THE EARL OF EGMONT 9

sparkles in the sun. The big breakers pile up with a crash on the shore.

But to come back to the port . . . Borden is a mail-order town—created for the boats. And its pier, like a curved finger, seems to beckon the visitors inland. As a further inducement, there is the Scottish archway which serves the dual purpose of welcoming the incoming guests and of bidding farewell to the annual tourists.

The car ferry provides an easy method of transport and of correspondence. It was quite different in the old days. Before the days of the telegraph, this land, and the territory opposite it in New Brunswick, adopted a system of communication by signals. If grandfather yearned to visit an old crony on the mainland shore, he lighted a bonfire on the beach as a sign. Ebenezer, or a deputy, would then row over and collect his friend of the wanderlust. That did not always work according to schedule, however. Once upon a time, one of the Island girls decided to take a trip to the mainland. The first part of the journey went according to her plans. She lighted the fire and in due time was called for and rowed over by her friends. Days passed. Her friends began to watch for the signal light. Finally, one day, their vigilance was rewarded. There on the opposite beach a fire was burning brightly! Soon a boat shot out from the Borden shore on a nine-mile journey. After hours of rowing it was grounded on the opposite beach But—she hadn’t signalled! Grandfather was now ready to go back, and it was he who had lighted the beacon. An argument ensued. The outcome was that Maria gathered up her belongings and returned