The morning was beautiful and fresh when we stood on the verandah, and the lagoon was like a sheet of multicoloured glass. Someone suggested a dip before going to bed, but none cared to bathe in the lagoon, sticky and treacherous to the feet. Miller had his car at the door and he offered to take us down to the pool. We jumped in and drove along the deserted road. When we reached the pool it seemed as though the day had hardly risen there yet. Under the trees the water was all in shadow and the night had the effect of lurking still. We were in great spirits. We had no towels or any costume and in my prudence I wondered how we were going to dry ourselves. None of us had much on and it did not take us long to snatch off our clothes. Nelson, the little supercargo, was stripped first.
"I'm going down to the bottom," he said.
He dived and in a moment another man dived too, but shallow, and was out of the water before him. Then Nelson came up and scrambled to the side.
"I say, get me out," he said.
"What's up?"
Something was evidently the matter. His face was terrified. Two fellows gave him their hands and he slithered up.
"I say, there's a man down there."
"Don't be a fool. You're drunk."
"Well, if there isn't I'm in for D. T's. But I tell you there's a man down there. It just scared me out of my wits."
Miller looked at him for a moment. The little man was all white. He was actually trembling.