Twenty
yards from the right line of vision, he might have passed it, and never
known the beauty that the streaks and stains could assume.
When he went home he amused himself by seeking on the road for the track
of the other horse, and when he found that it turned to Cloud Island he
was happier. The place, at least, would not be so lonely when the lady
was at home.
_BOOK III._
CHAPTER I.
HOW HE HUNTED THE SEALS.
At this time on the top of the hills the fishermen were to be seen
loitering most of the day, looking to see if the seals were coming, for
at this season the seals, unwary creatures, come near the islands upon
the ice, and in the white world their dark forms can be descried a long
distance off. There was promise of an easy beginning to seal-fishing
this year, for the ice had not yet broken from the shore on the seaward
side of the island, and there would not at first be need of boats.
Caius, who had only seen the fishermen hanging about their doors in lazy
idleness, was quite unprepared for the excitement and vigour that they
displayed when this first prey of the year was seen to approach.
It was the morning after Madame Le Maitre had returned to her home that
Caius, standing near his own door, was wondering within himself if he
might treat her like an ordinary lady and give her a formal call of
welcome.
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