A Maid of the Silver Sea

was up, Gard took up his work in t

with all the tact and discretion his knowledge of me

ined every nerve to give her boy an education. She died when Stephen was fourteen. He took to his father's calling

him in the way of business, and been struck by his intelligence and ap

ances, had applied to Botallack for assistance, and Stephen Gard came to Sark as th

ed, he very soon found that he ha

er by not understanding him-or declining to understand, which came to the sam

d, but deliberately chose not to-partly from a conservative objection to any change whatever, and partly from an ide

terest in the mines, assisted him all they could, in h

nd competent men were always in demand. They were paid so much a week, small output or large, and without a doubt the small output entailed less l

r, and greatly to the troubling of his mind, found himself looked upon

presence of silver. If his opinion had been asked it would have confirmed them. But all he had to do was to follow the

he was very well satisf

land with eager, open eyes, marvelling at its wonders

ave which rushed in foam and tumult up the rock-pools and gullies; the softer beauties of rounded down and flower-and fern-clad slopes honeycombed

und much to interest him and not

r prolonged and careful observation from the interior of the black sun-bonne

tween young Tom and Nance and Bernel, for it seemed quite incr

e and Bernel, to such an extent, indeed, that more than once Gard had difficulty in remembering that he

ovoke it by behaviour even more outrageous than usual. Time and again Gard would hav

iendly footing, his undisguised sentiments in th

he made no he

r the same roof with a girl such as this. He found himself listening for her voice outside and the sound of her feet, and learned

ightest attempt at abridgment of the distance, he still rejoiced in t

the mines and everything tainted by them, and himself as head and forefront of the offence-that she regarded him as an outsider and a for

ssive endurance of him-served but to stimulate within him the wish to

acket, as it whisked to and fro, inside and out, on its multifarious duties, and still more in the sweet, serious face, glimmering coyly

rd her singing over her work, and laughing merrily with Bernel; and her face, sweet as it

source of annoyance to them all, but especially to

he came upon her one day in the orchard, milking-for, strictly as the Sabbath may be observed, cows must still

s crooning soothingly to it as the white jets ping-panged into t

ent, decided he was unnecessary and whisked her tail impatiently. Nance's lullaby

a headland, he saw two slim figures racing down a bare slope on the opposite

hem. Which something he presently discovered must be a pool of size among the rocks, for after a brief retiral, Nance behind a boulder and Bernel into a black ho

He saw them climb out again and sit sunning themselves on the grey ledge like a pai

lessly in, and came ploughing through it towards his headland. And he shrank still lower among the bracken, for though he had watched the distant little figure in white with a slight sense of sacr

her real self were to him as jewels of price, a

rrily up the bare slope again; and he lay long in the bracken, scarce daring

e so, for he had proof of her f

and Tom, when he had satisfied the edge of his

rocks over against big pool s'afte

ecated Peter in

ever seen anything so pr

a liar! I never sai

e was liar too, my boy. Like

th go and jump into the sea every day you'd be a great deal nicer than

t guffaw from Tom, while Gard devo

ever knew when to stop, "but you looked a sight nicer whe

bad, Peter Mauger!" and she looked as if she would have flow

the cudgels this time. Inwardly he felt himself involv

ed bounds, in a way which made that young man at once uncomfortable a

since nothing else was possible to her, though

ves and rolling boulders close above him, and at times threateningly audible through the stratum of rocks between; and when he did appear at meals he was too weary to trouble about anyt

as yet, but he was Nance's boy a

while she would see to it that he grew up as different fr