<rV»iftf--a<a-. . ii J i ftM lM 
 
 BeeM»fitffCssi 
 
 BX^ o i:? R R 
 
 HIS NATIV 
 
 7 
 
 
 I 
 
 LOUIS MECKE 
 
 
 UC-NRLF 
 
 ill 
 
 rirJ<%<«^»::OfBiPODa&<KiS«MKaSi»eK2de6^^^ . 
 
 ■' « 
 
 

Le-jennabon put the wreath on her head. 
 
 Page I//, 
 
BY REEF 
 AND PALM 
 
 BY LOUIS BECKE 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION 
 
 BY THE EARL OF 
 
 PEMBROKE 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
 PHILADELPHIA MDCGCC 
 
Printed by J. B. Lippimcott Company, 
 Philadelphia, U.6.A. 
 
Illustrations. 
 
 FAGS 
 
 Le-jennabon put the wreath on her head 
 
 Frontispiece. 
 
 The value of a tun of oil and a bag of 
 
 Chilian dollars gasped out its life 
 
 upon the matted floor 49 
 
 The old woman awaited him, holding 
 
 the girl by the hand 78 
 
 So Taku stooped and picked it up from 
 
 where it lay on the mat ..... 186 
 
 268511 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2007 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/byreefpalmOObecl<rich 
 
By Louis Becke. 
 
 HIS NATIVE WIFE. 
 
 BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 Issued in the Lotos Library. Illustrated. 
 
 i6mo. Polished buckram, 75 cents 
 
 per volume. 
 
 THE EBBING OF THE TIDE. 
 
 SOUTH SHA STORIES. 
 
 Large x2mo. Cloth extra, I1.25. 
 
 ** Mr. Becke tells his stories with an utter 
 simplicity that is at once dignified and in- 
 expressibly pungent," — Boston Evening 
 Transcript. 
 
Introduction. 
 
 A.^ 
 
 HEN in October, 
 1870, I sailed into 
 the harbour of Apia, 
 Samoa, in the ill- 
 fated Albatross^ Mr. 
 Louis Becke was 
 gaining his first ex- 
 periences of island 
 life as a trader on 
 his own account by 
 running a cutter 
 between Apia and 
 Savaii. 
 
 It was rather a 
 notable moment in 
 Apia, for two reasons. In the first 
 place, the German traders were 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 shaking in their shoes for fear of 
 what the French squadron might 
 do to them, and we were the 
 bearers of the good news from 
 Tahiti that the chivalrous Admiral 
 Clouet, with a very proper mag- 
 nanimity, had decided not to molest 
 them J and, secondly, the beach 
 was still seething with excitement 
 over the departure on the previous 
 day of the pirate Pease, carrying 
 with him the yet more illustrious 
 « Bully " Hayes. 
 
 It happened in this wise. A 
 month or two before our arrival, 
 Hayes had dropped anchor in Apia, 
 and some ugly stories of recent 
 irregularities in the labour trade 
 had come to the ears of Mr. 
 Williams, the English consul. 
 Mr. Williams, with the assistance 
 of the natives, very cleverly seized 
 his vessel in the night, and ran her 
 ashore, and detained Mr. Hayes 
 pending the arrival of an English 
 man-of-war to which he could be 
 given in charge. But in those 
 happy days there were no prisons 
 in Samoa, so that his confinement 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 was not irksome, and his only hard 
 labour was picnics, of which he 
 was the life and soul. All went 
 pleasanciy until Mr. Pease — a de- 
 generate sort of pirate who made 
 his Hving by half bullying, half 
 swindling lonely white men on 
 small islands out of their cocoanut 
 oil, and unarmed merchantmen out 
 of their stores — came to Apia in an 
 armed ship with a Malay crew. 
 From that moment Hayes's life 
 became less idyllic. Hayes and 
 Pease conceived a most violent 
 hatred of each other, and poor old 
 Mr. Williams was really worried 
 into an attack of elephantiasis 
 (which answers to the gout in 
 those latitudes) by his continual 
 efforts to prevent the two despera- 
 does from flying at each other's 
 throat. Heartily glad was he 
 when Pease — who was the sort of 
 man that always observed les 
 convenances when possible, and 
 who fired a salute of twenty-one 
 guns on the Queen's birthday — 
 came one afternoon to get his 
 papers " all regular," and clear for 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sea. But lo ! the next morning, 
 when his vessel had disappeared, it 
 was found that his enemy Captain 
 Hayes had disappeared also, and the 
 ladies of Samoa were left discon- 
 solate at the departure of the most 
 agreeable man they had ever known. 
 
 However, all this is another 
 story, as Mr. Kipling says, and one 
 which I hope Mr. Becke will tell 
 us more fully some day, for he 
 knew Hayes well, having acted as 
 supercargo on board his ship, and 
 shared a shipwreck and other ad- 
 ventures with him. 
 
 But even before this date Mr. 
 Becke had had as much experience 
 as falls to most men of adventures 
 in the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 Born at Port Macquarrie in 
 
 Australia, where his father was 
 
 clerk of petty sessions, he was 
 
 seized at the age of fourteen with 
 
 an intense longing to go to sea. 
 
 • It is possible that he inherited this 
 
 I passion through his mother, for her 
 
 I father, Charles Beilby, who was 
 
 private secretary to the Duke of 
 
 Cumberland, invested a legacy that 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 fell to him in a small vessel and 
 sailed with his family to the then 
 very nev^ world of Australia. How- 
 ever this may be, it was impossible 
 to keep Louis Becke at home -, and, 
 as an alternative, an uncle under- 
 took to send him, and a brother 
 two years older, to a mercantile 
 house in California. His first 
 voyage was a terrible one. There 
 were no steamers, of course, in 
 those days, and they sailed for San 
 Francisco in a wretched old barque. 
 For over a month they were drift- 
 ing about the stormy sea between 
 Australia and New Zealand a 
 partially dismasted and leaking 
 wreck. The crew mutinied — they 
 had bitter cause to — and only after 
 calling at Rurutu in the Tubuai 
 Group and obtaining fresh food did 
 they permit the captain to resume 
 command of the half-sunken old 
 craft. They were ninety days in 
 reaching Honolulu, and another 
 forty in making the Californian 
 coast. 
 
 The two lads did not find the 
 routine of a merchant's office at all 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to their taste ; and while the elder 
 obtained employment on a cattle 
 ranche, Louis, still faithful to the 
 sea, got a berth as clerk in a steam- 
 ship company, and traded to the 
 Southern ports. In a year's time 
 he had money enough to take 
 passage in a schooner bound on a 
 shark-catching cruise to Christmas 
 and Palmyra Islands in the North 
 Pacific. The life was a very rough 
 one, and full of incident and adven- 
 ture — which I hope he will relate 
 some day. Returning to Honolulu, 
 he fell in with an old man who had 
 bought a schooner for a trading 
 venture amongst the Western Caro- 
 Hnes. Becke put in $i,ooo, and 
 sailed with him as supercargo, he 
 and the skipper being the only 
 white men on board. He soon 
 discovered that, though a good sea- 
 man, the old man knew nothing of 
 navigation. In a few weeks they 
 were among the Marshall Islands, 
 and the captain went mad from 
 delirium tremens. Becke and the 
 three native sailors ran the vessel into 
 a httle uninhabited atoll, and for a 
 
 lo 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 week had to keep the captain tied 
 up to prevent his killing himself. 
 They got him right at last and 
 stood to the westward. On their 
 voyage they were witnesses of a 
 tragedy (in this instance fortunately 
 not complete), on which the pitiless 
 sun of the Pacific has looked down 
 very often. They fell in with a 
 big Marshall Island sailing canoe 
 that had been blown out of sight of 
 land, and had drifted six hundred 
 miles to the westward. Out of 
 her complement of seventy people, 
 thirty were dead. They gave them 
 provisions and water, and left them 
 to make Strong's Island (Kusaie), 
 which was in sight. Becke and 
 the chief swore Marshall Island 
 Bruderschaft with each other. Years 
 afterwards, when he came to live 
 in the group, the chief proved his 
 friendship in a signal manner. 
 
 The cruise proved a profitable 
 one, and from that time Mr. Becke 
 determined to become a trader and 
 to learn to know the people of 
 every group of the Pacific; and 
 returning to Cahfornia, he made 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 for Samoa, and from thence to 
 Sydney. But at this time the 
 Palmer River gold rush had just 
 broken out in North Queensland, 
 and a brother who was a bank 
 manager on the celebrated Charters 
 Towers goldfields, invited him to 
 come up, as every one seemed to be 
 making his fortune. He wandered 
 between the rushes for two years, 
 not making a fortune, but acquiring 
 much useful experience, learning 
 amongst other things the art of a 
 blacksmith, and becoming a crack 
 shot with a rifle. Returning to 
 Sydney, he sailed for the Friendly 
 Islands (Tonga) in company with 
 the king of Tonga's yacht — the 
 Taufaahau. The Friendly Islanders 
 disappointed him (at which no one 
 that knows them will wonder), and 
 he went on to Samoa, and set up as 
 a trader on his own account for the 
 first time. He and a Manhiki 
 half-caste bought a cutter, and went 
 into partnership, trading throughout 
 the group. This was the time of 
 Colonel Steinberger's brief tenure 
 of power. The natives were fighting 
 
 12 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and the cutter was seized on two 
 occasions. When the war was over 
 he made a study of the language, 
 and became a great favourite with 
 the natives, as indeed seems to have 
 been the case in most of the places 
 he went to in Polynesia and Mi- 
 cronesia. From Samoa he was sent 
 away in charge of a trading vessel 
 under sealed orders to the Marshall 
 Islands. These orders turned out 
 to be to hand the vessel over to the 
 notorious Captain "Bully" Hayes. 
 (Some day he promises that he will 
 give us the details of this very 
 curious adventure.) He found 
 Hayes awaiting him in his famous 
 brig Leonora in Milli Lagoon. He 
 handed over his charge and took 
 passage with him in the brig. 
 After some months cruising in the 
 Carolines they were wrecked on 
 Strong's Island (Kusaie). Hayes 
 made himself the ruler of the island, 
 and Mr. Becke and he had a bitter 
 quarrel. The natives treated the 
 latter with great kindness, built 
 him a house, and gave him land on 
 the lee side of the island, where he 
 
 13 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 lived happily enough for five months. 
 Hayes vs^as captured by an English 
 man-of-war, but escaped and w^ent 
 to Guam. Mr. Becke w^ent back 
 in the cruiser to the Colonies, and 
 then again sailed for Eastern Poly- 
 nesia, living in the Gambiers, 
 Paumotus, and Easter and Pitcairn 
 Islands. In this part of the ocean 
 he picked up an abandoned French 
 barque on a reef, floated her, and 
 loaded her with cocoanuts, intending 
 to sail her to New Zealand with a 
 native crew, but they went ashore 
 in a hurricane and lost everything. 
 Meeting with the managing partner 
 of a Liverpool firm he took service 
 with them as a trader in the EUice 
 and Tokelau groups ; finally settling 
 down as a residential trader. Then 
 he took passage once more for the 
 CaroHnes and was wrecked on Peru, 
 one of the savage Gilbert islands 
 (lately annexed), losing every dollar 
 that he possessed. He returned to 
 Samoa and engaged as "recruiter" 
 in the labour trade. He got badly 
 hurt in an encounter with some 
 natives and went to New Zealand 
 
 H 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to recover. Then he sailed to New 
 Britain on a trading venture, and 
 fell in with and had much to do 
 with the ill-fated colonising expe- 
 dition of the Marquis de Rayo in 
 New Ireland. A bad attack of 
 malarial fever, and a wound in the 
 neck (labour recruiting or even 
 trading among the blacks of Mela- 
 nesia seems to have been a much 
 less pleasant business than residence 
 among the gentle brown folk of the 
 Eastern Pacific) made him leave 
 and return to the Marshall Islands, 
 where Lailik, the chief whom he 
 had succoured at sea years before, 
 made him welcome. He left on 
 a fruitless quest after an imaginary 
 guano island, and from then until 
 two years ago he has been living on 
 various islands in both the North 
 and South Pacific, leading what he 
 calls "a wandering and lonely but 
 not unhappy existence," "Lui," 
 as they call him, being a man both 
 liked and trusted by the natives 
 from lonely Easter Island to the 
 far-away Pellews. During one of 
 his visits to the Colonies he married 
 
 15 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 a young Irish lady, a da ighter of 
 Colonel Maunsell of H M. nth 
 Regiment, by whom he has two 
 children. For the last two years 
 he has been living in Australia and 
 contributing South Sea stories to 
 the Colonial papers. He is still in 
 the prime of Hfe, and whether he 
 will now remain within the bounds 
 of civilisation, or whether some day 
 he will return to his wanderings as 
 Odysseus is fabled to have done in 
 his old age, I fancy that he hardly 
 knows himself. But when once 
 the charm of a wild roving life has 
 got into a man's blood, the trammells 
 of civilisation are irksome and its 
 atmosphere is hard to breathe. 
 
 It will be seen from this all-too- 
 condensed sketch of Mr. Becke's 
 career that he knows the Pacific 
 as few men alive or dead have ever 
 known it. He is one of the rare 
 men who have led a very wild life 
 and have the culture and talent 
 necessary to give some acceunt of 
 it. As a rule, the men who know 
 don't write, and the men whc write 
 don't know. 
 
 16 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Every one who has a taste for 
 good stories will feel, I believe, the 
 force of these. Every one who 
 knows the South Seas, and I believe 
 many who do not, will feel that 
 they have the unmistakable stamp 
 of truth. And truth to nature is 
 — pace Mr. Oscar Wilde — a great 
 merit in a story, not only because 
 of that thrili of pleasure hard to 
 analyse, but largely made up of 
 associations, memories, and sugges- 
 tions, that faithfulness of represen- 
 tation in picture or book gives to 
 the natural man ; but because of the 
 fact that nature is almost infinitely 
 rich and the unassisted imagination 
 of man but a poor and sterile thing, 
 tending constantly towards some 
 ossified convention. " Treasure 
 Island " is a much better story than 
 *' The Wreckers," yet I, for one, 
 shall never cease to regret that Mr. 
 Stevenson did not possess, when 
 he wrote " Treasure Island," that 
 knowledge of what men and 
 schooners do in wild seas that 
 was his when he gave us " The 
 Wreckers." The detail would have 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 been so much richer and more 
 convincing. 
 
 It is open to any one to say that 
 these tales are barbarous, and what 
 Mrs. Meynell, in a very clever and 
 amusing essay, has called " de- 
 civilised." Certainly there is a 
 wide gulf separating life on a 
 Pacific island from the accumulated 
 culture of centuries of civiHsation 
 in the midst of which such as Mrs. 
 Meynell move and have their being. 
 And if there can be nothing good 
 in literature that does not spring 
 from that culture, these stories must 
 stand condemned. But such a view 
 is surely too narrow. Much as I 
 admire that lady's writings, I never 
 can think of a world from which 
 everything was eliminated that did 
 not commend itself to the dainty 
 taste of herself and her friends 
 without a feeling of impatience and 
 suffocation. It takes a huge variety 
 of men and things to make a good 
 world. And ranches and cafions, 
 veldts and prairies, tropical forests 
 and coral islands, and all that goes 
 to make up the wild life in the face 
 
 i8 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of nature or among primitive races, 
 far and free from the artificial con- 
 ditions of an elaborate civilisation, 
 form an element in the world the 
 loss of which would be bitterly felt 
 by many a man who has never set 
 foot outside his native land. 
 
 There is a certain monotony 
 perhaps about these stories. To 
 some extent this is inevitable. The 
 interests and passions of South Sea 
 Island life are neither numerous nor 
 complex, and action is apt to be 
 rapid and direct. A novelist of 
 that modern school that fills its 
 volumes, often fascinatingly enough, 
 by refining upon the shadowy re- 
 finements of civilised thought and 
 feeling, would find it hard to ply 
 his trade in South Sea Island society. 
 His models would always be cutting 
 short in five minutes the hesitations 
 and subtleties that ought to have 
 lasted them through a quarter of a 
 lifetime. But I think it is possible 
 that the English reader might gather 
 from this little book an unduly 
 strong impression of the uniformity 
 of Island life. The loves of white 
 
 ig 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 men and brown women, often 
 cynical and brutal, sometimes ex- 
 quisitely tender and pathetic, neces- 
 sarily fill a large space in any true 
 picture of the South Sea Islands, 
 and Mr. Becke, no doubt of set 
 artistic purpose, has confined him- 
 self in the collection of tales now 
 offered almost entirely to this facet 
 of the life. I do not question that 
 he is right in deciding to detract 
 nothing from the striking effect of 
 these powerful stories, taken as a 
 whole, by interspersing amongst 
 them others of a different character. 
 But I hope it may be remembered 
 that the present selection is only 
 an instalment, and that if it finds 
 favour with the British public we 
 may expect from him some of those 
 tales of adventure, and of purely 
 native life and custom, which no 
 one could tell so well as he. 
 
 Jme^ 1894, PEMBROKE. 
 
 20 
 
Challis the Doubter. 
 
 THE WHITE LADY AND THE BROWN 
 WOMAN. 
 
 OUR years had come and 
 gone since the day that 
 Challis, with a dull and 
 savage misery in his heart, 
 had, cursing the love- 
 madness which once 
 possessed him, walked out 
 from his house in an 
 Australian city with an 
 undefined and vague pur- 
 pose of going " some- 
 where" to drown his 
 sense of wrong and erase 
 from his memory the face 
 of the woman who, his 
 wife of not yet a year, 
 had played with her 
 
 his. So he thought, any- 
 
 honour and 
 how. 
 
 2T 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 You see, Challis was " a fool " — al 
 least so his pretty, violet-eyed wife 
 had told him that afternoon with a 
 bitter and contemptuous ring in her 
 voice when he had brought another 
 man's letter — written to her — and 
 with impulsive and jealous haste had 
 asked her to explain. He was a fool, 
 she had said, with an angry gleam in 
 the violet eyes, to think she could not 
 "take care" of herself. Admit re- 
 ceiving that letter? Of course ! Did 
 he think she could help other men 
 writing silly letters to her ? Did he 
 not think she could keep out of a 
 mess ? And she smiled the self- 
 satisfied smile of a woman conscious 
 of many admirers and of her own 
 powers of intrigue. 
 
 Then Challis, with a big effort, 
 gulping down the rage that stirred 
 him, made his great mistake. He 
 spoke of his love for her. Fatuity ! 
 She laughed at him, said that as she 
 detested women, his love was too 
 exacting for her if it meant that she 
 should never be commonly friendly 
 with any other man. 
 
 Challis looked at her steadily for a 
 few moments, trying to smother the 
 
 22 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 wild flood of black suspicion aroused 
 in him by the discovery of the letter 
 and confirmed by her sneering words, 
 and then said quietly but with a 
 dangerous inflexion in his voice — 
 
 "Remember — you are my wife. 
 If you have no regard for your own 
 reputation, you shall have some for 
 mine. I don't want to entertain my 
 
 friends by thrashing R , but I'm 
 
 not such a fool as you think. And if 
 you go further in this direction you'll 
 find me a bit of a brute.'* 
 
 Again the sneering laugh — " In- 
 deed ! Something very tragic will 
 occur, I suppose ? " 
 
 " No," said Challis, grimly, " some- 
 thing very prosaic — common enough 
 among men with pretty wives — I'll 
 clear out." 
 
 " I wish you would do that now," 
 said his wife, "I hate you quite 
 enough." 
 
 Of course she didn't quite mean it. 
 She really liked Challis in her own 
 small-souled way — principally because 
 his money had given her the social 
 pleasures denied her during her girl- 
 hood. With an unmoved face and 
 without farewell he left her and went 
 to his lawyer's. 
 
 23 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 A quarter of an hour later he arose 
 to go, and the lawyer asked him when 
 he intended returning. 
 
 "That all depends upon her. If 
 she wants me back again, she can 
 write, through you, and Til come — if 
 she has conducted herself with a 
 reasonable amount of propriety for 
 such a pretty woman." 
 
 Then, with an ugly look on his 
 face, Challis went out ; next day he 
 embarked in the Lady Alicia for a six 
 months' cruise among the islands of 
 the North-west Pacific. 
 
 That was four years ago, and to-day 
 Challis, who stands working at a little 
 table set in against an open window, 
 hammering out a ring from a silver 
 coin on a marlinspike and vyce, 
 whistles softly and contentedly to 
 himself as he raises his head and 
 glances through the vista of cocoanuts 
 that surround his dwelling on this 
 lonely and almost forgotten island. 
 
 " The devil ! " he thinks to him- 
 self, " I must be turning into a native. 
 Four years ! What an ass I was ! 
 And Fve never written yet — that is, 
 never sent a letter away. Well, neither 
 has she. Perhaps, after all, there was 
 
 24 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 little in that affair of R- 
 
 By God ! though, if there was, IVe 
 been very good to them in leaving 
 them a clear field. Anyhow, she's all 
 right as regards money. I'm glad Fve 
 done that. It*s a big prop to a man's 
 conscience to feel he hasn't done any- 
 thing mean ; and she likes money — 
 most women do. Of course I'll go 
 back — if she writes. If not — well, 
 then, these sinful islands can claim 
 me for their own ; that is, Nalia 
 can.'' 
 
 A native boy with shaven head, save 
 for a long tuft on the left side, came 
 down from the village, and, seating 
 himself on the gravelled space inside 
 the fence, gazed at the white man 
 with full, lustrous eyes. 
 
 "Hallo, tama!'' said Challis, 
 ** whither goest now ? ** 
 
 " Pardon, Tialli. I came to look 
 at thee making the ring. Is it of soft 
 silver — and for Nalia, thy wife ? " 
 
 '* Ay, O Shaven Head, it is. Here, 
 take this masi and go pluck me a 
 young nut to drink," and Challis 
 threw him a ship-biscuit. Then he 
 went on tapping the little band of 
 silver. He had already forgotten the 
 
 2S 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 violet eyes, and was thinking with 
 almost childish eagerness of the soft 
 glow in the black orbs of Nalia when 
 she should see his finished handiwork. 
 
 The boy returned with a young 
 cocoanut, unhusked. "Behold, Tialli. 
 This nut is a uto gdau^ sweet husk. 
 When thou hast drunk the juice give 
 it me back, that I may chew the husk 
 which is sweet as the sugar-cane of 
 Samoa," and he squatted down again 
 on the gravel. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 Challis drank, then threw him the 
 husk and resumed his work. Presently 
 the boy, tearing off a strip of the 
 husk with his white teeth, said, 
 "Tialli, how is it that there be no 
 drinking-nuts in thy house ?" 
 
 " Because, O turtle-head, my wife 
 is away; and there are no men in the 
 village to-day ; and because the women 
 of this motu * have no thought that 
 the fapalagi* may be parched with 
 thirst, and so come not near me with 
 a cocoanut." This latter in jest. 
 
 "Nay, Tialli. Not so. True it 
 is that to-day all the men are in the 
 bush binding fala leaves around the 
 cocoanut trees, else do the rats steal 
 
 * Island or country. ■ Foreigner. 
 
 26 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 Up and eat the buds and clusters of 
 little nuts. And because Nalia, thy 
 wife, is away at the other White Man's 
 house no woman cometh inside the 
 door." 
 
 Challis laughed. "O evil-minded 
 people of Nukunono ! And must I, 
 thy papalagi, be parched with thirst 
 because of this ? " 
 
 " Faiaga oe, Tialli, thou but playest 
 with me. Raise thy hand and call 
 out * I thirst ! * and every woman in the 
 village will run to thee, each with a 
 drinking-nut, and those that desire 
 thee, but are afraid, will give two. 
 But to come inside when Nalia is 
 away would be to put shame on her." 
 
 • • • • 
 
 The white man mused. The boy's 
 solemn chatter entertained him. He 
 knew well the native customs ; but, 
 to torment the boy, he commenced 
 again. 
 
 " O, foolish custom ! See how I 
 trust my wife Nalia. Is she not even 
 now in the house of another white 
 man ? " 
 
 " True. But, then, he is old and 
 feeble, and thou young and strong. 
 None but a fool desires to eat a dried 
 
 27 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 flying-fish when a fresh one miy be 
 had.** 
 
 " O, wise man with the shaven 
 crown," said Challis, with mocking 
 good nature, " thou art full of wisdom 
 of the ways of women. And if I were 
 old and withered, would Nalia then 
 be false to me in the house of another 
 and younger white man ? " 
 
 " How could she ? Would not he, 
 too, have a wife who would watch 
 her ? And if he had not, and were 
 nofo noa (single), would he be such a 
 fool to steal that which he can buy — 
 for there are many girls without 
 husbands as good to look on as that 
 Nalia of thine. And all women are 
 alike," and then, hearing a woman^s 
 voice calling his name, he stood up. 
 
 " Farewell, O ulu tula poto " (Wise 
 Baldhead), said Challis, as the boy, 
 still chewing his sweet husk, walked 
 back to the native houses clustered 
 under the grove oi pua trees. 
 
 Ere dusk, Nalia came home, a 
 slenderly-built girl with big dreamy 
 eyes, and a heavy mantle of wavy 
 hair. A white muslin gown, fastened 
 at the throat with a small silver 
 brooch, was her only garment, save 
 
 28 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 the folds of the navy-blue-and-white 
 /ava lava round her waist, which the 
 European-fashioned garment covered. 
 
 Challis was lying down when she 
 came in. Two girls who came with 
 her carried baskets of cooked food, 
 presents from old Jack Kelly, Challis's 
 fellow-trader. At a sign from Nalia 
 the girls took one of the baskets of 
 food and went away. Then, taking 
 off her wide-brimmed hat oi fala leaf^ 
 she sat down beside Challis and 
 pinched his cheek. 
 
 " O lazy one ! To let me walk from 
 the house of Tiaki all alone ! " 
 
 *' Alone ! There were three ot 
 thee." 
 
 " Tapa ! Could I talk to them! I, 
 a white man's wife, must not be too 
 familiar with every girl ; else they 
 would seek to get presents from me 
 with sweet words. Besides, could I 
 carry home the fish and cooked fowl 
 sent thee by old Tiaki ? That would 
 be unbecoming to me, even as it 
 would be if thou climbed a tree for a 
 cocoanut" — and the Daughter of the 
 Tropics laughed merrily as she patted 
 Challis on his sunburnt cheek. 
 
 Challis rose, and going to the little 
 table took from it the ring. 
 
 29 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 " See, Nalia, I am not lazy as thou 
 sayest. This is thine." 
 
 The girl, with an eager Aue ! took 
 the bauble and placed it on her finger. 
 She made a pretty picture, standing 
 there in the last glow of the sun as it 
 sank into the ocean, her languorous 
 eyes filled with a tender light. 
 
 Challis, sitting on the end of the 
 table regarding her with half-amused 
 interest as does a man watching a 
 child with a toy, suddenly flushed 
 hotly : " By God, I can't be such a 
 fool as to begin to love her in reality, 
 but yet . . . come here, Nalia," and 
 he drew her to him, and, turning her 
 face up so that he might look into her 
 eyes, he asked : 
 
 " Nalia, hast thou ever told me any 
 lies ? " 
 
 The steady depths of those dark 
 eyes looked back into his, and she 
 answered : 
 
 " Nay, I fear thee too much to lie. 
 Thou mightst kill me." 
 
 "I do but ask thee some little 
 things. It matters not to me what 
 the answer is. Yet see that thou 
 keepest nothing hidden from me." 
 
 The girl, with parted lips and one 
 hand on his, waited. 
 
 30 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 "Before thou became my wife, 
 Nalia, hadst thou any lovers ? ** 
 
 " Yes, two — Kapua and Tafu-le- 
 Afi." 
 
 "And since?" 
 
 " May I choke and perish here 
 before thee if I lie ! None." 
 
 Challis, still holding her soft brown 
 chin in his hand, asked her one more 
 question — a question that only one of 
 his temperament would have dared to 
 ask a girl of the Tokelaus. 
 
 " Nalia, dost thou love me ? ** 
 
 "Aye, alofa tumau (everlasting love). 
 Am I a fool ? Are there not Letia, 
 and Miriami, and Eline, the daughter 
 of old Tiaki, ready to come to this 
 house if I love any but thee ? There- 
 fore my love is like the suckers of the 
 fae (octopus) in its strength. My 
 mother has taught me much wisdom." 
 
 A curious feeling of satisfaction 
 possessed the man, and next day Letia, 
 the " show '* girl of the village, visiting 
 Challis's store to buy a tin of salmon, 
 saw Nalia the Lucky One seated on 
 a mat beneath the seaward side of 
 the trader's house, surrounded by a 
 billowy pile of yellow silk, diligently 
 sewing. 
 
 " Ho, dear friend of my heart ! Is 
 
 31 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 that silken dress for thee ? For the 
 love of God, let me but touch it. 
 Four dollars a fathom it be priced at. 
 Thy husband is indeed the king for 
 generosity. Art thou to become a 
 mother ? " 
 
 "Away, silly fool, and do thy buying 
 and pester me not." 
 
 Challis, coming to the corner of the 
 house, leant against a post, and some- 
 thing white showed in his hand. It 
 was a letter. His letter to the woman 
 of violet eyes, written a week ago, in 
 the half-formed idea of sending it some 
 day. He read it through, and then 
 paused and looked at Nalia. She 
 raised her head and smiled. Slowly, 
 piece by piece, he tore it into tiny 
 little squares, and, with a dreamy 
 hand-wave, threw them away. The 
 wind held them in mid-air for a 
 moment, and then carried the little 
 white flecks to the beach. 
 
 " What is it ? " said the bubbling 
 voice of Letia the Disappointed. 
 
 "Only a piece of paper that weighed 
 as a piece of iron on my bosom. But 
 it is gone now." 
 
 " Even so," said Letia, smelling the 
 gaudy label on the tin of salmon in 
 
 32 
 
BY REEF ANC PALM. 
 
 the anticipative ecstasy of a true 
 Polynesian, "/^ se me a fa^agotoimoana 
 (like a thing buried deep in ocean). 
 May God send me a white man as 
 generous as thee — a whole tin of 
 samani for nothing ! Now do 1 know 
 that Nalia will bear thee a son." 
 
 And that is why Challis the Doubter 
 has never turned up again. 
 
 33 
 
«T/x in the Blood: 
 
 E were in Man ton's 
 Hotel at Levuka — 
 Levuka in her palmy- 
 days. There were 
 Robertson, of the 
 barque Rotumah ; a fat 
 German planter from 
 the Yasawa group ; 
 Harry the Canadian, a 
 trader from the Toke- 
 laus — and myself. 
 
 Presently a knock 
 came to the door, and 
 Allan, the boatswain of 
 our brig, stood hat in 
 hand before us. He 
 was a stalwart half-caste of Manhiki, 
 and, perhaps, the greatest manaia 
 (Lothario) from Ponape to Fiji. 
 
 35 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 " Captain say to come aboard, 
 please. He at the consul's for papers 
 — he meet you at boat," and Allan 
 left. 
 
 " By shingo, dot's a big fellow,** 
 said planter Oppermann. 
 
 ** Ay," said Robertson, the trading 
 skipper, "and a good man with his 
 mauleys, too. He's the champion 
 knocker-out in Samoa, and is a match 
 for any Englishman in Polynesia, let 
 alone foreigners " — with a sour glance 
 at the German. 
 
 " Well, good-bye all," I said ; "Fm 
 sorry, Oppermann, I can't stay for 
 another day for your wedding, but 
 our skipper isn't to be got at any- 
 how." 
 
 The trading captain and Harry 
 walked with me part of the way, and 
 they commenced the usual Fiji gup, 
 
 "Just fancy that fat-headed Dutch- 
 man going all the way to Samoa and 
 picking on a young girl and sending 
 her to the Sisters to get educated 
 properly ! As if any old beach-girl 
 isn't good enough for a blessed Dutch- 
 man. Have you seen her ? " 
 
 "No," I said; "Oppermann showed 
 me her photo. Pretty girl. Says she's 
 been three years with the Sisters in 
 
 36 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 Samoa, and has got all the virtues ot 
 her white father, and none of the 
 vices of her Samoan mammy. Told 
 me he's spent over two thousand 
 dollars on her already." 
 
 Robertson smiled grimly: "Ay, I 
 don't doubt it. He's been all round 
 Levuka cracking her up. I brought 
 her here last week, and the Dutch- 
 man's been in a chronic state of silly 
 ever since. She's an almighty fine 
 girl. She's staying with the Sisters 
 here till the marriage. By the Lord, 
 here she is now coming along the 
 street ! Bet a dollar she's been round 
 Vagadace way, where there are some 
 fast Samoan women living. 'Tis in the 
 blood, I tell you." 
 
 The future possessor of the Opper- 
 mann body and estate was a pretty 
 girl. Only those who have seen fair 
 young Polynesian half-castes — before 
 they get married, and grow coarse, 
 and drink beer, and smoke like a 
 factory chimney — know how pretty. 
 
 Our boat was at the wharf, and just 
 as we stood talking Allan sauntered 
 up and asked me for a dollar to get a 
 bottle of gin. Just then the German's 
 fiancee reached us. Robertson intro- 
 duced Harry and myself to her, and 
 
 37 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 then said good-bye. She stood there 
 in the broiling Fijian sun with a 
 dainty sunshade over her face, looking 
 so lovely and cool in her spotless 
 muslin dress, and withal so innocent, 
 that I no longer wondered at the 
 Dutchman's " chronic state of silly." 
 
 Allan the Stalwart stood by waiting 
 for his dollar. The girl laughed 
 joyously when Harry the Canadian 
 said he would be at the wedding and 
 have a high time, and held out her 
 soft little hand as he bade her adieu 
 and strolled off for another drink. 
 
 The moment Harry had gone Allan 
 was a new man. Pulling off his straw 
 hat, he saluted her in Samoan, and 
 then opened fire. 
 
 " There are njany teine lalelei 
 (beautiful girls) in the world, but 
 there is none so beautiful as thou. 
 Only truth do I speak, for I have 
 been to all countries of the world. 
 Ask him who is here — our supercargo 
 — if I lie. O, maid with the teeth 
 of pearl and face like Fetuao (the 
 morning star), my stomach is drying 
 up with the fire of love." 
 
 The sunshade came a little lower, 
 and the fingers played nervously with 
 the ivory handle. I leant against a 
 cocoanut tree and listened. 
 
 38 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 " Thy name is Vaega. See that ! 
 Flow do I know ? Aha, how do I ? 
 Because, for two years or more, when- 
 ever I passed by the stone-wall of the 
 Sisters' dwelling in Matafele,! climbed 
 up and watched thee, O Star of the 
 Morning, and I heard the other girls 
 call thee Vaega. Oho ! and some 
 night 1 meant to steal thee away." 
 
 The rascal ! He told me two days 
 afterwards that the only time he ever 
 climbed the Mission wall was to steal 
 mangoes. 
 
 The sunshade was tilted back, and 
 displayed two big, black eyes, luminous 
 with admiring wonder. 
 
 "And so thou hast left Samoa to 
 come here to be devoured by this fat 
 hog of a Dutchman ! Dost thou not 
 know, O foolish, lovely one, that she 
 who mates with a Siamani (German) 
 grows old in quite a little time, and 
 thy face, which is now smooth and 
 fair, will be coarse as the rind of a 
 half-ripe breadfruit, because of the 
 bad food these swine of Germans 
 eat ? " 
 
 "Allan,'' I called, "here's the cap- 
 tain ! " 
 
 There was a quick clasp of hands 
 as the Stalwart One and the Maid 
 
 39 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 hurriedly spoke again, this time in a 
 whisper, and then the white muslin 
 floated away out of sight. 
 
 The captain was what he called 
 " no so dry '* — viz., half-seas over, and 
 very jolly. He told Allan he could 
 have an hour to himself to buy what 
 he wanted, and then told me that the 
 captain of a steam collier had promised 
 to give us a tug out at daylight. 
 " Tm right for the wedding-feast after 
 all," I thought. 
 
 . • • • 
 
 But the wedding never came off. 
 That night, Oppermann, in a frantic 
 state, was tearing round Levuka hunt- 
 ing for his love, who had disappeared. 
 At daylight, as the collier steamed 
 ahead and tautened our tow-line, we 
 could see the parties of searchers with 
 torches scouring the beach. Our 
 native sailors said they had heard a 
 scream about ten at night and seen 
 the sharks splashing, and the white 
 liars of Levuka shook their heads and 
 looked solemn as they told tales of 
 monster sharks with eight-foot jaws 
 always cruising close in to the shore 
 at night. 
 
 Three days afterwards Allan came 
 
 40 
 
BY PEEF AND PALM. 
 
 to me with a stolid face and asked for 
 a bottle of wine, as Vaega was very 
 sea-sick. I gave him the wine, and 
 threatened to tell the captain. He 
 laughed, and said he would fight any 
 man, captain or no captain, who 
 meddled with him. And, as a matter 
 of fact, he felt safe — the skipper valued 
 him too much to bully him over the 
 mere stealing of a woman. So the 
 limp and sea-sick Vaega was carried 
 up out of the sweating foc'sle and 
 given a cabin berth, and Allan 
 planked down two twenty - dollar 
 pieces for her passage to the Union 
 Group. When she got better she 
 sang rowdy songs, and laughed all 
 day, and made fun of the holy Sisters. 
 And one day Allan beat her with a deal 
 board because she sat down on a band- 
 box in the trade-room and ruined a 
 hat belonging to a swell officiaFs wife 
 in Apia. And she liked him all the 
 better for it. 
 
 The fair Vaega was Mrs. Allan for 
 just six months, when his erratic fancy 
 was captivated by the daughter of 
 Mauga, the chief of Tutuila, and an 
 elopement resulted to the mountains. 
 The subsequent and inevitable parting 
 
 41 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 made Samoa an undesirable place of 
 residence for Allan, who shipped as 
 boatsteerer in the Niger of New 
 Bedford. As for Vaega, she drifted 
 back to Apia, and there, right under 
 the shadow of the Mission Church, she 
 flaunted her beauty. The last time I 
 saw her was in Charley the Russian's 
 saloon, when she showed me a letter. 
 It was from the bereaved Oppermann, 
 asking her to come back and marry 
 him. 
 
 " Are you going ? " I said. 
 
 " E pule le Atua'' (if God so wills), 
 " but he only sent me twenty dollars, 
 and that isn't half enough. However, 
 there's an American man-of-war coming 
 next week, and these other girls will 
 see then. I'll make the papalagi^ 
 ofncers shell out. To fa^ aliir 
 
 * Foreign. 
 
 42 
 
The Revenge of Macy 
 O'Shea, 
 
 m^r2M 
 
 A STORY 
 OF THE MARQUESAS. 
 
 I. 
 
 IKENA the Club- 
 Footed guided me to 
 an open spot in the 
 jungle-growth, and, 
 sitting down on the 
 butt of a twisted toa^ 
 indicated by a sweep 
 of his tattooed arm the 
 lower course of what 
 had once been the 
 White Man's dwelling. 
 *'Like unto himself 
 was this, his house," he 
 said, puffing a dirty- 
 clay pipe, " square- 
 built and strong. And 
 the walls were of 
 great blocks made of 
 panisina — of coral and 
 
 43 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 lime and sand mixed together ; and 
 around each centre-post — posts that to 
 lift one took the strength of fifty men 
 — was wound two thousand fathoms 
 of thin plaited cinnec, stained red and 
 black. Apd! he was a great man here 
 in these motu (islands) although he fled 
 from prison in your land ; and when 
 he stepped on the beach the marks of 
 the iron bands that had once been 
 round his ankles were yet red to the 
 sight. There be none such as he in 
 these days. But he is now in Hell." 
 
 This was the long-deferred funeral 
 oration of Macy O'Shea, sometime 
 member of the chain-gang of Port 
 Arthur, and subsequently runaway 
 convict, beachcomber, cutter-oiF of 
 whaleships, and Gentleman of Leisure 
 in Eastern Polynesia. And of his 
 many known crimes the deed done in 
 this isolated spot was the darkest of 
 all. Judge of it yourself. . 
 
 The arrowy shafts of sunrise had 
 scarce pierced the deep gloom of the 
 silent forest ere the village woke to 
 life. Right beside the thatch-covered 
 dwelling of Macy O'Shea, now a man 
 of might, there towers a stately tamanu 
 tree ; and, as the first faint murmur 
 
 44 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 of women's voices arises from the 
 native huts, there is a responsive twit- 
 tering and cooing in the thickly- 
 leaved branches, and further back in 
 the forest the heavy booming note of 
 the red-crested pigeon sounds forth 
 like the beat of a muffled drum. 
 
