“By Jove!” he panted, as they swung into the quiet water of the cove and stood erect in the shallows, “that was great! You are a good swimmer.”
“Thank you,” she answered, breathlessly. “It WAS a tug, wasn't it? Thank you for warning me. Now tell me about the dangerous places, please.”
He told her, repeating Seth's tales of the tide's strength.
“But it is safe enough here?” she asked.
“Oh, yes! perfectly safe anywhere this side of the narrow part—the creek.”
“I'm so glad. This water is glorious, and I began to be afraid I should have to give it up.”
“The creek, and even the bay itself are safe enough at flood,” he went on. “I often go there then. When the tide is coming in it is all right even for—”
He paused. She finished the sentence for him. “Even for a girl, you were going to say.” She waded forward to where the shoal ended and the deeper part began. There she turned to look at him over her shoulder.
“I'm going to that beach over there,” she said, pointing across the cove. “Do you want to race?”
Without waiting to see whether he did or not, she struck out for the beach. And, without stopping to consider why he did it, the young man followed her.