“I’ll tell you so’s you won’t have to work up your dirty ‘magination.

“This is stupid.” She stood in front of him to make him look her in the eye. “Tell me what’s wrong!”

“You don’t think I know that getting the sail and the mast and getting those Indians to do all that work had not come at a price?”

“No. I know you know it came at a price.” She looked him in the eye and began to laugh; she laughed more loudly the more she thought of it. “Oh, I see.” She lost the smile and suddenly became angry. “I see. The whore traded her body for all that.” She pointed accusingly at the canvas in front of them. She twisted a cigarette and smoked and blew smoke at the shore and turned to look him in the eye.

“Take it back.”

“Take what back?”

“Callin’ me a whore.”

“I didn’t call you a whore.”

“You did. You thought it. You thought I’d do that with someone besides you and I want you to say you’re sorry for that.”

“I won’t.”

“Then we’re through.”

He shrugged and worked on the sail that had caused so much tension and unhappiness between them. He half muttered to himself. “If you do such things, then what am I to think?”

“What things?” She stood, feeling a bit smug. She’d make a good lawyer, he thought.

“You know what things. Hilola, it’s bad enough it happened, don’t make me say it. Don’t make me say what you did.”

She was furious now, furious at his superiority and his low thinking of her. “You know what I paid for all this?”

“Ah, yes, ah…no! But I’m not a child. I have an imagination.” He was blushing now.

“I’ll tell you so’s you won’t have to work up your dirty ‘magination. Three trade knives, a broken axe, and two squawfish, and, oh, yeah, a piece of broken mirror.” She turned away as he reached for her. He was devastated and humiliated by his own corrupt thoughts.

She pushed him away. “Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me and don’t look at me. I think I might hate you.” She sounded very silly and childish saying that but she meant it and now they got as far away from each other as a fourteen foot boat would allow; Hilola at the bow and Ramon astern. Allingham; Desperate Ride