"None of the other animals show any sign of illness yet," Pat said. "We'll have to wait a little longer."
"Look, I don't think anything will happen for the next twenty-four hours," the chief said. "Why don't you two buzz off. Relax all you can. There's a busy time coming and you won't be able to get out again for a while. It's early ... you could get down to the boat and go for a sail. Keep away from people; I don't want you catching the flu. Come back early tomorrow morning so nobody will be around."
"What about you?" Pat and I said it together.
"I'll get some sleep now and then putter around and read until I hear from Smith."
"Smith was there himself. He said he would do some frozen sections as well as the usual paraffin."
"In that case I shall have some more toast and coffee and wait up for the reports. But you had better go now. It will be six o'clock before you get out of the building. Any later and there will be too many people about."
So here we were, running up the coast and running away from the world's troubles, if we could, for one bright day. I went below and woke Pat.
The sudden quietness as the motor died aroused me with a start. I sat up and looked through the porthole to see trees and rocks gliding slowly by. I recognized the little patch of brown sand set between two large green lichen-covered boulders. The anchor went down. We were at our island.
There were still two or three hours until sunset. The air was warm and the water calm in the sheltered cove. I yawned my way up on deck to see Pat, in a low cut bathing suit, spreading a large blanket for a sunbath.