 With slow, languid step, Sera, the 
 wife of Macy O'Shea, comes to the open 
 door and looks out upon the placid 
 lagoon, now just rippling beneath the 
 first breath of the trade-wind, and longs 
 for courage to go out there — there to 
 the point of the reef — and spring over 
 among the sharks. The girl — she is 
 hardly yet a woman — shudders a mo- 
 ment and passes her white hand before 
 her eyes, and then, with a sudden gust 
 of passion, the hand clenches. " I 
 would kill him — kill him if there was 
 but a ship here to get away ! I would 
 sell myself over and over again to the 
 worst whaler's crew that ever sailed the 
 Pacific if it would bring me freedom 
 from this cruel, cold-blooded devil ! " 
 
 A heavy tread on the matted floor 
 of the inner room and her face pales 
 to the hue of death. But Macy 
 O'Shea is somewhat shy of his two 
 
 45 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 years' wife this morning, and she hears 
 the heavy steps recede as he walks 
 over to his oil-shed. A flock of gogo 
 cast their shadow over the lagoon as 
 they fly westward, and the woman's 
 eyes follow them — "Kill him, yes. 
 I am afraid to die, but not to kill. 
 And I am a stranger here, and if I 
 ran a knife into his fat throat, these 
 natives would make me work in the 
 taro-fields, unless one wanted me for 
 himself." Then the heavy step re- 
 turns, and she slowly faces round to 
 the bloodshot eyes and drink-distorted 
 face of the man she hates, and raises 
 one hand to her lips to hide a blue 
 and swollen bruise. 
 
 The man throws his short, square- 
 set figure on a rough native sofa, and, 
 passing one brawny hand meditatively 
 over his stubbly chin, says, in a voice 
 like the snarl of a hungry wolf, "Here, 
 I say. Sera, slew round ; I want to 
 talk to you, my beauty." 
 
 The pale, set face flushed and paled 
 again. "What is it, Macy O'Shea ?** 
 
 "Ho, ho, 'Macy O'Shea,' is it? 
 Well, just this. Don't be a fool. I 
 was a bit put about last night, else I 
 wouldn't have been so quick with my 
 
 46 
 
BY REEF AND PALM, 
 
 fist. Cut your lip, I see. Well, you 
 must forget it ; any way, it's the first 
 time I ever touched you. But you 
 ought to know by now that I am not 
 a man to be trifled with ; no man, let 
 alone a woman, is going to set a course 
 for Macy O'Shea to steer by. And, 
 to come to the point at once, I want 
 you to understand that Carl Ristow's 
 daughter is coming here. I want her, 
 and that's all about it." 
 
 The woman laughed scornfully. 
 " Yes, I know. That was why " — 
 she pointed to her lips. " Have you 
 no shame ? I know you hav6 no pity. 
 But listen. I swear to you by the 
 Mother of Christ that I will kill her 
 — kill you, if you do this." 
 
 0*Shea*s cruel mouth twitched and 
 his jaws set, then he uttered a hoarse 
 laugh. " By God ! Has it taken you 
 two years to get jealous ? " 
 
 A deadly hate gleamed in the dark, 
 passionate eyes. "Jealous, Mother oi 
 God ! Jealous of a drunken, licentious 
 wretch such as you ! I hate you, hate 
 you ! If 1 had courage enough I would 
 poison myself to be free from you." 
 
 0*Shea's eyes emitted a dull sparkle. 
 " I wish you would, damn you ! Yet 
 
 47 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 you are game enough, you say, to kill 
 me — and Malia ? " 
 
 " Yes. But not for love of you. 
 But because of the white blood in 
 me. I can't^I won't be degraded by 
 you bringing another woman here." 
 
 " ' Por Dios/ as your dad used to 
 «ay before the devil took his soul, 
 we'll see about that, my beauty. 1 
 suppose because your father was a 
 d — - — d garlic-eating, ear-ringed Dago, 
 and your mother a come-by-chance 
 Tahiti half-caste, you think he was as 
 good as me." 
 
 "As good as you, O bloody-handed 
 dog of an English convict. He was a 
 man, and the only wrong he ever did 
 was to let me become wife to a devi* 
 like you." 
 
 The cruel eyes were close to hers 
 now, and the rough, brawny hands 
 gripped her wrists. "You spiteful 
 
 Portuguese quarter-bred ! Call 
 
 me a convict again and I'll twist your 
 neck like a fowl's. You she-devil ! 
 I'd have made things easy for you — 
 but I won't now. Do you hear •• " 
 and the grip tightened. " Ristow's 
 girl will be here to-morrow, and if 
 you don't knuckle down to her it'll be 
 a case of ' Vamos ' for you — you can 
 
 48 
 
The value of a tun of oil and a bag of Chilian dollars 
 gasped out its life upon the matted floor. 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 go and get a husband among the 
 natives," and he flung her aside and 
 went to the god that ran him closest 
 for his soul, next to women — his rum- 
 bottle. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 0*Shea kept his word, for two days 
 later Malia, the half-caste daughter of 
 Ristow, the trader at Ahunui, stepped 
 from out her father's whaleboat in 
 front of 0*Shea's house. The trans- 
 action was a perfectly legitimate one, 
 and Malia did not allow any incon- 
 venient feeling of modesty to interfere 
 with such a lucrative arrangement as 
 this whereby her father became pos- 
 sessed of a tun of oil and a bag of 
 Chilian dollars, and she of much finery. 
 In those days missionaries had not 
 made much headway, and gentlemen 
 like Messrs. Ristow and 0*Shea took 
 all the wind out of the Gospel drum. 
 
 And so Malia, dressed as a native girl, 
 with painted cheeks and bare bosom, 
 walked demurely up from the boat to 
 the purchaser of her sixteen-years'- 
 old beauty, who, with arms folded 
 across his broad chest, stood in the 
 middle of the path that led from the 
 beach to his door. And within, with 
 set teeth and a knife in the bosom of 
 
 49 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 her blouse bodice, Sera panted with 
 the lust of Hate and Revenge. 
 
 The bulky form of O'Shea darkened 
 the doorway. " Sera," he called in 
 English, with a mocking, insulting in- 
 flexion in his voice, '* come here and 
 welcome my new wife ! " 
 
 Sera came, walking slowly over 
 with a smile on her lips and holding 
 out her left hand to Malia, said in the 
 i.ative language, "Welcome ! " 
 
 " Why," said 0*Shea, with mocking 
 jocularity, " that's a left-handed v/el- 
 come. Sera." 
 
 *'Aye," said the girl with the White 
 Man's blood, "my right hand is for 
 this " — and the knife sank home into 
 Malia's yellow bosom. "A cold bosom 
 for you to-night, Macy O'Shea," she 
 laughed, as the value of a tun of oil 
 and a bag of Chilian dollars gasped 
 out its life upon the matted floor. 
 
 II. 
 
 The native drum was beating. As 
 the blood-quickening boom reverbe- 
 rated through the village, the natives 
 came out from their huts and gathered 
 around the House of the Old Men, 
 where, with bound hands and feet, Sera, 
 
 CO 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 the White Man's wife, sat, with her 
 back to one of the centre-posts. And 
 opposite her, sitting like a native on a 
 mat of kapau^ was the burly figure of 
 0*Shea,with the demon of disappointed 
 passion eating away his reason and a 
 mist of blood swimming before his eyes. 
 
 The people all detested her, espe- 
 cially the soft-voiced, slender-framed 
 women. In that one thing savages 
 resemble Christians — the deadly hatred 
 with which women hate those of their 
 sex whom they know to be better and 
 more pure than themselves. So the 
 matter was decided quickly. Mesi — 
 so they called 0*Shea — should have 
 justice. If he thought death, let it 
 be death for this woman who had let 
 out the blood of his new wife. Only 
 one man, Loloku the Boar Hunter, 
 raised his voice for her, because Sera 
 had cured him of a bad wound when 
 his leg had been torn open by the 
 tusk of a wild boar. But the dull 
 glare from the eyes of O'Shea fell on 
 him and he said no more. Then at a 
 sign from the old men the people rose 
 from the mats and two unbound the, 
 cords of afa from the girl and led her 
 
 51 
 
SY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 out into the square and looked at 
 O'Shea. 
 
 " Take her to the boat," he said. 
 
 Ristow*s boat had been hauled up, 
 turned over, and covered with the 
 rough mats called kapau to keep off 
 the heat of the sun. With staggering 
 feet, but undaunted heart, the girl 
 Sera was led down. Only once she 
 turned her head and looked back. 
 Perhaps Loloku would try again. 
 Then, as they came to the boat, a 
 young girl, at a sign from O'Shea, 
 took off the loose blouse, and they 
 placed her, face downwards, across 
 the bilge of the boat, and two pair of 
 small, eager, brown hands each seized 
 one of hers and dragged the white, 
 rounded arms well over the keel of 
 the boat. O^Shea walked round to 
 that side, drawing through his hands 
 the long, heavy, and serrated tail of 
 the fai — the gigantic stinging-ray of 
 Oceana. He would have liked to 
 wield it himself, but then he would 
 have missed part of his revenge — he 
 could not have seen her face. So 
 he gave it to a native, and watched, 
 with the smile of a fiend, the white 
 back turn black and then into bloody 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 red as it was cut to pieces with the 
 tail of the fai. 
 
 The sight of the inanimate thing 
 that had given no sign of its agony 
 beyond the shudderings and twitchings 
 of torn and mutilated flesh was per- 
 haps disappointing to the tiger who 
 stood and watched the dark stream 
 that flowed down on both sides of the 
 boat. Loloku touched his arm — 
 ** Mesi, stay your hand. She is dead 
 else." 
 
 "Ah," said O'Shea, "that would be 
 a pity, for with one hand shall she 
 live to plant taro." 
 
 And, hatchet in hand, he walked in 
 between the two brown women who 
 held her hands. They moved aside 
 and let go. Then O'Shea swung his 
 arm and the blade of the hatchet 
 struck into the planking, and the 
 right hand of Sera fell on the sand. 
 
 A man put his arms around her, 
 and lifted her off the boat. He 
 placed his hand on the blood-stained 
 bosom and looked at Macy O'Shea, 
 
 " E mate! " * he said. 
 
 « Dead! 
 
 53 
 
The Rangers of the Tia 
 Kau. 
 
 ETWEEN Nanomea 
 and Nanomaga — two 
 of the Ellice Group — 
 but within a few miles 
 of the latter,^ is an ex- 
 tensive submerged shoal, 
 on the charts called the 
 Grand Cocal Reef, but 
 by the people of the 
 two islands known as 
 Tia Kau (The Reef). 
 On the shallowest part 
 there are from four to 
 ten fathoms of water, 
 and here in heavy- 
 weather the sea breaks. 
 The British cruiser Basilisk^ about 
 1870, sought for the reef, but reported 
 
 55 
 
BY REEF AND PALM, 
 
 it as non-existent. Yet the Tia Kau 
 is well known to many a Yankee 
 whaler and trading schooner, and is 
 a favourite fishing-ground of the people 
 of Nanomaga — when the sharks give 
 them a chance. 
 
 One night Atupa, King of Nano- 
 maga, caused a huge fire to be lit on 
 the beach as a signal to the people of 
 Nanomea that a Malaga^ or party of 
 voyagers, was coming over. Both 
 islands are low — not more than fifteen 
 feet above sea-level — and are distant 
 from one another about thirty-eight 
 miles. The following night the re- 
 flection of the answering fire on 
 Nanomea was seen, and Atupa pre- 
 pared to send away his people in 
 seven canoes. They would start at 
 sundown, so as to avoid paddling in 
 the heat (the Nanomagans have no 
 sailing canoes), and be guided to 
 Nanomea, which they expected to 
 reach early in the morning, by the 
 reflection of the great fires of cocoa- 
 nut and pandanus leaves kindled at 
 intervals of a few hours. About 
 seventy people were to go, and all 
 that day the little village busied itself 
 in preparing for the Nanomeans gifts 
 
 :;6 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 of foods — cooked puraka, fowls, pigs, 
 and flying-fish. 
 
 Atupa, the heathen king, was 
 troubled in his mind in those days 
 of August, 1872. Tht John Williams 
 had been there and landed a Samoan 
 missionary, who had pressed him to 
 accept Christianity. Atupa, dread- 
 ing a disturbing element in his king- 
 dom, had, at first, declined ; but the 
 ship had come again, and the king 
 having consented to try the new 
 religion, a teacher landed. But since 
 then he and his chiefs had consulted 
 the oracle, and had been told that 
 the shades of Maumau Tahori and 
 Foilagi, their deified ancestors, had 
 answered that the new religion was 
 unacceptable to them, and that the 
 Samoan teacher must be killed or sent 
 away. And for this was Atupa send- 
 ing off some of his people to Nanomea 
 with gifts of goodwill to the chiefs to 
 beseech them to consult their oracles, 
 also so that the two islands might take 
 concerted action against this new 
 foreign god, which said that all men 
 were equal, that all were bad, and He 
 and His Son alone good. 
 
 57 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 The night was calm when the 
 seven canoes set out. Forty men and 
 thirty women and children were in 
 the party, and the craft were too 
 deeply laden for any but the smoothest 
 sea. On the ama (outrigger) of each 
 canoe were the baskets of food and 
 bundles of mats for their hosts, and 
 seated on these the children, while 
 the women sat with the men and 
 helped them to paddle. Two hours' 
 quick paddling brought them to the 
 shoal-water of Tia Kau, and at the 
 same moment they saw to the N.W. 
 the sky-glare of the first guiding fire. 
 
 It was then that the people in the 
 first canoe, wherein was Palu, the 
 daughter of Atupa, called out to those 
 behind to prepare their asu (balers), 
 as a heavy squall was coming down 
 from the eastward. Then Laheii, an 
 old warrior in another canoe, cried 
 out that they should return on their 
 track a little and get into deep water; 
 "for," said he, "if we swamp, away 
 from Tia Kau, it is but a little thing, 
 , but here — '' and he clasped his hands 
 rapidly together and then tore them 
 apart. They knew what he meant — 
 the sharks that, at night-time forsaking 
 
 58 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 the deep waters, patrolled in droves 
 of thousands the shallow waters of the 
 reef to devour the turtle and the schools 
 of tafau uli and other fish. In quick, 
 alarmed silence the people headed 
 back, but even then the first fierce 
 squall struck them, and some of the frail 
 canoes began to fill at once. " / matagi! 
 i matagi !** (head to the wind) a man 
 called out ; "head to the wind, or we 
 perish ! 'Tis but a puff and it*s gone.*' 
 
 But it was more than a pufi^. The 
 seven canoes, all abreast, were still in 
 shallow water, and the paddlers kept 
 them dead in the teeth of the whist- 
 ling wind and stinging rain, and 
 called out words of encouragement 
 to one another and to the women 
 and children, as another black squall 
 burst upon them and the curling seas 
 began to break. The canoe in which 
 was Atupa's daughter was the largest 
 and best of all the seven, but was 
 much overladen, and on the outrigger 
 grating were four children. These 
 the chiefs daughter was endeavouring 
 to shield from the rain by covering 
 them with a mat, when one of them, 
 a little girl, endeavoured to steady 
 herself by holding to one of the thin 
 
 ^Q 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 pieces of grating ; it broke, and her 
 arm fell through and struck the water, 
 and in an instant she gave a dull, 
 smothered wail. Palu, the woman, 
 seized her by her hair and pulled the 
 child up sitting, and then shrieked 
 with terror — the girPs arm was gone ! 
 
 And then in the blackness of night, 
 lightened now by the white, seething, 
 boiling surge, the people saw in the 
 phosphorescent water countless hun- 
 dreds of the savage terrors of the Tia 
 Kau darting hither and thither amongst 
 the canoes — for the smell of blood had 
 brought them together instantly. Pre- 
 sently a great grey monster tore the 
 paddle from out the hands of the 
 steersman of the canoe wherein were 
 the terrified Palu and the four chil- 
 dren, and then, before the man for'ard 
 could bring her head to the wind, she 
 broached to and filled. Like ravening 
 wolves the sharks dashed upon their 
 prey, and ere the people had time to 
 give more than a despairing cry those 
 hideous jaws and gleaming cruel teeth 
 had sealed their fate. Maddened with 
 fear, the rest of the people threw 
 everything out of the six other canoes 
 to lighten them, and as the bundles of 
 
 60 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 mats and baskets of food touched the 
 water the sharks seized and bit, tore 
 and swallowed. Then, one by one, 
 every paddle was grabbed from the 
 hands of the pullers, and the canoes 
 broached to and filled in that sea of 
 death — all save one, which was carried 
 by the force of the wind away from 
 the rest. In this were the only sur- 
 vivors — two men. 
 
 The agony could not have lasted 
 long. " Were I to live as long as 
 he whom the faifeau (missionary) tells 
 us lived to be nine hundred and sixty 
 and nine, I shall hear the groans and 
 cries and shrieks of that po malaia^ 
 that night of evil luck," said one of 
 the two who lived, to the white trader 
 at Nanomea. " Once did I have my 
 paddle fast in the mouth of a little 
 devil, and it drew me backwards, 
 backwards, over the stern till my head 
 touched the water. Tah ! but I was 
 strong with fear, and held on, for to 
 lose it meant death by the teeth. And 
 Tulua — he who came out alive with 
 me, seized my feet and held on, else 
 had I gone. But look thou at this " — 
 and he pointed to his scarred neck 
 and back and shoulders — "ere I could 
 
 6i 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 free m-j foe (paddle) and raise my head 
 I was bitten thus by others. Ah, 
 Pafalagi^ some men are born to 
 wisdom, but most are fools. Had 
 not Atupa been filled with vain fears, 
 he had killed the man who caused him 
 to lose so many of our people." 
 
 "So,'* said the white man, "and 
 wouldst thou have killed the man 
 who brought thee the new faith ? 
 Fie ! " 
 
 " Aye, that would I — in those days 
 when I was fo uli uli,^ But not now, 
 for I am Christian. Yet had Atupa 
 killed and buried the stranger, we 
 could have lied and said he died of a 
 sickness when they of his people came 
 to seek him. And then had I now my 
 son Tagipo with me, he who went 
 into the bellies of the sharks at Tia 
 Kau." 
 
 « Heathen, lit., " In the blackest night.* 
 
 i 
 
 62 
 
Pallous Taloi. 
 
 A MEMORY OF THE PAUMOTUS. 
 
 STAYED once at Ro- 
 toava — in the Low 
 Archipelago, Eastern 
 Polynesia — while suf- 
 fering from injuries 
 received in a boat acci- 
 dent one wild night. 
 My host, the Rotoava 
 trader, was a sociable 
 old pirate, whose con- 
 vivial soul would never 
 let him drink alone. 
 He was by trade a 
 boat - builder, having 
 had, in his early days, a 
 shed at Miller's Point, 
 in Sydney, where he 
 made money and mar- 
 ried a wife. But this 
 
 63 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 latter event was poor Tom Oscott's 
 undoing, and in the end he took 
 his chest of tools on board the 
 Thya and sailed away to Polynesia. 
 Finally, after many years' wandering, 
 he settled down at Rotoava as a trader 
 and boat-builder, and a noted drinker 
 of bottled beer. 
 
 The only method by which I could 
 avoid his incessant invitations to "have 
 another '* was to get his wife and 
 children to carry me down to his 
 work-shed, a lovely spot surrounded 
 by giant fuka trees. Here, under the 
 shade, I had my mats spread, and with 
 one of his children sitting at my head 
 to fan away the flies, I lay and watched, 
 through the belt of cocoanuts that 
 lined the beach, the blue rollers 
 breaking on the reef and the snow- 
 white boatswain-birds floating high 
 overhead. 
 
 • • * 
 
 Tom was in the bush one morning 
 when his family carried me to the 
 boat-shed. He had gone for a log ot 
 seasoned toa * wood to another village. 
 At noon he returned, and I heard him 
 bawling for me. His little daughter, 
 the fly-brusher, gave an answering 
 ' A hard wood much used in boat-building. 
 
 64 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 yell, and then Tom walked down the 
 path, carrying two bottles of beer ; 
 behind him Lucia, his eldest daughter, 
 a monstrous creature of giggles and 
 adipose tissue, with glasses and a plate 
 of crackers ; lastly, old Marie, the 
 wife, with a little table. 
 
 " By , youVe a lot more sense'n 
 
 me. It's better lyin' here in the cool 
 than foolin' around in the sun ; so I've 
 brought yer suthin' to drink." 
 
 " Oh, Tom," I groaned, " I'm sure 
 that beer's bad for me." 
 
 The Maker of Boats sat on his bench, 
 and said that he knew of a brewer's 
 carter in Sydney who, at Merriman's 
 pub. on Miller's Point, had had a 
 cask of beer roll over him. Smashed 
 seven ribs, one arm, and one thigh. 
 Doctors gave him up ; undertaker's 
 man called on his wife for coffin 
 order ; but a sailor chap said he'd 
 pull him through. Got an india- 
 rubber tube and made him suck up 
 as much beer as he could hold ; kept 
 it up till all his bones "setted" again, 
 and he recovered. Why shouldn't I 
 — if I only drank enough ? 
 
 " Hurry up, old dark-skin ! " — this 
 to the faded Marie. Uttering merely 
 the word " Hog ! " she drew the cork. 
 
 6s 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 I had to drink some, and every hour 
 
 or so Tom would say it was very hot, 
 
 and open yet another bottle. At last 
 
 I escaped the beer by nearly dying, 
 
 and then the kind old fellow hurried 
 
 away in his boat to Apatiki — another 
 
 island of the group — and came back 
 
 with some bottles of claret, bought 
 
 from the French trader there. 
 
 With him came two visitors — a 
 
 big half-caste of middle age, and his 
 
 wife, a girl of twenty or thereabout. 
 
 This was Edward Pallou and his wife 
 
 Taloi. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 I was in the house when Tom 
 returned, enjoying a long-denied 
 smoke. Pallou and his wife entered 
 and greeted me. The man was a fine, 
 well-set-up fellow, wiry and muscular, 
 with deep-set eyes, and bearing across 
 his right cheek a heavy scar. His 
 wife was a dainty little creature with 
 red lips, dazzling teeth, hazel eyes, 
 and long, wavy hair. The first thing 
 I noticed about her was that instead 
 of squatting on a mat in native fashion 
 she sank into a wide chair, and lying 
 back inquired, with a pleasant smile 
 and in perfect English, whether I was 
 feeling any better. She was very fair, 
 
 66 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 even for a Paumotuan half-caste, as 
 I thought she must be, and I said to 
 Pallou, "Why, any one would take 
 your wife to be an Englishwoman ! " 
 
 " Not I," said Taloi, with a rippling 
 laugh, as she commenced to make a 
 banana-leaf cigarette ; *' I am a full- 
 blooded South Sea Islander. I belong 
 to Apatiki, and was born there. 
 Perhaps I have white blood in me. 
 Who knows? — only wise mothers. 
 But when I was twelve years old I 
 was adopted by a gentleman in Papeite, 
 and he sent me to Sydney to school. 
 Do you know Sydney ? Well, I was 
 
 three years with the Misses , in 
 
 Street. My goodness ! I was 
 
 glad to leave — and so were the Misses 
 
 to see me go. They said I was 
 
 downright wicked, because one day I 
 tore the dress off a girl who said my 
 skin was tallowy, like my name. 
 When I came back to Tahiti my 
 guardian took me to Raiatea, where 
 he had a business, and said I must 
 marry him, the beast." 
 
 " Oh, shut up, Taloi ! " growled 
 the deep-voiced Pallou, who sat beside 
 me. " What the deuce does this man 
 care about your doings ? " 
 
 " Shut up yourself, you brute ! Can*t 
 
 67 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 I talk to any one I like, you turtle- 
 headed fool ? Am I not a good wife 
 to you, you great, over-grown savage ? 
 Won't you let a poor devil of a woman 
 talk a little? Look here, Tom, do 
 you see that flash jacket he's wearing? 
 Well, I sat up two nights making that 
 — for him to come over here with and 
 show off before the Rotoava girls. Go 
 and die, you ! " 
 
 The big half-caste looked at Tom 
 and me. His lips twitched with 
 suppressed passion, and a dangerous 
 gleam shone a moment in his dark 
 eyes. 
 
 " Here, I say, Taloi," broke in Tom, 
 good-humouredly, "just go easy a bit 
 with Ted. As for him a-looking at 
 any of the girls here, I knows better 
 — and so do you." 
 
 Taloi's laugh, clear as the note of a 
 bird, answered him, and then she said 
 she was sorry, and the lines around 
 Pallou's rigid mouth softened down. 
 It was easy to see that this grim half- 
 white loved, for all her bitter tongue, 
 the bright creature who sat in the big 
 
 chair. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 Presently Taloi and Lucia went out 
 to bathe, and Pallou remained with me. 
 
 68 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 Tom joined us, and for a while no one 
 spoke. Then the trader, laying down 
 his pipe on the table, drew his seat 
 closer, and commenced, in low tones, 
 a conversation in Tahitian with Pallou. 
 From the earnest manner of old Tom 
 and the sullen gloom that overspread 
 Fallouts face, I could discern that some 
 anxiety possessed them. 
 
 At last Tom addressed me, " Look 
 
 here, , Ted here is in a mess, and 
 
 weVe just been a-talkin' of it over, 
 and he says perhaps you'll do what 
 you can for him." 
 
 The half-caste turned his dark eyes 
 on me and looked intently into mine. 
 
 "What is it, Tom?" 
 
 "Well, you see, it come about this 
 way. You heard this chap's missus — 
 Taloi — a-talkin' about the Frenchman 
 that wanted to marry her. He had 
 chartered a little schooner in Papeite 
 to go to Raiatea. Pallou here was 
 mate, and, o' course, he being from the 
 same part of the group as Taloi, she 
 ups and tells him that the Frenchman 
 wanted to marry her straightaway ; 
 and then, I s'pose, the two gets a bit 
 chummy, and Pallou tells her that if 
 she didn't want the man he'd see as 
 how she wasn't forced agin' her will. 
 
 69 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 So when the vessel gets to Raiatea it 
 fell calm, just about sunset. The 
 Frenchman was in a hurry to get 
 ashore, and tells his skipper to put 
 two men in the boat and some grub, 
 as he meant to pull ashore to his 
 station. So they put the boat over 
 the side, and Frenchy and Taloi and 
 Pallou and two native chaps gets in 
 and pulls for the land. 
 
 "They gets inside Uturoa about mid- 
 night. * Jump out,' says the Frenchman 
 to Taloi ; but the girl wouldn't, but 
 ties herself up around Pallou and 
 squeals. 'Sakker!' says the Frenchy, 
 and he grabs her by the hair and tries 
 to tear her away. ''Ere, stop that,' 
 says Pallou ; * the girl ain't willin',' an' 
 he pushes Frenchy away. ' Sakker ! ' 
 again, and Frenchy whips out his pistol 
 and nearly blows Pallou's face ofl^^n 
 him ; and then, afore he knows how 
 it was done, Ted sends his knife home 
 into the other fellow's throat. The 
 two native sailors runned away ashore, 
 and Pallou and Taloi takes the oars 
 and pulls out again until they drops. 
 Then a breeze comes along, and they 
 up stick and sails away and gets clear 
 o' the group, and brings up, after a lot 
 of sufFerin', at Rurutu. And ever since 
 
 70 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 then there's been a French gunboat 
 a-lookin' for Pallou, and he's been 
 hidin' at Apatiki for nigh on a twelve- 
 month, and has come over here now 
 to see if, when your ship comes back, 
 you can't give him and the missus a 
 passage away somewhere to the west- 
 ward, out o' the run of that there 
 gunboat, the Vatidreuiiy 
 
 I promised I would "work it" with 
 the captain, and Pallou put out his 
 brawny hand — the hand that " drove 
 it home into Frenchy's throat " — and 
 grasped mine in silence. Then he 
 lifted his jacket and showed me his 
 money-belt, filled. 
 
 "I don't want money," I said. "If 
 you have told me the whole story, I 
 would help any man in such a fix as 
 you." And then Taloi, fresh from 
 her bath, came in and sat down on 
 the mat whilst fat Lucia combed and 
 dressed her glossy hair and placed 
 therein scarlet hisbiscus flowers; and 
 to show her returned good temper, she 
 took from her lips the cigarette she 
 was smoking and offered it to the grim 
 Pallou. 
 
 A month later we all three left Ro- 
 toava, and Pallou and Taloi went ashore 
 
 71 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 at one of the Hervey Group, where I 
 
 gave him charge of a station with a 
 
 small stock of trade, and we sailed 
 
 away eastward to Pitcairn and Easter 
 
 Islands. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 Pallou did a good business and was 
 well liked, and some seven months 
 afterwards, when we were at Maga 
 Reva, in the Gambier Group, I got a 
 letter from him. " Business goes well,** 
 he wrote, " but Taloi is ill ; I think 
 she will die. You will find everything 
 square, though, when you come." 
 
 But I was never to see that particu- 
 lar island again, as the firm sent 
 another vessel in place of ours to get 
 Pallou*s produce. When the captain 
 and the supercargo went ashore, a 
 white trader met them, with a roll of 
 papers in his hand. 
 
 ** Pallou's stock-list," he said. 
 
 " Why, where is he ? gone away ? ** 
 
 " No, he's here still ; planted along- 
 side his missus." 
 
 "Dead!" 
 
 " Yes. A few months after he 
 arrived here that pretty little wife of 
 his died. He came to me and asked 
 if I would come and take stock with 
 him. I said he seemed in a bit of 
 
 72 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 a hurry to start stocktaking before 
 the poor thing was buried ; but any- 
 how, I went, and we took stock, and 
 he counted his cash and asked me 
 to lock the place up if anything 
 happened to him. Then we had a 
 drink, and he bade me good-day and 
 said he was going to sit with Taloi 
 awhile before they took her away. 
 He sent the native women out of the 
 bedroom, and the next minute I heard 
 a shot. He'd done it, right enough. 
 Right through his brain, poor chap. 
 I can tell you he thought a lot of that 
 girl of his. There's the two graves, 
 over there by that fetau tree. Here's 
 his stock-list and bag of cash and keys. 
 Would you mind giving me that pair 
 of rubber sea-boots he left ? " 
 
 73 
 
A Basket of Bread- 
 fruit. 
 
 T was in Steinberger's 
 time. A trader had come 
 up to Apia in his boat 
 from the end of Savaii, 
 the largest of the Sa- 
 moan Group, and was 
 on his way home again 
 when the falling tide 
 caused him to stop 
 awhile at Mulinu*u 
 Point, about two miles 
 from Apia. Here he 
 designed to smoke and 
 talk and drink kava at 
 the great camp with 
 some hospitable native 
 acquaintances during 
 the rising of the water. 
 Soon he was taking his 
 
 75 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 case on a soft mat, watching the bevy 
 . of aua luma ^ " chawing " kava. 
 
 Now the trader lived at Falealupo, 
 at the extreme westerly end of Savaii ; 
 but the Samoans, by reason of its 
 isolation and extremity, have for ages 
 called it by another name — an un- 
 printable one — and so some of the 
 people present began to jest with the 
 trader for living in such a place. He 
 fell in with their humour, and said 
 that if those present would find him 
 for a wife a girl unseared by the breath 
 of scandal he would leave Falealupo 
 for Safune, where he had bought 
 land. 
 
 " Malie ! " said an old dame, with 
 one eye and white hair, " the papa- 
 lagi^ is inspired to speak wisdom to- 
 night ; for at Safune grow the sweetest 
 nuts and the biggest taro and bread- 
 fruit ; and, lo ! here among the kava- 
 chewers is a young maid from Safune 
 — mine own grand-daughter Salome. 
 And against her name can no one in 
 Samoa laugh in the hollow of his 
 hand," and the old creature, amid 
 laughter and cries of Isaf e le ma le lo 
 matua (The old woman is without 
 shame), crept over to the trader, and, 
 ■ The local girls. ^ Foreigner. 
 
 76 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 with one skinny hand on his knee, 
 gazed steadily into his face with her 
 one eye. 
 
 The trader looked at the girl — at 
 Salome. She had, at her grand- 
 mother's speech, turned her head 
 aside, and taking the "chaw" ot 
 kava-root from her pretty mouth, dis- 
 solved into shamefaced tears. The 
 trader was a man of quick percep- 
 tions, and he made up his mind to do 
 in earnest what he had said in jest — 
 this because of the tears of Salome. 
 He quickly whispered to the old 
 woman, " Come to the boat before 
 the full of the tide and we will talk." 
 
 When the kava was ready for 
 drinking the others present had for- 
 gotten all about the old woman and 
 Salome, who had both crept away 
 unobserved, and an hour or two was 
 passed in merriment, for the trader 
 was a man well liked. Then, when 
 he rose and said to fa^ they begged 
 him not to attempt to pass down in 
 his boat inside the reef, as he was sure 
 to be fired upon, for how were their 
 people to tell a friend from an enemy 
 in the black night ? But he smiled, 
 and said his boat was too heavily 
 
 77 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 laden to face the ocean swell. So 
 they bade him to fa^ and called out 
 manuia oe ! ^ as he lifted the door of 
 thatch and went. 
 
 The old woman awaited him, hold- 
 ing the girl by the hand. On the 
 ground lay a basket, strongly tied up. 
 Salome still wept, but the old woman 
 angrily bade her cease and enter the 
 boat, which the crew had now pushed 
 bow-on to the beach. The old woman 
 lifted the basket and carefully put it 
 on board. 
 
 " Be sure," she said to the crew, 
 " not to sit on it, for it is but ripe 
 breadfruit I am taking to my people 
 *n Manono." 
 
 " Give them here to me,*' said the 
 trader, and he put the basket in the 
 stern out of the way. The old woman 
 came aft, too, ,and crouched at his 
 feet and smoked a sului? The cool 
 land-breeze freshened as the sail was 
 hoisted, and then the crew besought 
 the trader not to run down inside the 
 reef. Bullets, they said, if fired in 
 plenty, always hit something, and the 
 sea was fairly smooth outside the reef. 
 
 ' Bless you ! 
 
 ■ A cigarette rolled in dried banana leaf. 
 
 78 
 
The old woman awaited him, holding the girl 
 by the hand. 
 
BY REEF AND PALM, 
 
 And old Lupetea grasped his hand and 
 muttered in his ear, "For the sake of 
 this my little daughter go outside. 
 See, now, I am old, and to lie when 
 so near death as I am is foolish. Be 
 warned by me and be wise ; sail out 
 into the ocean, and at daylight we will 
 be at Salua in Manono. Then thou 
 canst set my feet on the shore — I and 
 the basket. But the girl shall go with 
 thee. Thou canst marry her, if that 
 be to thy mind, in the fashion of the 
 papaiagi^ or take Yitrfa^a Samoa.^ Thus 
 will I keep faith with thee. If the 
 girl be false, her neck is but little and 
 thy fingers strong." 
 
 Now the trader thought in this 
 wise : " This is well for me, for if I 
 get the girl away thus quietly from all 
 her relations I will save much in pre- 
 sents," and his heart rejoiced, for 
 although not mean he was a careful 
 man. So he steered his boat between 
 the seething surf that boiled and 
 hissed on both sides of the boat-pas- 
 sage. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 As the boat sailed past the misty 
 line of cloud-capped Upolu, the trader 
 lifted the girl up beside him and spoke 
 
 * Samoan fashion. 
 
 7Q 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 to her. She was not afraid of him, 
 she said, for many had told her he was- 
 a good man, and not a ula vale (scamp), 
 but she wept because now, save her 
 old grandmother, all her kinsfolk were 
 dead. Even but a day and a half ago 
 her one brother was killed with her 
 cousin. They were strong men, but 
 the bullets were swift, and so they 
 died. And their heads had been shown 
 at Matautu. For that she had grieved 
 and wept and eaten nothing, and the 
 world was cold to her. 
 
 ** Poor little devil ! " said the trader 
 to himself — " hungry." Then he 
 opened a locker and found a tin of 
 sardines. Not a scrap of biscuit. 
 There was plenty of biscuit, though, 
 in the boat, in fifty-pound tins, but on 
 these mats were spread, whereon his 
 crew were sleeping. He was about to 
 rouse them when he remembered the 
 old dame's basket of ripe breadfruit. 
 He laughed and looked at her. She, 
 too, slept, coiled up at his feet. But 
 first he opened the sardines and placed 
 them beside the girl, and motioned 
 her to steer. Her eyes gleamed like 
 diamonds in the darkness as she 
 answered his glance, and her soft 
 fingers grasped the tiller. Very 
 
 80 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 quickly, then, he felt among the 
 packages aft till he came to the 
 basket. 
 
 A quick stroke of his knife cut the 
 cinnet that lashed the sides together. 
 He felt inside. " Only two, after all, 
 but big ones, and no mistake. Wrapped 
 in cloth, too ! I wonder — Hell and 
 furies, what's this ? " — as his fingers 
 came in contact with something that 
 felt like a human eye. Drawing his 
 hand quickly back, he fumbled in his 
 pockets for a match, and struck it. 
 Breadfruit ! No. Two heads with 
 closed eyes, and livid lips blue with 
 the pallor of death, showing their 
 white teeth. And Salome covered 
 her face and slid down in the bottom 
 of the boat again, and wept afresh for 
 her cousin and brother, and the boat 
 came up in the wind, but no one 
 awoke. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 The trader was angry. But after 
 he had tied up the basket again he put 
 the boat on her course once more and 
 called to the girl. She crept close to 
 him and nestled under his overcoat, 
 for the morning air came across the 
 sea from the dew-laden forests and she 
 was chilled. Then she told the story 
 
 8i 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 of how her grandma had begged the 
 heads from those of Malietoa's troops 
 who had taken them at Matautu, and 
 then gone to the camp at Mulinu^u in 
 the hope of getting a passage in some 
 boat to Manono, her country, where 
 she would fain bury them. And that 
 night he had come, and old Lupetea 
 had rejoiced and sworn her to secrecy 
 about the heads in the basket. And 
 that also was why Lupetea was afraid 
 for the boat to go down inside the 
 passage, for there were many enemies 
 to be met with, and they would have 
 shot old Lupetea because she was of 
 Manono. That was all. Then she 
 ate the sardines, and, leaning her head 
 against the trader's bosom, fell asleep. 
 
 As the first note of the great grey 
 pigeon sounded the dawn, the trader's 
 boat sailed softly up to the Salua 
 beach, and old Lupetea rose, and, 
 bidding the crew good-bye, and call- 
 ing down blessings on the head of the 
 good and clever white man as she 
 rubbed his and the girl's noses against 
 her own, she grasped her Basket of 
 Breadfruit and went ashore. Then 
 the trader, with Salome by his side, 
 sailed out again into the ocean. 
 
 82 
 
Rnderbys Courtship. 
 
 essayed 
 
 to 
 
 HE two ghastly crea- 
 tures sat facing each 
 other in their wordless 
 misery as the wind died 
 away and the tattered 
 remnants of the sail 
 hung motionless after a 
 last faint flutter. The 
 Thing that sat aft — for 
 surely so grotesquely 
 horrible a vision could 
 not be a Man — pointed 
 with hands like the 
 talons of a bird of prey 
 to the purple outline 
 of the island in the 
 west, and his black, 
 blood-baked lips 
 moved, opened and 
 speak. The other being^ 
 
 83 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 that, with bare and skinny arms 
 clasped around its bony knees, sat 
 crouched in the bottom of the boat, 
 leaned forward to listen. 
 
 " Ducie Island, Enderby,*' said the 
 first in a hoarse, rattling whisper ; " no 
 one on it ; but water is there . . . 
 and plenty of birds and turtle, and 
 a few cocoanuts." 
 
 At the word " water " the listener 
 gave a curious gibbering chuckle, un- 
 clasped his hands from his knees, and 
 crept further towards the speaker. 
 
 "And the current is setting us 
 down to it, wind or no wind. I 
 believe we'll see this pleasure-trip 
 through, after all " — and the black 
 lips parted in a hideous grimace. 
 
