There is no use in fighting the
inevitable. Here is the situation. You are here. I am here. I can't
go elsewhere, by your own account. You certainly can't go elsewhere and
leave me here alone with a whole plantation and two hundred woolly
cannibals on my hands. Therefore you stay, and I stay. It is very
simple. Also, it is adventure. And furthermore, you needn't worry for
yourself. I am not matrimonially inclined. I came to the Solomons for a
plantation, not a husband."
Sheldon flushed, but remained silent.
"I know what you are thinking," she laughed gaily. "That if I were a man
you'd wring my neck for me. And I deserve it, too. I'm so sorry. I
ought not to keep on hurting your feelings."
"I'm afraid I rather invite it," he said, relieved by the signs of the
tempest subsiding.
"I have it," she announced. "Lend me a gang of your boys for to-day.
I'll build a grass house for myself over in the far corner of the
compound--on piles, of course. I can move in to-night. I'll be
comfortable and safe. The Tahitians can keep an anchor watch just as
aboard ship. And then I'll study cocoanut planting. In return, I'll run
the kitchen end of your household and give you some decent food to eat.
And finally, I won't listen to any of your protests.
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