Explore "Into the Primitive" by Robert Ames Bennet on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Though the sea within the reefs was fast smoothing to a glassy plain in the dead calm, they did not see Blake on his return until he struck shallow water and stood up to wade ashore. The tide had begun to ebb before he started landward, and though he was a powerful swimmer, the long pull against the current had so tired him that when he took to wading he moved at a tortoise-like gait.
"The bloomin' loafer! " commented Winthrope. He glanced quickly about, and at sight of Miss Leslie's arching brows, hastened to add: "Beg pardon! He -- ah -- reminds me so much of a navvy, you know."