‘Yes, sir,’ said the old pilot, ‘she must have dropped into the bay a little afore dawn. A queer craft she looks.’
‘She shows no colours,’ returned the young gentleman musingly.
‘They’re a-lowering of a quarter-boat, Mr. Mark,’ resumed the old salt. ‘We shall soon know more of her.’
‘Ay,’ replied the young gentleman called Mark, ‘and here, Mr. Seadrift, comes your sweet daughter Nancy tripping down the cliff.’
‘God bless her kind heart, sir,’ ejaculated old Seadrift.
CHAPTER I
The notary, Jean Rossignol, had been summoned to the top of a great house in the Isle St. Louis to make a will; and now, his duties finished, wrapped in a warm roquelaure and with a lantern swinging from one hand, he issued from the mansion on his homeward way. Little did he think what strange adventures were to befall him!—
That is how stories should begin. And I am offered HUSKS instead.
| What should be: | What is: |
| The Filibuster’s Cache. | Aunt Anne’s Tea Cosy. |
| Jerry Abershaw. | Mrs. Brierly’s Niece. |
| Blood Money: A Tale. | Society: A Novel |
R. L. S.