"Yes. We had the race won, too. But this fog has delayed us. What can you give us to eat. I can pay for it," said Fanning in a loud, rude tone.
"I don't take pay," said the hut-dweller in a quiet tone that ought to have caused Fanning to redden with shame, "but if you are hungry I can cook some more fish. There are plenty of potatoes left."
"They'll be very nice, I'm sure," Regina had the grace to say. But Fanning mumbled something about "pauper's food."
But nevertheless he ate as heartily as Jimsy himself, when the food was put on the rough table. It was hard work trying to be pleasant to the two young people who had so unexpectedly come into their midst, and the conversation languished and went on by fits and starts.
"Hullo, the fog's lifting," cried Fanning suddenly; "I'm off. Come on Regina."
The girl rose, and as she did so the trio from the Prescott machine noticed the island dweller's eyes fixed on her in a curious way.
"Pardon me," he said, "but is your name Regina?"
The girl looked at him in a half-startled way, while Peggy, as she said afterward, felt as if she was watching a drama.
"Yes," she said; "why?"
"Because," said the island dweller slowly, "because I once knew someone called Regina who was very dear to me."