“Cruel? Suppose I told you about the millionaire cur that– Oh, now, don’t go and cry! Please don’t cry, Miss Jenny! I wouldn’t hurt your feelings for the world! I didn’t mean anything out of the way, really I didn’t! It’s only that when I get to thinking of–of things, it sets me half crazy. And now, can’t you see how it’s going to be ten times worse for me after–with you so altogether beyond me–” He stopped short, flushed, and stammered lamely, “I–I didn’t mean to say that!”
She looked down, no less embarrassed.
“Please let us talk of something else,” she murmured. “It has been such a pleasant morning, until you–until we began this silly discussion.”
“All right, all right! Only mop up the dewdrops, and we’ll turn on the sun machine. I really didn’t mean to rip out that way at all. But, you see, the thing’s been rankling in me ever since we came aboard ship at the Cape, and Winthrope and Lady Bayrose had my seat changed so I couldn’t see you– Not that I hold anything against them now–”
“Mr. Blake, I suppose you know that this African coast is particularly dangerous for women. So far I have escaped the fever. But you yourself said that the longer the attack is delayed, the worse it will be.”
Blake’s face darkened, and he turned to stare inland along the ridge. She had flicked him on the raw, and he thought that she had done so intentionally.
“You think I haven’t tried–that I’ve been shamming!” he burst out bitterly. “You’re right. There’s the one chance– But I couldn’t leave you till the barricade was finished, and it’s been only a few days since– All the same, I oughtn’t to’ve waited a day. I’ll start it to-morrow.”
“What! Start what?”
“A catamaran. I can rig one up, in short order, that, with a skin sail and an outrigger, will do fairly well to coast along inside the reefs–barring squalls. Worst thing is that it’s all a guess whether the nearest settlement is up the coast or down.”
“And you can think of going, and leaving me all alone here!”