not trouble to analyze them. All she knew was that the man's voice
conveyed a subtle acknowledgment of her feminine divinity. The
resultant thrill of happiness startled, even dismayed her. This
incipient flirtation must be put a stop to instantly.

"Now that you have brought me here with so much difficulty, what are
you going to do?" she said. "It will be madness for you to attempt to
ford that passage again. Where there is one of those horrible things
there are others, I suppose."

Jenks smiled. Somehow he knew that this strict adherence to business
was a cloak for her real thoughts. Already these two were able to
dispense with spoken word.

But he sedulously adopted her pretext.

"That is one reason why I brought the crowbars," he explained. "If you
will sit down for a little while I will have everything properly
fixed."

He delved with one of the bars until it lodged in a crevice of the
coral. Then a few powerful blows with the back of the axe wedged it
firmly enough to bear any ordinary strain. The rope-ends reeved through
the pulley on the tree were lying where they fell from the girl's hand
at the close of the struggle. He deftly knotted them to the rigid bar,
and a few rapid turns of a piece of wreckage passed between the two
lines strung them into a tautness that could not be attained by any
amount of pulling.

Iris watched the operation in silence. The sailor always looked at his