 The man whom he called Enderby 
 sank his head again upon his knees, 
 and his dulled and bloodshot eyes 
 rested on something that lay at the 
 captain's feet — the figure of a woman 
 enveloped from her shoulders down 
 in a ragged native mat. For some 
 hours past she had lain thus with 
 the grey shadows of coming dis- 
 solution hovering about her pallid 
 face, and only the faintest movement 
 of lips and eyelids to show that she 
 still lived. 
 
 84 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 The black-whiskered man who 
 steered looked down for a second upon 
 the face beneath him with the uncon- 
 cern for others born of the agony of 
 thirst and despair, and again his gaunt 
 face turned to the land. Yet she was 
 his wife, and not six weeks back he 
 had experienced a cold sort of satis- 
 faction in the possession of so much 
 beauty. 
 
 He remembered that day now. 
 Enderby, the passenger from Sydney, 
 and he were walking the poop ; his 
 wife was asleep in a deck-chair on 
 the other side. An open book lay in 
 her lap. As the two men passed and 
 re-passed her, the one noted that the 
 other would glance in undisguised 
 and honest admiration at the figure in 
 the chair. And Enderby, who was as 
 open as the day, had said to him, 
 Langton,that the sleeping Mrs. Lang- 
 ton made as beautiful a picture as he 
 had ever seen. 
 
 The sail stirred, filled out, and 
 then drooped again, and the two 
 spectres, with the sleeping woman 
 between, still sat with their hungry 
 eyes gazing over toward the land. As 
 the sun sank, the outlines of the 
 verdure-clad summits and beetling 
 
 85 
 
BY REEF AND PALM, 
 
 cliffs Stood forth clearly for a short 
 minute or two, as if to mock them 
 with hope, and then became en- 
 shrouded in the tenebrous night. 
 
 Another hour and a faint sigh came 
 from the ragged mat. Endcrby, for 
 ever on the watch, had first seen a 
 white hand silhouetted against the 
 blackness of the covering, and knew 
 that she was still alive. And as he 
 was about to call Langton, who lay in 
 the stern-sheets muttering in hideous 
 dreams, he heard the woman's voice 
 calling him. With panting breath and 
 trembling limbs he crawled over be- 
 side her and gently touched her hand. 
 
 " Thank God, you are alive, Mrs. 
 Langton. Shall 1 wake Captain 
 Langton ? We must be nearing the 
 land." 
 
 " No, don't. Let him sleep. But I 
 called you, Mr. Enderby, to lift me 
 up. I want to see where the rain is 
 coming from." 
 
 Enderby groaned in anguish of 
 spirit. " Rain ? God has forgotten 
 
 us, I ," and then he stopped in 
 
 shame at betraying his weakness be- 
 fore a woman. 
 
 The soft, tender tones again — " Ah, 
 
 86 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 do help me up, please, I can feel the 
 rain is near." Then the man, with 
 hot tears of mingled weakness and 
 pity coursing down his cheeks, raised 
 her up. 
 
 " Why, there it is, Mr. Enderby — 
 and the land as well ! And it's a 
 heavy squall, too,** and she pointed to 
 a moving, inky mass that half con- 
 cealed the black shadow of the island. 
 " Quick, take my mat ; one end of it 
 is tight and will hold water." 
 
 " Langton, La-a-ngton ! Here's a 
 rain squall coming, * and Enderby 
 pressed the woman's hand to his lips 
 and kissed it again and again. Then 
 with eager hands he took the mat 
 from her, and staggering forward to 
 the bows stretched the sound end 
 across and bellied it down. And then 
 the moving mass that was once black, 
 and was now white, swept down upon 
 them and brought them life and 
 joy. 
 
 Langton, with an empty beef-tin 
 in his hand, stumbled over his wife's 
 figure, plunged the vessel into the 
 water and drank again and again. 
 
 '* Curse you, you brute!" shouted 
 Enderby through the wild noise of 
 the hissing rain, *' Where is your 
 
 87' 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 wife ? Are you going to let her lie 
 there without a drink ? *' 
 
 Langton answered not, but drank 
 once more. Then Enderby, with an 
 oath, tore the tin from his hand, filled 
 it and took it to her, holding her up 
 while she drank. And as her eyes 
 looked gratefully into his while he 
 placed her tenderly back in the stern- 
 sheets, the madness of a moment over- 
 powered him, and he kissed her on 
 the lips. 
 
 Concerned only with the nectar in 
 the mat, Langton took no regard of 
 Enderby as he opened the little locker, 
 pulled out a coarse dungaree jumper 
 and wrapped it round the thinly-clad 
 and drenched figure of the woman. 
 
 She was weeping now, partly from 
 the joy of knowing that she was not 
 to die of the agonies of thirst in an 
 open boat in mid-Pacific and partly 
 because the water had given her 
 strength to remember that Langton 
 had cursed her when he had stumbled 
 over her to get at the water in the 
 mat. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 She had married him because of his 
 handsome face and dashing manner 
 
 88 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 for one reason, and because her 
 Scotch father, also a Sydney-Tahitian 
 trading captain, had pointed out to her 
 that Langton had made and was still 
 making money in the island trade. 
 Her ideal of a happy life was to have 
 her husband leave the sea and buy 
 an estate either in Tahiti or Chili. 
 She knew both countries well : the 
 first was her birthplace, and between 
 there and Valparaiso and Sydney her 
 money-grubbing old father had traded 
 for years, always carrying with him 
 his one daughter, whose beauty the 
 old man regarded as a " vara guid 
 thing" and likely to procure him a 
 " weel-to-do mon" for a son-in-law. 
 
 Mrs. Langton cared for her husband 
 in a prosaic sort of way, but she knew 
 no more of his inner nature and latent 
 utter selfishness a year after her 
 marriage than she had known a year 
 before. Yet, because of the strain 
 of dark blood in her veins — her 
 mother was a Tahitian half-caste — she 
 felt the mastery of his savage resolu- 
 tion in the face of danger in the 
 thirteen days of horror that had 
 elapsed since the brigantine crashed 
 on an uncharted reef between Pit- 
 cairn and Ducie Islands, and the 
 
 8q 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 Other boat had parted company with 
 them, taking most of the provisions 
 and water. And to hard, callous 
 natures such as Langton's, women 
 yield easily and admire — which is 
 better than loving, for both. 
 
 But that savage curse still sounded 
 in her ears, and unconsciously made 
 her think of Enderby, who had always, 
 ever since the eighth day in the boat, 
 given her half his share of water. 
 Little did she know the agony it cost 
 him the day before, when the water 
 had given out, to bring her the whole 
 of his allowance. And as she drank, 
 the man^s heart had beaten with a 
 dull sense of pity, the while his baser 
 nature called out, " Fool ! it is his 
 place, not yours, to suffer for her." 
 
 At daylight the boat was close in to 
 the land, and Langton. in his cool, 
 cynical fashion, told his wife and 
 Enderby to finish up the last of the 
 meat and biscuit — for if they capsized 
 getting through into the lagoon, he 
 said, they would never want any 
 more. He had eaten all he wanted 
 unknown to the others, and looked 
 with an unmoved face at Enderby, 
 soaking some biscuit in the tin for his 
 
 QO 
 
BY REEF AND PAL\i 
 
 wife. Then, with the ragged sail 
 fluttering to the wind, Langton headed 
 the boat through the passage into the 
 glassy waters of the lagoon, and the 
 two tottering men, leading the woman 
 between them, sought the shelter of a 
 thicket scrub, impenetrable to the rays 
 of the sun, and slept. 
 
 And then for a week Enderby went 
 and scoured the reefs for food for 
 her. 
 
 One day at noon Enderby awoke. 
 The woman still slept heavily, the 
 first sign of returning strength show- 
 ing as a faint tinge in the pallor 
 of her cheek. Langton was gone. 
 A sudden chill passed over him — had 
 Langton taken the boat and left them 
 to die on lonely Ducie ? With hasty 
 step Enderby hurried to the beach. 
 The boat was there, safe. And at the 
 farther end of the beach he saw 
 Langton, sitting on the sand, eating. 
 
 " Selfish brute ! " muttered En- 
 derby. " I wonder what he*s got ? " 
 Just then he saw, close overhead, a 
 huge ripe pandanus, and, picking up a 
 heavy, flat piece of coral, he tried to 
 ascend the triplicated bole of the 
 tree and hammer off some of the 
 
 91 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 fruit. Langton looked up at him, and 
 showed his white teeth in a mocking 
 smile at the futile effort. Enderby 
 walked over to him, stone in hand. 
 He was not a vindictive man, but he 
 had grown to hate Langton fiercely 
 during the past week for his selfish 
 neglect of his wife. And here was 
 the fellow gorging himself on turtle- 
 eggs, and his tender, delicate wife 
 living on shellfish and pandanus. 
 
 "Langton," he said, speaking thickly 
 and pretending not to notice the re- 
 mainder of the eggs, " the tide is out, 
 and we may get a turtle in one of the 
 pools if you come with me. Mrs. 
 Langton needs something better than 
 that infernal pandanus fruit. Her 
 lips are quite sore and bleeding from 
 eating it.'* 
 
 The Inner Nature came out, 
 " Are they ? My wife's lips seem to 
 give you a very great deal of concern. 
 She has not said anything to me. 
 
 And I have an idea ** the look in 
 
 Enderby's face shamed into silence 
 the slander he was about to utter. 
 Then he added coolly — " But as for 
 going with you after a turtle, thanks, 
 I won't. IVe found a nest here and 
 
 92 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 have had a good square feed. If the 
 man-o'-war hawks and boobies hadn't 
 been here before me Td have got the 
 whole lot." Then he tore the skin 
 off another egg with his teeth.. 
 
 With a curious guttural voice 
 Enderby asked — " How many eggs 
 were left ? " 
 
 " Thirty or so — perhaps forty.** 
 
 "And you have eaten all but 
 those ? " — pointing with savage con- 
 tempt to five of the round, white 
 balls ; " give me those for your wife.*' 
 
 " My dear man, Louise has too 
 much Island blood in her not to be 
 able to do better than I — or you — in 
 a case like ours. And as you have 
 kindly constituted yourself her provi- 
 dore, you had better go and look for a 
 nest yourself.'* 
 
 " You dog ! '* — and the sharp-edged 
 coral stone crashed into his brain. 
 
 When Enderby returned, he found 
 Mrs. Langton sitting up on the 
 creeper-covered mound that over- 
 looked the beach where he had left 
 Langton. 
 
 " Come away from here,** he said, 
 " into the shade. I have found a few 
 turtle eggs.** 
 
 Q^ 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 They walked back a little and sat 
 down. But for the wild riot in his 
 brain, Enderby would have noted that 
 every vestige of colour had left her 
 face. 
 
 " You must be hungry," he thought 
 he was saying to her, and he placed 
 the white objects in her lap. 
 
 She turned them slowly over and 
 over in her hands and then dropped 
 them with a shudder. Some were 
 flecked with red. 
 
 " For God's sake," the man cried, 
 " tell me what you know ! " 
 
 "I saw it all," she answered. 
 
 " I swear to you, Mrs. Lan " 
 
 (the name stuck in his throat) ** I 
 never meant it. As God is my 
 witness, I swear it. If we ever escape 
 from here I will give myself up to 
 justice as a murderer," 
 
 The woman, with hands spread over 
 her face, shook her head from side to 
 side and sobbed. Then she spoke. 
 " I loved him once. . . . Yet it was 
 for me . . . and you saved my life 
 over and over again in the boat. All 
 sinners are forgiven, we are told. . . . 
 Why should not you be, . . . and it 
 was for me you did it. And I won't 
 lei you give yourself up to justice or 
 
BY REEf AND PALM. 
 
 any one. I'll say he died in the boat.*' 
 And then the laughter of hysterics. 
 
 When, some months later, the 
 'Josephine^ whaler, of New London, 
 picked them up on her way to Japan, 
 via the Carolines and Pelews, the 
 captain satisfactorily answered the 
 query made by Enderby if he could 
 marry them. He " rayther thought 
 he could. A man who was used ter 
 ketchin' and killin' whales, the power- 
 fullest creature of Almighty Gawd's 
 creation, was ekal to marryin' a pair 
 of unfortunit human beans in sich a 
 pre-carus situation as theirs.** 
 
 And, by the irony of fate, the 
 Enderbys {that isn't their name) are 
 now living in a group of islands where 
 there's quite a trade done in turtle, 
 and whenever a ship's captain comes 
 to dine with them they never have the 
 local dish — turtle eggs — for dinner. 
 "We see them so often," Enderby 
 explains, " and my wife is quite tired 
 of them.** 
 
 95 
 
Long Charley's Good 
 Little Wife. 
 
 HERE was the island, 
 only ten miles away, 
 and there it had been 
 for a whole week. 
 Sometimes we had got 
 near enough to see Long 
 Charley's house and the 
 figures of natives walk- 
 ingon the yellow beach; 
 and then the westerly 
 current would take us 
 away to leeward again. 
 But that night a squall 
 came up, and in half an 
 hour we were running 
 down to the land. 
 When the lights on the 
 beach showed up we 
 hove-to until daylight, 
 
 97 
 
BY REEF AND PALM, 
 
 and then found the surf too heavy to 
 let us land. 
 
 We got in close to the reef, and 
 could see that the trader's copra-house 
 was full, for there were also hundreds 
 of bags outside, awaiting our boats. 
 It was clearly worth staying for. The 
 trader, a tall, thin, pyjama-clad man, 
 came down to the water's edge, waved 
 his long arm, and then turned back 
 and sat down on a bag of copra. We 
 went about and passed the village 
 again, and once more the long man 
 came to the water's edge, waved his 
 arm, and retired to his seat. 
 
 In the afternoon we saw a native 
 and Charley together among the bags ; 
 then the native left him, and, as it 
 was now low tide, the kanaka was able 
 to walk to the edge of the reef, where 
 he signalled to us. Seeing that he 
 meant to swim off, the skipper went 
 in as close as possible, and backed his 
 fore-yard. Watching his chance for 
 a lull in the yet fierce breakers, the 
 native slid over the reef and swam out 
 to us as only a Line Islander or a 
 Tokelau man can swim. 
 
 " How's Charley ?" we asked, when 
 the dark man reached the deck. 
 
 g8 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 ''Who? Charley? Oh he fine, 
 plenty copra. Tapa ! my bowels are 
 filled with the sea — for one dollar i 
 Here ariki vaka (captain) and you tuhi 
 tuhi (supercargo)," said the native, 
 removing from his perforated and 
 pendulous ear-lobe a little roll of leaf, 
 "take this letter from the mean one 
 that giveth but a dollar for facing such 
 a galu (surf). Hast plenty tobacco on 
 board, friends of my heart ? Apa, 
 the surf! Not a canoe crew could 
 the white man get to face it. Is it 
 good twist tobacco, friends, or the flat 
 cakes ? Know that I am a man of 
 Nanomea, not one of these dog-eating 
 people here, and a strong swimmer ; 
 else the letter had not come." 
 
 The supercargo took the note. It 
 was rolled up in many thicknesses of 
 banana-leaf, which had kept it dry : — 
 
 "Dear Friends, — I have Been wait- 
 ing for you for near 5 months. I am 
 Chock full of Cobberah and Shark 
 Fins one Ton. I am near Starved 
 Out, No Biscit, no Beef, no flour, not 
 Eny thing to Eat. for god's Saik send 
 me a case of Gin ashore if you Don't 
 mean to Hang on till the sea goes 
 Down. Not a Woman comes Near 
 
 99 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 me because I am Run out of Traid so 
 please try also to Send a Peece of 
 Good print as there are some fine 
 Women here from Nukunau and I 
 think I can get one for a wife if I am 
 smart. If you Can't take my Cobberah 
 and mean to Go away send the Squair 
 face ^ for god's saik and something for 
 the Woman. — Your obliged Friend, 
 Charles." 
 
 We parcelled a bottle of gin round 
 with a small coir line, and sent it 
 ashore by the Nanomea man. Charley 
 and a number of natives came to the 
 edge of the reef to lend a hand in 
 landing the bearer of the treasure. 
 Then they all waded back to the 
 beach, headed by the white man in 
 the dirty pyjamas and sodden-looking 
 /a/a hat. Reaching his house he 
 turned his following away and shut 
 the door. 
 
 " I bet a dollar he wouldn't swap 
 billets with the angel Gabriel at this 
 partikler moment," said the profane 
 mate, thoughtfully. 
 
 We started weighing and shipping 
 the copra next day. After finishing 
 * Square-face = Hollands gin. 
 
 lOO 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 up, the solemn Charley invited the 
 skipper and supercargo to remain 
 ashore till morning. His great trouble, 
 he told us, was that he had not yet 
 secured a wife, '* a reg'lar wife, 
 y'know.** He had, unluckily, " lost 
 the run " of the last Mrs. Charley 
 during his absence at another island 
 of the group, and negotiations with 
 various local young women had been 
 broken off owing to his having run 
 out of trade. In the South Seas, as 
 in Australia and elsewhere, to get the 
 girl of your heart is generally a mere 
 matter of trade. There were, he told 
 us with a melancholy look, "some fine 
 Nukunau girls here on a visit, but the 
 one I want don't seem to care much 
 about stayin', unless all this new trade 
 fetches her." 
 
 " Who is she ? " inquired the 
 skipper. 
 
 " Tibakwa*s daughter." 
 
 " Let's have a look at her," said the 
 skipper, a man of kind impulses, who 
 felt sorry at the intermittency of the 
 Long One's connubial relations. 
 
 The tall, scraggy trader shambled 
 ro the door and bawled out " Tibakwa, 
 Tibakwa, Tibakwa, O ! " three times. 
 
 The people, singing in the big 
 
 lOI 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 moniep or town-house, stopped their 
 monotonous droning, and the name of 
 Tibakwa was yelled vociferously 
 throughout the village in true Gilbert 
 Group style. In the Gilberts, if a 
 native in one corner of a house speaks 
 to another in the opposite he bawls 
 loud enough to be heard a mile off. 
 • • • • 
 
 Tibakwa (The Shark) was a short, 
 squat fellow with his broad back and 
 chest scored and seamed with an 
 intricate and inartistic network of 
 cicatrices made by shark*s-teeth 
 swords. His hair, straight, coarse 
 and jet-black, was cut away square 
 from just above his eyebrows to the 
 top of his ears, leaving his fierce 
 countenance in a sort of frame. Each 
 ear-lobe bore a load — one had* two or 
 three sticks of tobacco, twined in and 
 about the distended circle of flesh, 
 and the other a clasp-knife and wooden 
 pipe. Stripped to the waist he showed 
 his muscular outlines to perfection, 
 and he sat down unasked in the bold, 
 self-confident, half-defiant manner 
 natural to the Line Islander. 
 
 "Where's Tirau ? '* asked the 
 trader. 
 
 I02 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 " Here," said the man of ivounds, 
 pointing outside, and he called out in 
 a voice like the bellow of a bull — 
 " Tirau O, nako mai!^^ (Come here !) 
 
 Tirau came in timidly, clothed only 
 in a ridi or girdle, and slunk into a 
 far corner. 
 
 The melancholy trader and the 
 father pulled her out, and she dumped 
 herself down in the middle of the 
 room with a muttered " E pudkdkd te 
 mat an / " (Bad white man). 
 
 ^*Fine girl, Charley,*' said the 
 skipper, digging him in the ribs. 
 " Ought to suit you, eh ! Make a good 
 little wife." 
 
 Negotiations commenced anew. 
 Father willing to part, girl frightened 
 — commenced to cry. The astute 
 Charley brought out some new trade. 
 Tirau's eye here displayed a faint 
 interest. Charley threw her, with the 
 air of a prince, a whole piece of 
 turkey twill, 12 yards — value three 
 dollars, cost about 2s. 3d. Tirau put 
 out a little hand and drew it gingerly 
 toward her. Tibakwa gave us an 
 atrocious wink. 
 
 " She's cottoned ! ** exclaimed 
 Chsfley. 
 
 103 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 And thus, without empty and hollow 
 display, were two loving hearts made 
 to beat as one. As a practical proof 
 of the solemnity of the occasion, the 
 bridegroom then and there gave Tirau 
 his bunch of keys, which she carefully 
 tied to a strand of her ridi, and, 
 smoking one of the captain's Manillas, 
 she proceeded to bash out the mosqui- 
 toes from the nuptial couch with a 
 fan. We assisted her, an hour after- 
 wards, to hoist the sleeping body of 
 Long Charley therein, and telling her 
 to bathe his head in the morning with 
 cold water we rose to go. 
 
 " Good-bye, Tirau ! " we said. 
 
 " Ttakapo,'' ^ said the Good Little 
 Wife, as she rolled up an empty 
 square gin bottle in one of Charley's 
 shirts for a pillow, and disposed her 
 graceful figure on the floor mats, 
 beside his bed, to fight mosquitoes 
 until daylight. 
 
 » "Good -night." 
 
 104 
 
The Methodical Mr. 
 Burr of Majuru. 
 
 NE day Ned Burr, a 
 fellow trader, walked 
 slowly up the path to 
 my station, and with a 
 friendly nod sat down 
 and watched intently 
 as, with native assist- 
 ance, I set about salt- 
 ing some pork. Ned 
 lived thirty miles from 
 my place, on a little 
 island at the entrance 
 to the lagoon. He was 
 a prosperous man, and 
 only drank under the 
 pressure of the mono- 
 tony caused by the non-arrival of a 
 ship to buy his produce. He would 
 
 lOS 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 then close his store, and, aided by a 
 number of friendly male natives, start 
 on a case of gin. But never a woman 
 went into Ned's house, though many 
 visited the store, where Ned bought 
 their produce, paid for it in trade or 
 cash, and sent them oiF, after treating 
 them on a strictly business basis. 
 
 Now the Marshall Island women 
 much resented this. Since Ned's wife 
 had died, ten years previously, the 
 women, backed by the chiefs, had 
 made most decided, but withal diplo- 
 matic, assaults upon his celibacy. The 
 old men had respectfully reminded 
 him that his state of singleness was a 
 direct slight to themselves as leading 
 men. If he refused to marry again 
 he surely would not cast such a reflec- 
 tion upon the personal characters of 
 some two or three hundred young 
 girls as to refuse a few of them the 
 position of honorary wives pro tem,y 
 or until he found one whom he 
 might think worthy of higher honours. 
 But the slow-thinking, methodical 
 trader only opened a bottle of gin, 
 gave them fair words and a drink all 
 round, and absolutely declined to 
 
 1 06 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 open any sort of matrimonial negotia- 
 tions. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 " Fm come to hev some talk with 
 you when youVe finished saltinV* he 
 said, as he rose and meditatively 
 prodded a junk of meat with his fore- 
 finger. 
 
 '* Right, old man," I said. "I'll 
 come now," and we went into the big 
 room and sat down. 
 
 " Air ye game ter come and see me 
 get married ? " he asked, looking away 
 past me, through the open door, to 
 where the surf thundered and tumbled 
 on the outer reef. 
 
 " Ned," I said, solemnly, " I know 
 you don^t joke, so you must mean it. 
 Of course I will. Tm sure all of us 
 fellows will be delighted to hear you're 
 going to get some nice little carajx^ to 
 lighten up that big house of yours 
 over there. Who's the girl, Ned ? " 
 
 "Le-jennabon." 
 
 *' Whew ! " I said, " why, she's the 
 daughter of the biggest chief on 
 Arhnu. I didn't think any white 
 man could get her, even if he gave 
 her people a boat-load of dollars as a 
 wedding-gift." 
 
 * An unmarried girl. 
 
 107 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 "Well, no," said Ned, stroking his 
 beard meditatively, "I suppose I 
 should feel a bit set up ; but two years 
 ago her people said that, because I 
 stood to them in the matter of some 
 rifles when they had trouble with King 
 Jibberick, I could take her. She was 
 rather young then, any way, but IVe 
 been over to Arhnu several times, and 
 I've had spies out, and damn me if I 
 ever could hear a whisper against her. 
 Tm told for sure that her father and 
 uncles would ha' killed any one that 
 came after her. So I'm a-goin' to 
 take her and chance it." 
 
 " Ned," I said, " you know your 
 own affairs and these people better 
 than I do. Yet are you really going to 
 pin your faith on a Marshall Island 
 girl ? You are not like any of us 
 traders. You see, we know what to 
 expect sometimes, and our morals are 
 a lot worse than those of the natives. 
 And it doesn't harrow our feelings 
 much if any one of us has to divorce 
 a wife and get another ; it only means 
 a lot of new dresses and some guzz- 
 ling, drinking, and speechifying, and 
 some bother in teaching the new wife 
 how to make bread. But your wife 
 that died was a Manhikian — another 
 
 lo8 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 kind. They don't breed that sort 
 here in the Marshalls. Think of it 
 twice, Ned, before you marry her." 
 
 The girl was a beauty. There are 
 many like her in that far-away cluster 
 of coral atolls. That she was a chiefs 
 child it was easy to see ; the abject 
 manner in which the commoner 
 natives always behaved themselves in 
 her presence showed their respect for 
 Le-jennabon. Of course we all got 
 very jolly. There were half a dozen 
 of us traders there, and we were, for 
 a wonder, all on friendly terms. Le- 
 jennabon sat on a fine mat in the big 
 room, and in a sweetly dignified man- 
 ner received the wedding gifts. One 
 of our number, Charlie de Buis, 
 though in a state of chronic poverty, 
 induced by steadfast adherence to 
 square gin at five dollars a case, made 
 his offerings — a gold locket covering a 
 woman's miniature, a heavy gold ring, 
 and a pair of fat cross-bred Muscovy 
 ducks. The bride accepted them with 
 a smile. 
 
 *' Who is this ? " she asked, looking 
 at the portrait — " your white wife ? " 
 
 " No," replied the bashful Charles, 
 "another man's. That's why I give 
 
 109 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 it away, curse her. But the ducks 1 
 bred myself on Majuru." 
 
 A month or two passed. Then, on 
 one Sunday afternoon, about dusk, I 
 saw Ned's whale-boat coming over 
 across the lagoon. I met him on the 
 beach. Trouble was in his face, yet 
 his hard, impassive features were such 
 that only those who knew him well 
 could discover it. Instead of entering 
 the house he silently motioned me to 
 come further along the sand, where 
 we reached an open spot clear of 
 cocoanuts. Ned sat down and filled 
 his pipe. I waited patiently. The 
 wind had died away, and the soft 
 swish and swirl of the tide as the 
 ripples lapped the beach was the only 
 sound that broke upon the silence of 
 the night. 
 
 "You were right. But it doesn't 
 matter now. . . .'* He laughed softly. 
 *' A week ago a canoe-party arrived 
 from Ebon. There were two chiefs. 
 Of course they came to my house to 
 trade. They had plenty of money. 
 There were about a hundred natives 
 belonging to them. The younger 
 man was chief of Likieb — a flash 
 
 no 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 buck. The first day he saw Le- 
 jennabon he had a lot too much to 
 say to her. I watched him. Next~ 
 morning my toddy-cutter came and 
 told me that the flash young chief 
 from Likieb had stuck him up and 
 drunk my toddy, and had said some- 
 thing about my wife — you know how 
 they talk in parables when they mean 
 mischief. I would have shot him for 
 the toddy racket, but I was waitin' for 
 a better reason. . . . The old hag who 
 bosses my cook-shed said to me as she 
 passed, ' Go and listen to a song of 
 cunning over there* — pointing to a 
 clump of breadfruit trees. I walked 
 over — quietly. Le-jennabon and her 
 girls were sitting down on mats. Out- 
 side the fence was a lad singing this — 
 in a low voice — 
 
 " * Marriage hides the tricks of lovers.' 
 
 Le-jennabon and the girls bent their 
 heads and said nothing. Then the 
 devil's imp commenced again — 
 
 ** * Marriage hides the tricks of lovers.* 
 
 Some of the girls laughed and whis- 
 pered to Le-jennabon. She shook 
 ,her head, and looked around timo- 
 rously. Plain enough, wasn*t it ? 
 
 Ill 
 
BY REEF AND PALM, 
 
 Presently the boy crept up to the 
 fence, and dropped over a wreath of 
 yellow blossoms. The girls laughed. 
 One of them picked it up, and offered 
 it to Le-jennabon. She waved it 
 away. Then, again, the cub outside 
 sang softly — 
 
 " ' Marriage hides the tricks of lovers,' 
 
 and they all laughed again, and Le- 
 jennabon put the wreath on her head, 
 and I saw the brown hide of the boy 
 disappear among the trees. 
 
 " I went back to the house. I 
 wanted to make certain she would 
 follow the boy first. After a few 
 minutes some of Le-jennabon's women 
 came to me, and said they were going 
 to the weather side — it*s narrer across, 
 as you know — to pick flowers. I said 
 all right, to go, as I was going to do 
 something else, so couldn*t come. 
 Then I went to the trade-room and 
 got what I wanted. The old cook- 
 hag showed me the way they had 
 gone, and grinned when she saw what 
 I had slid down inside my pyjamas. 
 1 cut round and got to the place. I 
 had a right good idea where it was. 
 
 112 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 The girls soon came along the path, 
 and then stopped and talked to Le- 
 jennabon and pointed to a clump of 
 bread-fruit-trees standing in an arrow- 
 rootpatch. She seemed frightened — but 
 went. Half-way through she stopped, 
 and then I saw my beauty raise his 
 head from the ground and march over 
 to her. I jest giv' him time ter enjoy 
 a smile, and then I stepped out and 
 toppled him over. Right through his 
 carcase — them Sharp's rifles make a 
 hole you could put your fist into. 
 
 " The girl dropped too — sheer funk. 
 Old Lebauro, the cook, slid through 
 the trees and stood over him, and said, 
 * U, guk ! He's a fine-made man,' 
 and gave me her knife ; and then I 
 collared Le-jennabon and " 
 
 ** For God's sake, Ned, don't tell me 
 you killed her too ! " 
 
 He shook his head slowly. 
 
 " No, I couldn't hurt her. But I 
 held her with one hand, she feeling 
 dead and cold, like a wet deck-swab ; 
 then the old cook-woman undid my 
 flash man's long hair, and, twining her 
 skinny old claws in it, pulled it taut, 
 while I sawed at the chap's neck with 
 my right hand. The knife was heavy 
 and sharp, and I soon got the job 
 
 113 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 through. Then I gave the thing to 
 Le-jennabon to carry. 
 
 ** I made her walk in front of me. 
 Every time she dropped the head I 
 slewed her round and made her lift it 
 up again. And the old cook-devil 
 trotted astern o' us. When we came 
 close to the tov^n I says to Le-jenna- 
 bon ; 
 
 " * Do you w^ant to live ? ' 
 
 " ' Yes/ says she, in a voice like a 
 whisper. 
 
 " ' Then sing,* says I, ' sing loud — 
 
 *** Marriage hides the tricks of lovers," 
 
 And she sang it in a choky kind of 
 quaver. 
 
 " There was a great rush o' people 
 ter see the procession. They stood in 
 a line on both sides of the path and 
 stared and said nothin'. 
 
 " Presently we comes to where all 
 the Likieb chiePs people was quar- 
 tered. They knew the head and ran 
 back for their rifles, but my crowd in 
 the village was too strong, and, o' 
 course, sided with me, and took away 
 their guns. Then the crowd gathers 
 round my place, and I makes Le- 
 
 114 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 jennabon hold up the head and sing 
 again — sing that deviFs chant. 
 
 "'Listen/ I says to the people, 
 Misten to my wife singing a love-song/ 
 Then I takes the thing, wet and 
 bloody, and slings it into the middle 
 of the Likieb people, and gave Le- 
 jennabon a shove and sent her in- 
 side." 
 
 I was thinking what would be the 
 best thing to say, and could only 
 manage *' It*s a bad business, Ned." 
 
 " Bad ! That's where you're 
 wrong," and, rising, Ned brushed the 
 sand off the legs of his pyjamas. "It's 
 just about the luckiest thing as could 
 ha* happened. Ye see, it*s given Le- 
 jennabon a good idea of what may 
 happen to her if she ain't mighty cor- 
 rect. An' it's riz me a lot in the 
 esteem of the people generally as a 
 man who hez business principles." 
 
 115 
 
A Truly Great Man, 
 
 A MID-PACIFIC SKETCH. 
 
 HEN the flag of 
 "Bobby" Towns, of 
 Sydney, was still 
 mighty in the South 
 Seas. The days had 
 not come in which 
 steamers with brass- 
 bound supercargoes, 
 carrying tin boxes and 
 taking orders, like mer- 
 chants' bagmen, for 
 goods " to arrive," ex- 
 ploited the EUice, 
 Kingsmill, and Gilbert 
 Groups. BlufF-bowed 
 old wave-punchers like 
 the Spec, the Lad;^ 
 Alicia^ and the E, K. 
 Bateson plunged their 
 
 117 
 
BY REEF AND PALM 
 
 clumsy hulls into the rolling swell of 
 the mid-Pacific, carrying their " trade '* 
 of knives, axes, guns, bad rum, and 
 good tobacco, instead of, as now, white 
 umbrellas, paper boots and shoes, 
 German sewing-machines and fancy 
 prints — "zephyrs," the smartly-dressed 
 supercargo calls them, as he submits a 
 card of patterns to Emilia, the native- 
 teacher's wife, who, as the first Lady 
 in the Land, must have first choice. 
 
 In those days the sleek native 
 missionary was an unknown quantity 
 in the Tokelaus and Kingsmills, and 
 the local white trader answered all 
 requirements. He was generally a 
 rough character — a runaway from 
 some Australian or American whaler, 
 or a wandering Ishmael who, for 
 reasons of his own, preferred living 
 among the intractable, bawling, and 
 poverty-stricken people of the equa- 
 torial Pacific to dreaming away his days 
 in the monotonously happy valleys of 
 the Society and Marquesas groups. 
 
 Such a man was Probyn, who dwelt 
 on one of the low atolls of the Ellice 
 Islands. He had landed there one 
 day from a Sydney whaler with a 
 
 u8 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 chest of clothes, a musket or two 
 and a tierce of twist tobacco ; with 
 him came a savage-eyed, fierce-look- 
 ing native wife, over whose shoulders 
 fell long waves of black hair ; and 
 a child about five years old. 
 
 The second mate of the whaler, 
 who was in charge of the boat, not 
 liking the looks of the natives that 
 swarmed around the new-comer, bade 
 him a hurried farewell, and pushed 
 away to the ship, which lay-to off the 
 passage with her fore-yard aback. 
 Then the clamorous natives pressed 
 more closely around Probyn and his 
 wife, and assailed them with questions. 
 
 So far neither of them had spoken. 
 Probyn, a tall, wiry, scanty-haired 
 man, was standing with one foot on 
 the tierce of tobacco and his hands in 
 his pockets. His wife glared defiantly 
 at some two or three score of reddish- 
 brown women who crowded eagerly 
 around her to stare into her face ; 
 holding to the sleeve of her dress was 
 the child, paralysed into the silence 
 of fright. 
 
 The deafening babble and frantic 
 gesticulations were perfectly explicable 
 to Probyn, and he apprehended no 
 
 119 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 danger. The head man of the town 
 had not yet appeared, and until he 
 came this wild license of behaviour 
 would continue. At last the natives 
 became silent and parted to the right 
 and left as Tahori, the head-man, his 
 fat body shining with cocoa-nut oil 
 and carrying an ebony-wood club, 
 stood in front of the white man and 
 eyed him up and down. The scrutiny 
 seemed satisfactory. He stretched 
 out his huge, naked arm and shook 
 Probyn's hand, uttering his one word 
 of Samoan — Talofa!^ and then, in 
 his own dialect, he asked ; " What is 
 your name, and what do you want ? " 
 
 " Sam," replied Probyn. And then, 
 in the Tokelau language, which the 
 wild-eyed people around him fairly 
 understood, " I have come here to live 
 with you and trade for oil " — and he 
 pointed to the tierce of tobacco. 
 
 " Where are you from ? *' 
 
 " From the land called Nukunono, 
 in the Tokelau." 
 
 "Why come here?" 
 
 " Because I killed some one there." 
 
 " Good ! " grunted the fat man ; 
 " there are no twists in your tongue ; 
 
 * Lit., " My love to you," the Samoan salu- 
 tation. 
 
 120 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 but why did the boat hasten away so 
 quickly ? *' 
 
 "They were frightened because of 
 the noise. He with the face like a 
 fowFs talked too much '* — and he 
 pointed to a long, hatchet-visaged 
 native, who had been especially tur- 
 bulent and vociferous. 
 
 ** Ha ! " and the fat, bearded face 
 of Tahori turned from the white man 
 to him of whom the white man had 
 spoken — " is it thee, Makoi ? And so 
 thou madest the strangers hasten away ! 
 That was wrong. Only for thee I had 
 gone to the ship and gotten many 
 things. Come here ! " 
 
 Then he stooped and picked up 
 one of Probyn*s muskets, handed it 
 to the white man, and silently indi- 
 cated the tall native with a nod. The 
 other natives fell back. Niabong, 
 Probyn*s wife, set her boy on his 
 feet, put her hand in her bosom and 
 drew out a key, with which she opened 
 the chest. She threw back the lid, 
 fixed her black eyes on Probyn, and 
 waited, 
 
 Probyn, holding the musket in his 
 left hand, mused a moment. Then he 
 asked : 
 
 121 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 "Whose man is he?" 
 
 ** Mine," said Tahori ; "he is from 
 Oaitupu, and my bondman." 
 
 " Has he a wife ? '* 
 
 " No ; he is poor and works in my 
 puraka^ field." 
 
 " Good," said Probyn, and he mo- 
 tioned to his wife. She dived her 
 hand into the chest and handed him 
 a tin of powder, then a bullet, a cap, 
 and some scraps of paper. 
 
 Slowly he loaded the musket, and 
 Tahori, seizing the bondman by his 
 arm, led him out to the open, and 
 stood by, club in hand, on the alert. 
 
 Probyn knew his reputation de- 
 pended on the shot. The ball passed 
 through the chest of Makoi. Then 
 four men picked up the body and 
 carried it into a house. 
 
 Probyn laid down the musket and 
 motioned again to Niabong. She 
 handed him a hatchet and blunt 
 chisel. Tahori smiled pleasantly, 
 and, drawing the little boy to him, 
 patted his head. 
 
 Then, at a sign from him, a woman 
 
 * A coarse species of taro {arum esculentum) 
 growing on the low-lying atolls of tlie mid- 
 Pacific. 
 
 122 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 brought Niabong a shell of sweet 
 toddy. The chief sat cross-legged 
 and watched Probyn opening the 
 tierce of tobacco. Niabong locked 
 the box again and sat upon it. 
 
 **Who are you ?" said Tahori, still 
 caressing the boy. 
 
 " Niabong. But my tongue twists 
 with your talk here. I am of Naura 
 (Pleasant Island). By and by I will 
 understand it." 
 
 " True. He is a great man, thy 
 man/' said the chief, nodding at 
 Probyn. 
 
 "A great man, truly. There is 
 not one thing in the world but he 
 can do it." 
 
 ** E mot^^ * said the fat man, ap- 
 provingly ; "I can see it. Look you, 
 he shall be as my brother, and thy 
 child here shall eat of the best in the 
 land." 
 
 Probyn came over with his two hands 
 filled with sticks of tobacco. "Bring 
 a basket," he said. 
 
 A young native girl slid out from 
 the cocoanuts at Tahori's bidding and 
 stood behind him, holding a basket. 
 Probyn counted out into it two hun- 
 dred sticks. 
 
 « True. 
 
 123 
 
BY REEF AND PALM 
 
 ** See, Tahori. I am a just man to 
 thee because thou art a just man to 
 me. Here is the price of him that 
 thou gavest to me." 
 
 Tahori rose and beckoned to the 
 people to return. " Look at this 
 man. He is a great man. His heart 
 groweth from his loins upwards to his 
 throat. Bring food to my house 
 quickly, that he and his wife and 
 child may eat. And to-morrow shall 
 every man cut wood for the house, a 
 house that shall be in length six 
 fathoms, and four in width. Such 
 men as he come from the gods." 
 
 124 
 
The Doctor s Wife. 
 
 CONSANGUINITY FROM A POLYNESIAN 
 
 STANDPOINT. 
 
