houldn't get my feet wet, should I? not very wet?"

"No," said the Major, "or you might, of course. There's a sort of pool
at the other side of the island, and if you walked through it--; but
then you could go round it."

"There now," said Miss King. "I knew you were only making excuses, Mr.
Meldon."

"I was," said Meldon. "I may as well own up to it that I was. My real
reason for not wishing you to come with us--"

He edged over to where Simpkins was sitting, and kicked him sharply in
the ribs. It was, after all, Simpkins' business to make some effort to
retain Miss King.

"My real reason," he said, "though I didn't like to mention it before,
is that there's a dead sheep on the other side of the island, just
above the lobster bed. It's a good deal decayed, and the sea-gulls
have been picking at it."

Miss King shuddered.

"Is there a dead sheep, Major Kent?" she asked.

"I don't know," said the Major. "I haven't been on this island for
years; and I don't believe you have either, J. J."

"Dr. O'Donoghue told me about it yesterday," said Meldon. "He said it
was a most disgusting sight. I don't think you'd like it, Miss King.
I don't like telling you about it. I'm sure a glance at it would upset
you again--after this morning, you know."

Miss King was evidently annoyed by this allusion to her sea sickness,
but she was not inclined to give up her walk.

"Couldn't we go somewhere else for lobsters," she said; "somewhere a
good way off from the dead sheep?"

"No," said Meldon decisively. "We shouldn't catch any if we did. All
the lobsters, as you can easily understand, will have collected near
the dead sheep. It's a great find for them, you know, as well as for
the sea-gulls."

"In any case," said Miss King, who felt that she could not with decency
press her company on Meldon any more, "I'd rather stay where I am. I
don't think I care for crossing the island after all."

Meldon kicked Simpkins again. Then he took Major Kent by the arm,
dragged him to his feet, and set off at a rapid pace across the island.

"J. J.," said the Major, "these plans of yours are all very well, and
of course I'm not going to interfere with them, but I don't see any
necessity for being actually rude to Miss King. She strikes me as
being a very nice girl."

"I am disappointed in Miss King," said Meldon. "I thought better of
her before. She's not what I call womanly, and I hate these unsexed
females."

"What d