`` All alone ? '' asked Carrie Bell , wonderingly . `` I 'm not so afraid of being alone as some people are , '' said Rachel , with dignity . The other girls went on , leaving Rachel sitting on the skids , in the shadow of the big white boat . She sat there for a time dreaming happily , with her blue eyes on the far , pearly horizon , and her golden head leaning against the boat . Suddenly she heard a step behind her . When she turned her head a man was standing beside her , looking down at her with big , merry , blue eyes . Rachel was quite sure that she had never seen him before ; yet those eyes seemed to her to have a strangely familiar look . She liked him . She felt no shyness nor timidity , such as usually afflicted her in the presence of strangers . He was a tall , stout man , dressed in a rough fishing suit , and wearing an oilskin cap on his head . His hair was very thick and curly and fair ; his cheeks were tanned and red ; his teeth , when he smiled , were very even and white . Rachel thought he must be quite old , because there was a good deal of gray mixed with his fair hair . `` Are you watching for the mermaids ? '' he said . Rachel nodded gravely . From any one else she would have scrupulously hidden such a thought . `` Yes , I am , '' she said . `` Mother says there is no such thing as a mermaid , but I like to think there is . Have you ever seen one ? ''
The big man sat down XXXXX a bleached log of driftwood and smiled at her .
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