“You know better than that, Estelle. The only way I could come was on the schooner, and Cap'n Henry laid me off before the next trip. The minute I had a chance to come up here with this man, I grabbed it. What I'd like to know is, who is there up here that wants to tell lies about me? What else have you heard?”
“You—you won't be mad, Joe, if—if I tell?”
“Course not. Here, let's sit down.”
They found a seat in the hollow of the sand, where the undergrowth screened them.
“You see, Joe, I heard that you—were married.”
He started up. “That's a lie!”
“You said you—wouldn't get mad.”
He dropped down again, muttering: “I ain't mad at you, Estelle, but don't you see there's some one that's just setting out to spread these lies. It's enough to rile a fellow. Who was it told you?”
“I don't know—it was quite a while back—maybe it was—Josie.”
“But she don't know anything about me. Who could 'a' told her?”