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290 "Me! You mean us! You've got to have your hack out of this, laddie. There's enough for all three of us. Joan and I would never have seen a penny back if it hadn't been for you."

"Well, money has its uses," said Keith, "but to tell you the truth, Chester, I'm thinking less about that just now than of an engagement I've got in Sydney." He looked meaningly toward Joan.

"Tell you what," said Chester. "Somebody has to run over to Sydney with all these pearls, but wild horses wouldn't tear me away from this reef for the present. I'm going to settle down on Tao Tao like a lonely hermit for a while. I can manage quite well with the whale-boat, if you two go off in the Kestrel. Put me ashore, and I'll look after myself till you come back, but don't be too long."

"I wish you would come, too, Chester," Joan pleaded.

"Sorry, sis," her brother replied firmly, "but Old Man Opportunity is knocking at our door as I've never heard him knock before. I'll soon have the bungalow fixed up again. There's not a thing to detain you, once you get your trunk on board."

Midnight was drawing near, however, before a sufficient degree of comfort had been re-established at the house to satisfy Joan, and then, after final instructions to Maromi concerning her brother's creature comforts in her absence, she announced her readiness to start.