At first he paid but little attention to the couple, and would not have noticed them at all had not the Digue been very empty of visitors just then.

But, strange to say, his gaze kept wandering from the oily surface of the sea, and the steamers and fishing-smacks plowing their way through it, to the slender figure of the lady, who looked small beside her tall companion; and there gradually dawned upon him a dim idea that that slight figure reminded him of somebody--that he had seen those delicate contours, those graceful proportions, that light and gliding gait before.

Without hastening his steps he soon overtook them, and recognized at the first glance that it was Loulou.
She too turned her head involuntarily to look at the passing trio.

As she caught sight of Wilhelm a sudden pallor overspread her face, and with an unconscious movement of terror she dropped her companion's arm.
Both stood stockstill, as if suddenly deprived of the power of motion, and gazed at one another wide-eyed.

The silent encounter only lasted a few seconds, but the play on both sides was so marked that it could not fail to excite the attention of the lookers-on.