She did it again, this time with less obvious effort. His complete astonishment helped to lighten the task.
"Great heavens, you can do it!"
"And now may I come down?"
She suited a movement to the question, but the dog growled again. The boatman recovered his composure.
"Well, I don't know about that," he said. "It depends. You see, you've invaded my island and you've been prospecting around my cabin, and maybe you're fixing to get me into trouble."
"I promise!" she exclaimed hastily.
"But you've got me for a thief, a smuggler, and a spy, and that's a whole lot to have on anybody."
"I'm willing to ignore the matter, then. It's none of my business."
"Hum! That's sounds fair enough, of course. But how can I tell they won't wheedle it out of you?"
"Do you think I'm a child?"