exclaimed. 66 My sailing boat is just here. Won't you come out with me and look at the sunset on the sea? It is an exquisite after noon." "I should like it much," she replied, "but I fear it is late, and I have to dine at Silchester.” Oh, you have plenty of time for a brief cruise," he said, looking at his watch; "I will be answerable for you. There is just wind enough to give us half an hour's brisk movement." There He helped her into the boat, and ran it down the steep sandy beach into the water. was a merry breeze. Off they went, downChannel at a rattling pace. By and by the sky grew grayer, and Louisa thought she should be late for dinner. Walter Nugent laughed. "Miss Saint Osyth," he said, not altogether amiably, "you will not dine at Silchester tonight; you will dine where I choose." "What do you mean?" she exclaimed. "Mean simply that you are in my power, and I shall make you dine with me. Don't be foolish; do as I wish, and you will be happy enough." Louisa reflected, saying nothing. Was the man mad, or an unscrupulous scoundrel? He had entrapped her, evidently. Simple-subtle, she decided on a behaviour which would suit either theory of his character. She would be courteous, yet coy. She would reserve strong measures till they became absolutely necessary. She had means of using strong measures which are not customary with young ladies. A fancy of hers was the saloon-pistol: by accident she had one of those pretty fatal toys in her pocket. She felt that she might have to use it. All these reflections passed through Louisa's mind far more rapidly than they could through the reader's. She simply said: "Well, I hope you will give me a good dinner, and a comfortable room to dress in beforehand." This reply seemed slightly to perplex Mr. Nugent, who said something incoherent about her having all she could possibly wish. Presently he ran his yacht into the harbour of an islet, where some people were waiting for him. They were not pleasant-looking people. There were both men and women, who seemed of the lowest type of the Cornish race. Louisa, as gallant a girl as ever lived, resolved to show no sign of fear. Being in Nugent's power, she wen: with him to the house on the island, a square granite edifice. A Cornish girl, Mary Clymo, almost as square as the house, showed her to a room. She made an imperfect toilet, Miss Clymo being present. She came down to a dinner of the rougher sort. All the dinner-time she treated Walter Nugent as if he were a gen:leman. Her superb coolness perfectly puzzled tim. After dinner had been finished, and coffee served, she said abruptly, "I should like to go to my room, Mr. Nugent. Will you ring for my maid??' Nugent rang the bell as obediently as if he had been Louisa's husband. Mary Clymo appeared-stout, shiny, florid. Miss Saint Osyth was shown to a different room from that wherein she had dressed for dinner. She looked at it with keen notice while Mary was helping her to undress, and came to the conclusion that there might be secret entries in connection with some of the curious old woodwork. "Mary," she said suddenly to the shaggy Cornish girl, "what do you think of your master?" "Not so very much, Miss. He's done a smart few wickednesses since he took this place, and I wants to go away, but feyther says I'm a fule.” "You shall go away as soon as you please, Mary," said Miss Saint Osyth, "if you will remain in my room to-night. Keep awake if you can, but if you cannot, it doesn't much matter. I suppose if your master came into the room to do anything wrong, you wouldn't be afraid of him?" "Afraid of he, Miss! best wrastler in Cornwall. Why, feyther's the If he come in here to-night, I'll whip him just like a little baby, and drop him out of window after. No; I'm none afraid of such a fule as he; and I love a spirited young lady like you." "You're a girl of the right sort, Mary. You shall come and live with me, if you like. I must get into bed, for I'm sleepy with the sea air; but I shall trust to you to look after me. This is a pistol; put it under my pillow." |