J. Allan Dunn

“ Once, when the mischievous wind whipped a perfumed strand of her hair across his face, he deliberately went away from her on the idle pretense of looking for more driftwood, though the raft was then complete, and stood dizzily facing the lagoon to fight it out.
“You came pretty close to being a cad,” he told himself. “Another second and you would have kissed her. A fine protector you are for a lonely girl.” ”

“ The tide was on the turn and Leila prepared to keep the raft from bumping at the schooner's side. Presently the influence of the flood swung it clear as the schooner slowly responded to the shifting current. She let go of the stays, resting her folded arms on the raft, her body in the warm water, and waited for Chalmers' reappearance. Farther aft, the open porthole of Tuan Yuck's cabin remained dark, like the socket of a blind eye. ”

“ Chalmers answered, “but I've got to quell it. Some one's got to stay on watch here.”
“Pouf!” She dismissed the reason with a charming moue, like the puff of an imaginary cigarette. “We can watch them ever so much better from the lagoon. You are afraid I'm going to be a hindrance—I'm not. You are going to make a little raft, you said, for the things you are going to bring back?”
“Yes, ammunition, some clothes, my charts, the chronometer, and, if I can get away with it, the schooner's compass.” ”