"The station is surrounded by a high fence," I said, "and the gate cannot be unbarred from the outside. You are perfectly safe. My room is close by. If the slightest thing alarms you, you have only to speak."
She breathed with difficulty. It was plain that her terrors were genuine.
"You will come--if I call you?" she asked.
"a.s.suredly."
"Do you sleep as lightly as that?"
"I sleep like a child, as a general thing; but my name spoken by your voice will wake me instantly."
We went to her door, where she parted from me with little ceremony and in twenty minutes I was unconscious. The night pa.s.sed without the summons from her that I half expected. In the morning she admitted that after some delay she had gone to sleep and enjoyed a good rest.
Among the articles we brought was a bathing suit for each of us, for I remembered the pleasant beach at the foot of the rocks. At five o"clock, to escape the burning rays of the sun which rises soon after, Miss May came from her room, looking as pretty as can be imagined. Her sleeveless arms were even rounder than I had antic.i.p.ated, and her low-cut vest told a pleasant tale. The long black hose were filled symmetrically and the short skirt revealed just enough to make the picture enchanting.
"You look wonderfully well in that costume," she said, evidently to antic.i.p.ate what I was going to say. So I contented myself with replying, "And you."
The water was quite warm enough and we enjoyed the surf hugely. What I did enjoy however, was the sight of a man on the veranda of Eggert"s, apparently awaiting our return.
No less a person, in short, than Mr. Wesson, our late fellow pa.s.senger, whom we supposed forty miles away at St. Croix!
CHAPTER XIV.
"OH! THIS NAUGHTY BOY!"
As has been intimated once or twice before, I had modified to some degree the liking I at first entertained for Mr. Wesson. He interfered in my affairs rather more than was to my taste. I had never placed myself under his guardianship. He had no right to advise or to warn me on any subject whatever. As I beheld him on the veranda at Eggert"s I saw in his presence a new impertinence which I was far from relishing.
If there had been any way to avoid him I would have done so gladly.
Of course Miss May had no means of knowing what was in my mind. She therefore waved her hand to Wesson as soon as she recognized his face and on coming nearer gave him a cordial welcome.
"Well, this is a surprise!" he exclaimed, glancing from one of us to the other. "You did not tell me you intended to stop at St. Thomas and I supposed you still on the Madiana."
"How comes it you are here, yourself?" I asked, pointedly. "I do not recollect that you expressed any intention of leaving the boat."
"Did I not?" he asked, as if surprised. "I could have sworn I did until you spoke. I certainly made you talk about this island, for hours at a time, and I thought you understood it. I feel almost as well acquainted with Mr. Eggert and his family, through your descriptions, as if I had actually been here before. Being an early riser I inquired the way this morning, at the Hotel du Commerce, and walked out to see the place you had made so attractive. One of the darkies let me in at the gate, and here I am."
It was plain enough now. He had supposed I understood his intention, though he had never, I was sure, put the statement into words. He had as much right there as I, if it came to that. There was really no reason why I should treat him uncivilly.
Miss May went on to her room and I waited a moment before going to mine.
"Now you are here," I said, "you will of course take breakfast with me--or at least coffee, if you are in too much haste to wait longer."
"I"m not in the least haste," he responded, "and I accept your invitation with great pleasure."
"I"ve found an old friend here, Mr. Eggert," I said, as that individual appeared in a doorway. "We came on the Madiana together."
Asking Eggert to entertain him for a little while I went to dress. Miss May heard me come in and spoke through the thin part.i.tion between our rooms.
"You didn"t act overjoyed to see Mr. Wesson," she said.
"No. He"s a sort of "third person makes a crowd," you know."
"You"re a selfish fellow. But wasn"t that bath delightful!"
"Perfection. Did I overstate it, when I described it to you yesterday?"
"Not in the least--ough!"
"What is the matter?"
"I"ve stuck a pin in my finger."
"I"m _so_ sorry!"
Then followed sounds which indicated that the finger was being placed in her mouth to a.s.suage the pain.
"What a pity you are not a girl!" she said, a little later. "You could help dress me and save a lot of trouble."
"I could help dress you without that awful alternative," I replied. "I am like the pilot in the story, I know every rock in the harbor."
"Oh, I"ve no doubt. Look out, like that same pilot, you"re not wrecked on one of them some day."
"Can you manage a string tie?" I asked, as a more important subject was forced on my attention.
I always made a mess of that operation and this morning my luck was worse than usual.
"Easily," she said. "Do you want me to fix yours?"
"I wish you would."
"I will, with pleasure," she said. "Come in here when you are ready; or, shall I come there?"
"For goodness" sake don"t come just yet!" I exclaimed, thinking I heard her step. "I am not at all prepared. In fact that tie is about the only article of dress I have on."
"Don"t be afraid," came the mocking tones. "I am in much the same situation. Fifteen minutes from now we will both be ready, and then I shall be at your service."
After several minutes of silence I inquired whether any more pins had proved unruly.
"No, I"m getting on pretty well. Say, can you get at your soap?"
"Why, do you want some?"
"Yes."