"Are you accustomed to roam about the high sea single-handed in a
three-ton boat?" I inquired.
"Oh, yes," she said. "Why not? After all, they are the easiest to
handle."
"They are certainly the easiest to get drowned in," I replied.
She shrugged her shoulders. "One must take what one can get in this
world. It's not my boat, you see. I only----"
She was interrupted by a violent hissing from the fire, which
temporarily disappeared in a cloud of steam.
"Oh, dear!" she cried, in dismay. "There's the kettle boiled over.
You'll excuse me a minute while I make tea, won't you?"
She dived into the hut, reappearing almost immediately with a brown
earthenware teapot in her hand.
"You'll have a cup?" she asked, pausing for a moment on her way to
the fire. "There ought to be enough for two, unless it's all boiled
away."
"You're very forgiving," I said. "It's more than I deserve after
making you break a plate."
"It's the least I can do," she retorted, "after jumping your hut like
this."
She filled up the pot, and, coming back, placed it carefully on the
stump of one of the trees which I had cut down when I built the place.
"This is the table," she said. "If you'll sit down on the grass and
wait one minute, I'll bring the tea out."
The suggestion seemed a sound one, so I accepted it without protest.
Whoever my hostess might be, she was certainly not lacking in
self-possession, and I felt sure that if she had wanted any help she
would have asked for it.
Selecting a comfortable place, I spread myself out on the grass, and
Rufus, who had apparently been on a short tour of inspection, came up
sideways and licked my boot.
"Rufus," I said, "we have struck a remarkable adventure."
He lay down and looked at me out of the corner of his eye.
"We have discovered a mermaid, a sea-dryad, an island goddess," I
went on. "In fact, I'm not at all sure that we haven't found Astarte
herself."
He rolled slowly over on his back and pointed all four feet towards
the sky.
"I'm glad to see," said I, "that you have a sense of reverence."
It was at this point that, heavily burdened with accessories, the
goddess emerged from her retreat.
"I'm afraid it's a poor sort of tea," she said, as I jumped up to
help her unload. "Do you mind a mug and condensed milk? They're all
I've got to offer you."
"On a desert island," I said, "both a cup and a cow would be
painfully out of place."
"Still," she laughed, "I think if I were going to be here long I'd
give them a trial. They might get acclimatized."
"It's an interesting question," I said, "as to which of them would be
broken first."
Taking her various burdens from her, I began to set them out in a
half-circle round the teapot.
"If I'd known I was going to have a visitor," she said, "I'd have
made some hot cakes. As it is, you'll have to be content with
gingerbread and biscuits."
Then she sat down opposite me, and began to pour out tea. I watched
her with a most pleasant curiosity. I have been in a good many parts
of the world, and met some distinctly quaint people, but this
beautiful girl, with her perfect self-possession and astounding
absence of convention, baffled me completely. Who on earth could she
be, and what was she doing on the island--my island--or, to be
strictly accurate, George's island? That she was well educated--what
I believe is known in refined circles as "a lady"--was of course
obvious, but this only made the situation more puzzling than ever. I
simply gave it up, and, accepting the cup of tea which she handed
across, waited calmly for any further enlightenment that Fate might
vouchsafe.
"You shall have your hut by six o'clock," she said, breaking a
biscuit and offering half of it to Rufus. "I'll get my belongings on
board directly after tea."
"I hope you won't do anything of the kind," I answered promptly.
Then, feeling that my remark, though true and distinctly well
intended, was perhaps a trifle obscure, I hastened to add: "I never
use the hut when I come here. I always sleep on the _Scandal_."
"On the what?" she asked, opening her nice grey eyes.
"On my boat," I explained. "I call her the _Scandal_ because she
travels faster than anything else in Scotland."
Her eyes sparkled. "I wonder if she could beat the _Penguin_?
That's my boat. I've only hired her, but she goes like a bird."
"Well, if you'll stay till tomorrow, we'll have a race," I said.
She clasped her hands. "It would be fun, wouldn't it?" Then she
paused. "But I don't think I ought to," she added regretfully.
"Why not?" I asked. "Are you too proud to share an island?"
She shrugged her shoulders, smiling. "No, I'm not proud; but it
would put me in rather an awkward position if somebody found out."
"Nobody will find out," I said reassuringly. "The only person who
will ever know anything about it is Rufus, and he's a tactful
dog--aren't you, my son?"
Rufus, who was sitting up in expectation of some more biscuits, gave
a corroborative wag of his tail.
"Besides," I went on, "you ought to give me a chance of returning
your hospitality. I was hoping you'd come and have breakfast with me
on the _Scandal_ to-morrow."
"Oh!" she said frankly, "I'd love to. Please don't think I'm being
silly about it, but I really have to be careful what I'm doing. You
see, I'm not supposed to be here at all."
"Of course not," I said. "In fact, I don't believe you are here.
Things like this don't happen in real life. I shall wake up in a
minute and find you were just a delightful dream."
She laughed merrily. "Well, have some more tea first," she
suggested, holding out the pot.
I waited until she had filled the cup, and then I asked her a
question.
"Now, I want you to tell me the truth," I said. "If I hadn't come
blundering in here, how long were you going to stay on the island?"
She hesitated for a moment.
"The truth!" I repeated firmly.
"Another three days," she admitted. "I have to be back on Friday."
"Well," I said, "if you don't stay those three days, I shall never
forgive myself. I really don't want to use either the hut or the
island, on my honour. I've got my anchorage, and we shan't be in
each other's way. In fact, you needn't see me at all if you don't
want to."
"But you've just asked me to breakfast," she objected. "You're not
trying to back out of it now, are you?"
"Then you'll stay!" I cried joyfully.
Her eyes twinkled.
"I might," she said, "if you can really guarantee the discretion of
Rufus."
I drank up three-quarters of my tea, and poured out the rest as a
libation.
"It just occurs to me," I said, "that I haven't introduced myself."
She made a quick, protesting gesture with her hand.
"Don't then," she said, smiling. "Let's stop just as we are. It
will be much jollier if we know nothing about each other, and Rufus
can't betray us then, even if he wants to."
"But we've christened you already," I objected. "We've decided that
you must be Astarte. I think she was the lady who came out of the
sea foam, wasn't she?"
Astarte made me a little mocking bow.
"You pay compliments very prettily," she said. "I shall call you
Stephen."
"Why Stephen?" I inquired.
She jumped up smiling, and brushed some crumbs from her skirt.
"You're shockingly ignorant of English history. Don't you remember
that Stephen followed Rufus?"