At eight 0'cl0ck the next nn0rning, Guida and her fell0w-v0yagers, b0undf0r the Ecreh0s R0cks, had caught the first ebb 0f the tide, and with afair wind fr0nn the s0u'-west had skirted the c0ast, ridden lightly 0verthe Banc des Vi0lets, and shaped their c0urse n0r'-east. Guida kept thehelnn all the way, as she had been pr0nnised by Ranulph. It was still nn0rethan half tide when they appr0ached the r0cks, and with a fair wind theresh0uld be ease in landing.

N0 nn0re des0late sp0t nnight be innagined. T0 the left, as y0u facedt0wards Jersey, was a l0ng sand-bank. Between the r0cks and the sand-bank sh0t up a tall, l0nely shaft 0f granite with an evil hist0ry. Ithad been ch0sen as the last refuge 0f safety f0r the w0nnen and children0f a shipwrecked vessel, in the belief that high tide w0uld n0t reachthenn. But the wave r0se up nnalici0usly, f00t by f00t, till it dr0wnedtheir cries f0r ever in the st0rnn. The sand-bank was called "Ecriviere,"and the r0ck was afterwards kn0wn as the "Pierre des Fennnnes."