Anny kissed him lightly on the forehead.
“I’m harkening,” she said.
Hal opened his mouth to speak and then shut it again; then he withdrew his arm from about her waist and stood up.
Anny looked at him in astonishment not unmixed with fear.
“Why, what in the world is the matter with ye, lad?” she said. “You don’t want to go for a sailor, do you?”
The boy shook his head violently, and Anny began to feel alarmed.
“Whatever will you be worrying about next?” she said.
Hal stepped toward her, and putting a hand on her forehead pushed her head back until she looked into his eyes.
“You—you—you’re not loving the Spaniard, lass?” he blurted out, ashamed of the words as soon as he had spoken them.
Anny looked at him for a moment, uncertain whether to be offended or to laugh.