"I don't want to go to the Landing, and the canoe would tow easier with no one on board. Your skiff should carry two." He ran the craft in, made fast the canoe, and then held out his hand. When she was seated, he pushed off. "Where shall I take you?" he asked gravely. "To the large island yonder--the Island of Pines," she said, indicating it; and he knew that this was Geraldine Frobisher, whom Mappin had discussed. Andrew admitted that his description of her was warranted. "You have been unlucky," he remarked. "I've been careless and have had to pay for it. We got breakfast early and I've missed my lunch." "It's nearly three o'clock," said Andrew, pulling faster. "But how is it no one came to look for you?" "My aunt goes to sleep in the afternoon; my father had some business at the Landing--if he had been at home it would have taken him some time to find me. He would have searched the nearer islands first, systematically and in rotation." She smiled. "That's the kind of man he is. I suppose you have guessed who I am?" "Miss Frobisher?" "And you're Mr. Allinson. It wasn't hard to identify you. Perhaps you know that your doings are a source of interest to the people at the Landing." "I can't see why that should be so." "For one thing, they seem to think you are up against what they call 'a tough proposition'." Andrew's face grew thoughtful. Since the collapse of the heading, he had spent a fortnight in determined physical toil, as his scarred hands and broken nails testified. It had been a time of stress and anxiety, and during it he had realized that the mine would be a costly one to work. The ore must carry a high percentage of metal if it were to pay for extraction. "I'm afraid that's true," he said. "Then you won't get much leisure for hunting and fishing?" Andrew laughed. "After all, those were not my objects in coming out, though you're not the only person who seems to have concluded that they were." "I have no opinion on the matter," Geraldine declared. "But at the Landing you are supposed to be more of a sportsman than a miner--isn't it flattering to feel that people are talking about you? Then you are really working at the mine?" "So far, I've saved the Company about two dollars and a-half a day." "But isn't your voice in controlling things worth more than that?" "No," Andrew replied; "I'm afraid it isn't." "Then you don't know much about mining?" "I believe," Andrew answered dryly, "I know a little more than I did." Geraldine was pleased with him. The man was humorously modest, but he looked capable and resolute. "Well," she said, "it can't be easy work; though one understands that getting the ore out is not always the greatest difficulty." "It's hard enough when the roof comes down, and the props crush up, and the water breaks in. Still, I believe you're right."