 HO ! " said Lagisiva, the 
 widow, tossing her hair 
 back over her shoulders, 
 as she raised the heavy, 
 fluted tappa mallet in 
 her thick, strong right 
 hand, and dealt the 
 tappa cloth a series of 
 quick strokes — "Oho!" 
 said the dark - faced 
 Lagisiva, looking up at 
 the White Man, "be- 
 cause I be a woman 
 dost think me a fool ? 
 I tell thee I know some 
 of the customs of the 
 fapalagi — the white foreigners. Much 
 
 125 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 wisdom have ye in many things; but 
 again I tell thee, O friend of my sons, 
 that in some other things the people 
 of thy nation, ay, of all white nations, 
 they be as the beasts of the forest — 
 the wild goat and pig — without reason 
 and without shame. Tah ! Has not 
 my eldest son, Tui Fau, whom the 
 white men call Bob, lived for seven 
 years in Sini (Sydney), when he re- 
 turned from those places by New 
 Guinea, where he was diver ? And 
 he has filled my ears with the bad and 
 shameless customs of the papalagi, 
 Tah ! I say again thy women have 
 not the shame of ours. The heat of 
 desire devoureth chastity even in those 
 of one blood." 
 
 " In what do they offend, O my 
 mother ? " 
 
 ''*' Jue ! Life is short; and, behold, 
 this piece of siapo * is for a wedding 
 present, and I must hurry ; but yet 
 put down thy gun and bag and we 
 shall smoke awhile, and thou shalt 
 feel shame while I tell of one of the 
 papalagi customs — the marrying of 
 brother and sister." 
 
 "Nay, mother," said the White 
 
 ' The tappa cloth of the South Seas, made 
 fi cm the bark of the paper mulberry. 
 
 126 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 Man, "no: brother and sister, but 
 only cousins." 
 
 " Tah ! " and the big widow spat 
 scornfully on the ground, " those are 
 words, words. It is the same ; the 
 same is the blood, the same is the 
 bone. Even in our heathen days we 
 pointed the finger at one who looked 
 with the eye of love on the daughter 
 of his father's brother or sister — for 
 such did we let his blood out upon 
 the sand. And I, old Lagisiva, have 
 seen a white man brought to shame 
 through this wickedness.'* 
 
 " Tell me,*' said the White Man. 
 
 "He was z.fom^i (doctor) and rich, 
 and came here because he desired to 
 see strange places, and was weary of 
 his life in the land of the papalagi. 
 So he remained with us and hunted 
 the wild boar with our young men, 
 and became strong and hardy and like 
 unto one of our people. And then, 
 because he was for ever restless, he 
 sailed away once and returned in a 
 small ship, and brought back trade 
 and built a store and a fine house to 
 dwell in. The chief of this town 
 gave him, for friendship, a piece of 
 land over there by the Vai-ta-milo, and 
 
 T27 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 thus did he become a still greater 
 man ; his store was full of rich goods, 
 and he kept many servants, and at 
 night-time his house was as a blaze of 
 fire, for the young men and women 
 would go there and sing and dance, 
 and he had many lovers amongst our 
 young girls. 
 
 " I, old Lagisiva, who am now fat 
 and dull, was one. Oho, he was a 
 man of plenty I Did a girl but look 
 out between her eyelashes at a piece 
 of print in the store, lo ! it was 
 hers, even though it measured twenty 
 fathoms in length — and print was a 
 dollar a fathom in those days. So 
 every girl — even those from parts far 
 off — cast herself in his way, that he 
 might notice her. And he was gene- 
 rous to all alike — in that alone was 
 wisdom. 
 
 "Once or twice every year the ships 
 brought him letters. And he would 
 count the marks on the paper, and 
 tell us that they came from a woman 
 of the papalagi — his cousin, as you 
 would call her — whose picture was 
 hung over his table. She was for ever 
 smiling down upon us, and her eyes 
 were his eyes, and if he but smiled 
 
 128 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 ihen were the two alike — alike as arc 
 two children of the same birth. When 
 three years had come and gone a ship 
 brought him a letter, and that night 
 there were many of us at his house, 
 men and women, to ta-lk with the 
 people from the ship. When those 
 had gone away to their sleep, he 
 called to the chief and said : — 
 
 " * In two days, O my friend, I set 
 out for my land again ; but to return, 
 for much do I desire to remain with 
 you always. In six months I shall be 
 here again. And there is one thing 
 I would speak of. I shall bring back 
 a white wife, a woman of my own 
 country whom I have loved for many 
 years.* 
 
 " Then Tamaali'i, the chief, who was 
 my father's father and very old, said, 
 *She shall be my daughter, and wel- 
 come,' and many of us young girls said 
 also, *she shall be welcome ' — although 
 we felt sorrowful to lose a man so good 
 and open-handed. And then did the 
 fomdi call to the old chief and two 
 others, and they entered the store and 
 lighted lamps, and presently a man 
 went forth into the village and cried 
 aloud, *Come hither, all people, and 
 listen ! ' So, many hundreds came. 
 
 129 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 and we all went in and found the 
 floor covered with some of everything 
 that the white man possessed. And 
 the chief spoke and said : 
 
 " ' Behold, my people, this our good 
 friend goeth away to his own country 
 that he may bring back a wife. And 
 because many young unmarried girls 
 will say, " Why does he leave us — are 
 not we as good to look upon as this 
 other woman ? " does he put these pre- 
 sents here on the ground and these 
 words into my mouth — ** Out of his 
 love to you, which must be a thing 
 that is past and forgotten, the wife 
 that is coming must not know of some 
 little things — that is papa/agi custom.'* * 
 
 "And then every girl that had a 
 wish took whatever she fancied, and 
 the white man charged us to say 
 naught that would arouse the anger 
 of the wife that was to come. And 
 so he departed. 
 
 " One hundred and ten fat hogs 
 killed we and roasted whole for the 
 feast of welcome. I swear it by the 
 Holy Ones of God's Kingdom — one 
 hundred and ten. And yet this white 
 lily of his never smiled — not even on 
 us young girls who danced and sang 
 
 130 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 before her, only she clung to his arm, 
 and, behold, when we drew close to 
 her we saw it was the woman in the 
 picture — his sister ! 
 
 "And then one by one all those 
 that had gathered to do him honour 
 went away in shame — shame that he 
 should do this, wed his own sister, 
 and many women said worse of her. 
 But yet the feast — the hogs, and yams, 
 and taro, and fish, and fowls — was 
 brought and placed by his doorstep, 
 but no one spake, and at night-time 
 he was alone with his wife, till he 
 sent for the old chief, and reproached 
 him with bitter words for the coldness 
 of the people, and asked, 'Why is 
 this ? ' 
 
 • • • • 
 
 "And the old man pointed to the 
 picture over the table, and said, 'Is 
 this she — thy wife ? * 
 
 "'Ay,* said the White Man. 
 
 " ' Is she not of the same blood as 
 thyself?' 
 
 " ' Even so/ said he. 
 
 "'Then shalt thou live alone in 
 thy shame,' said the old man ; and he 
 went away. 
 
 " So, for many months, these two 
 lived. He found some to work for 
 
 131 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 him, and some young girls to tend 
 
 his sister, whom he called his wife, 
 
 whilst she lay ill with her first child. 
 
 And the day after it was born, some 
 
 one whispered, 'He is accursed! the 
 
 child cries not — it is dumb/ For a 
 
 week it lived, yet never did it cry, for 
 
 the curse of wickedness was upon it. 
 
 Then the white man nursed her 
 
 tenderly, and took her away to live 
 
 in Fiji for six months. When they 
 
 came back it was the same — no one 
 
 cared to go inside his house, and he 
 
 cursed us, and said he would bring 
 
 men from Tokelau to work for him. 
 
 We said naught. Then in time 
 
 another child was born, and it was 
 
 hideous to look upon, and that also 
 
 died. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 " Now, there was a girl amongst us 
 whose name was Suni, to whom the 
 white woman spoke much, for she 
 was learning our tongue, and Suni, by 
 reason of the white woman's many 
 presents, spoke openly to her, and 
 told her of the village talk. Then 
 the white woman wept, and arose 
 and spoke to the man for a long 
 while. And she came back to Suni 
 and said, 'What thou hast told me 
 
 132 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 was in my own heart three years ago ; 
 yet, because it is the custom of my 
 people, I married this man, who is the 
 son of my father's brother. But now 
 I shall go away.' Then the white 
 man came out and beat Suni with a 
 stick. But yet was his sister, whom 
 he called his wife, eaten up with 
 shame, and when a ship came they 
 went away and we saw her not again. 
 For about two years we heard no 
 more of our white man, till he re- 
 turned and said the woman was dead. 
 And he took Suni for wife, who bore 
 him three children, and then they 
 went away to some other country — 
 I know not where." 
 
 " I thank thee many, many times, 
 
 friend of my sons. Four children 
 of mine here live in this village, yet 
 not a one of them ever asks me when 
 
 1 smoked last. May God walk with 
 thee for this stick of tobacco." 
 
 i 
 
 »33 
 
The Fate of the 
 ''Alidar 
 
 HE other day, in an 
 Australian paper, I 
 read something that 
 set me thinking of 
 Taplin — of Taplin and 
 his wife, and the fate 
 of the Alida. This 
 is what I read : — 
 
 "News has reached 
 Tahiti that a steamer 
 had arrived at Toulon 
 with two noted 
 prisoners on board. 
 These men, who are 
 brothers named Ro- 
 vique, long ago 
 left Tahiti on an 
 island- trading trip, 
 and when the vessel 
 
 13: 
 
BY REEF AND PALM, 
 
 got to sea they murdered the captain, 
 a passenger, the supercargo (Mr. 
 Gibson, of Sydney), and two sailors, 
 and threw their bodies overboard. 
 The movers in the affair were 
 arrested at Ponape, in the Caroline 
 Islands. The vessel belonged to a 
 Tahitian prince, and was called the 
 Nuroahitiy but its name had been 
 changed after the tragedy. The 
 accused persons were sent to Manilla, 
 From Manilla they appear now to 
 have been sent on to France." 
 
 We were lying inside Funafuti 
 Lagoon, in the Ellice Group. The 
 last cask of oil had been towed off to 
 the brig and placed under hatches, 
 and we were to sail in the morning 
 for our usual cruise among the Gilbert 
 and Kingsmill Islands. 
 
 Our captain, a white trader from 
 the shore, and myself were sitting on 
 deck "yarning" and smoking. We 
 lay about a quarter of a mile from the 
 beach — such a beach, white as the 
 driven snow, and sweeping in a great 
 curve for five long miles to the north 
 and a lesser distance to the south and 
 west. 
 
 Right abreast of the brig, nestling 
 
 136 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 like huge birds' nests in the shade of 
 groves of cocoanut and breadfruit trees, 
 were the houses of the principal village 
 in Funafuti. 
 
 Presently the skipper picked up his 
 glasses that lay beside him on the sky- 
 light, and looked away down to lee- 
 ward, where the white sails of a schooner 
 beating up to the anchorage were 
 outlined against the line of palms 
 that fringed the beach of Funafala — 
 the westernmost island that forms one 
 of the chain enclosing Funafuti Lagoon. 
 
 " It's Taplin's schooner, right 
 enough," he said. " Let us go ashore 
 and give him and his pretty wife a 
 hand to pack up." 
 
 Taplin was the name of the only 
 other white trader on Funafuti besides 
 old Tom Humphreys, our own man. 
 He had been two years on the island, 
 and was trading in opposition to our 
 trader, as agent for a foreign house — 
 our owners were Sydney people — 
 but his firm's unscrupulous method 
 of doing business had disgusted him. 
 So one day he told the supercargo of 
 their vessel that he would trade for 
 them no longer than the exact time 
 he had agreed upon — two years. He 
 
 137 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 had come to Funafuti from the 
 Pelews, and was now awaiting the 
 return of his firm's vessel to take him 
 back there again. Getting into our 
 boat we were pulled ashore and 
 landed on the beach in front of the 
 trader's house. 
 
 "Well, Taplin, here's your schooner 
 at last," said old Tom, as we shook 
 hands and seated ourselves in the com- 
 fortable, pleasant-looking room. " I 
 see you're getting ready to go." 
 
 Taplin was a man of about thirty 
 or so, with a quiet, impassive face and 
 dark, deep-set eyes that gave to his 
 features a somewhat gloomy look, 
 except when he smiled, which was 
 not often. Men with that curious, 
 far-oiF look in their eyes are not 
 uncommon among the lonely islands 
 of the wide Pacific. Sometimes it 
 comes to a man with long, long years 
 of wandering to and fro ; and you 
 will see it deepen when, by some idle, 
 chance word, you move the memories 
 of a forgotten past — ere he had even 
 dreamed of the existence of the South 
 Sea Islands, and for ever dissevered 
 himself from all links and associations 
 of the outside world. 
 
 138 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 " Yes," he answered, " I am nearly 
 ready. I saw the schooner at daylight, 
 and knew it was the Alidad 
 
 " Where do you think of going to, 
 Taplin ? " I asked. 
 
 "Back to the Carolines. Nerida 
 belongs down that way, you know ; 
 and she is fretting to get back again — 
 otherwise I wouldn't leave this island. 
 IVe done pretty well here, although 
 the people I trade for are — well, you 
 know what they are.*' 
 
 '* Aye," assented old Humphreys, 
 ** there isn't one of 'em but what is the 
 two ends and bight of a — scoundrel ; 
 and that supercargo with the yaller 
 moustache and womany hands is the 
 worst of the lot. I wonder if he's 
 aboard this trip ? I don't let him 
 inside my house ; I've got too many 
 daughters, and they all think him a 
 fine man." 
 
 Nerida, Taplin's wife, came out to 
 us from an inner room. She was a 
 native of one of the Pelew Islands, a 
 tall slenderly built girl, with pale, 
 olive skin and big, soft eyes. A 
 flowing gown of yellow muslin — the 
 favourite colour of the Portuguese 
 blooded natives of the Pelews-— 
 
 139 
 
 \ 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 buttoned high up to her throat, draped 
 her graceful figure. After putting 
 her little hand in ours, and greeting 
 us in the Funafuti dialect, she went 
 over to Taplin, and touching his arm, 
 pointed out the schooner that was 
 now only a mile or so away, and a 
 smile parted her lips, and the star-like 
 eyes glowed and filled with a tender 
 light. 
 
 1 felt Captain Warren touch my 
 arm as he rose and went outside. I 
 followed. 
 
 " L ,** said Warren, " can't 
 
 we do something for Taplin ourselves. 
 Isn't there a station anywhere about 
 Tonga or Wallis Island that would 
 suit him." 
 
 " Would he come, Warren ? He — 
 or rather, that pretty wife of his — seems 
 bent upon going away in the schoonei 
 to the Carolines." 
 
 " Aye," said the skipper, " that's it. 
 If it were any other vessel I wouldn't 
 care." Then suddenly, " That fellow 
 
 Motley (the supercargo) is a d 
 
 scoundrel — capable of any villainy 
 where a woman is concerned. Did 
 you ever hear about old Raymond's 
 daughter, down at Mangareva ? " 
 
 I4.0 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 I had heard. Suffice it here to say 
 that by means of a forged letter pur- 
 porting to have been written by her 
 father — an old English trader in the 
 Gambler Group — Motley had lured 
 the beautiful young half-blood away 
 from a school in San Francisco, and six 
 months afterwards turned her adrift 
 on the streets of Honolulu. Raymond 
 was a lonely man, and passionately 
 attached to his only child; so no one 
 wondered when, reaching California 
 a year after and finding her gone, 
 he shot himself in his room at an 
 
 hotel. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 " I will ask him, anyway,** I said ; 
 and as we went back into the house 
 the Alida shot past our line of vision 
 through the cocoanuts, and brought up 
 inside the brig. 
 
 " Taplin," I said, " would you care 
 about taking one of our stations to the 
 eastward ? Name any island you fancy, 
 and we will land you there with the 
 pick of our ' trade * room.** 
 
 " Thank you. I would be only too 
 glad — but I cannot. I have promised 
 Nerida to go back to Babelthouap or 
 somewhere in the Pelews, and Motley 
 has promised to land us at Ponape, in 
 
 14T 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 the Carolines. We can get away 
 from there in one of the Dutch firm's 
 vessels." 
 
 "I am very sorry, Taplin " I 
 
 commenced, when Captain Warren 
 burst in with — " Look here, Taplin, 
 we haven't got much time to talk. 
 Here's the Jlidah boat coming, with 
 that (blank blank) scoundrel Motley 
 in it. Take my advice. Don't go 
 away in the Alidad And then he 
 looked at Nerida and whispered some- 
 thing. 
 
 A red spark shone in Taplin's dark 
 eyes, then he pressed Warren's hand. 
 
 "I know," he answered, "he's a 
 most infernal villain — Nerida hates 
 him too. But you see how I am fixed. 
 The Alida is our only chance of getting 
 back to the north-west. But he hasn't 
 got old Raymond to deal with in me. 
 Here they are." 
 
 Motley came in first, hat and fan in 
 hand. He was a fine-looking man, 
 with blue eyes and an unusually fair 
 skin for an island supercargo, with a 
 long, drooping, yellow moustache. 
 Reidermann, the skipper, who fol- 
 lowed, was stout, coarse, red-faced, and 
 brutal. 
 
 142 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 " How are you, gentlemen ? " said 
 Motley, affably, turning from Taplin 
 and his wife advancing towards us ; 
 *' Captain Riedermann and I saw the 
 spars of your brig showing up over 
 the cocoanuts yesterday, and there- 
 fore knew we should have the plea- 
 sure of meeting you." 
 
 Warren looked steadily at him for 
 a moment, and then glanced at his 
 outstretched hand. 
 
 "The pleasure isn't mutual, blarst 
 you, Mr. Motley,'' he said coldly, and 
 he put his hand in his pocket. 
 
 The supercargo took a step nearer 
 to him with a savage glare in his blue 
 eyes. " What do you mean by this. 
 Captain Warren ? " 
 
 *' Mean," and the imperturbable 
 Warren seated himself on a corner of 
 the table, and gazed stolidly first at the 
 handsome Motley and then at the 
 heavy, vicious features of Riedermann. 
 " Oh, anything you like. Perhaps it's 
 because it's not pleasant to see white 
 men landing at a quiet island like this 
 with revolvers slung to their waists 
 under their pyjamas; looks a bit too 
 much like Bully Hayes' style for me," 
 and then his tone of cool banter sud- 
 denly changed to that of studied 
 
 143 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 insolence. ** I say. Motley, I was 
 talking about you just now to Taplin 
 and Nerida ; do you want to know 
 what I was saying ? Perhaps I had 
 better tell you. I was talking about 
 Tita Raymond — and yourself." 
 
 Motley put his right hand under 
 his pyjama jacket, but Taplin sprang 
 forward, seized his wrist in a grip of 
 iron, and drew him aside. 
 
 "The man who draws a pistol in 
 my house, Mr. Motley, does a foolish 
 thing," he said, in quiet, contemptuous 
 tones, as he threw the supercargo's 
 revolver into a corner. 
 
 With set teeth and clenched hands 
 Motley flung himself into a chair, 
 unable to speak. 
 
 Warren, still seated on the table, 
 swung his foot nonchalantly to and fro 
 and then commenced at Riedermann. 
 
 "Why, how's this. Captain Rieder- 
 man ? don't you back up your super- 
 cargo's little quarrels, or have you 
 left your pistol on board ? Ah, no, 
 you haven't. I can see it there right 
 enough. Modesty forbids you putting 
 a bullet into a man in the presence of 
 a lady, eh?" Then slewing round 
 
 144 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 again he addressed Motley, " By God, 
 sir, it is well for you that we are in a 
 white man's house and that that man 
 is my friend and took away that pistol 
 from your treacherous hand; if you 
 had fired at me / would have *' looted'* 
 you from one end of Funafuti beach to 
 the other — and Tve a damned good 
 mind to do it now, but won't, as 
 Taplin has to do some business with 
 you." 
 
 "That will do, Warren," I said. 
 " We don't want to make a scene 
 in Taplin's house. Let us go away 
 and allow him to finish his business." 
 
 Still glaring angrily at Riedermann 
 and Motley, Warren got down slowly 
 from the table. Then we bade 
 Taplin and Nerida good-bye and went 
 aboard. 
 
 At daylight we saw Taplin and 
 his wife go off in the Alidads boat. 
 They waved their hands to us in fare- 
 well as the boat pulled past tlie 
 brig, and then the schooner hove-up 
 anchor, and with all sail set stood 
 away down to the north-west passage 
 of the lagoon. 
 
 A year or so afterward we were on 
 
 145 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 a trading voyage to the islands of the 
 Tubuai Group, and were lying be- 
 calmed, in company with a New 
 Bedford whaler. Her skipper came 
 on board the brig, and we started 
 talking of Taplin, whom the whale- 
 ship captain knew. 
 
 " Didn*t you hear ? '* he said. " The 
 Alida never showed up again. 
 * Turned turtle,' I suppose, some- 
 where in the islands, like all those 
 slashing over -masted Trisco - built 
 schooners do, sooner or later." 
 
 "Poor Taplin,*' said Warren, *' I 
 thought somehow we would never see 
 him again." 
 
 Five years had passed. Honest old 
 Warren, fiery-tempered and tn^- 
 hearted, had long since died of fever 
 in the Solomons, and I was supercargo 
 with a smart young American skipper 
 in the brigantine Palestine^ when we 
 one day sailed along the weather-side 
 of a tiny little atoll in the Caroline 
 Islands. 
 
 The Palestine was leaking, and 
 Packenham, tempted by the easy 
 passage into the beautiful lagoon, 
 decided to run inside and discharge 
 our cargo of copra to get at the leak. 
 
 246 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 The island had but very few in- 
 habitants — perhaps ten or twelve men 
 and double that number of women 
 and children. No ship, they told us, 
 had ever entered the lagoon but Bully 
 Hayes's brig, and that was nine years 
 before. There was nothing on the 
 island to tempt a trading vessel, and 
 even the sperm whalers as they 
 lumbered lazily past from Strong's 
 Island to Guam would not bother to 
 lower a boat and " dicker '' for pearl- 
 shell or turtle. 
 
 At the time of Hayes* visit the 
 people were in sore straits, and on the. 
 brink of actual starvation, for although 
 there were fish and turtle in plenty, 
 they had not the strength to catch 
 them. A few months before a cyclone 
 had destroyed nearly all the cocoa- 
 nut trees, and an epidemic followed 
 it, and carried off half the scanty 
 population. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 The jaunty sea-rover — than whom 
 a kinder-hearted man to natives never 
 sailed the South Seas— took pity on the 
 survivors, especially the youngest and 
 prettiest girls, and gave them a pas- 
 sage in the famous Leonora to another 
 island where food was plentiful. There 
 
 147 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 they remained for some years, till the 
 inevitable mal du pays that is inborn 
 to every Polynesian and Micronesian, 
 became too strong to be resisted ; and 
 so, one day, a wandering sperm whaler 
 brought them back again. 
 
 But in their absence strangers had 
 come to the island. As the people 
 landed from the boats of the whale- 
 ship, two brown men, a woman and a 
 child, came out of one of the houses, 
 and gazed at them. Then they fled to 
 the farthest end of the island and hid. 
 
 Some weeks passed before the re- 
 turned islanders found out the retreat 
 of the strangers, who were armed 
 with rifles, and called to them to 
 " come out and be friends." They did 
 so, and by some subtle treachery the 
 two men were killed during the night. 
 The woman, who was young and 
 handsome, was spared, and, from 
 what we could learn, had been well 
 treated ever since. 
 
 "Where did the strangers come 
 from ? *' we asked. 
 
 That they could not tell us. But 
 the woman had since told them that 
 the ship had anchored in the lagoon 
 because she was leaking badly ; and 
 that the captain and crew were trying 
 
 148 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 to Stop the leak when she commenced 
 to sink, and they had barely time to 
 save a few things when she sank. In 
 a few days the captain and crew left 
 the island in the boat; and rather 
 than face the dangers of a long voyage 
 in such a small boat, the two natives 
 and the woman elected to remain on 
 the island. 
 
 " That's a mighty fishy yarn," said 
 Packenham to me. " I daresay these 
 fellows have been doing a little cut- 
 ting-ofF business. But then I don't 
 know of any missing vessel. We'll 
 go ashore to-morrow and have a look 
 round.'* 
 
 A little after sunset the skipper 
 and I were leaning over the rail 
 watching the figures of the natives as 
 they moved to and fro in the glare of 
 the fires lighted here and there along 
 the beach. 
 
 " Hallo," said Packenham, " here's 
 a canoe coming, with only a woman 
 in it. By thunder she's travelling, 
 too, and coming straight for the ship." 
 
 A few minutes more and the canoe 
 was alongside. The woman hastily 
 picked up a little girl that was sitting 
 in the bottom, looked up, and called 
 out in English — 
 
 149 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 *' Take my little girl, please.** 
 
 A native sailor leant over the bul- 
 warks and lifted up the child, and the 
 woman clambered after her. Then 
 seizing the child from the sailor, she 
 flew along the deck and into the cabin. 
 
 She was standing facing us as we 
 followed and entered, holding the child 
 tightly to her bosom. The soft light 
 of the cabin lamp fell full upon her 
 features, and we saw that she was very 
 young and seemed wildly excited. 
 
 " Who are you ?" began I, when she 
 advanced, put out a trembling hand 
 to me, and said, " Don't you know me, 
 Mr. Supercargo ? I am Nerida, Tap- 
 lin's wife." Then she sank on a seat 
 and sobbed violently. 
 
 We waited till she regained her 
 composure somewhat, and then I said 
 " Nerida, where is Taplin ? " 
 
 '* Dead," she said in a voice scarce 
 above a whisper, " only us two are 
 left — I and little Teresa." 
 
 Packenham held out his hands to 
 the child. With wondering, timid 
 eyes, she came, and for a moment or 
 two looked doubtingly upwards into 
 the brown, handsome face of the 
 skipper, and then nestled beside him 
 
 150 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 For a minute or so the ticking of 
 the cabin clock broke the silence, ere 
 I ventured to ask the one question 
 uppermost in my mind. 
 
 " Nerida, how and where didTaplin 
 die?'' 
 
 " My husband was murdered at sea," 
 she said ; and then she covered her 
 face with her hands. 
 
 *' Don't ask her any more now," 
 said Packenham, pityingly, *' let her 
 tell us to-morrow." 
 
 She raised her face. " Yes, I will 
 tell you to-morrow. You will take 
 me away with you will you not, 
 gentlemen — for my child's sake ? ** 
 
 " Of course," said the captain, 
 promptly. And he stretched out his 
 honest hand to her. 
 
 " She's a wonderfully pretty woman," 
 said Packenham, as we walked the 
 poop later on, and he glanced down 
 through the open skylight to where 
 she and the child slept peacefully on 
 the cushioned transoms, " how prettily 
 she speaks English too ; do you think 
 she was fond of her husband, or was 
 it merely excitement that made her 
 cry — native women are as prone to 
 
 151 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 be as hysterical as our own when 
 under any violent emotion." 
 
 " I can only tell you, Packenham, 
 that when I saw her last, five years 
 ago, she was a graceful girl of eighteen, 
 and, as full of happiness as a bird is of 
 song — she looks thirty now ; and her 
 face is thin and drawn. But I don^t 
 say all for love of Taplin." 
 
 "That will all wear off by and 
 by,** said the skipper, confidently. 
 
 " Yes," I thought, " and she won't 
 be a widow long." 
 
 Next morning Nerida had an hour 
 or two among the prints and muslin 
 in the trade-room, and there was some- 
 thing of the old beauty about her 
 when she sat down to breakfast with 
 us. We were to sail at noon. The 
 leak had been stopped, and Packen- 
 ham was in high good-humour. 
 
 " Nerida," I inquired, unthinkingly, 
 **do you know what became of the 
 Alida, She never turned up again." 
 
 " Yes," she answered, " she is here, 
 at the bottom of the lagoon. Will 
 you come and look at her." 
 
 After breakfast we lowered the 
 dingy, the captain and I pulling. 
 Nerida steered us out to the north 
 
 I5« 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 end of the lagoon till we reached 
 a spot where the water suddenly- 
 deepened. It was, in fact, a deep 
 pool some three or four hundred feet 
 in circumference, closed in by a con- 
 tinuous wall of coral rock, the top of 
 which even at low water, would be 
 perhaps two or more fathoms under 
 the surface. 
 
 She held up her hands for us to 
 back water, then she gazed over the 
 side into the water. 
 
 "Look," she said, "there lies the 
 Jlidar 
 
 • • • • 
 
 We bent over the side of the boat. 
 The waters of the lagoon were as 
 smooth as glass and as clear. We 
 saw two slender rounded columns that 
 seemed to shoot up in a slanting 
 direction from out the vague blue 
 depths beneath, to within four or five 
 fathoms of the surface of the water. 
 Swarms of gorgeously-hued fish swam 
 and circled in and about the masses 
 of scarlet and golden weed that 
 clothed the columns from their tops 
 downward and swayed gently to and 
 fro as they glided in and out. 
 
 A hawk-bill turtle, huge, black, and 
 misshapen, slid out from beneath the 
 
 IS3 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 dark ledge of the reef and swam 
 slowly across the pool, and then, be- 
 tween the masts, sank to the bottom. 
 
 " 'Twas six years ago," said Nerida, 
 as we raised our heads. 
 
 That night, as the Palestine sped 
 noiselessly before the trade wind to the 
 westward she told me, in the old Funa- 
 futi tongue, the tragedy of the Alida, 
 
 " The schooner," she said, " sailed 
 very quickly, for on the fifteenth day 
 out from Funafuti we saw the far-off 
 peaks of Strong's Island. I was glad, 
 for Kusaie is not many days' sail from 
 Ponape — and I hated to be on the ship. 
 The man with the blue eyes filled me 
 with fear when he looked at me ; and 
 he and the captain and mate were 
 for ever talking amongst themselves in 
 whispers. 
 
 '* There were five native sailors on 
 board — two were countrymen of mine, 
 and three were Tafitos. * 
 
 " One night we were close to a little 
 island called Mokil,^ and Taplin and I 
 were awakened by a loud cry on deck ; 
 my two countrymen were calling on 
 him to help them. He sprang on 
 
 * Natives of the Gilbert Islands. 
 ■ Duperrey's Island. 
 
 154 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 deck, pistol in hand, and, behold ! the 
 schooner was laid to the wind with 
 the land close to, and the boat along- 
 side, and the three white men were 
 binding my countrymen with ropes, 
 because they would not get into the 
 boat. 
 
 " * Help us, O friend ! ' they called 
 to my husband in their own tongue ; 
 *the white men say that if we go not 
 ashore here at Mokil they will kill 
 us. Help us — for they mean evil to 
 thee and Nerida. He with the yellow 
 moustache wants her for his wife.' 
 
 " There were quick fierce words, 
 and then my husband struck Motley 
 on the head with his pistol and felled 
 him, and then pointed it at the mate 
 and the captain, and made them untie 
 the men, and called to the two Tafito 
 sailors who were in the boat to let 
 her tow astern till morning. 
 
 " His face was white with the rage 
 that burned in him, and all that night 
 he walked to and fro and let me sleep 
 on the deck near him. 
 
 " ' To-morrow,* he said, * I will 
 make this captain land us on Mokil * — 
 it was for that he would not let the 
 sailors come up from the boat. 
 
 ** At dawn I slept soundly. Then I 
 
 155 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 awoke with a cry of fear, for I heard 
 a shot, and then a groan, and my hus- 
 band fell across me, and the blood 
 poured out of his mouth and ran down 
 my arms and neck. I struggled to 
 rise and he tried to draw his pistol, 
 but the man with yellow hair and blue 
 eyes, who stood over him, stabbed 
 him twice in the back. Then the 
 captain and mate seized him by the 
 arms and lifted him up. As his head 
 fell back I saw there was blood 
 streaming from a hole in his chest.*' 
 
 She ceased, and leant her cheek 
 against the face of the little girl, who 
 looked in childish wonder at the tears 
 that streamed down her mother's face. 
 
 " They cast him over into the sea 
 with life yet in him — and ere he sank. 
 Motley (that devil with the blue eyes) 
 stood with one foot on the rail and 
 fired another shot, and laughed when 
 he saw the bullet strike. Then he 
 and the other two talked. 
 
 " ' Let us finish these Pelew men, 
 ere mischief come of it,' said Reider- 
 mann, the captain. 
 
 " But the others dissuaded him. 
 There was time enough, they said, to 
 kill them. And if they killed them 
 
 iS6 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 now, there would be but three sailors 
 to work the ship. And Motley looked 
 at me and laughed, and said he, for 
 one, would do no sailor^s work yet 
 awhile. 
 
 " Then they all trooped below, and 
 took me with them — me, with my 
 husband's blood not yet dried on my 
 hands and bosom. They made me get 
 liquor for them to drink, and they 
 drank and laughed, and Motley put 
 his bloodied hand around my waist 
 and kissed me, and the others laughed 
 still more. 
 
 " In a little while Riedermann and 
 the mate were so drunken that no 
 words came from them, and they fell 
 on the cabin floor. Then Motley, who 
 could stand, but staggered as he 
 walked, came and sat beside me and 
 kissed me again, and said he had 
 always loved me ; but 1 pointed to the 
 blood of my husband that stained my 
 skin and clotted my hair together, and 
 besought him to first let me wash it 
 away. 
 
 " ' Wash it there,' he said, and 
 pointed to his cabin. 
 
 " * Nay,* said I, ' see my hair. Let 
 'me then go on deck, and I can pour 
 water over my head.' 
 
 SS7 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 " But he held my hand tightly as we 
 came up, and my heart died within 
 me ; for it was in my mind to spring 
 overboard and follow my husband. 
 
 " He called to one of the Tafito 
 men to bring water, but none came ; 
 for fhey, too, were drunken with 
 liquor they had stolen from the hold, 
 where there was plenty in red cases 
 and white cases — gin and brandy. 
 
 "But my two countrymen were 
 sober; one of them steered the ship, 
 and the other stood beside him with 
 an axe in his hand, for they feared 
 the Tafito men, who are devils when 
 they drink grog. 
 
 " ' Get some water,' said Motley, to 
 Juan — he who held the axe ; and, as 
 he brought it, he said, *How is it, 
 tatooed dog, that thou art so slow to 
 move ? ' and he struck him in the teeth, 
 and as he struck he fell. 
 
 ** Ah ! that was my time ! Ere he 
 could rise I sprang at him, and Juan 
 raised the axe and struck off his right 
 foot ; and then Liro, the man who 
 steered, handed me his knife. It was 
 a sharp knife, and I stabbed him, even 
 as he had stabbed my husband, till my 
 arm was tired, and all my hate of him 
 had died away in my heart. 
 
 158 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 " There was quick work then. My 
 two countrymen went below into the 
 cabin and took Motley*s pistol from 
 the table ; . . . then I heard two shots. 
 
 " Guk ! He was a fat, heavy man, 
 that Riedermann, the captain ; the 
 three of us could scarce drag him up 
 on deck and cast him over the side, 
 with the other two. 
 
 " Then Juan and Liro talked and 
 said * Now for these Tafito men ; they 
 too must die.* They brought up rifles 
 and went to the fore-part of the 
 schooner where the Tafito men lay in 
 a drunken sleep and shot them dead. 
 
 " In two more days we saw land — - 
 the island we have left but now, and 
 because that there were no people 
 living there — only empty houses could 
 we see — Juan and Liro sailed the 
 schooner into the lagoon. 
 
 " We took such things on shore as 
 we needed, and then Juan and Liro 
 cut away the topmasts and towed 
 the schooner to the deep pool, where 
 they made holes in her, so that she 
 sank, away out of the sight of men. 
 
 "Juan and Lire were kind to me, 
 and when my child was born five 
 months after we landed, they cared for 
 
 X59 
 
BY REEF AND PALM 
 
 mc tenderly, so that I soon became 
 strong and well. 
 
 " Only two ships did we ever see, 
 but they passed far-ofF like clouds 
 upon the sea-rim; and we thought to 
 live and die there by ourselves. Then 
 there came a ship, bringing back the 
 people who had once lived there. 
 They killed Juan and Liro, but let 
 me and the child live. The rest I 
 have told you . . . how is this captain 
 named ? . . . He is a handsome man 
 and I like him." 
 
 We landed Nerida at Yap, in the 
 Western Carolines. A year after- 
 wards, when I left the Palestine^ I 
 heard that Packenham had given up 
 the sea, was trading in the Pelew 
 Group, and was permanently married, 
 and that his wife was the only sur- 
 vivor of the ill-fated Alida, 
 
 1 60 
 
The Chilian Bluejacket. 
 
 A TALE OF EASTER ISLAND 
 
 LONE, in the most soli- 
 tary part of the Eastern 
 Pacific, midway be- 
 tween the earthquake- 
 shaken littoral of Chili 
 and Peru, and the 
 thousand palm -clad 
 islets of the Low Ar- 
 chipelago, lies an island 
 of the days "when the 
 world was young." By 
 the lithe-limbed, soft- 
 eyed descendants of 
 the forgotten and mys- 
 terious race that once 
 quickened the land, this 
 lonely outlier of the isles of the 
 
 l6l 
 
bY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 Southern Seas is called in their soft 
 tongue Rapa-nui, or the Great Rapa. 
 
 A hundred and seventy years ago 
 Roggewein, on the dawn of an Easter 
 Sunday, discerned through the misty, 
 rr*^pic haze the grey outlines of an 
 island under his lee beam, and sailed 
 down upon it. 
 
 He landed, and even as the grim 
 and hardy old navigator gazed upon 
 and wondered at the mysteries of the 
 strange island, so this day do the 
 cunning men of science who, perhaps 
 once in thirty years, go thither in the 
 vain effort to read the secret of an ail- 
 but perished race. And they can tell 
 us but vaguely that the stupendous 
 existing evidences of past glories are 
 of immense and untold age, and show 
 their designers to have been co-eval 
 with the builders of the buried cities 
 of Mexico and Peru ; beyond that they 
 can tell us nothing. 
 
 Who can solve the problem ? What 
 manner of an island king was he who 
 ruled the builders of the great terraced 
 platforms of stone, the carvers of the 
 huge blocks of lava, the hewers-out 
 with rudest tools of the Sphinx-like 
 images of trachyte whose square 
 
 162 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 massive, and disdainful faces have for 
 unnumbered centuries gazed upwards 
 and outwards over the rolling, sailless 
 swell of the mid-Pacific ? 
 
 • • • • 
 
 And the people of Rapa-nui of to- 
 day ? you may ask. Search the whole 
 Pacific — from Pylstaart, the southern 
 sentinel of the Friendlies, to the one- 
 time buccaneer-haunted, far-away 
 Pelews ; thence eastward through 
 the white-beached coral atolls of the 
 Carolines and Marshalls, and south- 
 wards to the cloud-capped Marquesas 
 and the sandy stretches of the Pau- 
 motu — and you will find no handsomer 
 men or more graceful women than the 
 light-skinned people of Rapa-nui. 
 
 Yet are they but the survivors of a 
 race doomed — doomed from the day 
 that Roggewein in his clumsy, high- 
 pooped frigate first saw their land and 
 marvelled at the imperishable relics of 
 a dead greatness. With smiling faces 
 they welcomed him — a stranger from 
 an unknown, outside world, with cut- 
 lass at waist and pistol in hand — as a 
 god ; he left them a legacy of civili- 
 sation — a hideous and cruel disease 
 that swept through the amiable and 
 
 163 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 unsuspicious race as an epidemic, and 
 slew its thousands, and sealed with 
 the hand of Death and Silence the 
 eager life that had then filled the 
 square houses of lava in many a town 
 from the wave-beaten cliffs of Terano 
 Kau to Ounipu in the west. 
 
 Ask of the people now, " Whence 
 came ye ? and whose were the hands 
 that fashioned these mighty images 
 and carved upon these stones ? " and 
 in their simple manner they will 
 answer, " From Rapa, under the 
 setting sun, came our fathers ; and 
 we were then a great people, even as 
 the oneone " of the beach. . . . Our 
 Great King was it, he whose name is 
 forgotten by us, that caused these 
 temples and cemeteries and terraces 
 to be built ; and it was in his time 
 that the forgotten fathers of our fathers 
 carved from out of the stone of the 
 quarries of Terano Kau the great 
 Silent Faces that gaze for ever up- 
 ward to the sky. . . . Ai-a-ah ! . . . 
 But it was long ago. . . . Ah ! a great 
 people were we then in those days, 
 and the wild people to the West called 
 us Te tagata te pito Henua (the people 
 » Sand. 
 
 164 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 who live at the end of the world). , . . 
 and we know no more." 
 
