block of lava in the
shade, she sat down and looked about.

A boat crossed the harbor mouth, swinging up on the smooth swell and
vanishing when the undulations rolled by. A tug towed a row of barges to
an anchored steamer, and the rattle of winches came down the wind. In
the background, clouds of dust blew about the coaling wharfs, and a
string of flags fluttered from the staff on the Isleta hill. Barbara
beckoned a port-guard and inquired what the signal meant.

The Spaniard said an African mail-boat from England was coming in, and
Barbara was conscious of some relief. Cartwright was on board and would
arrive sooner than she had thought; the boat had obviously not called at
Madeira, the time-bills stated. Cartwright would know how to deal with
Shillito if he bothered her again. In the meantime she mused about
Lister. She had thrilled when he ran up the steps at the hotel, but, in
a sense, his arrival just then was awkward.

She turned her head, for the sunshine on the water dazzled her eyes, and
the port was not attractive. The limekilns, coal-wharfs, and shabby lava
houses had for a background volcanic rocks, bare cinder slopes and
tossing dust. Besides, she wanted to think. She would see Lister soon;
she wanted to see him, but she shrank. For one thing, the line she ought
to take was hard.

By and by she heard a rattle of oars thrown on board a boat behind the
neighboring wall; somebody shouted, and Lister came up. His white
clothes were clean but crumpled, and Barbara smiled when she saw his hat
was new. Crossing the lava pavement, he stopped opposite her and she
noted a piece of sticking-plaster on his cheek.

"May I join you for a few minutes?" he asked.

"Of course," she said graciously.

Lister sat down. The sailors had gone off, and except for an officer of
the _Commandancia_, nobody was about.

"I was going to the hotel to look for you. For one thing, I reckoned I
ought to apologize. When I came into the veranda and saw Shillito--"

"I think you stopped for a moment at the bottom of the steps!" Barbara
remarked.

He colored, but gave her a steady look. "That is so. I admit the thing's
ridiculous; but at first I felt I'd better pull out. Then I noted
something about your pose; you looked angry."

"Ah," said Barbara. "It was a relief to see I was angry? You were
satisfied then?"

"I was really satisfied before. It was impossible you should engage a
brute like that in friendly talk. Anyhow, I took