A gay chorus of laughter here broke from the little group seated on deck, of which Thelma was the centre,--and Güldmar stopped in his walk, with an attentive smile on his open, ruddy countenance.
"'Tis good for the heart to hear the merriment of young folks," he said. "Think you not my girl's laugh is like the ripple of a lark's song? just so clear and joyous?"
"Her voice is music itself!" declared Philip quickly and warmly. "There is nothing she says, or does, or looks,--that is not absolutely beautiful!"
Then, suddenly aware of his precipitation, he stopped abruptly. His face flushed as Güldmar regarded him fixedly, with a musing and doubtful air. But whatever the old man thought, he said nothing. He merely held the young baronet's arm a little closer, and together they joined the others,--though it was noticeable that during the rest of the day the bonde was rather abstracted and serious,--and that every now and then his eyes rested on his daughter's face with an expression of tender yearning and melancholy.
It was about two hours after luncheon that the Eulalie approached the creek spoken of by the pilot, and they were all fascinated by the loveliness as well as by the fierce grandeur of the scene. The rocks on that portion of Soroe appeared to have split violently asunder to admit some great in-rushing passage of the sea, and were piled up in toppling terraces to the height of more than two thousand feet above the level of the water. Beneath these wild and craggy fortresses of nature a shining stretch of beach had formed itself, on which the fine white sand, mixed with crushed felspar, sparkled like powdered silver. On the left-hand side of this beach could be distinctly seen the round opening of the cavern to which Valdemar Svensen directed their attention. They decided to visit it--the yacht was brought to a standstill, and the long-boat lowered. They took no sailors with them, Errington and his companions rowing four oars, while Thelma and her father occupied the stern. A landing was easily effected, and they walked toward the cavern, treading on thousands of beautiful little shells which strewed the sand beneath their feet. There was a deep stillness everywhere--the island was so desolate that it seemed as though the very seabirds refused to make their homes in the black clefts of such steep and barren rocks.
At the entrance of the little cave Güldmar looked back to the sea.
"There's a storm coming!" he announced. "Those clouds we saw this morning have sailed thither almost as quickly as ourselves!"