 And here the knowledge and tradi- 
 tions of a broken people begin and 
 end. 
 
 I. 
 
 A soft, cool morning in November, 
 187 — . Between Ducie and Pitcairn 
 Islands two American whaleships 
 cruise lazily along to the gentle 
 breath of the south-east trades, when 
 the look-out from both vessels see a 
 third sail bearing down upon them. 
 In a few hours she is close enough to 
 be recognised as one of the luckiest 
 sperm whalers of the fleet — the brig 
 Pocahontas, of Martha's Vineyard. 
 
 Within a quarter of a mile of the 
 two ships — the Nassau and the Dagget 
 — the new-comer backs her fore-yard 
 and hauls up her mainsail. A cheer 
 rises from the ships. She wants to 
 gam, i.e., to gossip. With eager 
 hands four boats are lowered from 
 the two ships, and the captains and 
 second mates of each are racing for 
 the Pocahontas, 
 
 165 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 The skipper of the brig, after 
 shaking hands with his visitors and 
 making the usual inquiries as to their 
 luck, number of days out from New 
 Bedford, &c., led the way to his 
 cabin, and, calling his Portuguese 
 steward, had liquor and a box of 
 cigars brought out. The captain of 
 the Pocahontas was a little, withered- 
 up old man with sharp, deep-set eyes 
 of brightest blue, and had the reputa- 
 tion of possessing the most fiery and 
 excitable temper of any of the captains 
 of the sixty or seventy American 
 whaleships that in those days cruised 
 the Pacific from the west coast of 
 South America to Guam in the 
 Ladrones. 
 
 After drinking some of his potent 
 New England rum with his visitors, 
 and having answered all the queries, 
 the master of the Pocahontas inquired 
 if they had seen anything of a Chilian 
 man-of-war further to the eastward. 
 No, they had not. 
 
 . • • • 
 
 " Then just settle down, gentlemen, 
 for awhile, and I'll tell you one of the 
 curiousest things that I ever saw or 
 heard of. IVe log8;ed partiklers of the 
 whole business, and when I get to 
 
 i66 
 
BY REEF AND PALM, 
 
 Oahu (Honolulu) I mean to nar-rate 
 just all I do know to Father Damon 
 of the Honolulu Friend, Thar*s 
 nothing like a newspaper fur showin' 
 a man up when he's been up to any 
 onnatural villainy and thinks no one 
 will ever know anything about it. So 
 just listen and take hold." 
 
 The two captains nodded, and he 
 told them this. 
 
 Ten days previously, when close in 
 to barren and isolated Sala-y-Gomez, 
 the Pocahontas had spoken the Chilian 
 corvette O'Higgins^ bound from Easter 
 Island to Valparaiso. The captain of 
 the corvette entertained the American 
 master courteously, and explained his 
 ship's presence so far to the eastward 
 by stating that the Government had 
 instructed him to call at Easter Island 
 and pick up an Englishman in the 
 Chilian service, who had been sent 
 there to examine and report on the 
 colossal statues and mysterious carvings 
 of that lonely island. The English- 
 man, as Commander Gallegos said, 
 was a valued servant of the Republic, 
 and had for some years served in its 
 navy as a surgeon on board El Almi- 
 rante Cochrane^ the flagship. He had 
 
 167 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 left Valparaiso in the whaleship Com- 
 boy with the intention of remaining 
 three months on the island. At the 
 end of that time a war vessel was to 
 call and convey him back to Chili. 
 But in less than two months the 
 Republic was in the throes of a 
 deadly struggle with Peru — here the 
 commander of the O^Higgins bowed 
 to the American captain, and, pointing 
 to a huge scar that traversed his 
 bronzed face from temple to chin, 
 said, "in which I had the honour to 
 receive this, and promotion '' — and 
 nearly two years had elapsed ere the 
 Government had time to think again 
 of the English scientist and his mission. 
 Peace restored, the O^Higgins was 
 ordered to proceed to the island and 
 bring him back ; and as the character 
 of the natives was not well known, 
 and it was feared he might have been 
 killed, Commander Gallegos was in- 
 structed to execute summary justice 
 upon the people of the island if such 
 was the case. 
 
 But, the Chilian officer said, on 
 reaching the island he had found the 
 natives to be very peaceable and in- 
 offensive, and, although much alarmed 
 at the appearance of his armed landing 
 
 i68 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 party from the corvette, they had given 
 him a letter from the Englishman, and 
 
 had satisfied him that Dr. Francis 
 
 had remained with them for some 
 twelve months only, and had then 
 left the island in a passing whaleship, 
 and Commander Gallegos, making 
 thein suitable presents, bade them 
 good-bye, and steamed away for Val- 
 paraiso. 
 
 This was all the polite little com- 
 mander had to say, and, after a farewell 
 glass of wine, his visitor rose to go, 
 when the captain of the corvette 
 casually inquired if the Pocahontas 
 was likely to call at the island. 
 
 " I ask you," he said in his perfect 
 English, " because of one of my men, a 
 bluejacket, who deserted there. You, 
 senor, may possibly meet with him 
 there. Yet he is of no value, and he 
 is not a sailor, and but a lad. He was 
 very ill most of the time, and this was 
 his first voyage. I took him ashore 
 with me in my boat, as he besought 
 me eagerly to do so, and the little 
 devil ran away and hid, or was hidden 
 by the natives." 
 
 " Why didn*t you get him back ? " 
 asked the captain of the Pocahontas, 
 
 i6g 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 *' Por Dios ! that was easy enough, 
 but *' — and the commander raised his 
 eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders 
 — " of what use ? He was no use to 
 the corvette. Better for him to stay 
 there, and perhaps recover, than to 
 die on board the 0*Higgins and be 
 thrown to the blue sharks. Possibly, 
 seiior, you may find him well, and it 
 may suit you to take him to your good 
 ship and teach him the business of 
 catching the whale. My trade is to 
 show my crew how to fight, and such 
 as he are of no value for that." 
 
 Then the two captains bade each 
 other farewell, and in another hour 
 the redoubtable O^Higgins^ with a 
 black trail of smoke streaming astern, 
 was ten miles away on her course to 
 Valparaiso. 
 
 A week after the Pocahontas lay 
 becalmed close in to the lee side of 
 Rapa-nui, and within sight of the 
 houses of the principal village. The 
 captain, always ready to get a ** green " 
 hand, was thinking of the chances of 
 his securing the Chilian deserter, and 
 decided to lower a boat and try. 
 Taking four men with him, he pulled 
 
 170 
 
BY REEF A:^D PALM. 
 
 ashore and landed at the village of 
 Hagaroa. 
 
 II. 
 
 Some sixty or seventy natives clus- 
 tered round the boat as she touched 
 the shore. With smiling faces and 
 outstretched hands they surrounded 
 the captain and pressed upon him 
 their simple gifts of ripe bananas and 
 fish baked in leaves, begging him to 
 first eat a little and then walk with 
 them to Mataveri, their largest village, 
 distant a mile, v^rhere preparations 
 were being made to welcome him 
 formally. The skipper, nothing loth, 
 bade his crew not to go too far away 
 in their rambles, and, accompanied 
 by his boatsteerer, was about to set 
 off with the natives, when he remem- 
 bered the object of his visit, and asked 
 a big, well-made woman, the only 
 nat^'e present that could speak English, 
 " Where is the man you hid from the 
 man-of-war ? " 
 
 • • • • 
 
 There was a dead silence, and for 
 nearly half a minute no one spoke. 
 The keen blue eyes of the American 
 
 171 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 looked from one face to another in- 
 quiringly, and then settled on the fat, 
 good-natured features of Varua, the 
 big woman. 
 
 Holding her hands, palms upwards, 
 to the captain, she endeavoured to 
 speak, and then, to his astonishment, 
 he saw that her dark eyes were filled 
 with tears. And then, as if moved 
 with some sudden and sorrowful 
 emotion, a number of other women 
 and young girls, murmuring softly in 
 pitying tones, " E mate ! E mat}! '* ' 
 came to his side and held their hands 
 out to him with the same supplicating 
 gesture. 
 
 The captain was puzzled. For all 
 his island wanderings and cruises he 
 had no knowledge of any Polynesian 
 dialect, and the tearful muteness of 
 the fat Varua was still unbroken. At 
 last she placed one hand on his sleeve, 
 and, pointing landward with the other, 
 said, in her gentle voice, " Come,'' and 
 taking his hand in hers, she led the 
 way, the rest of the people following 
 in silence. 
 
 For about half a mile they walked 
 behind the captain and his boatsteerer 
 and the woman Varua without utter- 
 « " Dead I Dead ! " 
 
 172 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 ing a word. Presently Varua stopped 
 and called out the name of " Taku " 
 in a low voice. 
 
 A fine, handsome native, partly 
 clothed in European sailor's dress, 
 stepped apart from the others and 
 came to her. 
 
 Turning to the captain, she said, 
 "This is Taku the Sailor. He can 
 speak a little English and much 
 Spanish. I tell him now to come 
 with us, for he hath a paper." 
 
 Although not understanding the 
 relevancy of her remark, the captain 
 nodded, and then with gentle insist- 
 ence Varua and the other women 
 urged him on, and they again set out. 
 
 A few minutes more, and they were 
 at the foot of one of the massive- 
 stoned and ancient papaku, or 
 cemeteries, on the walls of which 
 were a number of huge images carved 
 from trachyte, and representing the 
 trunk of the human body. Some or 
 the figures bore on their heads crowns 
 of red tufa, and the aspect of all was 
 towards the ocean. At the foot of 
 the wall of the papaku were a 
 number of prone figures, with hands 
 
 173 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 and arms sculptured in low relief, the 
 outspread fingers clasping the hips. 
 
 About a cable length from the wall 
 stood two stone houses — memorials of 
 the olden time — and it was to these 
 that Varua and the two white men, 
 attended now by women only, directed 
 their steps. 
 
 The strange, unearthly stillness of 
 the place, the low whispers of the 
 women, the array of colossal figures 
 with sphinx-like faces set to the sea, 
 and the unutterable air of sadness that 
 enwrapped the whole scene overawed 
 even the unimaginative mind of the 
 rough whaling captain, and he expe- 
 rienced a curious feeling of relief when 
 his gentle-voiced guide entered through 
 the open doorway the largest of the 
 two houses, and, in a whisper, bade 
 him follow. 
 
 A delightful sense of coolness was 
 his first sensation on entering, and 
 then with noiseless step the other 
 women followed and seated themselves 
 on the ground. 
 
 Still clasping his hand, Varua led 
 him to the farther end of the house 
 and pointed to a motionless figure 
 
 174 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 that lay on a couch of mats, covered 
 with a large piece of navy-blue calico. 
 At each side of the couch sat a young 
 native girl, and their dark, luminous 
 eyes, shining star-like from out the 
 wealth of black, glossy hair that fell 
 upon their bronzed shoulders, turned 
 wonderingly upon the stranger who 
 had broken in upon their watch. 
 
 Motioning the girls aside, Varua 
 released her hold of the white man's 
 hand and drew the cloth from off the 
 figure and the seaman's pitying glance 
 fell upon the pale, sweet features of a 
 young white girl. 
 
 But for the unmistakable pallid hue 
 of death he thought at first that she 
 slept. In the thin, delicate hands, 
 crossed upon her bosom, there was 
 placed, after the manner of those of 
 her faith, a small metal crucifix. Her 
 hair, silky and jet black, was short 
 like a man's, and the exquisitely- 
 modelled features, which even the 
 coldness of death had not robbed of 
 their beauty, showed the Spanish blood 
 that, but a few hours before, had coursed 
 through her veins. 
 
 Slowly the old seaman drew the 
 covering over the still features, and, 
 
 175 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 with an unusual emotion stirring his 
 rude nature, he rose, and, followed by 
 Varua, walked outside and sat upon a 
 broken pillar of lava that lay under 
 the wall of the fapa\u, 
 
 • • • • 
 
 Calling his boatsteerer, he ordered 
 him to return to the beach and go off 
 to the ship with instructions to the 
 mate to have a coffin made as quickly 
 as possible and send it ashore ; and 
 then, at a glance from Varua, who 
 smiled a grave approval as she listened 
 to his orders, he followed her and the 
 man she called Taku into the smaller 
 of the two houses. 
 
 Round about the inside walls of 
 this ancient dwelling of a forgotten 
 race were placed a number of sea- 
 men's chests made of cedar and 
 camphor wood — the lares zndipenates of 
 most Polynesian houses. The gravelled 
 floor was covered with prettily-orna- 
 mented mats oifala (the screw-palm). 
 
 Seating herself, with Taku the 
 Sailor, on the mats, Varua motioned 
 the captain to one of the boxes, and 
 then told him a tale that moved him 
 — rough, fierce, and tyrannical as was 
 his nature — to the deepest pity. 
 
 176 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 III. 
 
 "It is not yet twenty days since the 
 fighting pahi afi (steamer) came here, 
 and we of Mataveri saw the boat full 
 of armed men land on the beach at 
 Hagaroa. Filled with fear were we ; 
 but yet as we had done no wrong we 
 stood on the beach to welcome. And, 
 ere the armed men had left the boat, 
 we knew them to be the Sipanioia 
 from Chili — the same as those that 
 came here ten years ago in three ships 
 iind seized and bound three hundred 
 and six of our men and carried them 
 4way foi slaves to the land of the Tae 
 Manu, and of whom none but four 
 tver reiurtied to Rapa-nui. And then 
 we trembled again." 
 
 (She spoke of the cruel outrage of 
 1862, when three Peruvian slave-ships 
 iook away c/ver three hundred islanders 
 to perish on the guano-fields of the 
 Chincha Islands.) 
 
 " The chief of the ship was a little 
 man, and he called out to us in the 
 tongue of Chili, ' Have no fear,' and 
 took a little gun from out its case of 
 skin that hung Ly his side and giving 
 it to a man in tho ooat, stepped over 
 «o us and took obr Aands in his. 
 
 m M 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 " Is there none among ye that speak 
 my tongue ?'* he said quickly. 
 
 " Now, this man here, Taku the 
 Sailor, speaketh the tongue of Chili, 
 but he feared to tell it, lest they might 
 take him away for a sailor ; so he 
 held his lips tight. 
 
 '* Then I, who for six years dwelt 
 with English people at Tahiti, was 
 pushed forward by those behind me 
 and made to talk in English ; and lo ! 
 the little man spoke in your tongue 
 even as quick as he did in that of 
 Chili. And then he told us that he 
 came for Farani.* 
 
 • • • 
 
 " Now this Farani was a young 
 white man of Peretania (England), big 
 and strong. He came to us a year 
 and a half ago. He was rich and had 
 with him chests filled with presents 
 for us of Rapa-nui ; and he told us 
 that he came to live awhile among us, 
 and look upon the houses of stone 
 and the Faces of the Silent that gaze 
 out upon the sea. For a year he 
 dwelt with us and became as one of 
 ourselves and we loved him ; and then 
 because no ship came he began to 
 weary and be sad. At last a ship — like 
 « Frank. 
 
 178 
 
BY REEF AND PALM 
 
 thine, one that hunts for the whale — 
 came, and Farani called us together, 
 and placed a letter in the hands of the 
 chief at Mataveri and said, ' If it so be 
 that a ship cometh from Chili give 
 these my words to the captain, and all 
 will be well.* Then he bade us fare- 
 well and was gone. 
 
 "All this I said in quick words, and 
 then we gave to the little fighting chief 
 the letter Farani had written. When 
 he had counted the words in the letter 
 he said, ' Bueno^ it is well,' and called 
 to his men, and they brought out many 
 gifts for us from the boat — cloth, and 
 garments for men and women, and 
 two great bags of canvas filled with 
 tobacco. Ai-a-ah ! many presents he 
 gave us ; this because of the good 
 words Farani had set down in the 
 letter. Then the little chief said to 
 •me, ' Let these my men walk where 
 they list, and I will go with thee to 
 Mataveri and talk with the chief/ 
 
 " So the sailors came out of the 
 boats carrying their guns and swords 
 in their hands, but the little chief, 
 whose avagutu (moustache) stuck 
 out on each side of his face like the 
 wings of a flying-fish when it leaps in 
 
 179 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 terror from the mouth of the hungry 
 bonito, spoke angrily, and they laid their 
 guns and swords back in the boats, 
 
 " So the sailors went hither and 
 thither with our young men and girls ; 
 and, although at that time I knew it 
 not, she who now is not, was one of 
 them, and walked alone. 
 
 " Then I, and Taku the Sailor, and 
 the little sea-chief came to the houses 
 of Mataveri, and he stayed awhile and 
 spoke good words to us. And we, 
 although we fear the men of Chili for 
 the wrong they once did us, were yet 
 glad to listen, for we also are of their 
 faith. 
 
 As we talked, there came inside the 
 house a young girl named Temeteri, 
 whom, when Farani had been with 
 us for two months, he had taken 
 for wife, and she bore him a son. 
 But from the day that he had sailed 
 away she became sick with grief; and 
 when, after many months, she had 
 told me that Farani had said he would 
 return to her, my heart was heavy; 
 for I know the ways of white men 
 with us women of brown skins. Yet 
 I feared to tell her he lied and would 
 return no more. Now, this girl 
 
 1 80 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 Temeteri was sought after by a man 
 named Huarani, the son of Heremai, 
 who desired to marry her now that 
 Farani had gone, and he urged her to 
 question the chief of the fighting ship 
 and ask him if Farani would return. 
 
 "So I spoke of Temeteri. He 
 laughed and shook his head, and said, 
 *Nay, Farani the Englishman will 
 return no more ; but yet one so 
 beautiful as she,' and he pointed to 
 Temeteri, ' should have many lovers 
 and know no grief. Let her marry 
 again and forget him ; and this is my 
 marriage gift to her,' and he threw a 
 big golden coin upon the mat on which 
 the girl sat. 
 
 " She took it in her hand and threw 
 it far out through the doorway with 
 bitter words, and rose and went away 
 to her child. 
 
 " Then the little captain went back 
 to the boat and called his men to 
 him, and lo I one was gone. Ah ! he 
 was angry, and a great scar that ran 
 down one side of his face grew red 
 with rage. But soon he laughed and 
 said to us, ' See, there be one of my 
 people hidden away from me. Yet 
 he is but a boy and sick ; and I care 
 
 l8l 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 not to Stay and search for him. Let 
 him be thy care so that he wanders not 
 away and perishes among the broken 
 lava ; he will be in good hands among 
 the people of Rapa-nui.' With that 
 he bade us farewell, and in but a 
 little time the great fighting ship had 
 gonfe away to the rising sun. 
 
 "All that day and the next we 
 searched, but found not him who had 
 hidden away ; but in the night of the 
 second day, when it rained heavily, 
 and Taku (who is my brother's son) 
 and I and my two children worked at 
 the making of a kupega (net), he 
 whom we had sought came to the 
 door. And as we looked our hearts 
 were filled with pity, for as he put out 
 his hands to us he staggered and fell 
 to the ground. 
 
 " So Taku — who is a man of a good 
 heart — and I lifted him up and carried 
 him to a bed of soft mats, and as I 
 placed my hand on his bosom to see 
 if he was dead, lo ! it was soft as a 
 woman's, and I saw that the stranger 
 was a young girl ! 
 
 " I took from her the wet garments 
 and brought warm clothes of mamoe 
 (blankets), and Taku made a great 
 
 182 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 fire, and we rubbed her cold body and 
 her hands and feet till her life came 
 back to her again, and she sat up and 
 ate a little beaten-up taro. When 
 the night and the dawn touched she 
 slept again. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 " The sun was high when the white 
 girl awoke, and fear leapt into her eyes 
 when she saw the house filled with 
 people who came to question Taku 
 and me about the stranger. With 
 them came the girl Temeteri, whose 
 head was still filled with foolish 
 thoughts of Farani, her white lover. 
 
 *' 1 went to her, put my arm around 
 her, and spoke, but though she smiled 
 and answered in a little voice, I under- 
 stood her not, for I knew none of the 
 tongue of Chili. But yet she leaned 
 her head against my bosom, and her 
 eyes that were as big and bright as 
 Fetuaho, the star of the morning, 
 looked up into mine and smiled 
 through their tears. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 " There was a great buzzing of talk 
 among the women. Some came to 
 her and touched hands and forehead, 
 and said, 'Let thy trembling cease ; we 
 
 183 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 of Rapa-nui will be kind to the white 
 girl.' 
 
 " And as the people thronged about 
 her and talked, she shook her head and 
 her eyes sought mine and hot tears 
 plashed upon my hand. Then the 
 mother of Temeteri raised her voice 
 and called to Taku the Sailor and 
 said, * O Taku, thou who knowest her 
 tongue, ask her of Farani, my white 
 son, the husband of my daughter,* 
 
 " The young girls in the house 
 laughed scornfully at old Pohere, for 
 some of them had loved Farani, who 
 yet had put them all aside for Teme- 
 teri, whose beauty exceeded theirs ; 
 and so they hated her and laughed 
 at her mother. Then Taku, being 
 pressed by old Pohere, spoke in the 
 tongue of Chili — but not of Temeteri. 
 
 "Ah ! She sprang to her feet and 
 talked then, and the flying words 
 chased one another from her lips ; and 
 these things told she to Taku : — She 
 had hidden among the broken lava and 
 watched the little captain come back to 
 the boat and bid us farewell. Then 
 when night came she had crept out and 
 gone far over to the great papaku, and 
 lay down to hide again, for she feared 
 
 184 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 the fighting ship might return to seek 
 her. And all that day she lay hidden 
 in the lava till night fell upon her 
 again, and hunger drove her to seek 
 the faces of men. In the rain she all 
 but perished, till God brought her 
 feet to this my house. 
 
 " Then said Taku the Sailor, * Why 
 didst thou flee from the ship ?•' 
 
 "The white girl put her hands to 
 her face and wept, and said, 'Bring 
 me my jacket.* 
 
 " I gave to her the blue sailor's 
 jacket, and from inside of it she took 
 a little flat thing and placed it in her 
 bosom. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 "Again said old Poh^re to Taku, *0 
 man of slow tongue, ask her of Farani,* 
 So he asked in this wise : 
 
 •*'See, O White Girl, that is Poh^re, 
 the mother of Temeteri, who bore a 
 son to the white man that came here 
 to look upon the Silent Faces ; and 
 because he came from thy land, and 
 because of the heart of Temeteri which 
 is dried up for love of him does this 
 foolish old woman ask thee if thou 
 hast seen him ; for long months ago 
 he left Rapa-nui. In our tongue we 
 call him Farani.* 
 
 i8s 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 "The girl looked at Taku the Sailor, 
 and her lips moved, but no words came. 
 Then from her bosom she took the 
 little flat thing and held it to him, 
 but sickness was in her hand so that 
 h trembled, and that which she held 
 fell to the ground. So Taku stooped 
 and picked it up from where it lay- 
 on the mat and looked, and his eyes 
 blazed, and he shouted out ' Jue / * for 
 it was the face of Farani that looked 
 into his ! And as he held it up in 
 his hand to the people they, too, 
 shouted in wonder ; and then the girl 
 Temeteri cast aside those that stood 
 about her and tore it from his hand 
 and fled. 
 
 " * Who is she ? * said the white girl, 
 in a weak voice to Taku, ' and why 
 hath she robbed me of that which is 
 dear to me ? * and Taku was ashamed 
 and turned his face away from her 
 because of two things — his heart was 
 sore for Temeteri, who is a blood 
 relation, and was shamed because her 
 white lover had deserted her ; and he 
 was full of pity for the white girl's 
 tears. So he said nought. 
 
 " The girl raised herself and her 
 hand caught Taku by the arm, and 
 these were her words : ' O man, for 
 
 i86 
 
So Taku stooped and picked it up from where 
 it lay on the mat. 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 the love of Jesu Christ, tell me what 
 was this woman Temeteri to my 
 husband ? * 
 
 "Now Taku the Sailor was sore 
 troubled, and felt it hard to hurt her 
 heart, yet he said, ' Was Farani, the 
 Englishman, thy husband ?* 
 
 " She wept again, ' He was my 
 husband.* 
 
 " ' Why left he one as fair as thee ? * 
 said Taku, in wonder. 
 
 " She shook her head. * I know not, 
 except he loved to look upon strange 
 lands ; yet he loved me.' 
 
 " * He is a bad man,* said Taku. 
 * He loved others as well as thee. 
 The girl that fled but now with his 
 picture was wife to him here. He 
 loved her and she bore him a son.* 
 
 " The girFs head fell on my shoulder 
 and her eyes closed, and she became 
 as dead, and lo ! in a little while as 
 she strove to speak blood poured from 
 her mouth and ran down over her 
 bosom. 
 
 "'It is the hand of Death,* said 
 Taku the Sailor. 
 
 "Where she now lies, there died 
 she, at about the hour when the people 
 of Vaihou saw the sails of thy ship. 
 
 187 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 "We have no priest here, for the 
 good father that was here three years 
 ago is now silent ; yet did Taku and 
 I pray with her. And ere she was 
 silent she said she would set down 
 some words on paper ; so Alrema, my 
 little daughter, hastened to Mataveri, 
 and the chief sent back some paper 
 and vai tuhi (ink) that had belonged 
 to the good priest. So with weak 
 hand she set down some words, but 
 even as she wrote she rose up and 
 threw out her hands, and called out, 
 •Francisco, Francisco ! * and fell back, 
 and was silent for ever." 
 
 IV. 
 
 The captain of the Pocahontas 
 dashed the now fast-falling tears from 
 his eyes, and with his rough old heart 
 swelling with pity for the poor 
 wanderer, took from Taku the sheet 
 of paper on which the heart-broken 
 girl's last words were traced. 
 
 Ere he could read it a low murmur 
 of voices outside told him his crew 
 had returned. They carried a rude 
 wooden shell ; and then with bared 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 heads the captain and boatsteerer 
 entered the house where she lay. 
 
 Again the old man raised the piece 
 of navy blue cloth from off the sweet, 
 sad face, and a heavy tear dropped 
 down upon her forehead. Then, 
 aided by the gentle, sympathetic 
 women, his task was soon finished, and 
 two of his crew entered and carried 
 their burden to its grave. Service 
 there was none ; only the prayers and 
 tears of the brown women of Rapa- 
 nui. 
 
 Ere he said farewell the captain of 
 the whaleship placed money in the 
 hands of Varua and Taku. They 
 drew back, hurt and mortified. See- 
 ing his mistake, the seaman desired 
 Varua to give the money to the girl 
 Temeteri. 
 
 " Nay, sir," said Varua, " she would 
 but give me bitter words. Even when 
 she who is now silent was not yet cold 
 Temeteri came to the door of the 
 house where she lay and spat twice on 
 the ground, and taking up gravel in 
 her hand cast it at her and cursed her 
 in the name of our old heathen gods. 
 And as for money, we here in Rapa- 
 
 i8q 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 nui need it not. May Christ protect 
 
 thee on the sea. Farewell ! *' 
 • ■ • • 
 
 The captain of the Pocahontas rose 
 and came to the cabin table, and 
 motioning to his guests to fill their 
 glasses, said — 
 
 '* *Tis a real sad story, gentlemen, 
 and if I should ever run across Doctor 
 Francis — I should talk some to him. 
 But see here. Here is my log ; my 
 mate, who is a fancy writist, wrote it 
 at my dictation. I can't show you the 
 letter that the pore creature herself 
 wrote ; that I ain*t going to show to 
 any one." 
 
 The two captains rose and stood 
 beside him and read the entry in the 
 log of the Pocahontas, 
 
 ^"^ November 28, 187-. 
 " This day I landed at Easter Island, 
 to try and obtain as a * green * hand a 
 young Chilian seaman who, the captain 
 of the Chilian corvette O'Higgins in- 
 formed me, had run away there. On 
 landing I was shown the body of a 
 young girl, whom the natives stated 
 to be the deserter. She had died that 
 morning. Buried her as decentlv as 
 circumstances would permit. From 
 
 190 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 a letter she wrote on the morning of 
 her death I learned her name to be 
 
 Seiiora Teresa T . Her husband, 
 
 Dr. Francis T , was an Englishman 
 
 in the service of the Chilian Republic. 
 He was sent out on a scientific mission 
 to the island, and his wife followed him 
 in the O'Higgins disguised as a blue- 
 jacket. I should take her to have 
 been about nineteen years of age. 
 
 " Spence Eldridge, Master. 
 
 ** Manual Legaspe, 2nd officer. 
 " Brig Pocahontas of Martha's Vine- 
 yard, U.S.A.'* 
 
 " Well, that's curious now," said the 
 skipper of the Nassau^ " why, I knew 
 that man. He left the island in the 
 King Darius^ of New Bedford, and 
 landed at Ponape in the Caroline 
 Group, whar those underground ruins 
 are at Metalanien Harbour. Guess 
 he wanted to potter around there a bit. 
 But he got inter some sorter trouble 
 among the natives there an' he got 
 shot." 
 
 " Aye," said the captain of the 
 Dagget, "I remember the affair. I 
 was mate of the Jouphine^ and we 
 were lying at Jakoits Harbour when 
 he was killed, and now I remember / 
 
 101 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 the name too. Waal, he wasn't much 
 account anyhow." 
 
 Ten years ago a wandering white 
 man stood, with Taku the Sailor, at 
 the base of the wall of the great 
 papaku, and the native pointed out 
 the last resting-place of the wanderer. 
 There, under the shadow of the Silent 
 Faces of Stone the brave and loving 
 heart that dared so much is at peace 
 for ever. 
 
 1^1 
 
Brantley of Vahitahi. 
 
 NE day a trading vessel 
 lay becalmed ofF Tata- 
 koto, in the Paumotu 
 Archipelago, and the 
 captain and supercargo, 
 taking a couple of na- 
 tive sailors with them, 
 went ashore at dawn to 
 catch some turtle. The 
 turtle were plentiful and 
 easily caught, and after 
 half a dozen had been 
 put in the boat, the two 
 white men strolled along 
 the white hard beach. 
 The captain, old, griz- 
 zled, and grim, seemed to know the 
 place well, and led the way. 
 
 The island is very narrow, and as 
 
 193 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 they left the beach and gained the 
 shade of the forest of cocoanuts that 
 grew to the margin of high-water mark 
 they could see, between the tall, stately 
 palms, the placid waters of the lagoon, 
 and a mile or so across, the inner beach 
 of the weather side of the island. 
 
 For a quarter of a mile or so the 
 two men walked on till the widest 
 part of the island was reached. Here, 
 under the shadow of some giant puka 
 trees, the old skipper stopped and sat 
 down on a roughly hewn slab of 
 coral, the remains of one of those 
 marae or heathen temples that are to 
 be found anywhere in the islands of 
 Eastern Polynesia. 
 
 *' I knew this place well once," he 
 said, as he pulled out his pipe. "I 
 used to come here when I was sailing 
 one of Brander*s vessels out of Tahiti. 
 As we have done now we did then — 
 came here for turtle. No natives 
 have lived here for the past forty 
 years. Did you ever hear of 
 Brantley ? ** 
 
 " Yes," answered the supercargo, 
 " but he died long ago, did he not ? " 
 
 "Aye, he died here, and his wife 
 and sister too. They all lie here in 
 this old marae J* 
 
 194 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 And then he told the story of 
 Brantley. 
 
 I* 
 
 It was six years since Brantley, with 
 his companions in misery, had drifted 
 ashore at lonely Vahitahi in the Pau- 
 motu Group, and the kindly-hearted 
 people had gazed with pitying horror 
 upon the dreadful beings that, mut- 
 tering and gibbering to each other, 
 lay in the bottom of the boat, and 
 pointed with long talon-like fingers 
 to their burnt and bloody thirst- 
 tortured lips. 
 
 • • • • 
 And now as he sits in the doorway 
 
 of his thatched house and gazes 
 dreamily out upon the long curve of 
 creamy beach and wind-swayed line 
 of palms that fringe the leeward side 
 of his island home, Brantley passes 
 a brown hand slowly up and down 
 his sun-bronzed cheek and thinks of 
 the past. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 He was so full of life — of the very 
 joy of living — that time six years ago 
 when he sailed from Auckland on that 
 
 iq? 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 fateful voyage in the Doris. It was 
 his first voyage as captain, and the 
 ship was his own, and even now he 
 remembers with a curious time-dulled 
 pang the last words of his only sister 
 — the Doris after whom he had called 
 his new ship — as she had kissed him 
 farewell — " I am so glad, Fred, to 
 hear them call you ' Captain Brant- 
 ley/" 
 
 • • • • 
 
 And the voyage, the wild feverish 
 desire to make a record passage to 
 'Frisco and back ; the earnest words 
 of poor old white-headed Lutton, the 
 mate, ** not to carry on so at night 
 going through the Paumotu Group ;" 
 that awful midnight crash when the 
 Doris ran hopelessly into the wild boil 
 of roaring surf on Tuanake Reef; the 
 white, despairing faces of fivt of his 
 men, who, with curses in their eyes 
 upon his folly, were swept out of sight 
 into the awful blackness of the night. 
 And then the days in the boat with 
 the six survivors ! Ah, the memory 
 of that will chill his blood to his dying 
 day. Men have had to do that which 
 he and the two who came through 
 alive with him had done. 
 
 How long they endured that black 
 
 196 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 agony of suffering he knew not. By 
 common consent none of them ever 
 spoke of it again. 
 
 Three months after they had drifted 
 ashore, a passing sperm whaler, crui sing 
 through the group, took away the two 
 seamen, and then Brantley, after bid- 
 ding them a silent farewell, had, with 
 bitter despair gnawing at his heart, 
 turned his face away from the ship 
 and walked back into the palm-shaded 
 village. 
 
 "I will never go back again,*' he 
 had said to himself. And perhaps he 
 was right ; for when the Doris went 
 to pieces on Tuanake his hope and 
 fortunes went with her, and save for 
 that other Doris there was no one in 
 the wofld who cared for him. He was 
 not the man to face the world again 
 with ** Why, he lost his first ship," 
 whispered among his acquaintances. 
 
 And this is how Brantley, young, 
 handsome, and as smart a seaman 
 (save for that one fatal mistake) as 
 ever trod a deck, became Paranili the 
 Papalagiy and was living out his life 
 among the people of solitary Vahitahi. 
 
 Ere a year had passed a trading 
 
 IQ7 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 captain bound to the Gambler Islands 
 had given him a small stock of trade 
 goods, and the thought of Doris had 
 been his salvation. Only for her he 
 would have sunk to the life of a mere 
 idle, gin-drinking, and dissolute beach- 
 comber. As it was his steady, straight- 
 forward life among the people of the 
 island was a big factor to his business 
 success. And so every year he sent 
 money to Doris by some passing whaler 
 or Tahitan trading schooner, but twice 
 only had he got letters from her ; and 
 each time she had said, "Let me 
 come to you, Fred. We are alone in 
 the world, and may never meet again 
 else. Sometimes I awake in the night 
 with a sudden fear. Let me come ; 
 my heart is breaking with the loneli- 
 ness of my life here, so far away from 
 you.'* 
 
 But two years ago he had done that 
 which would keep Doris from ever 
 coming to him, he thought. He had 
 married a young native girl — that is, 
 taken her to wife in the Paumotuan 
 fashion — and surely Doris, with her 
 old-fashioned notions of right and 
 wrong, would grieve bitterly if she 
 knew it. 
 
 198 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 Presently he rose, talking to himself 
 as is the wont of those who have lived 
 long apart from all white associations, 
 and sauntered up and down the shady 
 path at the side of his dwelling, 
 thinking of Doris and if he would 
 ever see her again. Then he entered 
 the house. 
 
 Seated on the matted floor with her 
 face turned from him was a young 
 native girl — Luita, his wife. She 
 was making a hat from the bleached 
 strands of the pandanus leaf, and as she 
 worked she sang softly to herself in the 
 semi-Tahitan tongue of her people. 
 
 Brantley, lazily stretching himself 
 out on a rough mat-covered couch, 
 turned towards her and watched the 
 slender, supple fingers — covered, in 
 Polynesian fashion, with heavy gold 
 rings — as they deftly drew out the 
 snow-white strands of the pandanus. 
 The long, glossy, black waves of hair 
 that fell over her bare back and bosom 
 like a mantle of night hid her face 
 from his view, and the man let his 
 glance rest in contented admiration 
 upon the graceful curves of the youth- 
 ful figure ; then he sighed softly, and 
 again his eyes turned to the wide, sail- 
 less expanse of the Pacific, that lay 
 
 199 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 ihimmering and sparkling before him 
 under a cloudless sky of blue, and he 
 thought again of Doris. 
 
 Steadily the little hands worked in 
 and out among the snowy strands, and 
 now and then, as she came to the tariy 
 or refrain, of the old Paumotuan love- 
 song, her soft liquid tones would blend 
 with the quavering treble of children 
 that played outside. 
 
 " Teriinavahori, teeth of pearl. 
 
 Knit the sandals for Talaloo*8 feet. 
 Sandals of afa thick and strong, 
 Bind them well with thy long black hair.'* 
 
 Suddenly the song ceased, and with 
 a quick movement of her shoulders 
 she threw back the cloud of hair 
 that fell around her arms and bosom, 
 looked up at Brantley and laughed, 
 and, striking the mat on which she 
 sat with her open palm, said — 
 
 *' Art maiy Paranili** 
 
 He rose from the couch and stooped 
 beside her, with his hands resting on 
 his knees, and bending his brow in 
 mock criticism, regarded her handi- 
 work intently. 
 
 Springing to her feet, hat in hand, 
 and placing her two hands on his now 
 
 200 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 erect shoulders, she looked into his 
 face — darker far than her own — and 
 said with a smile — 
 
 " Behold, Paranili, thy pulou is 
 finished, save for a band of black 
 piiava which thou shalt give me from 
 the store.'* 
 
 "Mine?" said Brantley, in pre- 
 tended ignorance. "Why labour so 
 for me ? Are there not hats in plenty 
 on Vahitahi ? " 
 
 " True, O thankless one ! but the 
 women of the village say that thou 
 lookest upon me as a fool because I 
 can neither make mats nor do many 
 other things such as becometh a wife. 
 And for this did Merani, my cousin, 
 teach me how to make a wide hat of 
 ^ala to shield thy face from the sun 
 when thou art out upon the pearling 
 grounds. Ai-e-eh! my husband, but thy 
 face and neck and hands are as dark as 
 those of the people of Makatea — they 
 who are for ever in their canoes. , . . 
 See, Paranili, bend thy head. Ai-e-eh! 
 thou art a tall man, my husband," and 
 she trilled a happy, rippling laugh as 
 she placed the hat on his head. 
 
 He placed one hand around the 
 pliant waist and under the mantle of 
 hair and drew her towards him, and 
 
 20I 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 then, moved by a sudden emotion, 
 kissed her soft, red lips. 
 
 " Luita,'* he asked, " would it hurt 
 thee if I were to go away ? " 
 
 The girl drew away from him, and 
 for the first time in two years Brant- 
 ley saw an angry flush tinge her cheek 
 a dusky red. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 " Ah ! " — the contemptuous ring in 
 her voice made the man's eyes drop — 
 " thou art like all White Men — was 
 there ever one who was faithful ? 
 What other woman is it that thou 
 desirest ? Is it Nia of Ahunui — she 
 who, when thy boat lay anchored in 
 the lagoon, swam off at night and 
 asked thee for thy love — the shame- 
 less Nia ! »' 
 
 The angry light in the black eyes 
 glared fiercely, and the dull red on 
 her cheeks had changed to the livid 
 paleness of passion. 
 
 Brantley, holding the rim of the 
 hat over his mouth, laughed secretly, 
 pleased at her first outburst of jealousy. 
 Then his natural manliness asserted 
 itself. 
 
 " Come here," he said. 
 
 Somewhat sullenly the girl obeyed 
 
 202 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 and edged up beside him with face 
 bent down. He put his hand upon 
 hers, and for a few seconds looked at 
 the delicate tracery of tatooing that, 
 on the back, ran in thin blue lines 
 from the finger tips to the wrists. 
 
 " What a d d pity," he mut- 
 tered to himself ; " this infernal 
 tatooing would give the poor devil 
 away anywhere in civilization. Her 
 skin is not as dark as that pretty 
 Creole I was so sweet on in Galveston 
 ten years ago . . . well, she's good 
 enough for a broken man like me ; 
 but I can't take her away — that's 
 certain." 
 
 A heavy tear splashed on his hand, 
 and then he pulled her to him, almost 
 savagely. 
 
