allow out on the shimmering
water, he stood gazing after it till it became a distant speck sparkling
like a diamond in the light of sky and wave, and when he could no more
watch it with unassisted eyes, he took up his field glass and followed
its course attentively. He saw it cutting along as straightly as an
arrow, then suddenly it dipped round to the westward, apparently making
straight for some shelving rocks, that projected far into the Fjord. It
reached them; it grew less and less--it disappeared. At the same time
the lustre of the heavens gave way to a pale pearl-like uniform grey
tint, that stretched far and wide, folding up as in a mantle all the
regal luxury of the Sun-king's palace. The subtle odor and delicate
chill of the coming dawn stole freshly across the water. A light haze
rose and obscured the opposite islands. Something of the tender
melancholy of autumn, though it was late June, toned down the aspect of
the before brilliant landscape. A lark rose swiftly from its nest in an
adjacent meadow, and, soaring higher and higher, poured from its tiny
throat a cascade of delicious melody. The midnight sun no longer shone
at midnight; his face smiled with a sobered serenity through the faint
early mists of approaching morning.

CHAPTER II.

"Viens donc--je te chanterai des chansons que les esprits des
cimetieres m'ont apprises!"
MATURIN.

"Baffled!" he exclaimed, with a slight vexed laugh, as the boat vanished
from his sight. "By a woman, too! Who would have thought it?"

Who would have thought it, indeed! Sir Philip Bruce-Errington, Baronet,
the wealthy and desirable parti for whom many match-making mothers had
stood knee-deep in the chilly though sparkling waters of society,
ardently plying rod and line with patient persistence, vainly hoping to
secure him as a husband for one of their highly proper and passionless
daughters,--he, the admired, long-sought-after "eligible," was suddenly
rebuffed, flouted--by whom? A stray princess, or a peasant. He vaguely
wondered, as he lit a cigar and strolled up and down on the shore,
meditating, with a puzzled, almost annoyed expression on his handsome
features. He was not accustomed to slights of any kind, however
trifling; his position being commanding and enviable enough to attract
flattery and friendship from most people. He was the only son of a
baronet as renowned for eccentricity as for wea