The sun was low and the bay was swimming in a pale blue glory . They parted at Clam Point , Helen to go for the cows and Reeves to wander on up the shore . He thought of Helen at first , and the wonderful change that had come over her of late ; then he began to think of another face -- a marvellously lovely one with blue eyes as tender as the waters before him . Then Helen was forgotten . The summer waned swiftly . One afternoon Reeves took a fancy to revisit the Kelpy 's Cave . Helen could not go . It was harvest time , and she was needed in the field . `` Do n't let the kelpy catch you , '' she said to him half seriously . `` The tide will turn early this afternoon , and you are given to day-dreaming . '' `` I 'll be careful , '' he promised laughingly , and he meant to be careful . But somehow when he reached the cave its unwholesome charm overcame him , and he sat down on the boulder at its mouth . `` An hour yet before tide time , '' he said . `` Just enough time to read that article on impressionists in my review and then stroll home by the sandshore . '' From reading he passed to day-dreaming , and day-dreaming drifted into sleep , with his head pillowed on the rocky walls of the cave . How long he had slept he did not know , but he woke with a start of horror . He sprang to his feet , realizing his position instantly . The tide was in -- far in past the headlands already . Above and beyond him towered the pitiless unscalable rocks . There was no way of escape .
XXXXX was no coward , but life was sweet to him , and to die like that -- like a drowned rat in a hole -- to be able to do nothing but wait for that swift and sure oncoming death !
Cave Helen Reeves escape face first head hour sandshore sun