 " See, Luita. I did but ask to try 
 thee. Have no fear. Thy land is 
 mine for ever." 
 
 The girl looked up, and in an 
 instant her face, wet with tears, was 
 laid against his breast. 
 
 Still caressing the dark head that 
 lay upon his chest, Brantley stooped 
 and whispered something. The little 
 tatooed hand released its clasp of his 
 arm and struck him a playful blow. 
 
 "And would that bind thee more 
 
 203 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 to me, and to the ways of these our 
 people of Vahitahi/* she asked, with 
 still buried face. 
 
 "Aye," answered the ex-captain, 
 slowly, *' for I have none but thee in 
 the world to care for." 
 
 She turned her face up. " Is there 
 none — not even one woman in far-off 
 Beretania, whose face comes to thee 
 in the darkness." 
 
 Brantley shook his head sadly. Of 
 course, there was Doris, he thought, 
 but he had never spoken of her. 
 Sometimes when the longing to see 
 her again would come upon him he 
 would have talked of her to his native 
 wife, but he was by nature an un- 
 communicative man, and the thought 
 of how Doris must feel her loneliness 
 touched him with remorse and made 
 him silent. 
 
 Another year passed, and matters 
 had gone well with Brantley. Ten 
 months before he had dropped on one 
 of the best patches of shell in the 
 Paumotus, and to-day, as he sits writ- 
 ing and smoking in the big room of 
 his house, he looks contentedly out 
 through the open door to a little 
 white-painted schooner that lay at 
 
 204 
 
BY REEF AND PALM, 
 
 anchor on the calm waters of the 
 lagoon. He had just come back from 
 Tahiti with her, and the two thousand 
 dollars he had paid for her was an 
 easy matter for a man who was now 
 making a thousand a month. 
 
 "What a stroke of luck," he writes 
 to Doris. '* Had I gone back to 
 Sydney, where would I be now ? — a 
 mate, I suppose, on some deep-sea 
 ship, earning ^^12 or ;^I4 a month. 
 Another year or two like this, and I 
 could go back a made man. Some 
 day, my dear, I may ; but I will 
 come back here again. The ways 
 of the people have become my ways." 
 
 He laid down his pen and came 
 to the door and stood thinking awhile 
 and listening to the gentle rustle of 
 the palms as they swayed their lofty 
 plumes to the breezy trade wind. 
 
 "Yes," he thought, "I would like 
 to go and see Doris, but I can't take 
 Luita, and so it cannot be. How 
 that girl suspects me even now. 
 When I went to Tahiti to buy the 
 schooner I believe she thought she 
 would never see me again. . . . What 
 a fool I am ! Doris is all right, I sup- 
 pose, although it is a year since I had 
 
 20S 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 a letter . . . and I — could any man 
 want more. T don't believe there's a 
 soul on the island but thinks as much 
 of me as Luita herself does ; and by 
 G — d she's a pearl — even though she 
 is only a native girl. No, I'll stay 
 here: 'Kapeni Paranili ' will always 
 be a big man in the Paumotus, but 
 Fred Brantley would be nobody in 
 Sydney — only a common merchant 
 skipper who had made money in the 
 islands; . . . and perhaps Doris is 
 married." 
 
 So he thought and talked to him- 
 self, listening the while to the soft 
 symphony of the swaying palm-tops 
 and the subdued murmur of the surf 
 as the rollers crashed on the distant 
 line of reef away to leeward. Of late 
 these fleeting visions of the outside 
 world — that quick, busy world, whose 
 memories, save for those of Doris, were 
 all but dead to him — had become more 
 frequent ; but the calm, placid happi- 
 ness of his existence, and that strange, 
 fatal glamour that for ever enwraps 
 the minds of those who wander in 
 the islands of the sunlit sea — as the 
 old Spanish navigators called Poly- 
 nesia — had woven its spell too strongly 
 
 206 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 over his nature to be broken. And 
 now, as the murmur of women's voices 
 caused him to turn his head to the 
 shady end of the verandah, the dark, 
 dreamy eyes of Luita, v^rho with her 
 women attendants sat there playing 
 with her child, looked out at him 
 from beneath their long lashes, and 
 told him his captivity was complete. 
 • • • • 
 
 A week afterwards the people of 
 Vahitahi were clustered on the beach 
 putting supplies of native food in the 
 schooner's boat. That night he was 
 to sail again for the pearling grounds 
 at Matahiva lagoon and would be 
 away three months. 
 
 One by one the people bade him 
 adieu, and then stood apart while he 
 said farewell to Luita. 
 
 " E mahina tolu^ little one,*' he was 
 saying, " why such a gloomy face." 
 
 The girl shook her head, and her 
 mouth twitched. " But the mitiy 
 Paranili — the miti of my mother. She 
 is wise in the things that are hidden ; 
 for she is one of those who believe in 
 the old gods of Vahitahi. , . , And 
 there are many here of the new lotu 
 who yet believe in the old gods. And, 
 lee, she has dreamed of this unknown 
 
 207 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 evil to thee twice ; and twice have 
 the voices of those who are silent in 
 the marae called to me in the night 
 and said, * He must not go ; he must 
 not go.' " 
 
 Knowing well how the old super- 
 stitious taint ran riot in the imagina- 
 tive native mind, Brantley did not 
 attempt to reason, but sought to gently 
 disengage her hands from his arm. 
 
 She dropped on the sand at his 
 feet and clasped his knees, and a long, 
 wailing note of grief rang out. 
 
 '* Aue ! aue ! my husband ; if it so 
 be that thou dost not heed the voices 
 that call in the night, then, out of 
 thy love for me and our child, let me 
 come also. Then, if evil befall thee, 
 let us perish together." 
 
 Brantley raised his hand and pointed 
 to the bowed and weeping figure. 
 Some women came and lifted her up. 
 Then taking the tender face between 
 his rough hands he bent his head to 
 hers, sprang into the boat and was gone. 
 • . • • 
 
 II. 
 
 With ten tons of shell snugly 
 stowed in her hold, the little 7amariki 
 was heading back for Vahitahi after 
 
 208 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 barely two months' absence. Brantley, 
 as he leant over the rail and watched 
 the swirl and eddy of the creamy 
 phosphorescence that hissed and 
 bubbled under the vessel's stern, felt 
 well satisfied. 
 
 It was the hour of dawn ; and the 
 native at the tiller sang, as the stars 
 began to pale before the red flush 
 that tinged the sky to windward, a 
 low chant of farewell to Fetuaho, the 
 star of the morning, and then he called 
 to Brantley, who to all his crew was 
 always " Paranili " and never " Kapeni," 
 and pointed with his naked tatooed 
 arm away to leeward, where the low 
 outlines of an island began to show. 
 
 "Look, Paranili; that is Tatakoto 
 — the place I have told thee of, where 
 the turtle make the white beach to 
 look black. Would it not be well for 
 us to take home some to Vahitahi ? " 
 
 " Thou glutton," said Brantley, 
 good-humouredly, "dost thou think 
 I am like to lose a day so that thou 
 and thy friends may fill thy stomachf 
 with turtle meat ? " 
 
 Rue Manu laughed and showed hi& 
 white, even teeth. " Nay, Paranili, 
 not for that alone ; but it is a great 
 place, that Tatakoto ; and thou hast 
 
 209 
 
BY REEF AND PALM 
 
 never landed there to look, and Luita 
 hath said that some day she would 
 ask thee to take her there ; for though 
 she was born at Vahitahi her blood is 
 that of the people of Tatakoto, who 
 have long since lain silent in the 
 maraesr 
 
 Brantley had often heard her speak 
 of it, this solitary spot in the wide 
 Pacific, and now, as he looked at the 
 pretty verdure-clad island against the 
 weather shore of which the thunder- 
 ing rollers burst with a muffled roar, 
 he was surprised at its length and 
 extent, and decided to pay it a visit 
 some day, 
 
 "Not now, Rua," he said to the 
 steersman, *' but it shall be soon. Arc 
 there many cocoanuts there.** 
 
 ** Many ? May I perish but the 
 trees are as the sand of the sea, and 
 the nuts lay thick upon the ground. 
 Ai-e-eh ! and the robber crabs are in 
 thousands, and fat ; and the sea-birds 
 eggs." 
 
 "Glutton again ! Be content. In 
 a little while we and as many of the 
 people of Vahitahi as the schooner 
 will carry will go there and stay for 
 the turtle season." 
 
 2IO 
 
BY REEF AND PALM, 
 
 Three days afterwards the schooner 
 was within fifty miles of his island 
 home, when Brantley was aroused at 
 daylight from his watch below by the 
 cry of "7"^ pathi!^* (a ship !) and 
 hastening on deck he saw a large 
 vessel bearing down upon them. In 
 half an hour she was close to, and 
 Brantley recognised her as a brig 
 from Tahiti, that occasionally made a 
 trading voyage to the Paumotus, and 
 whose skipper was a personal friend. 
 Suddenly she hove-to and lowered a 
 boat, which came alongside the 
 schooner, and the white man that 
 steered jumped on deck and held out 
 his hand. 
 
 " How are you, Brantley ? ** and 
 then his eye went quickly over the 
 crew of the schooner, then glanced 
 through the open skylight into the 
 little cabin, and a hopeful, expectant 
 look in his face died away. 
 
 " Very well, thank you, Latham. 
 But what is wrong ? — you look 
 worried." 
 
 " Come on board," said the captain 
 of the brig, quietly, " and I'll tell you." 
 
 As Brantley took his seat beside 
 him Latham said, " I have bad news 
 for you, Brantley. Your sister is on 
 
 211 
 
BY REEF AND PALM, 
 
 board the brig, and I fear she will 
 not live long. She came down to 
 Tahiti in the Marama from Auckland, 
 and offered me a good round sum to 
 bring her to you." 
 
 ** Has she been ill long, Latham ? " 
 
 Latham looked at him curiously. 
 " Didn't you know, Brantley. She*s 
 in a rapid consumption." 
 
 For a moment neither men spoke ; 
 then Latham gave a short cough. 
 
 " I feel it almost as badly as you, 
 Brantley, — but Tve got a bit more 
 bad news ^*' 
 
 " Go on, Latham — it can't matter 
 much ; my poor sister is everything to 
 me." 
 
 "Just so. That's what I told Miss 
 Brantley. Well, it's this — your wife 
 
 and child are missing ^" Latham 
 
 glanced at him and saw that his hand 
 trembled and then clutched the gun- 
 wale of the boat. 
 
 "We got into Vahitahi lagoon 
 about ten days ago, and I took Miss 
 Brantley ashore. What happened I 
 don't exactly know, but the next 
 night one of your whaleboats was 
 gone, and Luita and the child were 
 missing. Your sister was in a terrible 
 
 212 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 State of mind, and ofFered mc a thou- 
 sand dollars to put to sea. Brantley, 
 old man, I wouldn't take a dollar from 
 her — God bless her — but I did put to 
 sea, and IVe searched nigh on twenty- 
 islands and scores of reefs and sand- 
 banks ** 
 
 ** Thank you, Latham," said Brant- 
 ley, quietly ; " when we get on board 
 you can give me further particulars 
 of the islands you've searched." 
 
 " You can have my marked chart ; 
 IVe got a spare one. Brace up, old 
 man ; youUl see your sister in a 
 minute. She is terribly cut up over 
 poor Lutia — more so than I knew you 
 would. But she was a grand little 
 woman, Brantley, although she was 
 only a native." 
 
 " Yes," he answered, in the same 
 slow, dazed manner, " she was a good 
 
 little girl to me, although she " 
 
 The words stuck in his throat. 
 
 Latham showed him into the brig's 
 cabin, and then a door opened, and 
 Doris threw herself weeping into his 
 arms. 
 
 " Oh, Doris," he whispered, " why 
 did you not tell me you were ill . . . 
 I would have come to you long ago. 
 I feel a brute " 
 
 213 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 She placed her hands on his lips. 
 '* Never mind about me, Fred. Has 
 Captain Latham told you about " 
 
 " Yes," he replied ; and then sud- 
 denly, " Doris, I am going to look for 
 her ; I think I know where she tried 
 to reach. It is not far from here. 
 Doris, will you go on back to Vahitahi 
 with Latham and wait for me ? ** 
 
 " Fred," she whispered, " let me 
 come with you. It will not be long, 
 dear, before I am gone, and it was hard 
 to die away from you . . . that is why 
 I came ; and perhaps we may find her." 
 
 He kissed her silently, and then in 
 five minutes more they had said fare- 
 well to Latham and were on their way 
 to the schooner. 
 
 The crew soon knew from him what 
 had happened, and Rua Manu, with 
 his big eyes filled with a wondering 
 pity as he looked at the frail body and 
 white face of Doris lying on the sky- 
 light, wore the schooner's head round 
 to the south-west, at a sign from 
 Brantley. 
 
 "Aye, Paranili," he said, in his deep, 
 guttural tones, '* it is to Tatakoto she 
 hath gone — 'tis her mother's land.'* 
 
 214 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 That night, as she lay on the sky- 
 light with her hand in his, Doris told 
 him all she klfew : — 
 
 " They were all kind to me when 
 I went ashore to your house, Fred, 
 but Luita looked so fiercely at me. 
 . . . Her eyes frightened me — they 
 had a look of death in them. 
 
 " In the morning your little child 
 was taken ill with what they call 
 tataruy and I wanted to give it medi- 
 cine. Luita pushed my hand away 
 and hugged the child to her bosom ; 
 and then the other women came and 
 made signs for me to go away. And 
 that night she and the child were 
 missing, and one of your boats was 
 gone." 
 
 " Poor Luita," said Brantley, strok- 
 ing Doris's pale cheek, " she did not 
 know you were my sister. I never 
 told her, Doris." 
 
 "She is a very beautiful woman, 
 Fred. They told me at Tahiti that 
 she was called the pearl of Vahitahi ; 
 and oh ! my dear, if we can but find 
 her, I will make her love me for your 
 sake." 
 
 Late in the afternoon of the second 
 
 215 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 day, just as the trade wind began to 
 lose its strength, the schooner was 
 running along the weather-side of 
 Tatakoto, and Rua Manu, from the 
 masthead, called out that he saw the 
 boat lying on the beach inside the 
 lagoon, with her sail set ; and, as 
 landing was not practical on the 
 weather-side, the schooner ran round 
 to the lee/' 
 
 " We will soon know, Doris. It 
 always rains in these islands at this 
 time of the year ... so she would 
 not suffer as I once did ; but the sail 
 of the boat is still set, and that makes 
 me think she has never left it. Wait 
 till I come back again, Doris ; you 
 cannot help me.'* 
 
 And Doris, throwing her weak arms 
 round his neck, kissed him with a sob 
 and lay back again to wait. 
 
 With Rua Manu and two others of 
 his faithful native crew Brantley 
 walked quickly across the island to 
 the lagoon to where the boat lay. 
 She was not there, and the dark eyes 
 of his sailors met his in a responsive 
 glow of hope — she had not died in 
 the boat ! 
 
 2l6 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 They turned back into the silent 
 aisles of cocoanut palms, and then 
 Rua Manu called out her name. 
 
 "Listen/* he said. 
 
 A voice — a weak, trembling voice 
 — was singing the song of Talaloo. 
 
 " Teriinavahori, bending low, 
 
 Bindeth the sandaU on Talaloo's feet ; 
 * Hasten, O hasten, lover true, 
 
 O'er the coral, cruel and sharp, 
 Over the coral, and sand, and rock. 
 
 Snare thee a turtle for our marriage feast ; 
 la ahe ! brave lover mine.* " 
 
 " In the old marae^ Paranili," said 
 Rua Manu, pointing to the ruined 
 temple. 
 
 Motioning to the seamen to remain 
 outside, Brantley entered the ruined 
 walls of the old heathen temple. At 
 the far end was a little screen of 
 cocoanut boughs. He stooped down 
 and went in. 
 
 A few minutes passed, and then his 
 hand was thrust out between the 
 branches as a sign for them to follow. 
 
 One by one they came and sat 
 beside Brantley, who held the wasted 
 figure of the wanderer in his arms. 
 The sound of his voice had brought 
 back her wavering reason, and she 
 
 217 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 knew them all now. She knew, too, 
 that her brief young life was ebbing 
 fast ; for, as each of the brown men 
 pressed their lips to her hand, tears 
 coursed down their cheeks. 
 
 " See, men of Vahitahi, my English- 
 man hath come to me, a fool that fled 
 from his house . . . because I thought 
 that he lied to me. Teloma was it 
 who first mocked and said, ' 'Tis his 
 wife from Beretania who hath come 
 to seek him ; ' and then other girls 
 laughed and mocked also, and said, 
 * Ah-he I Luita, this fair-faced girl 
 who sayeth she is thy husband's sister, 
 Ah'he / * . . . and their words and 
 looks stung me. ... So at night I 
 took my child and swam to the boat. 
 . . . My child, see, it is here,'* and 
 she touched a little mound in the soil 
 beside her. 
 
 There was a low murmur of sym- 
 pathy, and then the brown men went 
 outside and covered their faces with 
 their hands, after the manner of their 
 race when death is near, and waited 
 in silence. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 Night had fallen on the lonely 
 island, and the far-off muffled boom 
 of the breakers as they dashed on the 
 
 2l8 
 
BY PEFF AND P^T.M. 
 
 black ledges of the weather reef 
 would now and then be borne into 
 the darkness of the little hut. 
 
 " Put thy face to mine, Paranili," she 
 whispered ; " I grow cold now." 
 
 As the bearded face of the man 
 bent over her, one thin, weak arm 
 rore waveringly in the air and then 
 fell softly round his neck, and Brant- 
 ley, with his hand upon her bosom, 
 felt that her heart had ceased to beat. 
 
 The next day he sailed the schooner 
 into the lagoon, and Doris pressed 
 her lips on the dead forehead of the 
 native girl, ere she was laid to rest. 
 
 Something that Doris had said to 
 him as they walked away from her 
 grave filled Brantley's heart with a 
 deadly fear, and as he took her in his 
 arms his voice shook. 
 
 " Don't say that, Doris. It cannot 
 be so soon as that. I was never a 
 good man ; but surely God will spare 
 you to me a little longer." 
 
 But it came very soon — on the 
 morning of the day that he intended 
 sailing out of the lagoon again. Doris 
 died in his arms on board the 
 schooner, and Brantley laid her to 
 
 219 
 
BY REEF AND PALM. 
 
 rest under the shade of a giant puka- 
 tree that overshadowed the stones of 
 the old marae. 
 
 That night he called Rua Manu 
 into the cabin and asked him if he 
 could beat his way back to Vahitahi 
 in the schooner. 
 
 " 'Tis an easy matter, Paranili. So 
 that the sky be clear and I can sc% 
 the stars, then shall I find Vahitahi 
 in three days." 
 
 " Good. Then to-morrow take the 
 schooner there, and tell such of the 
 people as desire to be with me to 
 come here, and bring with them all 
 things that are in my house. It is 
 my mind to live here at Tatakoto." 
 
 As the schooner slipped through 
 the narrow passage, he stood on the 
 low, sandy point and waved his hand 
 in farewell, 
 
 • • • • 
 
 A week later the little vessel 
 dropped her anchor in the lagoon 
 again, and Rua Manu and his crew 
 came ashore to seek him. 
 
 They found him lying under the 
 shade of the puka tree with his 
 revolver in his hand and a bullet- 
 hole in his temple. 
 
 220 
 
His Native Wife. 
 
 Page io8 
 
HIS NATIVE WIFE 
 
 By 
 Louis Becke 
 
 Author of ** By Reef and Palm," ** The 
 Ebbing of the Tide," etc. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
 1906 
 
COPTRIGHT, 1897, 
 BY 
 
 J. B. LippiNCOTT Company. 
 
** Neither do men put new 
 wine into old bottles ; else the 
 bottles break and the wine run- 
 neth out and the bottles perish." 
 
 \All rights rtserved] 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 chap. pagb 
 
 i. captain amos bennett seeks 
 
 a new second mate . i 1 
 
 ii. on board the " kellet 
 
 passmore" . . .26 
 
 iii. the wife of the reverend 
 
 hosea parker . • 5^ 
 
 IV. "we cannot PUT NEW 
 
 WINE INTO OLD BOTTLES " 64 
 
 V. THE FIRST AND SECOND 
 
 MATES . . • • 77 
 
 VI. KATE TRENTON . ♦ .92 
 
 VII. nAdee . . • .108 
 
 VIII. ONE OF THE OLD BOTTLES. I20 
 
^ Contents 
 
 CHAP, PAG2 
 
 IX. IN THE BOIL OF THE SURF . 1 45 
 
 X. UNDER THE PALMS . . I58 
 
 XI. A CONVERT THROUGH LOVE. 1 77 
 
 XII. HIS NATIVE WIFE • • 186 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PACK 
 
 HIS NATIVE WIFE . Frofttispiece, 
 
 Helen! how can you!" . 72 
 
 THE GIRL CAME OVER NEAR HIM 
 AND PLACED HER HAND ON 
 THE RAIL . . . .82 
 
 HELD IN THE ARMS OF A TALL, 
 
 SLENDER NATIVE GIRL . 165 
 
HIS NATIVE WIFE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CAPTAIN AMOS BENNETT SEEKS 
 A NEW SECOND MATE. 
 
 THE Kellet Passmorey of 
 New Bedford, had just 
 dropped anchor in the Bay of 
 Islands, and Captain Amos Ben- 
 nett came ashore to look for 
 some new hands. But the 
 skipper of the Kellet Passmore 
 was pretty well known, and 
 although there were plenty of 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 men, both whites and natives, 
 to be had by any other whale- 
 ship captain, there was none 
 anxious to try his luck in the 
 Kellet Passmore, It was far 
 better, they argued, for them 
 to do another month or two of 
 solid loafing ashore, where there 
 was plenty of cheap grog and 
 where the charms of very un- 
 conventional Maori female 
 society were so easily available, 
 and wait for another whale-ship 
 to come along, than to ship in 
 the Kellet Passmore. For it was 
 pretty generally known, from 
 Talcahuana on the west coast of 
 South America to Kororareka 
 in the Bay of Islands on the 
 coast of New Zealand, that 
 Captain Bennett wasn't a nice 
 man to sail with, and those who 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 did sail with him, whether the 
 Kellet Passmore met with bad 
 luck or " greasy " luck, gene- 
 rally left her at the first port 
 she touched at after a cruise, 
 with broken noses, smashed jaws 
 or fractured ribs, superinduced 
 by knuckle-dusters, belaying- 
 pins, and other cheerless incen- 
 tives to industry wielded by the 
 unsparing hands of Captain 
 Amos Bennett and the after- 
 guard of his ship. 
 
 Smoking an extremely long 
 and very strong cigar, Captain 
 Bennett slouched into the lead- 
 ing combined store and grog 
 shanty which, in those days, was 
 the rendezvous of everyone liv- 
 ing in the Bay, and in amiable 
 tones invited every one present 
 to " come and hev suthin'." 
 13 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 Some twelve or fifteen men, 
 whites, Kanakas, and Maoris, 
 who were loafing about the store 
 in expectation of the captain's 
 visit, accepted his invitation with 
 sundry nods, pushes, and winks 
 among themselves, and after 
 drinking a stiff tot of what was 
 known locally as "hell biled 
 down to a small half pint," 
 Mauta, a Tongan half-caste 
 boat-steerer, respectfully asked 
 the captain if he had had much 
 luck on his present cruise. 
 
 This was Captain Bennett's 
 opportunity, and for the follow- 
 ing ten minutes he lied rapidly 
 and artistically about the Kellet 
 Passmoris wonderful luck in 
 past cruises, but admitted that 
 on the present one, since he had 
 left New Bedford five months 
 14 
 
His Native Wife 5o^ 
 
 before he had taken but three 
 whales, '' princerpully," he said, 
 " on accaount of some passengers 
 I hev aboard who are in a h — 
 of a hurry ter get up ter Ponape 
 in the Caroline group." 
 
 "Traders, Captain Bennett? " 
 asked the storekeeper. 
 
 " No," replied the American, 
 drawing up one of his long legs, 
 clasping his lengthy arms around 
 his knee and shutting his left 
 eye, " missionaries from Bosting, 
 agoin' daown tew the Carolines 
 tew save the ragin' heathen in 
 his blindness from bowin' daown 
 tew wood an' stone, and tew 
 teach them tew charge a dollar 
 each for a chicken tew the un- 
 godly and Gentile sailor man." 
 
 The men laughed, and Cap- 
 tain Bennett, without moving a 
 15 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 muscle of his long, solemn 
 visage, nodded to the store- 
 keeper to fill the glasses again. 
 
 "No wonder you losa the 
 whala, captain," said a short, 
 muscular Portuguese, who 
 wanted a ship but had no inten- 
 tion of trying the Kellet Pass- 
 more with her present com- 
 mander, "de dam missionara 
 he bringa you bada lucka, eh ? '* 
 
 "Waal," said Bennett, eye- 
 ing the speaker keenly through 
 his half-closed eyes, "I won't 
 say that because it's jest my own 
 fault. Yew see, boys, it's jest 
 this way. These here people — 
 a man and two females — are 
 darned anxious tew get daown 
 tew the Carolines, and the 
 Bosting Board of Missions paid 
 me five hundred dollars each for 
 i6 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 'em, to give 'em a passage in my 
 ship. Consikently, although we 
 saw whales often enough, I only 
 lowered after 'em three times, 
 when they was close to. Yew 
 see, these here people heving 
 paid a big passage money, air 
 entitled to get there ez quick ez 
 I can take 'em." 
 
 An incredulous grin went 
 round among the men, which 
 Bennett affected not to notice, 
 then he resumed by remarking 
 that as he always liked to do the 
 square thing he was going to 
 count the fifteen hundred dollars 
 passage-money as part of the 
 ship's take. 
 
 " That sounds square," whis- 
 pered a white sailor to a young, 
 seaman-like man who sat upon 
 a case at the further end of the 
 
 17 B 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 store. " He can't be a bad sort. 
 I'm for one if he wants men." 
 
 "Lies," said the young fellow, 
 " but don't let me stop you. I 
 can tell you all about him though. 
 He's the two ends and bight of 
 a lying swab." 
 
 Having given those present 
 two drinks each, Captain Ben- 
 nett got to business, and light- 
 ing another cigar, asked them 
 if any of them wanted to try 
 their luck in the Kellet Passmore. 
 
 But although they drank his 
 rum cheerfully and were willing 
 to drink more, and listened with 
 stolid complacency to his allur- 
 ing inducements about a full 
 ship in twelve months, he talked 
 in vain. 
 
 Then the deep fountains of 
 Captain Amos Bennett's nautical 
 i8 
 
His Native Wife S^ 
 
 blasphemy were broken up, and 
 having violently cursed each 
 man separately and the lot col- 
 lectively, and insinuated that 
 they were not fit to tend cows, 
 let alone kill whales, he with- 
 drew to look for men elsewhere. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 An hour or two later he strode 
 down towards his boat with five 
 Maori hands in tow. When 
 close to the beach some one 
 hailed him from the rear, and 
 the leathern-visaged Yankee, 
 chawing fiercely at his Manilla, 
 slewed round on his heel and, 
 with needless profanity, asked 
 
 the speaker what the he 
 
 wanted. 
 
 '*I believe you want men, 
 sir." 
 
 "Not the kinder men bum- 
 19 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 min' around here, anyway," 
 snarled Bennett, recognising in 
 the man who spoke to him the 
 young fellow who had sat upon 
 the box in the corner of the 
 store ; and then looking at the 
 bronzed face and muscular figure 
 of his questioner, he asked — 
 
 '' Air yew one of them Yahoos 
 I was talkin' to while back ? " 
 
 "I was there," replied the 
 young man quietly, " but," and 
 he stepped directly in front of 
 the American, " if you call me a 
 Yahoo you'll lose a good man 
 for the Kellet Passmore^ and get 
 a hell of a bashing into the 
 bargain." 
 
 The skipper of the Kellet 
 Passmore was no coward, but 
 he knew he would stand a poor 
 show with the man before him. 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 and he wanted men badly. His 
 thin face underwent some 
 hideous squirmings and con- 
 tortions intended for an amused 
 smile. 
 
 " Young feller, yew hev some 
 spirit ; I kin see that right away. 
 Naow, I do want men, and yew 
 want a ship, and the Kellet 
 Passmore is jest " 
 
 " Stow all that," said the man 
 coolly. " / know all about the 
 Kellet Passmore and all about 
 you, too. Tm willing to go in 
 her for a cruise. I think it'll 
 take a smarter man than you to 
 haze me, so don't try it on." 
 
 The audacity of this speech 
 seemed to stagger the Yankee 
 considerably, but he soon re- 
 covered himself. 
 
 " Yew air mighty smart, young 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 feller," he said presently, in a 
 low, rasping voice, and his thin 
 lips parted and showed his yellow 
 teeth ; " and what sorter per- 
 sition aboard of my ship may I 
 hev the honour ev asking yew 
 to take ? " 
 
 " Any d d thing you 
 
 like. I hear you've got a lot 
 of cripples for boat-steerers, 
 and you can't get a better man 
 than me." 
 
 *'Do tell?" and Bennett 
 grinned sarcastically, ** then 
 you'll be a darned different sort 
 from any other Britisher that 
 ever went whalin'. Been in the 
 business long, young feller ? " 
 
 '*Ten years or so, off and 
 on," was the impatient reply. 
 
 The skipper beckoned to his 
 boat's crew, who lay upon their 
 
 22 
 
His N ative Wife S^ 
 
 oars waiting for him, to back on 
 to the beach, then with a quick 
 glance at the other man, he 
 said — 
 
 " Yes, come . aboard, young 
 feller ; I guess we'll pull to- 
 gether. Seems to me your face 
 is kinder familiar like tew me. 
 What was your last ship ? " 
 
 " The Wanderer y of Sydney." 
 
 " Boat-steerer } " 
 
 *' No, not in the Wanderer. 
 I was boat-steerer six years ago 
 in the Prudence Hopkins^ of New 
 Bedford ; I was mate of the 
 Wanderer. Got any more ques- 
 tions ? " 
 
 Another attempt at a plea- 
 sant smile distorted Captain 
 Bennett's features. " Waal, 
 naow, see here ; this is surpris- 
 in' ! Why, I cert'nly thought 
 23 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 I reckernised yew. Yew was 
 in the Wanderer in Vavau, 
 daown in the Friendly Islands, 
 'bout a year ago. Why, I re- 
 member comin' aboard ev that 
 thar ship one day." 
 
 " So do I," nonchalantly re- 
 plied the young man ; "a 
 couple of your hands — Kanakas 
 — swam ofF to our ship from 
 yours and you wanted to get 
 them back." 
 
 " That's so, mister. I re- 
 member the circumstance ex- 
 actly. Darned lazy cusses they 
 were, too." 
 
 "Think so.? 1 don't. We 
 had them with us on the Wan- 
 derer for ten months ; better 
 men never struck a fish. Tou 
 couldn't get anything out of 
 them, though." 
 24 
 
His Native Wife §^ 
 
 " Mister, I could not. They 
 belonged to the Matelotas 
 Islands, in the Carolines, and 
 when my second mate started to 
 rouse 'em around and knock 
 some of their darned Kanaka 
 laziness outer them, they 
 actooaly driv a knife inter him, 
 and darned near killed him." 
 
 "Served him d d well 
 
 right," was the curt response. 
 
 The American captain kept 
 silence for a while, and nought 
 broke the silence save the sound 
 of the oars as the boat swept 
 quickly toward the Keller Pass- 
 more. 
 
 25 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 ON BOARD THE " KELLET 
 PASSMORE." 
 
 TN a few minutes the boat 
 A ranged alongside, the five 
 new Maori hands, preceded by 
 Captain Bennett and the other 
 white man, clambered up on 
 deck, and the boat was about 
 to be passed astern, when the 
 skipper called to the mate. 
 
 " Mr. Herrera, I reckon yew 
 
 kin' keep the boat alongside. 
 
 Thar's goin' ter be some changes 
 
 aboard this ship in a few min- 
 
 26 
 
His Nativ e Wife ^ 
 
 utes, and thet boat's goin' ashore 
 agin." 
 
 The mate, a dafk-browed, 
 black-whiskered man of thirty- 
 five or so, whose regular fea- 
 tures and olive complexion 
 showed him to be either a 
 Spaniard or a Portuguese, 
 answered the rasping accents of 
 the Yankee skipper with a soft, 
 modulated " Aye, aye, sir," and 
 nodding a " Good-day, sir," to 
 the stranger, whom he could 
 see was by his dress and de- 
 meanour no common seaman, 
 turned away to execute his cap- 
 tain's orders. 
 
 " Come below, mister," said 
 Bennett, leading the way down 
 below. 
 
 There was no one in the 
 cabin but the mulatto steward, 
 
 27 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 who was laying the table, and 
 the captain, taking his seat, 
 motioned his visitor to another. 
 
 " Yew was sayin', Mr. ; 
 
 I disremember naow ef yew 
 told me your name ? " 
 
 " Barrington — John Barring- 
 ton," said the other, looking 
 directly into Bennett's eyes 
 and stroking his well-trimmed^ 
 pointed beard. 
 
 "Waal, Mr. Barrington, I 
 ain't agoin' tew jaw long over 
 this business. I want men — 
 that's what I came in here to 
 this rotten hole fur. Waal, I've 
 got five Maoris, and I reckon 
 that's all I will get. But I want 
 a second mate." 
 
 Barrington nodded, and still 
 stroking his beard, waited for 
 
 more. 
 
 28 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 " Waal, look here. I rather 
 think you'll suit me, although," 
 and here the skipper scratched 
 a bony cheek meditatively and 
 squinted atrociously, ** although 
 yew air a Britisher, and " 
 
 " And you're a Down East 
 Yank, used to Down East mates, 
 and Dago second mates, and 
 mangy greasers of all sorts. I'm 
 a Britisher, as you say ; but if 
 you don't want me, why the 
 blazes did you bring me aboard ? 
 This rotten old crate of yours 
 isn't the only whale-ship in the 
 Pacific ! " and Barrington took 
 up his hat. 
 
 '*Sit daown, mister, sit daown, 
 and don't yew use sich vi'lent 
 language," and Bennett indi- 
 cated by a backward jerk of his 
 dirty thumb and another vil- 
 
 29 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 lainous squint, a half-opened 
 cabin door at his back, " thar's 
 females in thar, mister — females 
 from Bosting," and he grinned. 
 
 Harrington muttered an 
 apology, not to the captain, but 
 to the soft murmur of women's 
 voices that he now heard for the 
 first time. 
 
 The hatchet-faced skipper 
 pondered a moment, and then 
 said briskly, 
 
 " Look here, naow, it's no 
 use either you or me backin' 
 and fiUin' in this ridiklous 
 kinder way. My second mate 
 wants to leave, an' I ain't too 
 dreadful anxious to stop him — 
 he don't suit me by no means. 
 Naow, yew want a ship an' I 
 want an officer. I ain't got but 
 two boat-headers in the ship 
 30 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 worth a cuss ; so ef yew are 
 willin', waal, rm willin'.** 
 
 " I don't want to make the 
 cruise with you, I only want to 
 get up to the Carolines. If you 
 like to put me ashore anywhere 
 near Ponape, orTruk,or a little 
 island called Losap, I'm willing 
 to do second mate's duty aboard. 
 I don't want a * cut in ' if we 
 kill any whales between here 
 and there — all I want is a pas- 
 sage to any one of the places 
 I've named." 
 
 " Young man, ef yew want a 
 free passage in this ship, I recken 
 yew hev got to pay for it." 
 
 " Just as you like ; I'm able 
 and willing to pay ; but then, 
 mind, I don't do a hand's turn 
 aboard this ship if I pay my 
 passage." 
 
 31 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 '' What might be your objek, 
 mister, in going daown thar at 
 all, ef yew don't mind my 
 askin' ? " 
 
 An angry reply was on the 
 young man's lips ; but he stopped 
 it. 
 
 " I don't see how the devil it 
 concerns you — if I go as a pas- 
 senger — but I will tell you. I 
 was trading down on Ponape a 
 little over two years ago, and 
 got tired of it. I ran out of 
 trade goods, and had no money 
 to buy any. So I shipped again 
 in the JVa7iderer^ and the skipper 
 landed my native wife at Losap, 
 where her mother's people be- 
 long. She's to wait there till 
 I return. Then I'm going back 
 to Ponape, or Yap, or any other 
 place where there's money to be 
 32 
 
His Native Wife So» 
 
 made. Tve got no trade goods, 
 but have money enough to buy 
 some from the first ship that 
 comes along." 
 
 Bennett considered a moment 
 or two and then said, " Waal, 
 young fellow, I recken we can 
 make a deal — whar do yew 
 say yew want to go ashore ? " 
 
 " Losap, if you happen to hit 
 it. That's where my wife is 
 living ; if not, Truk, or one of 
 the islands thereabouts will do 
 me. I'm bound to get a pas- 
 sage to L6sap from Truk in one 
 of the big canoes that go there 
 once a year." 
 
 " It's a deal, mister, I'll send 
 my second mate ashore here, 
 and be darned to him, and yew 
 can take his place. Ef we don't 
 get set too fur to the eastward by 
 33 c 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 the current — there's nothin' but 
 ragin' calms and blarsted hurri 
 canes up about there this time 
 of the year — I'll land yew on 
 Losap." 
 
 " Right," said Barrington, 
 *' when you send the boat ashore 
 here with your second mate, let 
 your men get my chest from 
 the store. It's all ready packed, 
 and nothing to pay on it." 
 
 *' Naow, thet's business. I 
 kin see that yew an' me'U git 
 along bully. Here, steward, 
 bring us suthin' to drink, an' 
 then tell Mr. Duggan I want 
 him." 
 
 Having secured a man whom 
 he was sure would prove a good 
 officer, Captain Amos Bennett 
 was now in a good temper, and 
 in a few minutes after he had 
 34 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 settled with Barrington he had 
 told him all about the voyage of 
 the Keller Passmore since she had 
 left New Bedford, and the short- 
 comings of his crew. Then his 
 natural inborn curiosity asserted 
 itself again, and he began to 
 question Barrington as to his 
 reasons for leaving the IVanderer^ 
 "Which, fer a colonial whaler 
 was most extror'nary lucky." 
 
 Drinking ofF his grog, the 
 young man put his hand inside 
 his coat, drew out some papers 
 and laid them on the table. 
 There was an angry light in 
 his eye, which the inquisitive 
 American was not slow to per- 
 ceive, and he began — 
 
 " Waal, I don't want to pester 
 yew onnesscessarily like, but I 
 
 thought '' 
 
 35 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 Barrington interrupted him. 
 
 "That's all right. I left the 
 Wanderer in Sydney two months 
 ago, and came over here to look 
 out for another ship. Why I 
 left her doesn't concern you. 
 I was not asked to leave her, 
 as that will show you, Captain 
 Bennett," and he handed him a 
 letter. " Do you know Captain 
 Codrington } He's a country- 
 man of yours." 
 
 '' Rather think I did. He's 
 from daown my way — Martha's 
 Vineyard — an' a real smart man, 
 although he did take to whalin' 
 under the British flag," and 
 Captain Bennett gave an amic- 
 able snort, and took the paper 
 offered him. 
 
 It contained but a few lines, 
 saying that the writer, William 
 36 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 Codrington, regretted that Bar- 
 rington had decided to leave the 
 Wanderer^ and urging him to 
 reconsider the matter. 
 
 Just then the steward came 
 in, and Bennett, handing the 
 letter back, said — 
 
 " Whar's Mr. Duggan, 
 steward ? " 
 
 "On deck, sir," answered 
 Herrera, the mate, who just 
 then came in the cabin. 
 
 *' Send him down then," and 
 an unpleasant look came over 
 Bennett's face. 
 
 The mate, as he turned to go, 
 passed the half-opened cabin door 
 on the starboard side. He pulled 
 it to gently and, with something 
 like a smile on his face, went on 
 deck and called out : " Mr. 
 Duggan, come below please." 
 37 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 In a few seconds a short, stout 
 man tramped down the com- 
 panion-way and stood in front 
 of the captain. 
 
 " Mr. Duggan, yew don't suit 
 me, and Fm quite willin' fur 
 yew tew go ashore '* 
 
 " And Tm d — d glad to get 
 clear of you and this rotten old 
 hooker of a barque. You're a 
 lyin' bully, and this ship ain't 
 fit for a white man to sail in." 
 
