“Well?” said Hackett, as Mellenger came up on the Muggridge veranda and heaved himself wearily into a chair.
“I have just talked with the finest woman God Almighty ever made,” Mellenger replied huskily. “Compared with her the noblest of men is so low he could kiss a flounder without bending his knees.” He thoughtfully bit the end off the cigar Hackett had given him and the latter struck a match and held it to the tip of the cigar. “Brave, like her father,” Mellenger continued. “Faces the issue without cringing. She is magnificent—perfectly tremendous!”
“Well, that’s a comfort, Mr. Mellenger.”
Fell a silence. Then: “Captain Hackett, when you return to the Pelorus, please send my dunnage ashore and have one of your men dump it in this veranda. I have decided to remain in Riva. I do not fancy that long trip home with Dan and Maisie. My presence would make them both uncomfortable, and I am quite finished with my self-appointed task of directing that man’s love affairs. He’s a fine man but a poor lover.”
“Nonsense, Mr. Mellenger,” Hackett urged. “The Pelorus is a hundred and thirty feet long and there is room enough aboard her to make yourself scarce.”
“Well, I have other reasons for staying. Unlike Dan Pritchard, I have no dollars calling me back. All I had was a heart-breaking job on a newspaper and I chucked that forever when I started for Riva. I have never had a vacation and I have a notion I’ll enjoy knocking around in the islands. At any rate, I’m going to remain. Having no conscience to speak of, I will help myself to the supplies you are going to land for this deserted mission. I shall get along quite nicely.”
“There is no accounting for the ways of white men,” Captain Hackett declared. “Here comes the whaleboat, loaded with supplies.” He held out his hand. “Happy days, Mr. Mellenger.”
“Thank you. Good-by. Do not tell Dan I have stayed. He might take it into his fool head to come ashore and argue with me. And the next time you happen to be passing along the coast of Riva, drop in and say howdy. I might be ready to leave at that time.”
CHAPTER XXX
When Dan Pritchard descended into the main cabin of the Pelorus, he found Maisie seated there. She stared at him a moment, not recognizing in the brown, somewhat unkempt figure at the foot of the companion, the man she had known and loved in another world.