“Of course it was! Lucky devil!”
“Well, close your eyes and dream that I am the moon looking down at you.”
161With face upturned, just enough to make it easier for the moon, Pats closed his eyes. In serene anticipation he awaited the delectable contact that never failed to send a thrill of pleasure through all his being. But the tranquil, beatific smile changed swiftly to a very different expression as he felt against his lips–a slice of dried apple. And the cold moon stepped back beyond his reach, and laughed.
When the table had been cleared and the dishes washed Pats, Elinor, and Solomon went out behind the house and stood near the edge of the cliff. Eastward, across the bay, Pats pointed to a distant headland running out into the Gulf, the highest land in sight.
“As near as I can guess that hill is about twenty miles away. If there is nothing between to hinder I can walk it in a day. Now, from that highest point I can probably get a view for many miles. Who knows what lies beyond? There may be a settlement very near. In that case we are saved.”
“And suppose there is none?”
“Then I return, and we are no worse off than we were before.”
Elinor stood beside him, regarding the distant 162promontory with thoughtful eyes. He put his arm around her waist. “You see the sense of it, don’t you?”
“Yes, I suppose so. How long would you be gone?”