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“No，“sheanswered，withalittleshiver。“He’sugly。“
“Heisn’tugly，“Jeremyreturnedindignantly。“Heisn’tperhapstheverybestbreed，butUncleSamuelsaysthatthatdoesn’tmatterifhe’sclever。He’sbetterthananyotherdog。Ilovehimmorethananybody。Heisn’tugly！“
“Heis，“criedCharlottewithakindofwail。“Oh！Iwanttogohome。“
“Well，youcan’tgohome，“heansweredherfiercely。“Soyouneedn’tthinkaboutit。“
Theycametothelittlepools，threeofthem，nowclearascrystal，blueontheirsurface，withgreendepthsandredshelvingrock。
“Nowyousitthere，“hesaidcheerfully。“Noonewilltouchyou。Thecrabswon’tgetatyou。“
Helookedabouthimandnoticedwithsurprisewherehewas。HewassittingonthefarthercorneroftheverybeachwheretheScarletAdmiralhadlandedwithhismen。Itwasouttherebeyondthatbendofrockthatthewonderfulshiphadrode，withitsgoldandsilk，itsjewelledmastsanditsglitteringboard。Directlyoppositetohimwasthelittlegreenpaththatledupthehill，andaboveittheveryfield——FarmerEde’sfield！
Foralong，longtimetheysatthereinsilence。HeforgotCharlotteinhisinterestoverhisdiscovery，staringabouthimandwatchinghowquicklytheAugustafternoonwaslosingitsheatandcolour，sothatalreadyalittlecoldautumnalwindwasplayingaboutthesand，thecolourswerebeingdrawnfromthesky，andagreywebwasslowlypulledacrossthesea。
“Now，“hesaidcheerfullyatlast，toCharlotte，“I’lllookforthecrabs。“
“Ihatecrabs，“shesaid。“Iwanttogohome。“
“Youcan’tgohome，“heansweredfuriously。“What’sthegoodofsayingthatoverandoveragain？Youaren’tgoingyet，soit’snousesayingyouare。“
“You’reahorridlittleboy，“shebroughtoutwithakindofinanimatesob。
Hedidnotreplytothat；hewasstilltryingtobehavelikeagentleman。Howcouldheeverhavelikedher？Why，herhairwasnotsomuchafterall。Whatwashairwhenyoucometothinkofit？Marygotonquitewellwithhers，uglythoughitwas。Shewasstupid，stupid，stupid！Shewaslikesomeonedead。Ashesearchedforthecrabsthatweren’ttherehefelthistempergrowing。Soonhewouldleadherbacktohermotherandleaveherthereandneverseeheragain。
Butthiswasnottheclimaxoftheafternoon。
Whenhelookedupfromgazingintothepoolthewholeworldseemedtohavechanged。Hewasstilldazzledperhapsbythereflectionofthewaterinhiseyes，andyetitwasnotaltogetherthat。Itwasnotaltogetherbecausethedaywasslippingfromafternoonintoevening。
Thelazyrippleofthewaterasitslutchedupthesandandthenbroke，theshadowsthatwerecreepingfartherandfartherfromrocktorock，thegreenlightthatpushedupfromthehorizonintothefaintblue，thegreywebofthesea，thethickgatheringofthehillsastheycreptmorecloselyaboutthelittledarkeningbeach……itwasnoneofthesethings。
HebeganhurriedlytotellCharlotteabouttheScarletAdmiral。Evenashetoldherhewashimselfcaughtintotheexcitementofthenarration。Heforgother；hedidnotseeherwhitecheeks，hermouthopenwithterror，anexpressionnewtoher，thatherfacehadneverknownbefore，stealingintohereyes。HetoldherhowtheFoolhadseentheship，howtheAdmiralhadlanded，thenlefthismenonthebeach，howhehadclimbedthelittlegreenpath，howtheyoungmanhadfollowedhim，howtheyhadfought，howtheyoungmanhadfallen。
Whatwasthat？Jeremyjumpedfromhisrock。“Isay，didyouhearanything？“
AndthatwasenoughforCharlotte。Withonescream，ascreamsuchasshehadneverutteredinherlifebefore，sueturned，andthen，runningasindeedshehadneverrunbefore，shestumbled，halffell，stumbled，finallyranasthoughthewholeworldofherghostswasbehindher。Herscreamsweresopiercingthattheymaywellhavestartled，thevillagersofRafiel。
Jeremyfollowedher，buthismindwasnotwithher。Washegoingtoseesomething？Whatwasit？Whowasit？
Thentheawfulcatastrophethatfinishedtheafternoon
