Then Sheldon rewarded the plantation hands with an
afternoon's holiday, and, when they had withdrawn from the compound,
permitted the Port Adams men to descend from the trees. And all
afternoon he and Joan loafed in the cool of the veranda and watched them
diving down and emptying their sunken canoes of the sand and rocks. It
was twilight when they embarked and paddled away with a few broken
paddles. A breeze had sprung up, and the _Flibberty-Gibbet_ had already
sailed for Lunga to return the runaways.
CHAPTER XII--MR. MORGAN AND MR. RAFF
Sheldon was back in the plantation superintending the building of a
bridge, when the schooner _Malakula_ ran in close and dropped anchor.
Joan watched the taking in of sail and the swinging out of the boat with
a sailor's interest, and herself met the two men who came ashore. While
one of the house-boys ran to fetch Sheldon, she had the visitors served
with whisky and soda, and sat and talked with them.
They seemed awkward and constrained in her presence, and she caught first
one and then the other looking at her with secret curiosity. She felt
that they were weighing her, appraising her, and for the first time the
anomalous position she occupied on Berande sank sharply home to her.
Pages:
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131