Then for an instant he hesitated as if about to speak, but Mrs.Bunker, with a delicacy that she could not herself comprehend at the moment, hurried back to the cabin without giving him an opportunity.
Nor did she again intrude upon his meditations.

Hidden in his disguise, which to her eyes did not, however, seem to conceal his characteristic figure, he wandered for nearly an hour under the bluff and along the shore, returning at last almost mechanically to the cabin, where, oblivious of his surroundings, he reseated himself in silence by the table with his cheek resting on his hand.

Presently, her quick, experienced ear detected the sound of oars in their row-locks; she could plainly see from her kitchen window a small boat with two strangers seated at the stern being pulled to the shore.

With the same strange instinct of delicacy, she determined not to go out lest her presence might embarrass her guest's reception of his friends.

But as she turned towards the living room she found he had already risen and was removing his hat and pilot coat.