The girl colored very prettily the moment she set eyes on her lover.

Memories of the previous night became exceedingly vivid. She was

adorably shy, Courtenay thought. As he approached, he debated the

manner of his greeting; being a sailor, he did not hesitate.

Lifting his cap with a smile and a general "Good morning," he bent over

Elsie.

"Well," he said, "surely you owe me at least one kiss?"

If her cheeks were red before they became scarlet now. But his

kindling glance had warned her that he would adopt no pretence, so she

lifted her face to his, though she did not dare to look at her amazed

companions. Courtenay explained matters quite coolly.

"If Elsie has not told you already, it is my privilege to announce that

she and I have signed articles," he said with a smile. "That is, we

intend to get married as soon as the ship reaches England."

"Indeed, I congratulate you both most heartily," said the missionary's

wife.

"Events have marched, then, while we were stranded on that wretched

island?" tittered Isobel. Her voice was rather shrill. She, too, was

excited, not quite mistress of herself. She did not know how far

Gray's statements might have prejudiced her with the captain; she had

already sent de Poincilit a note urging him to deny absolutely all

knowledge of the plot to steal the boat, and attribute the American's

summary action to his mistaken rendering of the Spanish patois used by

the Chilean sailors.

"Yes," laughed Courtenay, ready to put her at ease. "One crowds the

events of a month into a day under some conditions. Last night, for

instance, I had five minutes' amusement with a steampipe and a

double-barrelled gun which will serve all my requirements in the way of

physical exercise for a long time to come."

"You feel sure that we shall see no more of the Indians?" asked Isobel,

quickly.

"I think so. One never can tell, but if they have the grit to attack

us again I shall regard them as first-class fighters."

"Dr. Christobal says they have an astonishing power of bearing pain

without flinching," said Elsie, plunging into the talk with a hot

eagerness. "The Alaculofs in the fore cabin were afraid of him,

thinking he meant to kill them, but, when they found that he wished

only to dress their wounds, they followed his actions with a curious

interest, as though he were tending some other person's hurts and not

their own. And that reminds me. He told me you ought to have that cut

on your forehead washed. Let me look at it."

She stood up, and placed the dog on a chair. Lifting Courtenay's cap

she brushed back his hair with her fingers, and found that he had

covered an ugly scar with a long strip of skin plaster. The tense

anxiety in Isobel's face forthwith yielded to sheer bewilderment.

These two were behaving with the self-possession of young people who

regard the "engagement" stage as a venerable institution.




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024