 " Not fur a white-livered sort 
 like yew, Duggan," snarled back 
 Bennett. '' Why, yew ain't fit 
 fur anything better'n cod- 
 fishin'." 
 
 '' He is too good and honest 
 a man to remain on board this 
 ship. Captain Bennett," said a 
 soft voice, and a young woman 
 opened the cabin door that the 
 38 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 mate had closed, and stepped 
 into the main cabin. 
 
 Bennett dropped his eyes and 
 made no answer. 
 
 '^ And so you are going, Mr. 
 Duggan," she said, "my sister 
 and I will miss you very much. 
 Good-bye," and she put her 
 v/hite hand into Duggan's huge 
 paw. 
 
 " Good-bye, Miss Trenton, 
 and God bless you, miss, and 
 bring you safe home again." 
 
 Almost ere Harrington could 
 get more than a glance at the 
 girl's pale face and deep hazel 
 eyes, she had entered her cabin 
 again and closed the door, and 
 the second mate was addressing 
 his farewell remarks to the 
 captain, the which, once he was 
 assured that the young lady was 
 39 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 out of hearing, he concluded by 
 consigning Bennett to flames and 
 perdition in a vigorous but lucid 
 manner. Then he tramped off 
 on deck again, where the mate 
 was awaiting him. 
 
 " Good-bye, Duggan," said 
 Herrera, holding out his hand, 
 " I am sorry you and the old 
 man can't agree ; but you and 
 I part friends, don't we ? " 
 
 ''Oh yes — yes. I've got 
 nothing against you. You 
 only knock the men about 
 from force of habit ; Bennett 
 does it from pure natural 
 cussedness. Well, anyway, I 
 wish the ship luck." 
 
 " Thanks. I don't like Ben- 
 nett much myself, but I like the 
 old Passmorey 
 
 " Especially when there's a 
 40 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 passenger like Kate Trenton 
 aboard. Look here, Herrera, 
 just you mind your bearings. 
 You ain't a fit man for a girl 
 like that." 
 
 The dark, handsome face 
 flushed, and with a curt 
 " good-bye " the mate walked 
 away, and Duggan went down 
 over the side into the boat and 
 was pulled ashore. 
 
 By sunset the Kellet Passmore 
 was underweigh again, heading 
 for Tongatabu, in the Friendly 
 Islands, where Bennett intended 
 cruising for a few weeks before 
 going to the northward. 
 • • • • • 
 
 Just before supper that even- 
 ing, Barrington went below to 
 get a pipe of tobacco. The 
 lamp had not yet been lit, and 
 41 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 the spacious cabin of the old 
 barque was in semi-darkness. 
 He was turning to go on deck 
 again, when Captain Bennett, 
 who was standing talking to 
 some one, called him over and 
 introduced him to the Reverend 
 Hosea Parker. 
 
 "By God," muttered Barring- 
 ton, under his breath, "it's that 
 meddlesome Yankee Baptist 
 parson that was always worry- 
 ing Nadee about her soul," but 
 he put out his hand. 
 
 " How are you, Mr. Barring- 
 ton ? Is it well with you ? " 
 said the missionary, who always 
 affected a Scriptural style or 
 address. " 'Tis indeed strange 
 we meet again." 
 
 " Fm all right, thank you,'* 
 said Barrington quietly, and 
 42 
 
His Native Wife 5o» 
 
 then he added, '* I did not 
 imagine it was you and Mrs. 
 Parker who were on board ; 
 I trust she is well." 
 
 "Well, I thank the Lord, 
 Mr. Harrington, she will be 
 here presently. And how 
 comes it, Mr. Barrington, that 
 we meet you here ? " 
 
 "Oh, Fm getting back again. 
 And may I ask the same question 
 of you, Mr. Parker. How 
 comes it that you are so far 
 away from Ponape ? " 
 
 " It pleased Providence that 
 the Morning Star ^our missionary 
 ship, should be cast away on 
 Strong's Island a year back. 
 My wife and I, who were then 
 in America, thus had no means 
 of returning to the Vineyard, 
 save by a whale-ship." 
 43 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 "Ah ! I see," and Barrington, 
 who had no wish to hear any 
 more, went on deck. 
 
 "Sez it was Providence ez 
 wrecked that thar brig, does 
 he ? " said Captain Bennett to 
 his new second mate, as he 
 followed him on deck, ''waal, 
 ef that ain't rich ! Providence, 
 hey ? It was just because the 
 darned wooden-headed galoot 
 of a captain hed'n't got sense 
 enough tew try and tow her off 
 when the current swep' her again' 
 the rocks ; instead of doin' which 
 he let go his anchor in 'bout a 
 mile deep of water, right 'long- 
 side the reef, and trusted to 
 Providence. Consikently, when 
 she swung round she bashed 
 her starn inter pulp on the reef. 
 I hain't got no patience with 
 44 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 creatures that get inter a hell of 
 a mess and then start yowlin' 
 'bout the will of Providence and 
 sich. It's jes' sickenin'." 
 
 Half an hour afterwards, 
 when Harrington came down to 
 supper, Helen Parker rose to 
 meet him with extended hand. 
 Her face was deadly pale, but 
 the quick eye of Jose Herrera 
 saw that her hand trembled and 
 a deep rose colour momentarily 
 flooded her face from brow to 
 chin. 
 
 Some mere common-place 
 escaped her as Barrington took 
 her hand, and she said — 
 
 " This is my sister, Mr. Bar- 
 rington. I have just been telling 
 her that you and I were not 
 strangers." 
 
 45 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 The hazel-eyed, curly-haired 
 girl who sat by her, rose and 
 shook hands with the new officer, 
 and said, with a straight look 
 at the tan-hided countenance of 
 Amos Bennett — 
 
 " How do you do, Mr. Bar- 
 rington ? I am sorry Mr. 
 Duggan has gone ; but I hope I 
 shall like you as much as I did 
 him/' 
 
 The new second mate laughed, 
 and even Bennett gave his 
 cachinnatory snuffle ; but Mrs. 
 Parker kept her pale face bent 
 over her plate, and did not raise 
 it again till supper was over. 
 . • • • • 
 
 " I suppose," said Barrington 
 
 that night to Herrera, as the two 
 
 sat smoking in the latter's cabin 
 
 for a few minutes, "that that 
 
 46 
 
His Native Wife 5c» 
 
 pretty girl is going down to the 
 Carolines to marry some pasty- 
 faced Yankee missionary like 
 the Reverend Hosea Parker." 
 
 Herrera, who lay out at full 
 length in his bunk smoking a 
 Manilla, raised himself on one 
 elbow and looked searchingly at 
 his fellow-ofRcer, his black eyes 
 shining and sparkling in the 
 darkness. 
 
 ** Not if I can help it, Mr. 
 Barrington," he said. 
 
 Barrington was startled, but 
 said nothing ; and then, Herrera, 
 still leaning his black bearded 
 chin upon his hand, spoke again 
 in his soft, finely modulated 
 voice. 
 
 " Which, Mr. Barrington, 
 think you, is the most beautiful 
 of the two ? " 
 
 47 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 "I don't know, Fm sure," 
 replied Barrington, carelessly ; 
 "both are good-looking." 
 
 " Good-looking ! Mother of 
 God ! Both are lovely — and, 
 Senor Barrington, the wife of 
 that ugly devil of a padre 
 looked at you in a way that 
 I would give five years of my 
 life for her sister to so look at 
 me. My friend, that woman is 
 in love with you ! " 
 
 **You are mistaken, Mr. 
 Herrera," said Barrington, 
 coldly, "and I may as well 
 tell you that I've got a wife — 
 as good a girl as ever I want ; 
 and it's not in my nature to run 
 after any one else's wife ; and 
 I'm going back to her now, poor 
 little devil ! " 
 
 The dark-faced mate laid back 
 48 
 
His Native Wife 5o- 
 
 again and smiled softly to him- 
 self 
 
 Presently he resumed, " I do 
 not want to ask impertinent 
 questions of you, but is your 
 wife young and beautiful ? " 
 
 Barrington nodded. 
 
 " Ah ! Then you have no 
 eyes for another woman. But 
 tell me. Is it not a very wonder- 
 ful thing that such a beautiful 
 woman as the padre's — parson, 
 as you call him — this padre's 
 wife, should marry such a man ? 
 Dios ! he is as ugly as a sun- 
 fish, and with no more brains." 
 
 " I daresay he's a good 
 enough man in his way," re- 
 plied Barrington ; " but, as you 
 say, he's got no brains." 
 
 The mate laughed. '' And 
 she cares no more for him than 
 4v ^ 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 she does for black Manuel, the 
 ship's cook ! Truly, it is won- 
 derful that so sweet a woman 
 should marry a miserable little 
 priest." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE WIFE OF THE REVEREND 
 HOSEA PARKER. 
 
 CERTAINLY, there was 
 something to wonder 
 about, for the Reverend Hosea 
 Parker was about the last man 
 in the world one would expect 
 to see a lively and intelligent 
 woman marry, for, while pos- 
 sessing features as homely as a 
 stone jug, they were not nearly 
 so expressive. Like a great 
 many of his colleagues, how- 
 ever, he was not as bad as he 
 51 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 looked, and honestly believed 
 that Providence intended him 
 for a great mission — i.e,^ to 
 convert the heathen from his 
 blindness. Until the age of 
 thirty or so he had, to use his 
 own words, been " in the world, 
 a worldly man," earning a liv- 
 ing as a compositor on a Boston 
 religious newspaper largely 
 devoted to alarmist statements 
 about the vast numbers of South 
 Sea Islanders who were hurry- 
 ing to perdition for want of 
 missionary effort. The con- 
 fined nature of his occupation 
 and a course of attendances at 
 revival meetings, at one of 
 which he fell down in a fit, 
 had led to a serious illness, 
 from which he recovered a 
 "concerned" man. Six months 
 52 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 afterwards he was accepted as 
 a " labourer " in the mission 
 field ; and a natural, rough 
 eloquence he possessed so 
 worked upon the feelings of 
 Helen Trenton, one of the 
 young members of a Boston 
 church in which he was preach- 
 ing one Sunday, that she — in 
 her turn — went into hysterics. 
 On being brought to she found 
 the Rev. Hosea Parker and her 
 mother by her side in her 
 parents' house, and they being 
 very wealthy but pious people, 
 requested the rugged - faced 
 preacher to question her as to 
 whether she was feeling " con- 
 cerned." The result was that 
 — while under a sort of mild 
 religious mania — twelve months 
 later she became Mrs. Hosea 
 53 
 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 and went out with him to the 
 Caroline Islands. Six years' 
 residence among the unconven- 
 tional people of those parts 
 convinced her that if her hus- 
 band was intended for a saver 
 of souls she was not, and that 
 Providence or the tropical 
 climate had dealt very hardly 
 with her in the matter of her 
 complexion. After a short 
 visit to her native city, she 
 was now returning with her 
 husband with a despairing feel- 
 ing in her heart that she wasn't 
 so good a woman as her Boston 
 friends supposed her to be, and 
 that the advent of a young 
 English trader to Ponape, 
 where she was engaged in 
 hopelessly " labouring " to 
 instruct the native girls in 
 54 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 orthodox morality, had a good 
 deal to do with it. 
 
 But that was three or four 
 years ago, and the English 
 trader had gone away out of 
 her life altogether, when one 
 day a whale-ship called in to 
 buy turtle and poultry and let 
 the crew indulge in the usual 
 amusements common to whalers' 
 crews in the North Pacific 
 Islands. 
 
 That evening the Reverend 
 Hosea Parker had told her in 
 his solemn, wooden-headed 
 manner that the captain of the 
 whaler had informed him that 
 he had lost one of his officers 
 during the voyage, and had 
 shipped Barrington in his place. 
 
 " And I really must say, 
 Helen, that I am not sorry to 
 55 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 see that young man go away 
 from here. His manner of life 
 here is a standing reproach to 
 us both, and I have wrestled 
 hard for him, but without avail." 
 
 " He is no worse than most 
 of the white men in these 
 islands, Hosea," she had said 
 timidly. " You must remem- 
 ber that by the native custom 
 Nadee is his wife — just as much 
 as I am yours. I am afraid, 
 Hosea, that you and I are a 
 little bit prejudiced against John 
 Barrington." 
 
 Poor little woman ! She 
 wasn't prejudiced against the 
 good-looking, devil-may-care 
 English trader, but she in- 
 cluded herself — merely as a 
 salve to her wifely conscience. 
 
 The Reverend Hosea sat 
 56 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 down and, placing his hands 
 upon his knees, looked into his 
 wife's face with the same ex- 
 pression he was wont to employ 
 when reprimanding one of his 
 native girl pupils for indulging 
 in the forbidden pleasures of a 
 heathen dance on the beach by 
 moonlight. 
 
 *' Have you possibly for- 
 gotten what that young man 
 said to me when I called upon 
 him with reference to the de- 
 plorable and wicked life he is 
 leading?" 
 
 Mrs. Hosea had not for- 
 gotten. Indeed, she had been 
 present and well within hearing 
 on the occasion, and was not 
 likely to forget the incident. 
 
 However, being a wise 
 woman, she said nothing, and 
 57 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 when that evening Mr. John 
 Barrington strolled nonchalantly 
 up to the mission house to 
 say good-bye to the Reverend 
 Hosea, to whom, although he 
 had always been at loggerheads 
 with him, the trader bore no 
 malice, pretty Mrs. Parker 
 stifled her desire to cry, and 
 said good-bye bravely enough. 
 Then, when from the mission 
 house verandah she saw the 
 Tuscana slowly sail out of 
 Jakoits Harbour, she went back 
 into the sitting-room and, sob- 
 bing softly to herself, wondered 
 what would have happened if 
 she had met handsome Jack 
 Barrington before the Reverend 
 Hosea Parker had convinced 
 her that she was a fitting 
 colleague for him to help to 
 58 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 save the souls of the *' perish- 
 ing " heathen in the Caroline 
 Islands. And so, as she 
 thought, the one man who 
 could have been anything to 
 her passed away out of her life, 
 and his absence seemed to ac- 
 centuate the personal homeli- 
 ness of feature of the Reverend 
 Hosea more and more every 
 day, so much so that one day 
 during the voyage back she 
 told her sister Kate, who was 
 coming out to the islands with 
 her to stay, that she didn't care 
 a straw about either the dull- 
 minded man she had married 
 or the heathen in whom he 
 took such a useless interest. 
 
 The big hazel eyes of Kate 
 Trenton opened in shocked 
 surprise. The day had been 
 59 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 close and sultry, and the Kellef 
 Passmore was lying becalmed 
 with the pitch bubbling up 
 between her deck planking, and 
 the two women felt half stifled. 
 
 " Poor Helen," said the girl, 
 stroking her sister's face, *' the 
 weather has upset you. I know 
 I feel it myself Even Mr. 
 Herrera is going about wearing 
 a wide straw hat instead of his 
 usual cap." 
 
 "Kate," and Mrs. Parker 
 sat up on the lounge where she 
 had been lying down endea- 
 vouring to read, " Kate, do you 
 know that Mr. Herrera seems 
 to take altogether too much 
 interest in you. You surely 
 would not be foolish enough to 
 let yourself care for him ? " 
 
 Kate Trenton turned her face 
 60 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 away for a moment or two from 
 her sister's eyes, and made no 
 answer, but her cheek reddened 
 visibly. 
 
 Suddenly the older woman 
 drew her down beside her. 
 
 '' What a hypocrite I am, 
 Kate, to talk like this to you. 
 Of course I know you love him 
 and he you, and '' 
 
 The girl put her hand over 
 her sister's mouth. 
 
 " Hush, Helen, don't say 
 that." 
 
 " But I do say it, dear. 
 Why shouldn't you ? Don't 
 make the horrible mistake that 
 I have made — marry a man to 
 please your parents and then 
 meet some one that you like 
 better." 
 
 *' Helen ! " and Kate put 
 6i 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 her arms lovingly around her, 
 alarmed at something that 
 sounded dangerously like the 
 first break of a sob in her voice, 
 " surely, dear, you have never 
 met any one whom you have cared 
 for in that manner but Hosea? " 
 
 The mention of Hosea's name 
 broke up Mrs. Parker's resolu- 
 tion never to tell Kate anything 
 about the matter. 
 
 " Yes, I did," she whimpered, 
 "and the horrible part of it 
 was that he lived quite close to 
 us, and although he and I met 
 very often, I don't believe he 
 ever gave me a thought, and 
 when he went away the cruel 
 wretch asked me if I would 
 mind letting (sob) his wife stay 
 with me (sob) until he came 
 (sob) back for her." 
 62 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 " Helen, what dreadful things 
 you are telling me ! What 
 does it all mean? Who was 
 this man? " 
 
 *' I might as well tell you all 
 about it, Kate," she said wearily. 
 " I don't suppose I shall ever 
 see him again, and I want you 
 to see what a silly fool I have 
 been about a man that I sup- 
 pose would have made game 
 about ^ the sky-pilot's wife ' 
 among his rough associates had 
 he known that I cared for him." 
 
 " Poor Helen ! " and Kate 
 Trenton's hand stole into hers. 
 
 63 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 INTO OLD BOTTLES. 
 
 " T TE was, or rather had 
 ^ ^ been, a mate on a 
 Sydney whale-ship, but quar- 
 relled with his captain " — her 
 face flushed scarlet — "quarrelled 
 over a native girl, and Barring- 
 ton — that was his name — broke 
 the captain's jaw with a blow 
 of his fist and then deserted. 
 All this took place at an island 
 hundreds of miles away from 
 Ponape. The ship sailed with- 
 64 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 out him, and a few months 
 afterwards he turned up at a 
 native village about four miles 
 from the mission ; he brought 
 with him a young girl and an 
 old hag. The natives took a 
 great liking to him, and he 
 lived with them for a month 
 or so until a trading ship called. 
 The captain sold him some 
 trade goods ; and the next 
 thing we heard was that the 
 chief had built him a house — 
 for himself and Nadee, his 
 native wife." 
 
 " Helen ! Surely you could 
 never have cared for a man 
 who would disgrace himself in 
 that way, even had you been a 
 free woman." 
 
 Mrs. Parker laughed sarcas- 
 tically. 
 
 65 B 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 " My dear Kate, when you 
 have lived a few years in the 
 islands you will hold different 
 opinions about a man ' disgrac- 
 ing' himself." 
 
 " It is a disgrace, Helen," 
 said the girl hotly. '' Suppos- 
 ing one of our brothers married 
 a coloured woman, what would 
 you and I — what would the 
 world think ? " 
 
 " In America or Europe, that 
 he had shocking bad taste — in 
 the South Sea Islands, that he 
 meant to settle down and live 
 decently." 
 
 ^* Helen ! How can you, a 
 missionary's wife, say such 
 things ? What would your 
 husband ? " 
 
 " My husband, Kate, is only 
 a unit in a vast crowd of silly 
 66 
 
His Native Wife S^ 
 
 people who throw away millions 
 of dollars every year in sending 
 out people sillier than them- 
 selves to worry heathen people 
 about their souls." 
 
 '' Oh, Helen, Helen, is this 
 the end of your once great 
 hope ? I remember how fer- 
 vent you once were about com- 
 ing out with Hosea." 
 
 " Oh, yes, so do I, Kate,*' she 
 answered desperately, pushing 
 back her hair wearily from her 
 temples, "but I know better 
 now. I wish mother and father 
 hadn't been quite so pious. 
 Then I would never have met 
 and married that estimable 
 blockhead, the Reverend 
 Ho " 
 
 '' For shame, Helen." 
 
 " I'm sick and tired of it all, 
 67 
 
-^ H[s Native Wife 
 
 Kate. If you were not with 
 me I would jump overboard. 
 Perhaps if I hadn't met that 
 wretched man I would have 
 gone on all right to the end 
 in the laudable effort to put 
 new wine into old bottles, 
 meaning thereby cramming 
 simple native minds with 
 Boston-made theology." 
 
 '' Helen," and Kate Trenton 
 wound her arms round her 
 sister's waist, " I'm so sorry, 
 dear. Try and put this man 
 out of your mind." 
 
 " Don't be such a little fool. 
 Of course it's all finished long 
 ago ; but oh, Kit, I was sorry 
 to see him go. He was so 
 different from every other man 
 I have ever met. Hosea dis- 
 liked him intensely." 
 68 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 *' Quite right, too," said Kate, 
 stoutly ; " how dared any man 
 make love to you ? " 
 
 " That is just what he did 
 not do. He only came to the 
 mission house occasionally, and 
 Hosea talked such dreadful 
 twaddle to him in that hideously 
 stupid, dull voice of his that he 
 was glad to get away." 
 
 " What could such a man as 
 he, Helen, have to talk about 
 in common with your husband." 
 
 *'A good deal. Kit. He 
 had a great influence over the 
 natives, and Hosea was jealous 
 and made no secret of it. Some- 
 times there would nearly be a 
 quarrel," and here she laughed, 
 " and I would enjoy it — any- 
 thing was better than listening 
 to Hosea's monotonous droning 
 69 
 
^? His Native Wife 
 
 about the perversity of some 
 chief or other who didn't want 
 Christianity, but did want square 
 gin and axes and knives and 
 muskets, and refused to cut 
 down his harem to one. There, 
 don't be shocked, dear, but just 
 sit quietly and listen. It's such 
 a relief for me to break out at 
 last and let you see what a 
 scandalous creature I am. But, 
 oh, Kit, dear, just imagine what 
 I have gone through for nearly 
 six years. Night after night, 
 to sit in the front room of the 
 mission house and listen to 
 Hosea droning out his transla- 
 tions of the Scriptures to our 
 sleepy native servants ; then to 
 go to bed and awake suddenly 
 in the silence of the night and 
 hear the droning of the surf — 
 70 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 which was almost as bad as 
 Hosea's — on the reef miles 
 away. Sometimes I would get 
 up and have a good cry and 
 wish that I were dead. Perhaps 
 if I had had a child to love, the 
 life I lived would have been less 
 horrible." 
 
 *' Were there no other white 
 men near you but that — that 
 man ? " 
 
 " Oh yes, several. But none 
 like him. There were three 
 or four traders on the island, 
 ignorant, rough men, but they 
 never came near the mission, 
 except on one occasion when 
 one of them named Paddy Kerr 
 called on behalf of his colleagues 
 to tell Hosea that he was a 
 meddlesome fool, and that if 
 he, or any of his native teachers, 
 71 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 * came foolin' around their way 
 teachin' natives that all white 
 men, excep' those that come in 
 the Morning Star missionary 
 ship, was rogues,' they (the 
 traders) would duck Hosea in 
 the lagoon." 
 
 "The brutes," said Kate 
 Trenton, indignantly. 
 
 " Not a bit of it, my dear, 
 rhere is a great deal to be said 
 on both sides. We missionaries 
 are a meddlesome lot, Kitty, 
 and these English and Ameri- 
 can traders are men. Dreadful 
 scamps, no doubt, many of them, 
 but then they came here long 
 before we did, and I don't think 
 it right for us to prejudice the 
 natives against them." 
 
 " Helen ! How can you ! I 
 am afraid that this trader friend 
 72 
 
** Helen ! How can you !** 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 of yours has done you no 
 good." 
 
 Mrs. Parker laughed con- 
 temptuously. 
 
 " He has done me good, Kit 
 • — he and the rougher men he 
 was associated with. I went to 
 the islands a religious pedant, and 
 my narrow-mindedness and silly 
 bigotry received some severe 
 shocks. There, dear, I won't 
 shock you any more. Did you 
 hear what Captain Bennett said 
 to Hosea last night at supper 
 about baptism by total immer- 
 sion ? " and her eyes sparkled 
 mischievously. 
 
 *' No, Helen, I hate the man, 
 and always get away from the 
 table as quickly as possible." 
 
 " You shouldn't. He's very 
 amusing. Hosea believes that 
 73 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 total immersion is an all-impor- 
 tant preliminary to future salva- 
 tion, and asked Mr. Herrera — 
 a Catholic, I suppose — what his 
 opinion was ? " 
 
 ''What did Mr. Herrera 
 say ? " asked Kate, showing 
 interest enough now. 
 
 " Oh nothing, merely bowed, 
 said he didn't know, and asked 
 Bennett if he intended bending 
 on a new fore-topmast staysail. 
 I suppose he wanted to get on 
 deck after you." 
 
 "Don't Helen." 
 
 "Never mind, dear. Well, 
 then Hosea asked Mr. Duggan, 
 who only shook his head in 
 agony and nearly choked him- 
 self with a pie:e of meat ; then 
 he asked Captain Bennett. 
 * Waal, sir,' said Bennett, ' may 
 74 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 be yew air right and may 
 be yew air wrong. Ez fur me, 
 I was jest sprinkled in the 
 or'nary way by old Parson 
 Wicks, of Marblehead, an' I 
 reckon my old mother thought 
 I had jest ez much chance of 
 salvation ez if I'd hev been 
 anchored by the neck in the 
 Mississippi fur a month.' " 
 
 The younger woman smiled, 
 but then looked at her sister in 
 surprise. She had never heard 
 her talk like this before, and 
 never knew that her life had 
 not been a happy one. 
 
 " Come on deck, Helen," she 
 said, presently. " I hear them 
 hauling the yards round and can 
 feel the ship moving again. I 
 am so glad. The language that 
 man Bennett uses to the crew 
 75 
 
^ Hi s Native Wife 
 
 terrifies me, and I shall be glad 
 when the voyage is over.'' 
 
 They went on deck, and as 
 the Kelkt Passmore heeled 
 slightly to the breeze that came 
 rippling over the water, the 
 mate came up to them, and, 
 though he spoke to both, his 
 eyes were for sweet-faced Kate 
 Trenton alone. 
 
 " We have got the breeze at 
 last, ladies ; by to-morrow 
 morning we shall be in the 
 Bay of Islands. Captain Ben- 
 nett and Mr. Duggan have 
 quarrelled again, and we are 
 going in there to try and get 
 another officer in his place and 
 some more men as well." 
 
 76 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE FIRST AND SECOND 
 MATES. 
 
 THREE months had passed, 
 and the Kellet Passmore 
 had crawled lazily along from 
 the coast of New Zealand to 
 the Friendly Islands, and then 
 from the Friendlies northwards 
 and westward towards the 
 Carolines, till one morning 
 she lay in sight of the little 
 island group of Losap. 
 
 The wind was light, so light 
 77 
 
^ H is Native Wife 
 
 that the old barque could scarce 
 feel her helm as she rose and 
 fell to the gentle ocean swell. 
 The islands lay about three 
 miles to windward — four small 
 green spots of thickly-cluster- 
 ing palms, encircled by a wide 
 sweep of reef some ten or fifteen 
 miles in circumference. On the 
 north-east horn of the reef was 
 the main island of the four, a 
 thick mass of cocoanut trees 
 and pandanus palms ; and five 
 miles away, at the extreme 
 southern end, were the three 
 smaller islets. These, too, were 
 covered with vegetation — a 
 dense and tangled fringe of 
 low, light-green scrub, growing 
 down to the beach, in the centre 
 a few scattered clumps of coco- 
 nuts, growing in twos and 
 78 
 
His Native Wife &^ 
 
 threes, lifted their stately plumes 
 high above. 
 
 Presently, John Harrington, 
 who knew the place well, came 
 aft, and after a turn or two 
 along the deck, stopped and 
 looked over toward the land. 
 
 " Lovely little spot, isn't 
 it .'^ " he said, turning to Mrs. 
 Hosea and her sister, who were 
 sitting close together in two 
 deck-chairs. 
 
 Kate Trenton smiled and 
 nodded ; she had grown to 
 like Harrington ; but her sister, 
 save for a faint pink flush that 
 came and vanished quickly, took 
 no notice of his remark, and 
 bent her face down over her 
 book. 
 
 Six weeks before, when she 
 had met him first at the cabin 
 79 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 table, her heart had leaped at the 
 sight of him, only to die away 
 within her when she found that, 
 either designedly or from utter 
 indifference, he scarcely spoke 
 to her beyond the requirements 
 of common courtesy. And 
 from that evening to the 
 present time he had seldom 
 spoken to her directly. But 
 that " the little she-missionary/* 
 as he used mentally to call her, 
 had ever — at any time — given 
 him a thought, John Barrington 
 never suspected, and while on 
 the island in the olden days, he 
 had never been nervous or em- 
 barrassed in her presence, he 
 was so now, simply because he 
 felt that both she and her sister 
 were beings so immeasurably 
 above him in their thoughts and 
 80 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 life, that they could not but 
 regard him with that feeling of 
 antagonism natural to educated 
 and refined women who come 
 in contact with men of loose 
 habits and South Sea morals 
 generally, like himself. And 
 no one knew better than he 
 did his own failings. Had she 
 come to him in his island home 
 and preached to him on the evil 
 of his ways, he would have given 
 her a very sharp answer ; but 
 here, on board ship, it was a 
 very different matter, and had 
 she reproached him now about 
 his past existence when he had 
 lived near her and her husband 
 at the mission station, he felt 
 he would be utterly incapable 
 of making any defence. Not 
 that Mr. John Harrington was 
 
 8l F 
 
^ His Nat ive Wife 
 
 in the slightest degree ashamed 
 of his manner of life as an 
 Island trader, and indeed, he 
 would express himself in verj 
 vigorous terms to the Reverend 
 Hosea when that gentleman 
 would make any allusion to the 
 wickedness of white traders ; 
 but at the same time he was 
 conscious that he could not use 
 the same arguments to a young 
 and pretty white lady as he 
 could to her husband. 
 
 ** Are we going to send a 
 boat ashore here, Mr. Barring- 
 ton ? " asked Kate Trenton 
 presently. 
 
 *' I think so, Miss Trenton," 
 he replied, and then, as the girl 
 came over near him and placed 
 her hand on the rail while she 
 looked at the nearing land, he 
 82 
 
The girl came over near him and placed her hand 
 on the rail. 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 added in a lower voice and with 
 a slight smile — 
 
 " Mr. Parker wants Captain 
 Bennett to let him go ashore and 
 ascertain if the native chief will 
 consent to a teacher landing 
 here the next time the Morning 
 Star missionary brig calls here." 
 
 " Why do you laugh, Mr. 
 Harrington ? Is not my brother- 
 in-law doing his duty to his 
 conscience .? I know you don't 
 like him — neither does Mr. 
 Herrera ; but I am sure you 
 must feel he is a good man." 
 
 Barrington was silent. He 
 detested the jug-faced mission- 
 ary most cordially, but wasn't 
 going to say so to the girl. 
 
 " I was not laughing at his 
 desire to go ashore. Miss 
 Trenton ; but because of 
 83 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 Captain Bennett's remark when 
 Mr. Parker asked him to lower 
 a boat." 
 
 " What was it ? " said the 
 girl with a bright smile, looking 
 up into his face ; " he's a 
 horrible creature, but does say- 
 such amusing things. What 
 did he say ? " 
 
 Barrington, shutting his left 
 eye and scratching his cheek, 
 imitated the captain's " Down 
 East " drawl to perfection. 
 
 ** ' Want to go ashore, hey ? 
 Waal, I don't mind,' then, 
 calling to the mate, ' Mr. 
 Herrera, tell the third mate to 
 get his boat ready. Mr. Parker 
 wants to go ashore to indooce 
 the natives to accep' the Gaws- 
 pil, and I want to buy some 
 hogs.' " 
 
 84 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 Kate smothered a laugh and 
 turned away, and just then 
 Captain Bennett slouched up 
 on deck, smoking, or rather 
 chewing, his inevitable cigar. 
 '' Howdy, ladies. Nice day, 
 aint it ? Mr. Barrington, Fm 
 sendin' two boats away — the 
 first mate's and your's ; and 
 ez I believe that yew intend 
 to stay here, I'll feel obliged to 
 yew if yew'll help Mr. Herrera 
 tew buy some hogs for the 
 ship." 
 
 Helen Parker raised her face, 
 and Kate saw that she was 
 deathly pale. Neither of them 
 knew that Barrington intended 
 leaving the ship so soon. 
 
 *' Aye, aye, sir. I think I can 
 do that. I know the people 
 pretty well. They are a rough 
 85 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 lot, but I understand their 
 ways." 
 
 " He, he, he," sniggered 
 Bennett, who was disposed to 
 make himself pleasant to his 
 officer, who only a week before 
 had made fast to and killed the 
 largest whale they had yet 
 taken. " He, he, he ; so this 
 is the island whar that nice 
 young wife of yours ez 
 livin." 
 
 A quick glance at Kate 
 Trenton and her sister showed 
 Barrington that they had heard ; 
 they were both looking straight 
 at him, wondering what his 
 answer would be. 
 
 The answer he made Bennett 
 
 was given in such a low tone 
 
 that neither of them caught 
 
 more than the last words, which 
 
 86 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 were '^ and you mind your own 
 — business." 
 
 Then, with a black look on 
 his face, Barrington went on to 
 the main deck to see to his boat. 
 
 " Thet's a most ontractable 
 young man," said Bennett to 
 Hosea Parker, who had now 
 come up on deck in readiness 
 to go ashore ; " he's mighty 
 tetchy about nothin' — why, 
 most everybody daown in these 
 parts marries native women. 
 He ain't got no call to git so 
 mad " 
 
 "He will be called to account 
 for it some day, my friend. It 
 is terrible to think that men 
 like him, engaged in such a 
 dangerous avocation, and who 
 may be cut off by the hand of 
 
 Provi " 
 
 87 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 " Land alive, parson ; yew 
 do skeer me ! I hope Provi- 
 dence ain't agoin' to cut off 
 any of my young men — an' me 
 with only two hundred and 
 seventeen barrels of ile in the 
 ship ! Sech a possibility as 
 thet jest gives me a cold chill 
 daown the back," and the 
 skipper of the Passmore, with 
 a grin on his face, shambled 
 away below again to get some 
 trade goods together with which 
 to buy the hogs he wanted. 
 Hogs are not a pleasant subject ; 
 but hogs meant a great deal to 
 Captain Amos Bennett, and, 
 indeed, everybody else on board 
 the Keller Passmore^ for she 
 was out of provisions. 
 
 The original crew of the 
 barque who had sailed with her 
 88 
 
His Native Wife S^ 
 
 from New Bedford, had deserted 
 her either one by one or in 
 batches at the various ports she 
 had touched at, and when Ben- 
 nett had put into the Bay of 
 Islands there was scarcely one 
 of them remaining on board. 
 Those who had been shipped 
 in their places were either 
 Chilenos or Portuguese — men 
 whom it would not have been 
 safe for Bennett to have knocked 
 about as he did those who had 
 run away. The use of foul 
 language and reflections upon 
 their parentage they accepted 
 as a matter of course from the 
 captain — especially if a whale 
 was lost or a boat stove in — 
 but a blow was quite another 
 matter ; and Bennett knew 
 that as well as any one on 
 89 
 
^ His Native W ife 
 
 board, and regulated his conduct 
 to them accordingly. And 
 then, in the first mate, Joseph 
 Herrera, many of them had, 
 if not a countryman, one whom 
 they regarded as such ; and 
 Amos Bennett knew too, that 
 under that smooth-featured, 
 effeminate-looking face there 
 lurked the spirit of a tiger, 
 and that although the mate was 
 quick to come to his aid and 
 uphold his authority when there 
 was any trouble with the crew, 
 he was a dangerous man to 
 insult or cross. Besides this, 
 he was a good seaman, a splen- 
 did officer, and an able navi- 
 gator — which latter Bennett was 
 not. Therefore, he valued him, 
 but at the same time secretly 
 despised him as a " Dago," and 
 90 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 took a malignant pleasure in 
 always letting Hosea Parker 
 know that Kate Trenton was 
 on deck " a-talking to that mate 
 of mine/* with the result that 
 the pious Hosea would beckon 
 her away and reprove her for 
 wasting the officer's time. 
 
 91 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 KATE TRENTON. 
 
 A ND Herrera, although he 
 -^^ did his duty with a 
 smiling face, and apparently 
 took no notice of the daily 
 mutterings of the crew about 
 the bad food and the brutalities 
 of the captain and the third and 
 fourth mates, only bided his 
 time. He had, from the very 
 day that Kate Trenton had 
 come on board, fallen violently 
 in love with her pink and white 
 beauty, and as the voyage wore 
 92 
 
His Native Wife S^ 
 
 on had had plenty of opportu- 
 nities of seeing her and talking 
 to her alone. Long before the 
 barque had let go the anchor in 
 the Bay of Islands, Amos Ben- 
 nett noticed that a curious 
 change had come over his chief 
 mate, who, always a reserved 
 man, now seemed quieter than 
 ever, and treated the pottery- 
 faced Hosea Parker with such 
 an affectation of respect that, 
 while it did not deceive Ben- 
 nett, convinced the missionary 
 that Joseph Herrera, whom he 
 at first considered a lost man 
 — being a Papist — was about to 
 be saved through his (Hosea's) 
 instrumentality. And it suited 
 the wily, handsome Bonin Island 
 Portuguese to let him think 
 so, for it gave him further 
 93 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 chances to talk to the girl, and 
 deepen in her the feeling of in- 
 terest that he had aroused by 
 his stories of the wild scenes 
 and strange adventures he had 
 passed through in his wander- 
 ings of twenty years in South 
 Sea whalers. 
 
 So it was no wonder that 
 one evening as the old barque 
 slid softly along under her 
 shortened canvas, and the watch 
 on deck lay about, looking up 
 at the star-spangled heavens, and 
 the warm breath of the trade 
 wind fanned Kate Trenton's 
 cheek, that Herrera's chance 
 came. 
 
 She was just about to go 
 below, and stopping for a mo- 
 ment at the companion-way, 
 held out her hand to the mate. 
 94 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 ** Good night, Mr. Herrera. 
 I wish I could stay on deck. 
 It is such a lovely night." 
 
 His brown, sinewy, but 
 shapely hand closed over hers, 
 and his black eyes glowed and 
 shone with passionate ardour. 
 
 ''Good night," he said, speak- 
 ing in a voice scarce above a 
 whisper, but still holding the 
 girl's hand, and then he drew 
 her unresistingly to him and 
 kissed her on the lips. 
 
 In another moment she had 
 fled below, and Jose Herrera, 
 with flashing eyes and his white 
 teeth showing in a triumphant 
 smile, paced the deck and talked 
 to himself. 
 
 " Holy Saints above ! She 
 is mine now. And to get her 
 I am ready for anything — even 
 95 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 to cutting the throat of the 
 flat-faced Padre Parker/' 
 
 And then as the ship rippled 
 along over the star-lit sea, he 
 made up his plan of action. 
 She did not intend to leave her 
 sister, at least not for a couple 
 of years, and in a couple of 
 years a great deal might hap- 
 pen — she might meet another 
 man. 
 
 From that evening Jose Her- 
 rera began to ingratiate himself 
 with some ot the crew. He 
 did not mean to resort to vio- 
 lence to attain the object he 
 had in view if it could be man- 
 aged quietly ; if it could not — 
 well, so much the worse for 
 those who might oppose him* 
 He simply meant to run away 
 from the ship in one of her 
 96 
 
His Native Wife S^ 
 
 boats, and take Kate Trenton 
 with him to his native land, the 
 Bonin Islands. But to do this 
 he would need the assistance of 
 some of the crew. In a day or 
 so more the Kellet Passmore 
 would be at an island where he 
 hoped to put his plan into exe- 
 cution. And so, never doubt- 
 ing for a moment his power 
 over Kate Trenton, he went 
 about his work quite satisfied 
 that the girl would come away 
 with him when the time came. 
 
 ** We are sure to call off 
 Truk," he thought, "and it 
 will be easy enough to get away 
 in my boat to one of the islands 
 in Truk Lagoon, and hide there 
 till the ship goes off without us. 
 I don't think Amos Bennett 
 would care to come and look 
 97 G 
 
^ His Native Wf^ 
 
 for me and four other armed 
 men, all of whom would will- 
 ingly cut his lean throat rather 
 than be taken back to the 
 ship." 
 
 Just as Amos Bennett went 
 into his cabin to pick out some 
 trade goods to send ashore in 
 the boats, Mrs. Parker opened 
 her cabin door and came out, 
 followed by Kate Trenton and 
 the Reverend Hosea. 
 
 '' Captain Bennett, my sister 
 and I would like to go ashore 
 with Mr. Parker." 
 
