Andromeda An Idyll of the Great River

he had heard everything. ' My dear Billy, I'd only had a pint of bitter ale, and I was as sober as a judge. I saw exactly what I have described, and am entirely at a loss what to make of it. Save for the circumstance of the boat, I should be inclined to think that the whole thing was supernatural; but goddesses and water-spirits don't go about in boats, and I'm convinced that what I saw was flesh and blood.' ' Rum affair,' muttered Bufton, ' if you're not lying.' ' I'm telling you the simple truth. Who the deuce could the person have been ?' ' Young bargee, perhaps, having a bath by moonlight.' ' Absurd!' cried Somerset indignantly. ' I tell you it was a woman.' ' Female labourer from one of the marsh farms, having her annual wash!' ' There are no farms in that direction and no females. It's the most desolate and out-of-the- way part of all the island. Suppose we call in old Endell and consult him? He may be able to explain matters.' ' Endell's busy,' said Bufton, nodding his head towards the room-door, through which there came the murmur of loud laughter and gruff voices. A party of men from Gravesend had landed from a barge, and, joined by some fishermen from Leigh, was thronging the tap-room which adjoined the bar. ' I should keep Endell out of it for the present,' continued Bufton. ' He'll only think we're chaffing, as usual. Wait till morning, youngster ; your wits will be clearer, and we may hear something.' So it was decide...