"Yes, I’m just waiting here for my friend," was the quiet answer. "He won’t be long now, and the other friend down below there, I know he’ll wait till I’m in the mansions of gold before he takes down the walls of my little house here. I’m waiting quite patient, and I’m not afraid. We’re waiting, all of us, my friends and me, for we’re all in the Hand of Him that’s mightier than the mightiest, Him that’s the best Friend of all. I be safe to trust in Him, for He knows the end from the beginning, and the times and the seasons are His alone." The old man took off his fisherman’s cap as he spoke, and closed his eyes as if in prayer. Mrs. Power did not like to disturb him, but silently left the hut. The sunny landscape look blurred to her as she walked home along the edge of the cliff. "I’ve had a lesson," she said to herself. "The Lord knoweth them that are His. Surely we may well commit ourselves to the care of our Best Friend." *CHAPTER V* *A Thief in the Night* It was a warm August evening, and the windows of Sea View Cottage were opened wide to let in the faint breeze which had risen with the turning of the tide. The lamp was lit in the little sitting-room, and in its soft glow sat Mrs. Power, her head bending low over her work. Suddenly she looked up. "What was that curious noise?" she exclaimed. "It sounded as if someone was in the garden. I really wish old Mrs. Sheppard would keep a dog. It is not safe to be so far off the high road, and she so deaf." She rose and went to the window, peering vainly out into the darkness, where nothing was to be seen save the dim outlines of the trees lazily waving their branches against the starlit sky. "I wonder if it was Robin walking in his sleep again," she said. "I’ll take the light and see if he’s all right." She turned to go, but before lifting the lamp she glanced at the watch which lay beside it on the table. "Half-past ten!" she remarked, as she took the key and wound it up. "Late hours for this Sleepy Hollow, but I think I’ll go on a little longer with my embroidery before I go to bed." Replacing the watch, she disappeared with the light into the passage. As the door closed, a man’s face glanced stealthily in at the window, and the next moment a rough figure in a long overcoat had crept unobserved into the room. "Ladies shouldn’t leave their jewellery so tempting-like in a poor man’s way," he muttered. "What else can they expect but to find their trinkets gone when they come back? Serves ’em right for dangling them in front of a fellow’s nose!" He made his way cautiously to the table and groped about with his hands until he found what he wanted. "Gold!" he ejaculated, "I’m pretty sure of it by the feel, and a gent’s too, by the size of it; not to speak of a good thick chain that’ll bring in a nice little sum by itself." He slipped his spoils into the pocket of his coat, and stood pondering for a moment.