Jimmy pulled up a canvas hood which covered part of the cockpit and lighted a lantern under it before he turned to his passenger.
“If you sit here, you’ll be out of the wind and spray. Where are you going?”
“To Pine Landing.” She gave a start when Jimmy stooped over the engine where the light fell upon him. “You!” she cried. “Mr. Farquhar!”
He gazed at her in surprise, with his heart throbbing. Though she had turned her head quickly and the light was not good, he thought he had seen a flush of color in her face.
“It was too dark to recognize you until you spoke, Miss Osborne,” he said as coolly as he could. “Then, I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Our house is scarcely a mile from the Landing.”
“The pretty place in the woods? I didn’t know it was yours. I’ve seen it from a distance, but have never been there.”
“I think you are to blame for that,” she said.
“Until a few weeks ago, I was living on the Canadian side.” Jimmy laughed as he added: “Besides, I hadn’t many opportunities for making visits.”
Ruth glanced at him with quick sympathy, remembering how he had looked when she had last seen him; but he was doing something to the engine and his face was hidden.