the Point and over the pool like a tidal wave. You'll hear the
bell-buoy tolling when there's a swell like that. We call it the Death
Current hereabouts, because there's nothing could live in it, and the
bell always tolls. And once it comes up like that the way to the
cliff-path is under water in less than thirty seconds. And the quicksand
is the only chance left." He paused; it was as if the rock halted for a
moment on the edge of the precipice before plunging finally into the
abyss of silence below. "When there's a ground swell," he said, "the
quicksand will pull a man down quicker than hell. And there's no
one--not Adam himself--can tell the lay of it for certain when the light
is bad."

His mouth closed upon the words like the snap of a strong spring. Knight
waited for more, but none came. Whatever the thought behind the warning
that he had just uttered it was evident that Rufus had no intention of
giving it expression. He had uttered the girl's name with no more
emotion than that of his father, but it seemed to Knight that by that
very fact he had managed to convey a warning more potent than any that
had followed. Otherwise he would scarcely have taken the trouble to
mention her. The possibility of subtlety in this great, slow-speaking
giant piqued him to a keener interest. He resolved to probe a little
deeper.

"Miss Columbine is a very reliable guide," he remarked. "If you and Adam
have been her instructors in shore-craft, she does you credit."

His remark went into utter silence. Rufus, with huge hands loosely
clasped between his knees, appeared to be engrossed in watching the
progress of the boat as she drifted gently on the rising tide. His face
was utterly blank of expression, unless a certain grim fixity could be