CHAPTER XXI
McClintock's island was twelve miles long and eight miles wide, with the shape
of an oyster. ‘I
am far from imagining anything of the kind. What was the name on those
marriage lines you showed me?’
‘M—Melusine,’ stammered the woman, her countenance yet registering
shock. ’
‘Eh bien. There’s a great gulf opened, and nobody’s got any plans what to do with
us. ’
Gerald was relieved to find the girl did not attempt to run away, but meekly
allowed him to usher her into the spacious and comfortable library which was
his habitual haunt when at home. And
Miss Miniver began to sway her. A woman
may choose any one for her lover, but for her friend she makes no mistake. ‘Not from the nuns, no. He was a comforting,
humorous old ruffian; but there were few men in the Orient more deeply read in
psychology and physiognomy. To be free of outward distraction, he
shut his eyes and concentrated upon the scraps she had given him; and shortly,
with his eyes still closed, he began to describe Ruth's island: the mountain at one
end, with the ever-recurring scarves of mist drifting across the lava-scarred face;
the jungle at the foot of it; the dazzling border of white sand; the sprawling store
of the trader and the rotting wharf, sundrily patched with drift-wood; the native
huts on the sandy floor of the palm groves; the scattered sandalwood and ebony;
the screaming parakeets in the plantains; the fishing proas; the mission with its
white washed walls and barren frontage; the lagoon, fringed with coco palms,
now ruffled emerald, now placid sapphire. Unless they remind him now and then not to. *****
October. “I heard the clock strike as I crossed the square,” she answered.
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