and, picking it up, she read in her aunt's cramped, But distinct
hand: "Hepsey gets a dollar and a half every week. Don't you pay
her no more."

As the house was set some distance back, the east window in the
attic was the only one which commanded a view of the sea. A small
table, with its legs sawed off, came exactly to the sill, and
here stood a lamp, which was a lamp simply, without adornment,
and held about a pint of oil.

She read the letter again and, having mastered its contents, tore
it into small pieces, with that urban caution which does not come
amiss in the rural districts. She understood that every night of
her stay she was to light this lamp with her own hands, but why?
The varnish on the table, which had once been glaring, was
scratched with innumerable rings, where the rough glass had left
its mark. Ruth wondered if she were face to face with a mystery.

The seaward side of the hill was a rocky cliff, and between the
vegetable garden at the back of the house and the edge of the
precipice were a few stumps, well-nigh covered with moss. From
her vantage point, she could see the woods which began at the
base of the hill, on the north side, and seemed to end at the
sea. On the south, there were a few trees near the cliff, but
others near them had been cut down.

Still farther south and below the hill was a grassy plain,
through which a glistening river wound slowly to the ocean.
Willows grew along its margin, tipped with silvery green, and
with masses of purple twilight tangled in the bare branches