He dreamed of her by night; he not only hoped, he expected to see her each day.

It was of course conceivable that she might have returned to some other island of the group; but Caius did not believe this, because he felt convinced she must be under the protection of his friends; and also, since he had arrived the weather had been such that it would have been an event known to all the fishermen if another party had made a journey along the sands.

When the snow came the sands were impassable.

As soon as the ice on the bay would bear, there would be coming and going, no doubt; but until then Caius had the restful security that she was near him, and that it could not be many days before he saw her.

The only flaw in his conclusion was that the fact did not bear it out; he did not see her.
At length it became clear that the maiden was hiding herself.