106 ON THE SAND DUNES 



the first crow of the crofter's cock, so that the 

 somewhat stormy dawn found him ensconced in 

 a shallow pit on the brink of the dunes. He 

 had chosen wisely ; the sand was dry, and the 

 thick marram-grass screened him from the keen 

 wind which tore the spindrift from the rollers 

 that tripped and foundered on the strand. 



Yet, comfortable though he was, his mind 

 was ill at ease ; he was haunted by the tragedy 

 of the pinewood. He did all he could to deaden 

 memory of the scream, but the cries of the gulls 

 kept it alive till a peregrine shot into view and 

 drove them to the cliffs : then it faded and left 

 him at peace. Even now he dreaded falling asleep, 

 for fear of being visited by nightmare ; he fought 

 against his drowsiness, but in vain ; he had 

 dropped off before the gulls returned. Neither 

 marten nor weasel harassed his peaceful slumbers, 

 rendered delectable by a vision of the strand up 

 and down which he was speeding like the wind, 

 not alone, but in company with mother and 

 sister. It was a very vivid dream ; he felt the 

 breeze in his face, the shells under his feet ; 

 his happiness was complete. He was sorry to 

 awake, but the presence of the beach cheered his 

 disappointment as he looked forward to a good 

 gallop on the smooth sand left exposed by the 

 ebb. At earliest nightfall he left the form 



