"Oh, yes!" said George Barker. "You may go through for the next two hours. The tide has not turned yet."
"I'll volunteer first," said the Doctor, "and if there's anything worth seeing beyond, I'll come for you."
It was, as I said, a thin wall of granite, which ran out from the rest of the hill, seaward, and was pierced by a tall arch; the blocks which had formerly filled the void now lay weed-grown, half buried in sand, forming a slippery threshold. Over these the Doctor climbed and looked beyond.
A little sandy cove, reef-bound, like those they had seen before, lay under the dark cliffs; and on a water-washed rock, not a hundred yards from him, stood the man they had seen on the downs above, looking steadily seaward.
The Doctor slipped over the rocks like an otter, and approached the man across the smooth sand, unheard in the thunder of the surf. When he was close upon him, the stranger turned, and the Doctor uttered a low cry of wonder and alarm.
It was George Hawker! The Doctor knew him in a moment: but whether the recognition was mutual, he never found out, for Hawker, stepping rapidly from stone to stone, disappeared round the headland, and the thunderstruck Doctor retraced his steps to the arch.
There were all the young people gathered, wondering and delighted. But Alice came to meet him, and said,—
"Who was that with you just now?"
"A mermaid!" replied he.
"That, indeed!" said Alice. "And what did she say?"