Can't you see that I am just bursting to tell somebody, anybody, about my shipwreck ?" He smiled; it was the first time in weeks.

And he smiled, not so much at what she said, as at the way she said it--the whimsical expression of her face, the laughter in her eyes, and the several tiny lines of humour that drew in at the corners.

He was curiously wondering as to what her age was, as he said aloud: "Yes, tell me, please." "That I will not--not now," she retorted, with a toss of the head.

"I'll find somebody to tell my story to who does not have to be asked.

Also, I want information.