Where was he? What could detain him at such a time? She peered through
the darkness up and down the beach. To her accustomed eye, the features
of the landscape were dimly visible. That black form looming like a
shadowy giant before her was the headland of Pine Bluff, with its base
washed by the sullen waves. It was the only object that broke the dark,
dull monotony of the shore. She listened; the moan of the sea, the wail
of the wind, were blended in mournful chorus. It was the only sound that
broke the dreary silence of the hour.
Hark! No; there was another sound. Amid the moaning and the wailing of
winds and waves, and the groaning of the coming storm, was heard the
regular fall of oars, soon followed by the slow, grating sound of a boat
pushed up upon the frozen strand. Marian paused and strained her eyes
through the darkness in the direction of the sound, but could see
nothing save the deeper, denser darkness around Pine Bluff. She turned,
and, under cover of the darkness, moved swiftly and silently from the
locality. The storm was coming on very fast. The rain was falling and
the wind rising and driving it into her face. She pulled her hood
closely about her face, and wrapped her shawl tightly about her as she
met the blast.
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