Page:Barbour--Joan of the ilsand.djvu/40

28 fixed on him not unkindly, and what the man read there told him that so far he was not giving offense. "Of course, it has nothing to do with me," he went on, "but if anybody's in any kind of trouble just now don't forget I'm lying around idle, and I don't care about being idle if there's any way I can be useful."

"I think I understand what you mean, Mr. Keith," Joan replied in level tones, "and I appreciate your kindness more than I can say. But so far as I know there is no trouble—no trouble of that kind, I mean, at present. I won't pretend that I am altogether happy, but I hardly think either my brother or I realized exactly how lonely I should be while he was away. You see, I have helped to handle these blacks for four years, and in that time one learns a good deal. Moreover, in the ordinary way, I should not describe myself as timid. Chester said the business that took him to Tamba, the island you see over there, was important. He has been away five days, though he only expected to be one or possibly two. The ketch, however, runs across before a favourable breeze, in two or three hours. I had no particular anxiety until my dog Boris died. You know what happened after that, but you arrived on the scene in time, and I really see no occasion to be alarmed."

Keith watched a great sea bird wheeling high overhead for a while before replying.