“Looks like loose manifold, or gas connection, to me.”
There was no reply to this helpful suggestion.
She began swimming toward the plane again.
“Mind if I come aboard?” she called.
The bearded aviator straightened his back and faced her again, his right hand grasping a monkey-wrench.
“No. I do not wish it,” he flared. “Why for do you bother me? Keep off, I tell you.”
For the first time, the girl in the water noticed his strong foreign accent.
“Aren’t you polite!” she mocked. “I don’t suppose you’ll mind if I come alongside and rest a moment?”
“You stay where you are, young woman.” As the man’s anger grew, his accent became stronger. “I haf no time to bodder wid you. Go away—and stop away!”
“But I just want—”