dea, that he was being watched, out of his
head, and for a moment he forgot about the fish, and stood still, staring
at the monsters, whose bulky forms reared themselves up into the
moonlight from which they banished him.

"Signore! Signorino!"

There came to him a cry of protest from the shore. He started, moved
forward with the net, and went under water. He had stepped into a deep
hole. Still holding fast to the net, he came up to the surface, shook his
head, and struck out. As he did so he heard another cry, sharp yet
musical. But this cry did not come from the beach where his companions
were gathered. It rose from the blackness of the rocks close to him, and
it sounded like the cry of a woman. He winked his eyes to get the water
out of them, and swam for the rocks, heedless of his duty as a fisherman.
But the net impeded him, and again there was a shout from the shore:

"Signorino! Signorino! E' pazzo Lei?"

Reluctantly he turned and swam back to the shallow water. But when his
feet touched bottom he stood still. That cry of a woman from the mystery
of the rocks had startled, had fascinated his ears. Suddenly he
remembered that he must be near to that Casa delle Sirene, whose little
light he had seen from the terrace of the priest's house on his first
evening in Sicily. He longed to hear that woman's voice again. For a
moment he thought of it as the voice of a siren, of one of those beings
of enchantment who lure men on to their destruction, and he listened
eagerly, almost passionately, while the ruffled water eddied softly about
his breast. But no music stole to him from the blackness of the rocks,
and at last he turned slowly and waded to the shore.

He was met with merry protests. Nito declared that the net had nearly
been torn out of his hands. Gaspare, half undressed to go to his rescue,
anxiously inquired if he had come to any harm. The rocks were sharp as
razors near the point, and he might have cut himself to pieces upon them.
He apologized to Nito and showed Gaspare that he was uninjured. Then,
while the others began to count the fish, he went to the boats to put on
his clothes, accompanied by Gaspare.

"Why did you swim towards the rocks, signorino?" asked the boy, looking
at him with a sharp curiosity.

Delarey hesitated for a moment. He was inclined, he scarcely knew why, to
keep silence about the cry he had heard. Yet he wanted to ask Gaspare
something.

"Gaspare," he said, at last, as they rea