"Americans," replied Dick Sand.
"From the South?"
"From the North."
This reply seemed to please the unknown, who shook the novice's hand more vigorously and this time in very a American manner.
"And may I know, my young friend," he asked, "how you find yourself on this coast?"
But, at that moment, without waiting till the novice had replied to his question, the unknown took off his hat and bowed.
Mrs. Weldon had advanced as far as the steep bank, and she then found herself facing him.
It was she who replied to this question.
"Sir," said she, "we are shipwrecked ones whose ship was broken to pieces yesterday on these reefs."
An expression of pity spread over the unknown's face, whose eyes sought the vessel which had been stranded.