness was broken by a fam