It was the plateau on which the new smelter stood. But, changed as it was in the new geography of the flood, Seyd did not recognize it until, scrambling ashore with Francesca, he saw above the dark mass of the buildings the cable and iron ore buckets in dim outline against the sky.
"Why, it's the smelter!" he shouted, in glad surprise. "Ever since the explosion we have kept a man here on guard. _Ola!_ Calixto! _Ola! Ola!_"
While he was calling a yellow oblong broke out of the building's mass, framing the black silhouette of a man. "It is the _jefe_!" They heard his comment to his woman inside, then, uttering a volley of surprised "_Caramba's!_" he came rushing down the bank with his lantern.
When Francesca's pale wet face shone under its sudden glow he dropped the lantern, which, fortunately, did not go out. Picking it up again, he lighted their way to the adobe that had served Billy for house and office while the smelter was building.
For use during the rains, a chimney and wide hearth had been installed in the adobe, and while Calixto was building a roaring fire Seyd directed a piratical raid on Billy's trunks. At first his search returned only muddy overalls and soiled clothing of various sorts, but at the very bottom--just as they had been placed by the hands of a careful mother--a new suit of flannel pajamas and a voluminous woolen bathrobe appeared. When, with some misgivings, and confused, he suggested a change, a touch of the girl's old archness flashed out. Her smile was almost mischievous as she returned thanks.
"I'm sorry there's nothing better to offer." The smile emboldened him to add: "But they will serve till we have something to eat. Then you may have the fire all to yourself to dry your own things."
She smiled again when, returning with food and coffee prepared by Calixto's woman, he exclaimed, "You look like the Queen of Sheba!"
With the brown-black hair swinging almost to her knees and the bathrobe--a gorgeous affair in pink chosen with an eye to Billy's vivid taste--belted in to her waist and pajamas ballooning beneath over small bare feet, she did look Oriental. When the coffee and food had relit her eyes and restored her usual faint color he was sure that she had never looked so distractingly pretty. The effect was not diminished either by her small vexed frowns at the revelations of smooth whiteness caused by the persistent slipping of the wide sleeves. When, as they sat by the fire after the meal, warmth and fatigue moved her to a yawn and he caught the full redness of her mouth before she could cover it the intimacy of it all sent the blood drumming through his pulses. If her serious eyes restrained him, they did not repress his thought.