And the low swish of the tide against the stone pier made a
pleasant, sleepy sound.
Sometimes, as I sat there dreamily, my eyes would wander across the
smooth blue water to the distant hills, following the steady,
swooping flight of an eagle. Nearer at hand, the flight of a flock
of sea larks along the links of the shore would attract my
attention, while once I heard the splash of a solan goose diving in
the bay, and saw the spray rise in a glittering column high above
the water.
Suddenly my dreamy meditations were interrupted. Hurried footsteps
sounded in the silent street, and looking up the passage of the
Anchor Close I saw a company of men quickly passing. Among them
were Carver Kinlay and his son Tom.
I told my father who they were, at which he expressed much wonder,
and tried to assign a cause for their hurrying. But soon our
questioning was fully answered by the unexpected appearance of my
sister Jessie.
"Father!" said she, very much out of breath, for she had walked
very quickly from Lyndardy, where she had been staying during the
whole of that past week.
"Well, lass?" said my father, looking round at the girl's agitated
face. "What have you seen that you look so scared?"
"I've seen from the cliffs," gasped Jessie. "I've seen the Lydia
makin' for Stromness.
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