Page:Barbour--Joan of the ilsand.djvu/138

 'YOU know, Miss Trent, I always had a kind of notion that when I died if ever I went to Paradise it would cloy after a while," Keith said. "But since I've lived on Tao Tao I've changed my opinion. I think I've been happier here than I ever was."

He was lying full length on the sand not far from the bungalow, his head propped up on his elbows and his eyes gazing out on the sea he loved. The girl was sitting idly, within a few feet of him. The day had been ideal, a refreshing breeze tempering the heat. The atmosphere was so clear that one could almost have discerned the bare topmast of a vessel vanishing beneath the horizon. The sun, glinting among the light ripples, had changed the water to a mass of glittering diamonds that dazzled the eyes. Three miles off lay the ketch near the reef, where Chester was busy, as usual. Keith could distinguish figures moving about her deck. Just visible above the edge of the sea, was the island of Tamba, mysterious but robbed of its threatening memories in the golden sunlight. And, 126