seen? The man was blissfully unconscious of her presence, and as he
worked he whistled Schubert's "Wohin," and whistled it very badly. Then
he fell to apostrophizing his tackle, and then he grew irritable.
"Somebody come and keep this thing taut," he cried. "Tam, Jock! where
on earth are you?"

The thing in question was lying at Alice's feet in wavy coils.

"Jock, you fool, where are you?" cried the man, but he never looked
round and went on biting and tying. Then an impulse took the girl and
she picked up the line. "That's right," cried the man, "pull it as
tight as you can," and Alice tugged heroically at the waterproof silk.
She felt horribly nervous, and was conscious that she must look a very
flushed and untidy young barbarian. Many times she wanted to drop it
and run away, but the thought of the menaces against the absent Jock and
of her swift discovery deterred her. When he was done with her help he
might go on working and never look round. Then she would escape
unnoticed down the burn.

But no such luck befell her. With a satisfied tug he pronounced the
thing finished and wheeled round to regard his associates. "Now, you
young wretches--" and the words froze on his lips, for in the place of
two tatterdemalion boys he saw a young girl holding his line limply and
smiling with much nervousness.

"Oh," he cried, and then became dumb and confused. He was shy and
unhappy with women, save the few whom he had known from childhood. The
girl was no better. She had blushed deeply, and was now minutely
scanning the stones in the burn. Then she raised her eyes, met his, and
the difficulty was solved by both falling into fits of deep laughter.