Far and faint
from the beach below, a long cry moaned through the silence. Then all
was still once more.
In sudden alarm, he stepped forward to descend to the beach, and to
call to her. Before he could cross the path, footsteps rapidly advancing
caught his ear. He waited an instant, and the figure of a man passed
quickly along the walk between him and the sea. It was too dark to
discern anything of the stranger's face; it was only possible to see
that he was a tall man--as tall as that officer in the merchant-service
whose name was Kirke.
The figure passed on northward, and was instantly lost to view. Captain
Wragge crossed the path, and, advancing a few steps down the beach,
stopped and listened again. The crash of footsteps on the shingle caught
his ear once more. Slowly, as the sound had left him, that sound now
came back. He called, to guide her to him. She came on till he could
just see her--a shadow ascending the shingly slope, and growing out of
the blackness of the night.
"You alarmed me," he whispered, nervously. "I was afraid something had
happened. I heard you cry out as if you were in pain."
"Did you?" she said, carelessly. "I _was_ in pain.
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