Muriel Halsie

you do not take Miss Halsie into your confidence . " "Pshaw ! AVho is it ? " returned his son , with an impatient gesture . " His Avife is Miss Halsie ' s sister . " " No ! " " It is a factmy boy . Here is the paper ;

, you can see for yourself . " " Then I suppose Ave shall shortly hear of Miss Halsie ' s leaving ?" " Not just yet ; the news has to travel to India first , and then the Ferrolls will have to travel home . Oh , I will give you

till Christmas or the new year ; but there is no need of undue haste now . Cecilia ' s objections will all be removed when she sees this , " and the old gentleman tapped the paper Avith his spectacles , and laughed delightedly . " We are the only people up in the house . Had Ave not better be off to bed 1 ' »

" Sensible advice , lad ! You are much too crusty just now to be an agreeable companion ; if you are not more amiable in the morning , I ' m afraid the senora will get but poor amusement at breakfast . " For ansAverMr . Eric took his candle

, and stalked out of the room ; Avhile Mr . Forbes chuckled to himself as he followed his son ' s footsteps . *******

To the griei'ous sorrow of the children , " Uncle Eric " did not appear at the breakfast-table—he had gone for a sail . AVas it it due to his absence that Muriel ' s faceAvas so bright , her laugh so gay aud ringing ? Mr . Forbes Avondered . He had never seen

her look " so blithe , so bonny . " " You look as if you had heard good news , Miss Halsie , " remarked the old gentleman as they sat " discussing " breakfast .

" Not exactly , " she said , " but it will come by-and-bye . I saw the announcement of Mr . Welhvood ' s death in the paper , just now ; that will Wing Captain E en oil home , and my sister Christie . " The brown eyes Avere full of tears , the

soft , flexible mouth Avas Avreathed in smiles ; it Avas a SAveet April face—shadow on the mountain , sun in the valley . " So you are rejoicing in the thought of bidding us all good-bye , " obseiwed Mr . Forbes , reproachfully . " No , " she said , shaking her head— " only in the thought of seeing my sister . "

After breakfast the party adjourned to the sands , where the children usually spent the morning in play ; but Muriel was restless—she could not sit quietly and work or read as Avas her Avont—she wanted to be alone with her newly found joy—she

wanted to think out the future , Avondering if three years of Indian life had altered Christie . She sauntered up to where the nurse was sitting Avith the younger children . " Nurse , " she said , " I am going to explore

the ' Mermaid ' s Archway ; ' if I am not back by one o ' clock , take the children home to dinner , and I Avill follow you . " '' "Very Avell , miss , " ansAvered nurse ; then as Muriel turned aAvay she added , "the tide is nearly an hour earlier

today . " " I will not forget , " said Muriel , nodding good-bye to the children . Mermaid ' s bay Avas a small and very dangerous strip of sand , separated from EnclBay ba hugeprojecting rock , that

y y , jutted out some distance into the sea ; it Avas accessible only at low Avater , and seldom frequented hy any but adventurous tourists or poor mussel-gatherers . Sailors

studiously avoided it , as being the point of especial danger along that dangerous coast ; for many a stately ship ' s crew had found a grave on the pitiless rocks of Endy Bay . It Avas a Avild , lonely spot , shut in by impassable rockstone , of every variety of shape and sizein one place clustering

, together in fantastic confusion , in another scattered singly , or in small groups . " What do they look like ? " exclaimed Muriel , as she made her Avay carefully over them . " I am tempted to believe the old fish-wife ' s story that they really are

petrified sea-monsters . Ah , there are the Arches ! Nature has indeed . hidden her wonders in strange places . " On a strip of blue bright-coloured sand stood seven clearly-defined Avell-shaped ai-chesat nearly equal distances apart .

, Looking through them , the spectator could imagine himself standing amid the ruins of some grand ancient cathedral , 01 the days Avhen there were " giants in the land . " The arches were quite aAvay from the sea undercliff—standing sideAvaysnot

, facing it , the farther arch bent a little inAvard , half leaning against the side of the rock . " How Avonderful ! " murmured Muriel .