e fell upon the figure and demolished it. This seemed
such a wanton outrage to Beth that she uttered a low cry of
remonstrance involuntarily, but the exclamation mingled with the
murmur of wind and wave, and was lost in it. The young man looked
disconcerted himself and ashamed, too, as a child does when it has
broken something in a rage and repents; and presently he began to heap
the mound once more. When it was done, he stretched himself on the
sand and shut his eyes, and for a long time Beth lay still, looking
down upon him.

All at once, however, the noise of the water became importunate. She
had not been aware of it at all since the young man appeared, but now
it came into her consciousness with the distinctness of a sudden and
unexpected sound, and she looked in that direction. The last time she
had noticed the tide it was far out; but now, where all had been sand
beyond the sheltered cove, all was water. The silver line stretched
from headland to headland, and was still advancing. Already there was
no way of escape by the sands, and the cove itself would be a bay in a
little while--a bay without a boat! If he did not wake and bestir
himself, the callous waves would come and cover him. Should she call?
She was shy of taking the initiative even to save his life, and
hesitated a moment, and in that moment there came a crash. The
treacherous clay cliff crumbled, and the great mass of it on which she
was lying slid down bodily on to the shining sand. The young man
started up, roused by the rumbling. Had he been a few feet nearer to
the cliff he must have been buried alive. He and Beth stared at each
other stupidly, neither realising what had happened for the first few
minutes. He was the first to recover himself.

"Are you hurt?" he asked with concern, going forward to help her.

"I don't know," she answered, staggering to her feet. "No, I think
not," she added. "I'm a little shaken. I'll sit down."

The sitting would have been a tumble had he not caught her in his arms
and held her up. Beth felt deadly sick for an instant, then she found
herself reclining on the sand, with the young man bending over her,
looking anxiously into her face.

"You're faint," he said.

"Is that faint?" she answered. "What a ghastly sensation! But there is
something I want to remember." She shut her eyes, then opened them,
and looked up at him with a puzzled expression. "It's very odd, I
can't remember," she complained.

The young m