The Beach of Dreams

t that she had not seen it before. It was as th

ve been attracted by it. To verify this she walked a few yards away and even as she did so the cross vanished, s

e beach had tried t

f small rocks; it was tarred to preserve it from the weather. From the left limb close to the post a metal box was hanging by a wire, and

nd read: "Kestrel Expedition

as three y

dently nothing to do with the wreck, for the embossed metal plate must have be

it brought down the slat of wood that formed the arms of

cco box, she pressed the spring, opened it, and found a piece of paper folded in

d the

nuthi

som ext

e ship

finds it in th

Sl

riner. Th

an after

p your

pleasure away from the find, she sat down on the rocks forming the mound and holding the paper in her fingers gave way for a moment to a depression that came against her like a black, surging sea. Then she remembered that the

she had been led along the beach to find the wood and to find this. The remembrance of how s

, the feeling that there is no structure in this world where houses are not and laws are not and streets are not, no power

st not think here but work. There was no use in thinking of the past or the future, of ships coming o

n the box and the box in her pock

umping them a few yards away. Her rings hindered her and taking them off she put them in the tobacco box and the box in her pocket. Under the rocks lay a covering of sand,

would easily be uncovered. The question whether they would be of any use after all th

gust. Winter lay ahead. If no ship came to take them off what would their life be like during the winter months? Imagine this place at Christmas, covered perhaps with snow! The gloom of this idea pursued her for a mile or more till all of a sudden she stopped and laughed aloud at her own stupidity. It was not autumn, it was spring. T

sy swell and the treacherous wind had died away to a faint breeze. Out there where the waves were coming in and at the limit of the sands rocks were uncovered, shaggy, black rocks that seemed covered with fur. She came down to them and found that the fur was

s. They would make a fire with the slat she had brought back, it was tarred and would burn finely, with that and some of the bottom boards of the boat, unless Bompard could be persuaded to go and cut some wood from the wreckage thre

she y

she was filled with a craving for something, yet she could not tell what this something

ost unimaginable to those who have not experienced it. He craves not only for a roof but for walls around him to protect him from the great open spaces that seem sucking away his individual

and left it loose for the winds to comb and blow about, but the thought of the men prevented her. She did not like the idea of their seeing her going about with her hair down; after her experiences in the boat it seemed absurd to quibble over a thing like this and she tried to argue with h

here was no such thing as social position, and, though fools are

essing her, they treated her since landing with a certain respect w

e. In their eyes she was not a woman, but a lady, a fact that chilled familiari

ined that at no time and in no manner

acco box and put them on. She would have much preferred not to have worn the

at had lopped right to the cave mouth; it sat up for a moment on its hind legs, looked in, and then lopped off without

ouse who kept the fear of ghosts away by thinking of plum puddings, she started to work, re-folding the sail that had served her for a pillow the night before; th

otton waste gave her an idea and going down to the boat she emptied the mussels from the baling tin on to the sand, filled the tin with sea water and bath

he beach from the break in the cliffs. B

der his arm, it was a Kerguelen c