Knight opened his eyes.  “The tide is coming up fast,” he said.  “We must be getting back.”

She clung closer to him.  “I could die with you on a night like this,” she said.

He crushed her to his heart.  “Ah, goddess!” he said.  “You couldn’t die!  But I am only mortal, and the tide won’t wait.”

Again the swirling breakers swept around the Point.  Reluctantly she came to earth.  The pool had become a seething whirl of water.

“Yes,” she said, “we must go, and quickly—­quickly!  It rises so fast here.”

Sure-footed as a doe over the slippery rocks, she led the way.  They left the magic place and the dazzling tumble of moonlit water, the dark caves, the enchanted strand.  Progress was not easy, but Knight had been that way before, though only by day.  He followed his guide closely, and when presently they emerged upon level sand, he overtook and walked beside her.

She slipped her hand into his.  “It’s the lie of the quicksand that’s puzzling,” she said, “if you don’t know it well.”

“I am in thy hands, O Queen,” he made light reply.  “Lead me whither thou wilt!”

She laughed—­a low, sweet laugh of sheer happiness.  “And if I lead you astray?”

“I would follow you down to the nethermost millstone,” he vowed.

Her hand tightened upon his.  She paused a moment, looking out over the stretch of sand that intervened between them and the little fishing-quay.  He had safely negotiated that stretch of sand by daylight, though even then it had needed an alert eye to detect that slight ooziness of surface that denoted the presence of the sea-swamp.  But by night, even in that brilliant moonlight, it was barely perceptible.  Columbine herself did not trust to appearances.  She had learnt the way from Adam as a child learns a lesson by heart.  He had taught her to know the danger-spot by the shape of the cliffs above it.

After a very brief pause to take her bearings, she moved forward with absolute assurance.  Knight accompanied her with unquestioning confidence.  His faith in his own luck was as profound as his faith in the girl at his side.  And the tumult in his veins that night was such as to make him insensible of danger.  The roar of the rising tide exhilarated him.  He walked with the stride of a conqueror, free and unafraid, his face to the sea.

Unerringly she led him, but she did not speak again until they had made the passage and the treacherous morass of sand was left behind.

Then, with a deep breath, she stopped.  “Now we are safe!”

“Weren’t we safe before?” he asked carelessly.

Her eyes sought his; she gave a little shiver.  “Oh, are we ever safe?” she said.  “Especially when we are happy?  That quicksand makes one think.”

“Never spoil the present by thinking of the future!” said Knight sententiously.