strange impulse caused the detective to follow her.

The girl moved along like an uncouth apparition over the
yielding sand, and had traversed fully a quarter of a mile
along the shore, when suddenly a man leaped down from the bank
and confronted her.

The detective, in shadowing the strange girl, had kept well in
under the shadow of the bluff, and could not have been seen;
and when he saw the man confront the girl, he moved rapidly
forward, and gained a point near enough to overhear the talk
that passed between them.

The man was a rough, villainous-looking fellow, and his voice
was coarse and his manners vulgar. It was evident that the
girl was annoyed at meeting him, as was immediately betrayed
by her manner.

"Hello, Renie, I've been waiting a long time for a chance to
have a talk with you."

"I do not wish to have a talk with you, though, Sol Burton; so
good-night!"

"Not so fast, my pretty bird; I've something to tell you."

"And I don't wish to stop and listen to you."

"You would if you knew all I had to tell."