"Do stop that confounded row one second!" shouted Frank.
The noise stopped abruptly. Gertie glanced up and down again. Then she began again, more gently.
"That's better," said Frank.... "Well, I hope you have," he went on paternally. "You're a good girl, Gertie, and you know better. Go on thinking about it, and tell me when you've made up your mind. When'll dinner be ready?"
"Half an hour," said Gertie.
"Well, I'll go out for a bit and look round."
He took up the letter carelessly and went out.
(III)
As he passed the window Gertie glanced towards it with the corner of her eye. Then, frying-pan still in hand, she crept up to the angle and watched him go down the quay.
A very convenient barrel was set on the extreme edge of the embankment above the water, with another beside it, and Frank made for this immediately. She saw him sit on one of the barrels and put the letter, still unopened, on the top of the other. Then he fumbled in his pockets a little, and presently a small blue cloud of smoke went upwards like incense. Gertie watched him for an instant, but he did not move again. Then she went back to her frying-pan.
Twenty minutes later dinner was almost ready.