"Stopped the Lady Elise!" The Governor repeated the words slowly; an ominous pause was followed by an abrupt movement on the part of the child. "He did not stop me; it was I who nearly ran over him, and it was my fault. Beppo does not tell the truth--he's a wicked man!--and I'm glad I'm not going to see him any more! And the boy wasn't impudent; at least until Beppo offered to strike him, and then, Beppo didn't! Beppo," derisively, "was afraid!" "My lady," Beppo's voice was soft and unctuous, "construes forbearance for fear." "Step nearer, boy!" Partly blinded by the lamps, the lad obeyed; was cognizant of a piercing scrutiny; two hard, steely eyes that seemed to read his inmost thoughts; a face, indistinguishable but compelling; beyond, something white--a girl's dress--that moved and fluttered! "Who is he?" "A poor boy who lives in the woods, papa!" But Beppo bent forward and whispered, his words too low for the lad to catch. Whatever his information, the Governor started; the questioning glance on an instant brightened, and his head was thrust forward close to the boy's. A chill seemed to pass over the lad, yet he did not quail. "Good-by, boy!" said the child, and, leaning from the window, smiled down at him. He tried to answer, when a hand pulled her in somewhat over-suddenly. "Drive on!" Again the shrill tones cut the air. "Drive on, I tell you! _Diable_! What are you standing here for!" A whip lashed the air and the horses leaped forward. The back wheels of the vehicle almost struck the lad, but, motionless, he continued staring after it. Farther it drew away, and, as he remained thus he discerned, or fancied he discerned, a girl's face at the back--a ribbon that waved for a moment in the moonlight, and then was gone. Eight years elapsed before next he saw her. CHAPTER IV A DANCE ON THE BEACH The great vernal equinox of April 178-, was the cause of certain unusual movements of the tide, which made old mariners and coast-fishermen shake their heads and gaze seaward, out of all reckoning. At times, after a tempest, on this strange coast, the waters would rise in a manner and at an hour out of the ordinary, and then among the dwellers on the shore, there were those who prognosticated dire unhappiness, telling how the sea had once devoured two villages overnight, and how, beneath the sands, were homes intact, with the people yet in their beds.