But why? The spot was strange; in her ears sounded a buzzing, like the murmur of a waterfall. She remembered now; she had lingered before one--in the woods; and Saladin had run away, madly, across the sands, until--my lady raised her hand to her brow; abruptly let it fall. In the shadow on the other side of the hearth some one moved; some one who had been watching her and who now stepped out into the light. "Are you better?" said a voice. She stared. On the bold, swarthy features of a young man now standing and looking down at her, the light flared and gleamed; the open shirt revealed a muscular throat; the down-turned black eyes were steady, solicitous. His appearance was unexpected, yet not quite strange; she had seen him before, but, in the general surprise and perplexity of the moment, did not ask herself where. The interval between what she last remembered on the beach--the rush and swirl of water--and what she woke to, absorbed the hazy workings of her mind. The young man stopped; stirred the fire, and after a pause, apparently to give her time to collect her thoughts, repeated his question: "Are you better, now?" "Oh, yes," she said, with an effort, half sitting up. And then irrelevantly, with rather a wild glance about her: "Isn't--isn't it storming outside?" "A little--not much--" A smile crossed the dark features. "I remember," she added, as if forcing herself to speak, "it had just begun to, on the beach, when it--the 'grand' tide--" The words died away; mechanically she lifted her hand, brushed back the shining waves of hair. "Why think of it now?" he interposed gently. "But," uncertainly she smoothed her skirt; it was damp and warm; "I suppose this is the island of Casque?" "Yes." "And this place?" "The old watch-tower." "But how--" Then she noticed that his hands, long, brown and well-formed, were cut and bruised; bore many jagged marks as from a fierce struggle. "How did you hurt your hands?" He thrust them into his pockets. "Was it from the rocks--and the waves? How did I get here?" "Oh, I was standing on the cliff," he answered carelessly, "and--saw your horse running away!" "You did? And then--came down?" "What else was there to do?" he said simply. Her gaze returned to the fire. "But the tide was rushing in--rushing! it was right upon me!" [Illustration: "But the tide--it was right upon me!"] She looked again toward the pockets into which his hands were thrust; observed his shirt, torn at the shoulder; then arose unsteadily. "I know--it was not so easy!" she said. "It was brave of you--" "Your Ladyship is no coward!" he interrupted, a sparkle in his eyes. "When you turned the horse toward the tide, I was watching; hoping you would dare, and you did!"