Instantly my morbid ear detected it, and I listened intently.

Something was splashing along in the water.
"Sea-fowl," I hastily assured myself.

No, that was not likely, either; for it was quite dark, and the sea rather rough.
"The Huskies trying to surprise us ?" It might be.

Something was certainly splashing the water very near.

Why didn't Guard notice it?
Talk about a dog's keen ears!--there lay the Newfoundland snoring loudest of anybody! Just then a scraping sound, accompanied by a dull rattling of the shingle among the rocks, startled me afresh.