left the tailor's, I persuaded the girl to extend our walk for
some distance along the sea-beach, telling her, as we went, every
little anecdote connected with my lost sister that came tenderly
back to my memory in those first days of sorrow. She was so
interested in hearing and I in speaking that we let the sun go
down before we thought of turning back.

The evening was cloudy, and it got on from dusk to dark by the
time we approached the town again. The housemaid was rather
nervous at finding herself alone with me on the beach, and once
or twice looked behind her distrustfully as we went on. Suddenly
she squeezed my hand hard, and said:

"Let's get up on the cliff as fast as we can."

The words were hardly out of her mouth before I heard footsteps
behind me--a man came round quickly to my side, snatched me away
from the girl, and, catching me up in his arms without a word,
covered my face with kisses. I knew he was crying, because my
cheeks were instantly wet with his tears; but it was too dark for
me to see who he was, or even how he was dressed. He did not, I
should think, hold me half a minute in his arms. The housemaid
screamed for help. I was put down gently on the sand, and the
strange man instantly disappeared in the darkness.

When this extraordinary adventure was related to my aunt, she
seemed at first merely bewildered at hearing of it; but in a
moment more there came a change over her face, as if she had
suddenly recollected or thought of something. She turned deadly
pale, and said, in a hurried way, very unusual with her: