"He's up at his place, and his boat is at our disposal. Come, dear; come inside. The mornings are damp in spite of their gorgeous beauty."
The girl looked back at Payne from the door of the stateroom. One glance. He tried in vain to fathom it. Then she disappeared.
A few minutes later the Egret's softly purring engines were edging her away from the pier, when:
"Cormorant, ahoy!" called a man from her engine room.
"Hey?" responded a gruff voice from a shack on shore.
"Got that extra drum of gasoline there?"
"Yep."
"Bring it up on the Cormorant when you come."
"Aw-right."
The Egret was well away from shore now. Her sharp white bow cleaved the blue water of the way with slow, irresistible power. Her speed increased. In a few minutes twin waves of blue were curling away from her cutwater as, smoothly and swiftly, she raced across the bay and out of sight round the first bend of the wide mouthed Chokohatchee River.