They discussed the mine until Yan Li called them to supper, and for the next two weeks they worked very hard. Then Andrew went down to the Landing on business, and one day he sat lazily in a rowing skiff on the Lake of Shadows. A blaze of sunshine fell upon the shimmering water, which farther on was streaked with deep-blue lines, but close at hand it lay dim and still, reflecting the somber pines. The skiff was drifting past the shore of a rocky island, on which a few maples, turning crimson, made patches of glowing color among the dusky needles, when Andrew saw a girl sitting on the shore. She was near when he noticed her, and it struck him that she was remarkably pretty. The thin white dress, cut in the current American fashion, left her finely molded arms uncovered to the elbow and revealed her firm white throat. Her hands were shapely; and, for her hat lay beside her, he noticed the warm coppery tones in her hair. She had gray eyes and her face pleased him, though while observing the regularity of her features, he could not clearly analyze its charm. Then feeling that he had gazed at her as long as was admissible, he dipped his oars, but, somewhat to his astonishment, she called to him. "Did you see a canoe as you came?" she asked. "No," Andrew answered. "Have you lost yours?" "It floated away; I didn't notice until it was too late. It went toward the point." She indicated the end of the island, and Andrew nodded. "It would drift to leeward. I'll go and look for it." As he swung the skiff round it struck him that she had kept curiously still. Her pose was somewhat unusual, for she sat with her feet drawn up beneath her skirt, and skirts, as he remembered, were cut decidedly short. He rowed away and presently saw the canoe some distance off. On running alongside, he noticed a pair of light stockings in the bottom, and laughed as the reason for the girl's attitude became apparent. Pulling back with the canoe astern, he loosed the light craft and drove it toward the beach with a vigorous push. "Thank you," said the girl, and he tactfully rowed away. He had not gone far when he heard a hail and saw her standing on the point, waving her hand. For a moment or two he hesitated. As the canoe had grounded within her reach, he could not see what she wanted; and, in view of the discovery he had made, he had imagined that she would have been glad to get rid of him. Still, she had called him and he pulled back. "Can I be of any further assistance?" he asked, noticing with some relief that she now had her shoes on. "Yes," she said frankly. "I am marooned here; there's no paddle in the canoe." "No paddle? But how could it have fallen out?" "I don't know; and it doesn't seem an important point. Perhaps the canoe rocked, and it overbalanced." "I could tow you to the Landing," Andrew suggested. His manner was formally correct and she felt half amused. This young man was obviously not addicted to indiscriminate gallantry.