"He certainly must be a lunatic," said Katherine to herself, "or else he's drunk. What am I to do?"
"Come in, I tell you," insisted the stranger. "What in the world do you mean by wading out to such a place? Why, it's madness."
Katherine's indignation got the better of her fear.
"I do not think I am trespassing," she called back as icily as possible.
The stranger did not seem to be snubbed at all. He came down to the very edge of the rocks where Katherine could see him plainly. He was dressed in a somewhat well-worn grey suit and wore spectacles. He did not look like a lunatic, and he did not seem to be drunk.
"I implore you to come in," he said earnestly. "You must be standing on the very brink of the bottomless pit."
He is certainly off his balance, thought Katherine. He must be some revivalist who has gone insane on one point. I suppose I'd better go in. He looks quite capable of wading out here after me if I don't.
She picked her steps carefully back with her precious specimens. The stranger eyed her severely as she stepped on the rocks.
"I should think you would have more sense than to risk your life in that fashion for a handful of seaweeds," he said.
"I haven't the faintest idea what you mean," said Miss Rangely. "You don't look crazy, but you talk as if you were."