Harper's Round Table, December 1, 1896

In a windswept harbor on the Cornish coast, an elderly innkeeper spins a tale to a curious traveler over thin ale. He speaks of the Cromlech Arms, a low‑ceilinged tavern that once overlooked rugged cliffs where sea‑foam and stone met. The story centers on Charles Seabohn, a young civil‑engineer on a solitary walk, and Mivanway Evans, the pastor’s teenage daughter, whose chance meeting is interrupted by a strange, water‑clad figure that seems to rise from the surf.

As the two youths navigate the bewildering appearance, their budding affection is tested by the uncanny and by the skeptical whispers of the village. The narrator, aware of the tale’s improbability, wrestles with whether to record it as fact or legend. The opening offers a blend of coastal romance, subtle supernatural suggestion, and the charm of 19th‑century English seaside life.