But in a moment I was glad that I had not said this; after her words to
me it would have been unmanly, and, besides, I knew she knew it.
When I lost sight of her in the grove by the house, I turned and picked
up the pages of the story of Tomaso and Lucilla, which I had dropped. In
doing so I saw her inkstand, with its open case near by it, on the
ground by the stone on which she had been sitting. I put the inkstand in
its case, closed it, and stood for some minutes holding it and thinking;
but I did not carry it away with me as a memento. Drawing down a branch
of the tree, I hung the little case securely by its handles to a twig,
where it would be in full view of any one walking that way.
XXXIII.
THE DISTANT TOPSAIL.
I found Walkirk still fishing near the place where I had left him.
"I was beginning to be surprised at your long absence," he said, "and
was thinking of going to look for you. Have you had good luck?"
This was a hard question to answer. I smiled grimly. "I have not been
fishing," I answered. "I have been dictating my story to my nun."
The rod dropped from the relaxed fingers of my under-study, and he stood
blankly staring at me, and waiting for an explanation. I gave it.
Depressed as I was, I could not help feeling interested in the variety
of expressions which passed over Walkirk's face, as I related what had
happened since I had seen him.
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