Then suddenly the Prince turned and looked at him.

The fisherman doffed his cap.

“Good morning, Mynheer.”

“Good morning,” answered the Prince, and swerved the horse towards the fishing-boats and the church.

“We have no wind to-day,” said the fisherman, picking up his net.

“No.” William was observing him.

He was a stout, red-faced man, clad in huge dark blue breeches, a striped turquoise coloured shirt, woollen hose, heavy wooden sabots, and a round red cap.

His throat was covered by an emerald green scarf; he held a thick pipe between his lips, and on a finger of his left hand shone a large gold ring.

He surveyed the Prince with a calm curiosity.

“We do not see many strangers at Scheveningen,” he remarked, “as early as this.”