Since arriving at Sunset Beach Penny had been eager to visit the lighthouse located on Crag Point. Noticing that the tide was low, she suggested to her father that they go there together.
“Too long a walk,” he complained. “You run along by yourself. I’ll sun myself on the beach.”
Leaving her father, Penny started off alone. The sun was warm and there were a number of bathers splashing about in the surf. A long row of picturesque cottages lined the water front. They thinned out as she went farther up the beach, and presently there were no habitations, only desolate, wind-blown sand.
Midway to the lighthouse, Penny met a man of early middle age who carried fishing rod and creel. He stared at her, hesitated, then paused to speak.
“I notice you’re going toward Crag Point,” he remarked pleasantly. “Are you a stranger to this locality?”
Penny admitted that she was.
“Then perhaps you haven’t been told that the Point is a dangerous place to be at high tide.”
“No, I hadn’t heard.”
“The Point is very nearly covered at that time,” the stranger explained. “There’s no danger at the present moment, of course.”
“How long will I have here?”