But one morning, as the fog was clearing away and the sparkle of the
distant sea was beginning to show from his window, he rose from his
belated breakfast to fetch water from the "breaker" outside, which had
to be replenished weekly from Sancelito, as there was no spring in his
vicinity. As he opened the door, he was inexpressibly startled by the
figure of a young woman standing in front of it, who, however, half
fearfully, half laughingly withdrew before him. But his own manifest
disturbance apparently gave her courage.
"I jess was looking at that thing," she said bashfully, pointing to the
semaphore.
He was still more astonished, for, looking at her dark eyes and olive
complexion, he had expected her to speak Italian or broken English. And,
possibly because for a long time he had seen and known little of women,
he was quite struck with her good looks. He hesitated, stammered, and
then said:--
"Won't you come in?"
She drew back still farther and made a rapid gesture of negation with
her head, her hand, and even her whole lithe figure.
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