I hesitated for a minute as to whether I should cart any of my stores ashore at once; then I decided that it would be better to land first and make certain that my hut was still in existence. Quite possibly it had been spirited away in the interval by some enterprising fisherman, and in that case I intended to make the tiny cabin of the _Scandal_ my headquarters. I am not lazy, but there is a limit to one's enthusiasm for single-handed house-building. A very few strokes brought us to the shore, which at this point consisted of a marshy stretch of saltings about twenty yards broad. I tugged the boat up out of the water, and, preceded by Rufus, who kept on looking round to see that there was not some dark plot to maroon him, I picked my way from tuft to tuft towards the edge of the wild, heather-covered down of which Kerrin Island is chiefly composed. The whole place is only about half a mile wide, but one cannot see the hut until one is almost up to it, as it stands on the further side of the island under the shelter of some rising ground. I had built it there purposely, so that it should be invisible from the mainland. Rufus reached it before I did. Rounding the base of the little hill, and coming suddenly into full view of it, I found him lying on the grass, contemplating his discovery with every symptom of surprised approval. "Yes, my son," I said, "you may well look awe-struck. That superb edifice--" Then I stopped. "Well, I'm hanged!" I added incredulously. There, just to the right of the hut door, I had suddenly caught sight of a wood fire, crackling and blazing away in the most cheerful and unabashed fashion. I stared at it for a moment in amazement. Yes, it was a wood fire all right. There could be no doubt about that. And furthermore, sitting complacently amongst the flames, I perceived a large black kettle, from the spout of which little jets of steam were shooting up into the air. "Rufus," I observed, "there is some cursed intruder here!" Rufus looked thoughtfully at the kettle, and put his tongue out. "Yes," I said sternly, "I've seen that, but if you imagine I am going to sell my birthright for a mess of pottage you're mistaken. Tea or no tea, out he comes!" I strode across the intervening grass to the door of the hut, and rapped loudly with my knuckles. The result was unexpected. I heard a slight exclamation, accompanied almost simultaneously by the crash of falling china. Then, very clearly and earnestly, a rather sweet voice remarked "Damn!" I turned to fly, but it was too late. There was a sound of quick footsteps, the door opened abruptly, and I found myself confronted by the prettiest girl I have ever seen in my life.