By now the spirit of the woods was in the picnickers; the gladness
of the day possessed them wholly, and the afternoon sped quickly.
If at times Kirk found his companion regarding him with a
strangely timid, half-defiant look, he refused to connect it with
the episode of their landing. It was a fleeting look, at most,
gone almost before he surprised it, and, for the most part, Edith
showed a seemingly quite natural gayety that helped him to forget
his recent self-consciousness.
Promptly at four they came down the drunken little main street and
out upon the beach. But no launch was in sight.
"Hello! Where's our boat?" exclaimed Kirk.
"The captain told me he'd be ready at four. Perhaps he has run
over to Taboguilla or--" She hesitated, with a troubled frown.
"You told him to wait?"
"Distinctly." Seeing an idler in the square above she questioned
him in Spanish. "This man says the launch left for Panama two
hours ago." She turned tragic eyes upon Kirk.
"Do you think they intend to leave us?"
"I don't know. These people are liable to do any thing." Once more
she questioned the loiterer. "It is just as I suspected," she
explained; "they went on a Sunday spree. He says they came ashore
and bought a lot of liquor, and he heard them quarrelling later.
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