Page:Wilson - The Boss of Little Arcady (1905).djvu/331

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
THE LOYALTY OF JIM
311

acquire it," I said, "but it stays on, and I've a notion it will stay on as long as Jim and I are uncorrupted. But it shan't inconvenience you," I added brightly, in time to forestall an imminent other "Nonsense!"

Being thus neatly thwarted, she looked over my shoulder and bent to her oars, for we had again drifted toward the troubled waters of the dam.

"I warned you—if you listened to me," I reminded her.

"Oh, I've not been listening—only thinking."

"Of course, and you were disbelieving. It's high time you put us ashore. I want to believe, and I want not to be drowned. So does Jim,—both of 'em."

She pointed the boat to our landing, and as she leaned her narrow shoulders far back she shot me one swift look. But I could see much farther into the water that floated us.