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Could it have been this faint, floating fragrance that drew the flitting brown moth by way of the quicksand, swiftly, swiftly, along the moonlit shore travelling with mysterious certainty, irresistibly attracted? There was no pause in its rapid progress, though the course it followed was tortuous. It pursued, with absolute confidence, an invisible, winding path. And ever the roar of the sea grew louder and louder.

Across the pool, carved in the blackness of the outstretched curving scimitar of rock, there was a ledge, washed smooth by every tide, but a foot or more above the water when the tide was out. It was inaccessible save by way of the pool itself, and yet it had the look of a pathway cut in the face of the Spear Point Rock. The moonlight gleamed upon its wet surface. In the very centre of the great curving rock there was a deeper darkness that might have been a cave.

It must have been after midnight when the little brown figure that had flitted so securely through the quicksand came with its noiseless feet over the tumble of rocks that lay about the pool, and the shadow that lurked in the shadows rose up and became a man.

They met on the edge of the pool, but there was about the lesser form a hesitancy of movement, a shyness, almost a wildness, that seemed as if it would end in flight.

But the man remained quite motionless, and in a moment or two the impulse passed or was controlled. Two quivering hands came forth to him as if in supplication.

“So you are waiting!” a low voice said.

He took the hands, bending to her. The moonlight made his eyes gleam with a strange intensity.

“I have been waiting a long time,” he said.

Even then she made a small, fluttering movement backward, as if she would evade him. And then with a sharp sob she conquered her reluctance again. She gave herself into his arms.

He held her closely, passionately. He kissed her face, her neck, her bosom, as if he would devour the sweetness of her in a few mad moments of utter abandonment.

But in a little he checked himself. “You are so late, sweetheart. The tide won’t wait for us. There will be time for this–afterwards.”

She lay burning and quivering against his heart. “There is tomorrow,” she whispered, clinging to him.

He kissed her again. “Yes, there is tomorrow. But who can tell what may happen then? There will never be such a night as this again, sweet. See the light against that rock! It is a marvel of black and white, and I swear that the pool is green. There is magic abroad tonight. Let me catch it! Let me catch it! Afterwards!–when the tide comes up–we will drink our fill of love.”

He spoke as if urged by strong excitement, and having spoken his arms relaxed. But she clung to him still.

“Oh, darling, I am frightened–I am frightened! I couldn’t come sooner. I had a feeling–of being watched. I nearly–very nearly–didn’t come at all. And now I am here–I feel–I feel–afraid.”

He bent his face to hers again. His hand rested lightly, reassuringly upon her head. “No, no! There is nothing to frighten you, my passion-flower. If you had only come to me sooner it would have made it easier for you. But now there is no time.” The soothing note in his voice sounded oddly strained, as though an undernote of fever throbbed below it. “You’re not going to fail me,” he urged softly. “Think how much it means to you–to me! And there is only half an hour left, dear. Give me that half-hour to catch the magic! Then–when the tide comes up”–his voice sank, he whispered deeply into her ear–“I will teach you the greatest magic this old world knows.”

She thrilled at his words, thrilled through her trembling. She lifted her face to the moonlight. “I love you!” she said. “Oh, I love you!”