"As between man and woman," she answered, "it would be too
terribly--er--indecent for you to tell me why I shouldn't go
alligatoring. Good-night. Sleep well."
He shut off the phonograph with a snap, started toward the door after
her, then abruptly flung himself into a chair.
"You're hoping a 'gator catches me, aren't you?" she called from the
veranda, and as she went down the steps her rippling laughter drifted
tantalizingly back through the wide doorway.
CHAPTER X--A MESSAGE FROM BOUCHER
The next day Sheldon was left all alone. Joan had gone exploring Pari-
Sulay, and was not to be expected back until the late afternoon. Sheldon
was vaguely oppressed by his loneliness, and several heavy squalls during
the afternoon brought him frequently on to the veranda, telescope in
hand, to scan the sea anxiously for the whale-boat. Betweenwhiles he
scowled over the plantation account-books, made rough estimates, added
and balanced, and scowled the harder. The loss of the _Jessie_ had hit
Berande severely. Not alone was his capital depleted by the amount of
her value, but her earnings were no longer to be reckoned on, and it was
her earnings that largely paid the running expenses of the plantation.
"Poor old Hughie," he muttered aloud, once.
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