"Oh, I don't know," he replied, vaguely. "We just thought you might be stuck over there, and couldn't get back."
"No fear," she returned, and laughed a little. "Mr. Zzyx has too much common sense for that. The way he handles the boat is simply marvelous. It was real excitement. I wouldn't have missed the ride—not for anything!"
"All the same," McGinity remarked, "it was lucky for you, perhaps, that I got here in time—that is, in case anything did happen."
Pat waved that off with a light gesture, and turned to me. "How does Uncle Livingston feel about it?" she inquired.
"I was pretty well excited myself, Pat," I replied; "uneasy-like."
"I simply wanted to show Mr. Zzyx that I'm not afraid to be alone with him, and that I'm a good sport besides," Pat explained.
"It's bad business," said McGinity, "any way you look at it. Matter of fact, I think Mr. Zzyx is bad business."
"I don't see it," Pat retorted.
It was not until an hour later, when I found myself alone with Pat, that I learned the truth about the situation, although I was convinced from the first that she had deliberately overplayed her attitude of indifference to danger.
"I was nearly scared to death," she confessed. "I did not miss Niki until we were well on our way to the island. Mr. Zzyx showed by his actions that he wanted me to tie up the boat, and go ashore with him, but I wouldn't budge. If he had remained there, at the dock, a minute longer, I would have yelled, screamed—jumped overboard. But—" she concluded, as she tightened her grasp of my arm, "never mind what I felt—Bob mustn't suspect."