By this time she was in full sight of the sea. Dead calm, and covered with rain-coloured shadows, it touched the edges of the flat sands about a mile away, and left one long creamy line of changeless foam. The sands themselves stretched away to the westward far as eye could see. But to the left and eastward, that is to say, in the direction towards which she was going, there was a long rocky promontory with signs of human habitation. Breaking into a swing-like trot, Matt hastened thither, following a footpath across marshy fields. In due time she came out upon a narrow and rudely made road which wound along the rocky promontory, at low water skirting the sand, at high water, the sea. The first house she reached was a wooden lifeboat house, lying down in a creek; and it being then low tide, at some distance from the water’s edge. On the roadside above the house was a flagstaff, and beneath the flagstaff a wooden seat. All was very still and desolate, without a sign of life; but a little further along-the road was a row of cottages which seemed inhabited, and were, in fact, the abodes of the coastguard. Instead of lingering here Matt proceeded on her way until she reached, what, at first sight, looked like the beginning of a village, or small town. There were houses on each side of the road, some of them several stories high; but close inspection showed that most of them were roofless, that few of them possessed any windows or doors, and that nearly all were decayed and dilapidated from long disuse, while not a few had a blasted and sinister appearance, as if blackened by fire. And still there was no sign of any human soul. Suddenly, however, the street came to an end, and Matt found herself on a sort of rocky platform overlooking the sea; and on this platform, shading his eyes from the blazing sun, and looking out seaward, was a solitary man. So intent was he on his occupation that he was unconscious of Matt’s approach till she was standing by his side. He turned his eyes upon her for a moment, and then once more gazed out to sea. A short, plump, thickset man, with a round, weather-beaten face, which would have been good-humoured but for its expression of extreme watchfulness and greed. The eyes were blue, but very small and keen; the forehead low and narrow; the hair coarse and sandy; the beard coarser and sandier still. He might have been about fifty years of age. His dress was curious: consisting of a yellow sou’-wester, a pair of seaman’s coarse canvas trousers, and a blue pilot jacket, ornamented with brass buttons which bore the insignia of Her Majesty’s naval service. Presently, without turning his eyes again from the far distance, the man spoke in a husky, far-away whisper:-- “Matt, do you see summat out yonder?” Matt strained her gaze through the dazzling sunlight, but failed to discern any object on the light expanse of water.