If there were a fault in the structure it was that it was too clever,
too well thought out, too rectangular, too much in fact like a bed.
But it told certainly of a skillful pair of hands and of a beautiful
mind and the union of art with nature perfectly suited the charms--
contradictory yet consistent--of the occupant. For being anything
but a beautiful woman she was still far from a plain one, which
though no original mode of putting it does convey the actual
impression she made upon a gentleman in a small boat who rowing past
this island at the hour of five o'clock in the morning was so much
struck with this curious sight, quite visible from the water below,
that he was rude enough to stand up that he might see better. The
lady was dressed in some dark blue stuff that evidently covered her
all over and fitted tightly where it could be seen. A small linen
collar, worn all night and therefore shorn of its usual freshness
was round her neck, and she was tucked up from the waist under a
Scotch woollen rug. Her hair, of a peculiar red-brown, was allowed
to hang about her and was lovely; her mouth sad; her nose, rather
too prominent; her complexion natural and healthy, but marred by
freckles and moles, not many of either but undeniably scattered over
the countenance. All told but her eyes which, if they proved to
match with her hair, would atone for these other shortcomings. The
gentleman sat down again and reflected.

"How still it is!" he said under his breath. "Absolutely not a thing
stirring. This is the time when the fish bite. I ought to be fishing
I suppose. Going to be warm by-and-bye."

It was indeed almost absolutely silent. The sun climbed higher but
the lady slept on, and the gentleman gazed as if fascinated. The