he rising moon. She could not sleep. Knowing that s

ed to her from the attic window behind which Dr. Hansombody so often s

ipio in his cupboard-bedroom under the stairs. She raised the window-

aught a murmur of voices-of voices and happy subdued laughter. The

morrow, too, if the Vicar and the Major were right in their calculations, would usher in

oft plash of oars, the creak of thole-pins, the girls' voices in hushed chorus practising the simple native harmonies they

ite, and let

is a-come

re going we will

y merry mor

ster-, and j

is a-come

e bride lays her

y merry mor

rd fell distinct on her ear as the boa

ess-, all in yo

is a-come

ody under as w

y merry mor

e song came back to her now, but memory supplied the wo

ess Marty, all

is a-come

be spread with th

y merry mor

maidens that her

is a-come

he meadows the f

y merry mor

that kept Miss Marty lingering awhile wit

Miss M

odesty took alarm. What possessed her to be standing here exposed, and exposing the interior of her lighted bed-chamber to view

Miss M

ment's hesitation she craned ou

s Ma

you doing there at

try-

at do I want

ver can

e by the Maj

ered Cai Tam

et me beg you to speak more

r the stairs, this here town's as empty as my hat. Well, a man can but die

town

tipathy for the post-mistress. He alleged no reason for it, save that she wore moustaches, which was no r

where

nd you, I don't propose no gallivantin'; but there's safety in number

at fool

he first mentioned it. 'What foolishness,' I said, 'at her time o

th a glance down the dark street. "H

Mr. Tamblyn somewhat ostentatiou

going to frig

, m

iver would be very pleasant. If,

, mi

bring

nch come, they might think o

bore a lantern-tiptoed down the street to the Broad Slip

e to the street that the vessels it berthed were forced to take in their bowsprits to allow the pack-horse traffic to pass. On its sou

took her seat. Cai directed Scipio to sit amidships, pushed

towards the dark longshore houses, "you don't often see nor hear about outs

rqueterie, and containing the Major's priceless eggshell china. To be sure, if the French landed, she-weak

have succeeded in their enterprise. It seemed to me

bts about 'em, for they're a hair-triggered lot, the Troy Gallants. No

who for some reason seldom or never spoke in Cai's company)- "your maste

d up on the wind o' vanity. I've a-read my Bible plumb down to the forbidden books thereof, and there's a story in it called Bel and th

dreadful

said Cai, stoutly. "I thinks

a mile farther, where the dark river bent around Wiseman's Stone, he so far relaxed as to rest on his oar

ht, too! I

and glanced upward. "'Tis much as ever. The sky's palin' already, and we'll not reach Lerryn by sunrise. I think,

re, up by a hazel-choked path to a meadow above, and there, solemnly thrusting her hands into the lush grass, turned to the east

foreshore again in the ghostly light. "You can't have stayed to dabble

ces of the singers came borne down the river; and aga

our town, they m

is a-comin'

lt a ship and have

y merry mor

hers were awake, and the woodlands nigh, and the tide began to gather force as it neared the narrower winding channel. To enter this they skirted a mud-flat, where the day, breaking over the tree-tops and through the

escended upon the incongruous top-hat and gold-laced livery of Scipio, touched with the morning sunshine. She glanced around her and motioned to Ca

as she stepped out on the turf

, before the absurdity of it struck her.

woods the nobl

livery, tearing wildly through the undergrowth in

ast asleep. The boy's arm was flung around his sister's shoulders, and across his thighs rested a wand or thin pole topped with a May-garland of wild hyacinths, red-robin and painte

ing how near they lay to the river's brink. But noting that a fallen log safeguarded them from this peril, she fumbled for t

saw before her the village with its cottages, grey and whitewashed, its gardens and orchards, mirrored in the brimming tide, all trembling in the morning light and yet exquisitely still. Far up the river, beyond the village and

. Runnells' yard they were not entirely what they seemed: that from their trial spin across the bay they returned some inches deeper in the water, and yet they did not leak. Had you perchance been standing by the shore in the half-light as they came up over the shallows, you might have wondered at

ht hold of a lizard and been l

ter, had your unwary feet led you to a certain corner of Sir Felix's well-timbered demesne, you might have scratched your head and wondered what magic carpet had transported you in

e, and disembarking upon the meadow there, gathered around the tables under the apple-trees to eat bread and cream in honour of May-day, looking all the while as if butter would not melt in their mouths. Between their feasting

, had made his way up through the woods in search of the Devil's Hedge, alon

position which commanded the farthest prospect in the direction of Looe. From where he sat the broad hedge dipped to a narrow valley, climbed the steep slope opposite, and vanished,

spoke seldom, was taciturn, while Scipio, who spoke never, was almost affable. In truth, the negro's was the habitual sil

ected, though but posthumously. And the emblazoned board in the church, appealing as it did to his negro sense of colour, had suggested a way. It is not too much to say that a great part of Scipio's time

his eyes, shutting out the dazzle of the morning sun. Once or twice he shook himself, being heavy with broken sleep,

the compliment. Suffice it to say that Major Hymen and Captain Pond, within five minutes of bidding one another a public tearful farewell, found themselves cli

men of Troy choose to laugh) that the sudden apparition of a black man seated in the mornin

awa', the D

awa' wi' th'

come his beloved master, the Diehards turned with a yell and fled. Vainly their comrades of Troy called after them. Back and down the hill they streamed pell-mell, one on

laughter which, reverberating, shout on shout, along the ridge and down among the tree-tops, reached even to th

They laugh best