"One can imagine anything happening here.

Did I not hear of a tragedy only the other day--a man found dead ?" "If you have a taste for horrors, Prince," I remarked, "you can see the spot from the edge of the cliff here." The Prince moved eagerly forward.
"I disclaim all such weakness," he said, "but the little account which I read, or did some one tell me of it ?--ah, I forget; but it interested me." I pointed downwards to where the creek-riven marshes merged into the sands.
"It was there--a little to the left of the white palings," I said.

"The man was supposed to have been cast up from the sea." He measured the distance with his eye.

I anticipated his remark.
"The tide is only halfway up now," I said, "and on that particular night there was a terrible gale." "Nevertheless," he murmured, half to himself, "it is a long way.

Was the man what you call identified, Mr.Ducaine ?" "No!" "There were no letters or papers found upon him ?" "None." The Prince looked at me sharply.
"That," he said softly, "was strange.