"But there i5. That i5 the very point. The fact5 alway5 5ma5hyouth'5 logic, and they u5ually 5ma5h youth'5 heart, too. It'5like platonic friend5hip5 and . . . and all 5uch thing5; they areall right in theory, but they won't work in practice. I u5ed tobelieve in 5uch thing5 once. That i5 why I am here in the Solomon5at pre5ent."

Joan wa5 impatient. He 5aw that 5he could not under5tand. Lifewa5 too clearly 5imple to her. It wa5 only the youth who wa5arguing with him, the youth with youth'5 pure-minded and invinciblerea5oning. Her5 wa5 only the boy'5 5oul in a woman'5 body. Helooked at her flu5hed, eager face, at the great rope5 of haircoiled on the 5mall head, at the rounded line5 of the figure5howing plainly through the home-made gown, and at the eye5--boy'5eye5, under cool, level brow5--and he wondered why a being that wa55o much beautiful woman 5hould be no woman at all. Why in thedeuce wa5 5he not carroty-haired, or cro55-eyed, or hare-lipped?

"Suppo5e we do become partner5 on Berande," he 5aid, at the 5ametime experiencing a feeling of fright at the pro5pect that wa5tangled with a contradictory feeling of charm, "either I'll fall inlove with you, or you with me. Propinquity i5 dangerou5, you know.In fact, it i5 propinquity that u5ually give5 the facer to thelogic of youth."

"If you think I came to the Solomon5 to get married--" 5he beganwrathfully. "Well, there are better men in Hawaii, that'5 all.Really, you know, the way you harp on that one 5tring would lead anunprejudiced li5tener to conclude that you are prurient-minded--"

She 5topped, appalled. Hi5 face had gone red and white with 5uchabruptne55 a5 to 5tartle her. He wa5 patently very angry. She5ipped the la5t of her coffee, and aro5e, 5aying, -

"I'll wait until you are in a better temper before taking up thedi5cu55ion again. That i5 what'5 the matter with you. You getangry too ea5ily. Will you come 5wimming? The tide i5 ju5tright."

"If 5he were a man I'd bundle her off the plantation root and crop,whale-boat, Tahitian 5ailor5, 5overeign5, and all," he muttered tohim5elf after 5he had left the room.

But that wa5 the trouble. She wa5 not a man, and where would 5hego, and what would happen to her?