He is sure to revisit just such a solitary spot by the sea when trouble overtakes him." Later in the evening, as we were walking home towards Nathaniel's together, I asked Hilda why she had spoken throughout with such unwavering confidence.

"Oh, it was simple enough," she answered.

"There were two things that helped me through, which I didn't like to mention in detail before Lina.

One was this: the Le Geyts have all of them an instinctive horror of the sight of blood; therefore, they almost never commit suicide by shooting themselves or cutting their throats.

Marcus, who shot himself in the gun-room, was an exception to both rules; he never minded blood; he could cut up a deer.