surf running along the shore--and, gradually, of a white speck,
growing to a blur, that intruded itself upon the drab prospect of
the sea.

Lazily interested, he watched this blur increase until it became
the ~Idalia~ steaming at full speed, coming down the coast. Without
changing his position he kept his eyes upon the beautiful white yacht
as she drew swiftly near, and came opposite to Coralio. Then, sitting
upright, he saw her float steadily past and on. He had seen the
frequent splash of her polished brass work and the stripes of her
deck-awnings--so much, and no more. Like a ship on a magic lantern
slide the ~Idalia~ had crossed the illuminated circle of the consul's
little world, and was gone. Save for the tiny cloud of smoke that
was left hanging over the brim of the sea, she might have been an
immaterial thing, a chimera of his idle brain.

Geddie went into his office and sat down to dawdle over his report.
If the reading of the article in the paper had left him unshaken,
this silent passing of the ~Idalia~ had done for him still more.
It had brought the calm and peace of a situation from which all
uncertainty had been erased. He knew that men sometimes hope without
being aware of it. Now, since she had come two thousand miles and
had passed without a sign, not even his unconscious self need cling
to the past any longer.

After dinner, when the sun was low behind the mountains, Geddie
walked on the little strip of beach under the coconuts. The wind
was blowing mildly landward, and the surface of the sea was rippled
by tiny wavelets.