IV PROMISE AND MOPE 261 



Often he waited among the rocks near the 

 Black Abbey, seeking he knew not what. He 

 heard the heavy rekictant break of the ground- 

 swell, throbs of the earth's heart, and while he 

 listened Promise and Hope were borne to him 

 on the sound of the sea. 



One night when the north-west wind blew over 

 the waters, and a mist of spray arose where waves 

 struck the rocks, he saw the lights of a ship. 

 And the Rock-Woman came to him, and was 

 beside the Black Abbey. Her hair was like fine 

 spray that the land-wind blows from the crest of 

 the waves when a cloud veils the sun and its light 

 is golden and cold; her garment was a swirl of 

 foam that reached up to her; her face was like 

 still white water before dawn; but her eyes he 

 could not see. She looked where the ship battled; 

 the strength of her gaze swayed her like desire. 

 It seemed that she was what the man had asked 

 of the sea, and he yearned for her, and started 

 up; whereupon she went from his sight; and a 

 laugh, in nowise different from the plash of 

 waters, was echoed from the cliffs to the sea, 

 from the sea to the cliffs, and back again. A 

 breaker washed around his feet. He stumbled 

 as he drew back, on one of the boulders that 