 " Waal, ladies, ef I was yew 
 I wouldn't," said the captain, 
 who was busily engaged in 
 digging out cakes of tobacco 
 from a small case with his 
 pocket-knife ; these here Loo- 
 98 
 
His Native Wife So» 
 
 sap natives don't cotton much 
 to strangers, and ef anything 
 onpleasant occurred, why, I 
 should feel myself to blame fur 
 lettin' yew go in the boats. 
 Yew see, ladies, these Loosap 
 people air a very excitable lot, 
 an' the least thing might make 
 an onpleasantness between them 
 and my boats' crews." 
 
 '' Oh, Hosea, don't go," said 
 Kate Trenton. " Mr. Barring- 
 ton, too, was telling me this 
 morning that, unlike most of 
 the Caroline Islanders, these 
 natives do not care for visits 
 from strangers, and that when 
 he lived here some years ago the 
 whale-ships that called for fresh 
 provisions had great trouble in 
 inducing the natives to sell them 
 anything." 
 
 99 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 The Reverend Hosea, how- 
 ever, was not alarmed. Already 
 he could see in the Society's 
 magazine an account stating 
 how " the Reverend Hosea Par- 
 ker, the earnest and intrepid 
 missionary, had planted the Seed 
 at Losap," and, indeed, the 
 honest man had any amount of 
 a stupid, tactless courage. 
 
 " It is my duty, Kate, and, 
 besides that, I have long wished 
 to see these people and give 
 them the Light. This is the 
 island, too, that that unfortunate 
 girl Nadee belongs to ; perchance 
 she may be here now, and " 
 
 Mrs. Parker's mouth har- 
 dened suddenly at the mention 
 of the name of Barrington's 
 native wife, and she interrupted 
 her husband. 
 
His Native Wife S^ 
 
 *^ I am determined to go 
 ashore. Both Kate and I 
 would go mad, cooped up on 
 board. If it is only to put my 
 foot on the beach for a moment, 
 and then be capsized in the boat 
 coming out, I would go." 
 
 '' Waal, jest as yew please, 
 ladies. If Mr. Parker is will- 
 in', I don't object. Oh, is 
 that you, Mr. Harrington ? 
 Here's the terbacker and other 
 things. These here ladies are 
 a goin' ashore with you an' 
 Parson Parker." 
 
 Harrington's face showed an- 
 noyance. 
 
 '* It is a bad landing-place, 
 Mrs. Parker," he said. ''What 
 the devil did the women want 
 to come for ?'' he thought. 
 
 '' Is it ? " she answered, 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 coolly. "Well, FU take all 
 risks. You don't look very 
 pleased, Mr. Barrington, at 
 having our company." 
 
 There was a sarcastic ring in 
 the laugh that ended her speech, 
 and Barrington was nettled, and 
 showed it. He was not pleased 
 at the prospect, for two reasons ; 
 the first was that the women 
 might get drenched going over 
 the reef; the second was that 
 he did not want them to 
 witness his meeting with his 
 wife. 
 
 " Just as you please, Mrs. 
 Parker ; but in addition to the 
 chances of us getting a wetting 
 in going ashore and in coming 
 out loaded up with turtle and 
 pigs, I don't think you will 
 like the people ; they are very 
 
 102 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 reserved and suspicious of 
 strangers, and the women 
 always retire till they are 
 gone." 
 
 " Oh, what a shame ! " said 
 Miss Trenton, puckering up 
 her dark eyebrows, " and I so 
 wanted to see them ; I am told 
 that they are very handsome. 
 Are they, Mr. Harrington ? " 
 
 Harrington felt somewhat 
 ashamed. Kate Trenton's in- 
 nocent eyes, the reflex of her 
 pure and innocent mind, always 
 did make him feel ashamed 
 when by any chance the talk 
 turned upon native women. 
 He thought that her sister dis- 
 liked him strongly, and had 
 given her a pretty bad account 
 of him ; else why did Mrs. 
 Parker so pointedly avoid 
 103 
 
-«5 His Native Wife 
 
 speaking to him when they 
 met on deck. So, with some- 
 thing like a woman's blush, he 
 answered — 
 
 "Some of them are very 
 handsome, Miss Trenton." 
 
 " But few so handsome as 
 Nadee.?" 
 
 The second mate turned 
 sharply and looked at the mis- 
 sionary's wife. She was sitting 
 in the captain's chair, leaning 
 her cheek upon one hand. 
 There was a curious, defiant 
 glitter in her eyes as she met 
 his glance. 
 
 '' D n her ! " he said, 
 
 under his breath. " She wants 
 to show me up again before her 
 
 sister. Why the can't she 
 
 leave me alone." Then a quick 
 
 feeling of anger came over him. 
 
 104 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 *' As you say, Mrs. Parker, 
 few are so handsome as Nadee ; 
 and few or none are as good." 
 
 The colour died away on 
 Mrs. Parker's face, and then, 
 with a little sneering laugh, she 
 rose and went into her cabin. 
 
 Something made Kate Tren- 
 ton lift her honest brown eyes 
 to Barrington's, and then she 
 impulsively held out her hand 
 to him. He took it quickly, 
 pressed it, and then raising his 
 hat to her, went up on deck. 
 
 " Dear little woman," he said 
 to himself. " I do believe she'd 
 meet Nadee and not think she 
 was such a terribly bad lot after 
 all. By God, if I thought Her- 
 rera meant to harm Kate Tren- 
 ton, I'd spoil his beauty." 
 
 • • • • 
 
 105 
 
-^ His Native Wife 
 
 In the Reverend Hosea's 
 cabin his wife was savagely 
 drying her eyes with her hand- 
 kerchief when Kate entered. 
 
 "Are you ready, Helen?'' 
 she began ; and then she 
 stopped, and tears of sympath) 
 filled her eyes. 
 
 " Helen, dear. We will not 
 go. You look quite ill. What 
 is the matter f " 
 
 " Nothing," she answered, 
 brusquely ; " only that I'm 
 a fool and only knew it 
 thoroughly just now. Let us 
 go by all means. I don't care 
 a fig about the heathen, but 
 I do want to go ashore, 
 out of this miserable, stuffy 
 cabin, and get a walk on the 
 beach." 
 
 The black beard and dark, 
 io6 
 
His Native Wife So^ 
 
 handsome face of the mate ap- 
 peared over the skylight. 
 
 '' The boats are ready, ladies; 
 Mr. Parker is getting quite im- 
 patient." 
 
 " Come, Helen," her sister 
 said, in a whisper ; " you will 
 feel better soon." 
 
 107 
 
CHAPTER VIL 
 
 NADEE. 
 
 « 'r-p^j5 ^ whale-ship, my 
 
 ^ mother, for when she 
 lifts to the swell of the ocean 
 I can see her many boats 
 hoisted high up over the 
 side." 
 
 Nadee, standing out in front 
 of the russet - thatched high- 
 peaked house in the native 
 village, leans her lithe young 
 figure against the bole of a 
 cocoanut tree, and shading her 
 eyes against the glare of the 
 io8 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 morning sun with her little 
 brown hands, looks steadily 
 once more out eastward over 
 the sea towards the ship. 
 
 " Come thou inside, child," 
 answered a voice tremulous 
 with age, ''who but thee, O 
 one with little thought, would 
 stand out there in the blazing 
 sun to look at a ship. What 
 hath the ship to do with 
 thee ? " 
 
 'T'he girl laughed joyously 
 at the question of old Tariva, 
 whom she called mother, but 
 who was really her grandmother 
 and the only one of her blood 
 alive ; then she answered, still 
 shading her eyes as she watched 
 the ship. 
 
 " It may be mother, that 
 my husband cometh. Who 
 109 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 can tell ? And twenty and 
 five mahins ^ have come and 
 gone since he left us, and he 
 said that he would come again 
 in twenty.** 
 
 " Foolish child ! And does it 
 take thee five moons to learn that 
 he is a liar and thou a fool ? '* 
 
 The girl's head drooped, 
 her cloud of wavy hair fell 
 around her face, and she 
 worked one of her bared feet 
 slowly to and fro in the heated 
 sand and broken coral pebble 
 on which she stood. For a 
 minute or so she made no 
 answer, and then slowly walked 
 towards the house, passed the 
 opened door of thatch, and 
 disappeared. 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 * Months, 
 no 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 Within, an old woman with 
 wrinkled face and snow-white 
 hair falling in ragged tails 
 down her brown and naked 
 back, was seated cross - legged 
 before a tiny fire of charcoal. 
 With one hand she fanned the 
 coals, and with the other 
 stirred some liquid that bubbled 
 and frothed in a halved cocoa- 
 nut shell set in among the 
 embers. 
 
 Softly but steadily the old 
 grandam flapped the broad fan 
 she held in her hand, and 
 peered anxiously into the shell, 
 and as she tanned she muttered 
 and crooned to herself. 
 
 " Did I not tell her so . . . 
 
 Jaki I is but as other white 
 
 men. And the twenty mahin 
 
 » Jack. 
 Ill 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 have passed and gone, and five 
 more . . . Guk ! the girl is a 
 fool. He hath wearied of her 
 and will return not." 
 
 She lifted out the shell and 
 set it beside her, for the heat 
 had now began to crack and 
 warp it ; then taking up another 
 one from a number that lay 
 beside her, she set it among 
 the coals and poured back into 
 it the liquid from the charred 
 shell. 
 
 "Aye, they be all alike 
 those white men ... ah, it 
 boileth again . . . Nadee, come 
 thou and see to it. Thy eyes 
 are better than mine." 
 
 No answer came from the 
 girl, who, though the old dame 
 knew it not, was seated with 
 her back to the cane latticed 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 side of the house, not ten feet 
 away, crying softly to herself. 
 
 "Nadee," again called old 
 Tariva querulously, " hast not 
 yet tired of baking thyself in 
 the fierce sun, looking at the 
 ship. Come, child, and see the 
 oil I have made scented with 
 nudu flowers and sandalwood. 
 Dost think 'tis for my old 
 white locks I make it, thou 
 lazy Nadee?" 
 
 A sob answered her, "Nay, 
 mother. But set it aside for 
 a little time ; for my eyes are 
 dimmed with the glare of the 
 sun, and I fear the smoke 
 of thy fire. And here, in the 
 shade, it is cool for me to sit 
 awhile." 
 
 The old woman's lined and 
 wrinkled face softened, and she 
 113 H 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 glanced towards the side of the 
 house from whence Nadee 
 spoke. 
 
 ''Thou liest, child. 'Tis 
 not the sun that hath hurt thy 
 eyes ; 'tis the fooHsh tears for 
 the man who hath cast thee 
 off." 
 
 " Say not that, my mother," 
 and the girl's voice, soft and 
 low as it sounded, trembled as 
 she caught her breath, " for 
 though 'tis so long since, not 
 one ship have we seen at Losap 
 since he sailed. And it may be 
 this one ... for why should he 
 cast me off, as thou say est ? " 
 
 " Why ? " The old woman 
 laughed scornfully. "Because 
 of the wife of the Christ-man 
 at Ponape ; the woman with 
 the hair like the yellow of the 
 114 
 
His Native Wife 5o» 
 
 setting sun ; dost think thy 
 beauty can compare with that 
 of the Christ-woman ? " 
 
 The girl sprang to her feet, 
 and in another moment she 
 stood in the open doorway, 
 with her hands clenched. 
 
 " 'Tis a lie, 'old Tariva ! 
 Thou art old and foolish. 
 The wife of the Christ-man 
 was nought to my white man." 
 
 The old woman's thin lips 
 parted in a contemptuous smile, 
 and her white teeth showed. 
 Still fanning the embers with 
 one hand she looked keenly at 
 Nadee's working face. 
 
 ''Why was it, then, that 
 after the Christ-man and his 
 wife came to Ponape, that he 
 went away from thee ? " 
 
 The girl's hands unclenched, 
 115 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 and a troubled look came into 
 her face. 
 
 " He was wearied, he said, or 
 the dull days, and longed to go 
 out upon the ocean again in one 
 of the ships that seek for whales. 
 For that is the work that he 
 hath done from his boyhood. 
 And how could he take me with 
 him?" 
 
 *' "Tah ! lies, lies, all lies. 
 Are there not many white men 
 in these islands whose wives 
 voyage to and fro with them 
 in ships ? Did not Siria, the 
 daughter of Larik, and Nili, 
 mine own sister's child — she 
 who is now dead — sail with 
 their white husbands to the far 
 off islands of the south ? " 
 
 " True, mother," said Nadee 
 
 steadfastly, '' but, see, those 
 ii6 
 
His Native Wife So» 
 
 were trading ships. But never 
 a woman goeth away beyond 
 the sea-rim in a whale-ship. 
 And did my husband ever tell 
 thee lies ? 
 
 '' O foolish child, to so 
 believe in one of strange 
 blood. If he so cared for 
 thee, why did he weary of 
 thee so soon.? I tell thee it 
 was because of the Christ- 
 woman." 
 
 '* Not so. It was because 
 that he was poor and had but 
 little goods wherewith to buy 
 oil and pearl shell and tortoise 
 shell, as did the other white 
 men on Ponape. And so, 
 because that the days were 
 dull to him he told me he 
 desired to sail for two years in 
 a whale-ship, so that he would 
 117 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 get money in plenty ; and then 
 would he return with all the 
 things he desired and live with 
 me always. But the beautiful 
 Christ-woman had naught to 
 do with his going." 
 
 The old woman lifted the 
 shell she was tending from ofF 
 the fire, and brushing off the 
 dust from the mat on which 
 she sat, motioned to the girl to 
 sit beside her. 
 
 *' Come hither, little one and 
 sit by old Tariva — thy mother's 
 mother, the only one that is left 
 to thee of all thy people." 
 
 Still with the troubled look 
 in her lustrous eyes, Nadee, 
 with another glance seaward at 
 the white sails of the ship, 
 stepped inside, and sat down 
 beside the old woman, who, 
 ii8 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 drawing the girlish figure to 
 her wrinkled old bosom, pressed 
 her lips to her's in a silent, 
 loving embrace. 
 
 " Only thou art left to me, 
 little one ; thou of all that 
 were once so many ; and 
 because that I am so old, and 
 will soon be with the silent 
 ones, I and thou wilt be alone, 
 do I wish to tell thee of some 
 things." 
 
 The girl's rounded arm en- 
 circled the old dame's skinny 
 neck, and her little hand 
 stroked her white locks, the 
 while she laid her cheek, so 
 young and full and tender, 
 against her grandam's lined and 
 furrowed brow. 
 
 » The dead. 
 
 119 
 
CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 ONE OF THE OLD BOTTLES. 
 
 THERE was none to hear 
 them talk. Save the old 
 woman and the girl, the rest 
 of the few people in the little 
 village were away at work in 
 their plantations or out fishing 
 in the lagoon. Outside, the 
 quiet of the palm grove was 
 scarce broken even by the 
 rustling of the breeze that 
 swayed their branches to and 
 fro. Sometimes, on the white 
 blaze of shimmering beach that 
 
His Native Wife 5oi 
 
 came to within a few fathoms 
 of the open door of old Tari- 
 va*s house, a swift black shadow 
 would sweep by as some frigate 
 bird skimmed past, flying down 
 over the beach ere he took his 
 mounting flight seaward to 
 plunge with deadly aim and 
 cruel beak into the blue depths 
 of ocean beyond the barrier 
 reef. 
 
 So, in silence, and still 
 caressing the aged face, Nadee 
 waited till the time-worn old 
 Tariva chose to speak ; but, 
 even as she waited her eyes 
 wandered out seawards again 
 and again. 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 **Turn thy back to the sea, 
 little one. Let not the ship 
 trouble thy mind yet awhile. 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 When I have said all that 
 which is within me, then, if 
 thou carest to still look across 
 the sea-rim for him who will 
 never come, so be it, and I will 
 have nought more to say." 
 
 The girl faced round with 
 a strange, wondering look in 
 the depths of her great soft 
 eyes. What was it old Tariva 
 had to say ? Thrice since the 
 day that they had returned to 
 Losap to await the coming 
 back of her white husband, 
 had her grandam spoken to her 
 of Railik, the son of the chief 
 of Losap, who desired her for 
 his wife, and each time had 
 Nadee, covering her face with 
 her hands, shaken her head 
 and said, ^' I will wait. The 
 twenty months must first be 
 
 122 
 
His Native Wife &^ 
 
 passed and gone ere I will talk 
 ot such things." 
 
 And although old Tariva 
 had given her some bitter 
 words for her folly, yet she 
 had not sought to force the 
 girFs choice. Railik, fierce 
 and turbulent as he was, dared 
 not seize her and carry her off ; 
 for old Tariva was ejon^ a strong 
 witch, and had power to cause 
 his limbs to wither and perish 
 so that the skin would cleave 
 to the bone and make him ugly 
 to look upon in the eyes of all 
 men if he tried to win the girl 
 by force against her grandam's 
 wish. 
 
 But yet — and Nadee, the 
 
 white man's wife, knew it well 
 
 — old Tariva favoured his suit, 
 
 and though since that third 
 
 123 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 time she spoke not again of the 
 lying, faithless white men to 
 her, she was for ever talking 
 of the skill and cleverness in 
 all things of Railik, he whom, 
 of all the young men on Losap 
 was worthy by his father's name 
 to have a wife in whose veins 
 ran blood as good as his own. 
 • • • • • 
 
 A minute had passed and yet 
 the old woman had not spoken. 
 She had placed her bony, claw- 
 like hands upon the girl's 
 smooth and rounded shoulders 
 and her keen old eyes were 
 bent upon Nadee's in a strange, 
 wild look that filled her young 
 heart with fear. 
 
 Presently there came to them 
 a sound, as of the strong voices 
 
 of men, made faint by distance. 
 124 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 **Heed it not, my Nadee," 
 said old Tariva in a low, 
 mechanical voice, her eyes still 
 fixed upon the girl's face, " 'tis 
 but the men of Losap who only 
 now see the sails of the ship." 
 
 Breathing so that her bared 
 bosom rose and fell in quick, 
 panting strokes, and with eyes 
 filled with terror, Nadee spoke 
 in a voice like a whisper. 
 
 " What is it, O my mother, 
 that maketh thee look so 
 strangely upon me ; thy eyes 
 are as two moons shining 
 through the blackness of the 
 darkest night, and fill me with 
 fear. Have I done aught 
 wrong, and art thou about to 
 cast ejon ^ over me ? " 
 
 * Witchcraft, wizardry, religious 
 belief. 
 
 125 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 As she faintly whispered the 
 last words her eyes grew dim, 
 misty, and slumberous. 
 
 ** Nadee ! " and the quaver- 
 ing tones of Tariva*s voice 
 became strong and harsh as the 
 call of the frigate-bird, " wake, 
 child ! There, see, my be- 
 loved ; look now into old 
 Tariva's eyes ; only do I cast 
 ejon on those whom I hate/' 
 and she took her hands from 
 Nadee's trembling shoulders ; 
 '*but listen well to me." 
 
 ** Aye, my mother; but look 
 not again with thy eyes into 
 mine, for then my soul goeth 
 out into darkness, and though 
 I hear thy voice my heart and 
 tongue sleep." 
 
 A faint smile crossed the 
 thin, old lips, and patting the 
 126 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 girl's knee, she said in soft, 
 purring tones — 
 
 " Fear not, my little bird. 
 Strong am I to cast spells for 
 good and evil over men and 
 women ; only against the 
 rebelli (white people) am I 
 powerless. And it is because 
 that my ejpn is of no avail 
 against the white man that I 
 now sit here and plead for thee 
 to lay well to thy mind that 
 which thou must know." 
 
 " Mother," and Nadee bent 
 her head low down upon the 
 old dame's lap, " would'st use 
 ejon to harm my white hus- 
 band ? " 
 
 '' Nay, child. For though I 
 
 hate the rebelli^ v/hether they 
 
 be ship-men or Christ-men, yet 
 
 would I bring thy husband 
 
 127 
 
^ His Native Wif e 
 
 back to thee, child of my child, 
 and last of my race, ere I go 
 out to the spirit land." 
 
 "Why hate ye the white 
 men, mother ? " 
 
 A savage light leapt into the 
 old woman's eyes and her 
 white, even teeth snapped to- 
 gether like the jaws of a 
 shark. 
 
 '' Hate them ! Aye, that do 
 I. Would that I could live to 
 see them wither and perish and 
 be swept away as we of the sea- 
 girt lands have withered and 
 perished before them. Long, 
 long ago, when my hair was 
 as black, and my bosom as full 
 and round as thine, my people 
 were a great people, for, as 
 thou knowest, my father was a 
 great man on Ponape, and the 
 128 
 
His Native Wife Sik 
 
 land he ruled stretched from 
 Jakoits on the north to Meta- 
 lanien, near unto the strange 
 stone houses that were built by 
 the Unknown Men.' He it 
 was who sailed in two great 
 canoes to this little island of 
 Losap, a twenty days' journey, 
 and slew half the men and 
 would have slain all but that 
 his eyes were taken with the 
 beauty of my mother, who, as 
 she fled along this beach now 
 before us, fell, and would have 
 been thrust through, only that 
 my father beat back the bloodied 
 hands of those who pursued 
 her. And so, because she 
 pleased him, he spared the lives 
 of all those men of Losap who 
 
 « The mysterious and ancient ruins 
 on Ponap^, in the Caroline Islands. 
 129 
 
"^ His Native Wife 
 
 still lived, and took her to wife. 
 Ah ! those were the days when 
 we were strong." 
 
 ** Tell me more, my mother.'* 
 "Aye, child," answered Ta- 
 riva, who was speaking of those 
 olden days with a set purpose, 
 and noting how eagerly Nadee 
 listened ; " those were days 
 when the quick, hot blood of 
 youth ran lusty and strong in 
 my father's veins, and save for 
 the two or three white sailors 
 who dwelt under the protection 
 of T'Nanakin, the king of 
 Jakoits, we of Ponape knew 
 naught of the rebelli. Brave 
 men, though, were those white 
 men, for sometimes when a 
 ship lay becalmed, they led 
 our people out in the dead of 
 night and slew all on board, 
 130 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 and returned to the shore laden 
 with riches." 
 
 The girl shuddered as she 
 caught the fiery gleam and 
 sparkle in old Tariva's sunken 
 eyes, but yet listened intently, 
 leaning her chin upon the palm 
 of one hand. 
 
 "And then the days and 
 months and years went by, till 
 there came to Metal anien the 
 first of the Christ-men, in a 
 white - painted ship. Well 
 would it have been had my 
 father and T'Nanakin, the king 
 of Jakoits, done unto this ship 
 as they had done unto others, 
 but the ejon of the Christ-man 
 was too strong, and he fooled 
 my father and T'Nanakin both 
 with his cunning words." 
 131 
 
•^ His Na tive Wife 
 
 " How so, my mother ? " 
 *'In this way, child. All 
 men love to hear of that which 
 is strange and new ; and this 
 Christ - man told my father 
 cunning lies of a man-god who 
 was greater than all the gods 
 of Ponape, and who had sent 
 him — the cunning Christ-man 
 — to Ponape to tell my father 
 to forswear the old gods and 
 follow the god of the Christ- 
 man." 
 
 "Aye, mother, my husband 
 hath spoken to me of this 
 Christ-God." 
 
 '' What said he, Nadee ? " 
 '' But little, mother. 'Twas 
 long ago, when the beautiful 
 Christ-woman — the wife of the 
 Christ-man, whom my husband 
 called a meddling fool — came 
 132 
 
His Native Wife 5o» 
 
 to our house with her husband 
 and talked with mine. Some- 
 thing they said to him of myself 
 and the wrath of the Christ- 
 God it was that angered him, 
 and though he spoke softly 
 because of the yellow-haired 
 woman, who sat by me with 
 her hand clasped around mine, 
 yet he was hot with anger 
 against the mean-looking man 
 who said the Christ had sent 
 him to save me from perishing. 
 *' ' Go,' he said, speaking in 
 the tongue of the white man, 
 *thou to thy trade, and leave 
 me to mine. Come not here 
 to me in mine own house and 
 seek to poison the heart of my 
 wife against me. She is to me 
 my wife by the custom of the 
 land, and I want no man such 
 133 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 as thee to come between us.* 
 And then the woman rose and 
 bade me farewell and said to 
 the Christ-man, her husband, 
 ' Leave them. Why should 
 we seek to make trouble be- 
 tween them ? ' So, though 
 they came again to my hus- 
 band's house, the woman's 
 husband spoke no more to 
 mine of the Christ-God and 
 the lake of fire into which He 
 casts his enemies." 
 
 ''Ahe!'' resumed the old 
 woman, " 'Twas that, the great 
 sea of fire which is in the bowels 
 of the earth, that made the heart 
 of T'Nanakin turn white, and 
 he became eaten up with the 
 ejon of the Christ-God. And 
 day by day the power of the 
 head Christ-man on the Christ- 
 134 
 
His Native Wife 5o* 
 
 ship grew stronger and stronger. 
 One day it came about that 
 T'Nanakin and my father and 
 other chiefs went to visit the 
 ship, and the next day two of 
 them were seized with an illness 
 from which many of the ship- 
 men had died. T'Nanakin, 
 who loved these men, went to 
 the Christ-wizard and besought 
 him to save his men. And see, 
 my child, how silly are some 
 men and how clever others : 
 for this wizard soon put terror 
 in the heart of T'Nanakin, and 
 said — 
 
 *' 'If these men die it is the 
 will of the Great Christ-God, 
 who hath sent me to tell thee 
 to cast away thy gods of wood 
 and worship Him. Beware, O 
 chief, and delay not, lest some- 
 135 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 thing terrible befall thee, and 
 the lake of fire swallow up 
 thee and thy people.' 
 
 " The two men died, and 
 then in every house in every 
 village some one was seized by 
 the strange illness from the 
 Christ-ship, and many hundreds 
 died. And then T'Nanakin 
 with his chiefs humbled himself 
 to the Christ-wizard, and said, 
 'Thy gods are greater than 
 mine. Let this sickness go 
 away from my people and I 
 will do as thou wishest — I will 
 be a Christ-man.' Then the 
 white wizard and three other 
 wizards who were with him 
 rejoiced greatly and made much 
 of T'Nanakin, and gave him 
 many presents and clothed him 
 with new black garments, and 
 136 
 
His Native Wife So» 
 
 a high black covering for his 
 head, such as is worn by these 
 Christ-men in their own coun- 
 try. In two days all of his 
 people swore faith to the Christ- 
 God ; but my father and his 
 people did not, for they had 
 heard of the sickness and no 
 one of them would go near the 
 white men. Then T'Nanakin, 
 who had cast away his father's 
 gods for the new ejon^ sent 
 word down saying, ' Come up 
 and be a Christ-man, or thou 
 and thy people will be seized 
 with a deadly illness and die, 
 and be cast into a lake of red 
 fire, where they shall yet live 
 again for ever.' But my father 
 would not go. 
 
 "So T'Nanakin and my 
 father quarrelled, and one night, 
 137 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 when all in our village lay 
 asleep, the canoes of T'Nanakin 
 crept down and killed all that 
 would not be slaves to him and 
 the white wizard, and then, we 
 who were conquered knew that 
 the ejon of the white man's God 
 was greater than that of ours. 
 
 " For two moons T'Nanakin's 
 men sought out and slew all 
 those opposed to the new 
 faith, and no smoke arose in 
 our country save that v^hich 
 came from the burning houses 
 of my father's people ; for we 
 fled to the woods — all that were 
 left of us — and lived in hiding. 
 Then came the time when many 
 died of hunger, and Kanka, my 
 father, and all the men who 
 were with him died under the 
 knives of T'Nanakin's men, who 
 138 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 had found out our refuge. And 
 then my mother, taking me with 
 her, fled with some few other 
 women and children, of whom 
 I was one, to the island called 
 Pakin, close to the mainland ; 
 and there we lived till I was 
 taken to wife by a man of 
 Pakin, and there thy mother 
 was born to me. She, too, like 
 myself, was taken to wife by a 
 man of Pakin. At thy birth 
 she died, and with her last 
 words besought me to take thee 
 to this land of Losap, where 
 we would be well cared for by 
 those of our blood. But I 
 lived on at Pakin, till both my 
 husband and thy father were 
 dead, and thou wert a grown 
 girl. Then came this Jaki of 
 thine, who took us to live with 
 139 
 
^ Hi s Native Wife 
 
 him at Ponape. And I know 
 he will never come back to 
 thee ; so wait no longer, my 
 child, but take Railik for thy 
 husband. He is a clever man 
 and hates the white men as 
 much as I hate them." 
 
 The girl covered her eyes with 
 her hands but said not a word . 
 
 " See, child, there is yet 
 another thing. Thou sayest 
 that the fair-faced white woman 
 the wife of the hog-faced Christ- 
 man, is nought to thy husband. 
 Now I, that am very old, know 
 many things, because of the ejon 
 I have learnt ; and I tell thte, 
 foolish one, that if she be nought 
 to him, he was much to her. 
 And it was because she looked 
 at him with her eyes like the 
 blue sea, and made him ashamed 
 140 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 of thee, that he wearied of thee 
 and went away." 
 
 Nadee bent her head still 
 lower and then wept silently. 
 
 " Nay, weep not, little one," 
 went on old Tariva mercilessly, 
 "what does it matter.'* Thou 
 hast no child for men to point 
 at and jeer and say, ' see the 
 child of the man who fooled its 
 mother.' And yet it is hard 
 for one so young and handsome 
 as thee to be cast aside for 
 another." 
 
 " Nay, mother. He may not 
 come back to me ; but not be- 
 cause of another woman." 
 
 " Thou fool. Didst thou not 
 see that in less than a year after 
 he had gone that the white 
 wizard woman sickened and 
 pined for him, and then fol- 
 141 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 lowed him to his own country 
 in the white-painted wizard 
 ship. Is it not true ? " 
 
 " Mother," said Nadee, in a 
 whisper, ''she took her husband 
 with her." 
 
 Old Tariva laughed contemp- 
 tuously : " Twas but a trick. 
 She cares not for her husband, 
 and I have seen her turn her 
 face from him when he spoke 
 to her. 'Tis thy white man 
 she loves. Now listen, child, to 
 me. I tell thee that by this time 
 she hath killed the dull-faced 
 Christ-wizard and is wife to thy 
 white man in her own land. He 
 did but fool thee when he spoke 
 of coming back." 
 
 She ceased and looked at the 
 bowed figure of Nadee, who had 
 buried her face in the old dame's 
 142 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 lap and was sobbing convul- 
 sively. 
 
 Tariva, muttering to herself, 
 stroked the black waves of hair 
 tenderly, and waited. She had 
 won, and Nadee, the child of 
 her heart, would forget this 
 false white man and marry 
 Railik, and then she, old 
 Tariva, would have given to 
 her all that land on Losap 
 which was hers of right, for had 
 it not belonged to her mother 
 in the olden days ? 
 
 Suddenly the sobs ceased and 
 Nadee rose to her feet and went 
 to the door. For a moment or 
 two she looked out over the 
 blue expanse of ocean that lay 
 before her tear-dimmed eyes ; 
 but the ship had gone, she had 
 passed round the south horn of 
 143 
 
^ His Native Wi fe 
 
 the reef and was hidden from 
 view for the time. 
 
 Then, with a smile struggling 
 through her tears, Nadee turned 
 and spoke. 
 
 " It shall be as thou wishest, 
 my mother. I am indeed a fool. 
 When it pleases thee, take me 
 to Railik's house." 
 
 Then she stepped out, and 
 with a choking sob threw her- 
 self down on the grassy plot at 
 the back of old Tariva's house, 
 and lay there silent with her 
 face in her hands. 
 
 144 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 IN THE BOIL OF THE SURF. 
 
 TUTHEN within a mile or so 
 " of the principal village 
 of the main island, the Kellet 
 Passmore backed her main-yard, 
 and the two boats pushed off 
 from her side, the lantern-jawed 
 skipper calling out to Herrera 
 to get back as quickly as pos- 
 sible as the wind showed signs 
 of dying away and he was sus- 
 picious of an easterly gale 
 coming down and catching him 
 in such an awkward place. 
 H5 K 
 
••? His Native Wife 
 
 " There's a darned big swell 
 roUin' in too, naow," he added, 
 " an' I ain't too dreadful 
 anxious to keep foolin' around 
 here with sich a current settin' 
 us inshore." 
 
 In Herrera's boat were the 
 two ladies, the stolid-faced 
 Hosea, and the usual crew ; 
 in Barrington's himself and the 
 crew only, and a box containing 
 the trade goods for barter with 
 the natives. 
 
 For some ten or twenty 
 minutes or so the boats pulled 
 side by side until they got 
 within a few hundred yards of 
 the reef, then Barrington's drew 
 ahead. There was not much 
 of a sea on, but the passage 
 through the break in the reef 
 was very narrow, and as Bar- 
 146 
 
His Native Wife /©• 
 
 rington knew the place well his 
 boat was to go first. 
 
 " Look, Miss Trenton," said 
 the mate, pointing to the white 
 line of beach in front of them, 
 *' take your first view of a South 
 Sea Island village, and see the 
 natives swarming down to the 
 beach to meet us." 
 
 Kate, with her eyes dancing 
 with excitement, answered him 
 with a bright smile and then 
 gave a little scream. 
 
 "Oh, Helen, look at Mr. 
 Barrington's boat." 
 
 The second mate's boat had 
 just swept over the reef, bow 
 down in front of a roller, and 
 in the midst of a seeth of white 
 foam, and wild cries from the 
 swarm of natives on the beach, 
 she landed right in their midst. 
 147 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 Herrera, with a quick look 
 astern, waited for another sea 
 to come, determined to go in 
 on top of it, instead of waiting 
 for a lull and pulling in quietly. 
 He saw that there was a clean 
 run in, once he got over the 
 edge of the reef, and he wanted 
 to show Kate Trenton that 
 Barrington was not the only 
 man who could take a boat in 
 over the reef on top of a sea. 
 
 At a sign from Herrera the 
 crew shipped the oars and took 
 out broad-bladed native paddles 
 — Barrington's boat had gone 
 in with oars apeak — and waited 
 for the word. 
 
 " Give it to her, boys ! " 
 The five paddles struck into 
 the water and the light boat 
 sprang forward in front of the 
 148 
 
His Native Wife 5o» 
 
 advancing sea. In another ten 
 seconds, with the two women 
 and Hosea holding tightly to 
 each other in terrified silence 
 and Herrera straining at the 
 steer-oar, she was darting like 
 an arrow through the water, in 
 front of the boiling, hissing surf 
 Suddenly, amidst the wild 
 rush and bubble of the snow- 
 white spume that frothed past 
 the gunwales with lightning 
 speed, Herrera uttered a savage 
 oath ; right ahead of him lay a 
 round knob of coral, just show- 
 ing its pink and blue top above 
 the surface of the water. With 
 a fierce strain at the steer-oar, 
 he just shaved past it, but in 
 another moment the boat 
 broached to, rolled over, and 
 filled. 
 
 149 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 Before a canoe could be 
 launched, Barrington, with a 
 curse upon the mate's vain 
 folly, had sprung back into his 
 boat, and was pulling out to 
 save them. Already, though, 
 the sweeping back-wash had 
 carried boat and people out 
 towards the edge of the reef 
 again. 
 
 " Pull, you sons of devils, 
 pull," said Barrington to his 
 crew, as another sea came hurt- 
 ling in with curling top, "the 
 women will be drowned ! " 
 
 But that sea nearly half-filled 
 his boat, and by the time they 
 got way on her again the cap- 
 sized boat had been swept down 
 by the current right into the 
 thundering surf that broke on 
 the reef on each side of the 
 150 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 narrow passage. Fifty yards 
 away Barrington saw two of 
 Herrera's crew and the Reve- 
 rend Hosea, who was supported 
 by them, swimming down with 
 the current towards shallower 
 water, and further out in the 
 blue rollers, he saw the black 
 head of Herrera, keeping him- 
 self afloat, and holding up Kate 
 Trenton. Then, almost at the 
 same moment that he caught 
 sight of the white face of the 
 missionary's wife clinging de- 
 spairingly to a jagged mass of 
 coral, not five fathoms away, 
 another roaring sea leapt down 
 upon his half-filled boat and 
 fairly smothered her. 
 
 " Two of you to the mate, 
 boys," he called to the Maori 
 crew, " the rest of you stick to 
 151 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 the boat," and then he struck 
 out towards the drowning 
 woman, who, with the strength 
 of despair, still dung to the 
 coral boulder, which was about 
 two or three feet out of the 
 water, and so saved her from 
 being smothered by the seas 
 which rolled by on either side. 
 Just as he reached her a roller, 
 higher and swifter than the 
 others, tore away her weaken- 
 ing grasp, and holding her in 
 his arms they were buried 
 beneath ; when they came to 
 the surface he saw that she was 
 still alive, but nearly uncon- 
 scious. 
 
 For nearly five minutes Har- 
 rington, with the blood welling 
 from a fearful cut on his head, 
 drifted seaward with the woman. 
 152 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 He knew the canoes would be 
 along presently, for already, 
 although strange noises filled 
 his brain from the blow he had 
 received and the blood blinded 
 his eyesight, he could hear the 
 cries of the natives close by. 
 
 He had twined his right 
 hand into the woman's hair, 
 and held her in front of him as 
 he struck out with his left. 
 Then, as he still partly drifted, 
 partly swam seaward, away out 
 from the sweep of the seas — for 
 they were now beyond the reef 
 — with dulled brain and blood- 
 filled eyes a thought ran through 
 him that smote his heart with a 
 deadly chill. He knew he was 
 bleeding badly and knew that 
 the sharks are quick to answer 
 to the smell of blood. 
 153 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 " God help us," he muttered 
 thickly ; " what can I do ? " 
 Then his senses left him. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 Away out on the Kellet Pass^ 
 more^ Captain Amos Bennett, 
 from the fore-topsail yard, had 
 seen Herrera's boat broach-to 
 and fill, had seen Barrington's 
 meet with a like fate, and had 
 cursed all missionaries unto the 
 tenth generation. 
 
 "Waal, rU be gol darned ! 
 Two boats capsized and ez like 
 ez not stove in," and he threw 
 his cigar down on to the deck 
 for'ard with another curse after 
 it ; " and perhaps some of my 
 men injoored." 
 
 '' Hope the women and the 
 parson ain't hurt," said the 
 fourth mate, who had just come 
 154 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 up aloft and stood beside 
 him. 
 
 '' Darned ef I care ; their 
 passages are paid," was the 
 snorting reply ; for the worthy 
 Bennett — although he didn't 
 mean what he said — was in a 
 very bad temper. 
 
 And, just then, as he gave 
 orders for another boat to be 
 lowered, the breeze died away 
 so suddenly and suspiciously 
 that he hurried down below to 
 look at the glass. He was 
 back on deck in a minute. 
 
 " Never mind the boat, Mr. 
 Briggs. There's plenty of 
 canoes to pick up the darned 
 fools, and there's going to be 
 
 h 1 to pay in another five 
 
 minutes here. Stand by the 
 
 braces, and look spry we don't 
 
 155 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 get caught aback. Darn all 
 parsons, I say." 
 
 In another ten minutes the 
 first puffs of the coming easterly 
 struck the old barque. She 
 heeled over to it, and then as 
 the whistle of it passed away 
 stood up again on an even 
 keel ; but only for a few 
 seconds, as the short, savage 
 puffs settled down into the 
 droning hum of a heavy squall. 
 
 Two hours later, under close 
 reefed fore and main-topsails, 
 she was running before the 
 storm, with a sea like mountains 
 chasing her and banging against 
 her old, square stern and wall- 
 sides. 
 
 "Guess we won't heave her 
 to among these reefs between 
 156 
 
His Native Wife ^o^ 
 
 Loosap and D'Urville's Island, 
 Mr. Briggs. Let her go as she 
 is, an' we'll get under the lee or 
 Truk until this darned easterly 
 blows its guts out. Then I 
 reckon we'll hev to come back 
 and pick up Mr. Herrera an' 
 Mr. Barrington and them 
 Gawspil folks." 
 
 And so, with the drone or 
 the easterly singing through her 
 cordage, and the swash of the 
 mountain seas swirling up 
 against her weather-beaten sides, 
 the old whaler plunges and 
 splashes westward, running dead 
 before it, and is lost to sight 
 and no more heard of in this 
 story. 
 
 157 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 UNDER THE PALMS. 
 
 A SWARM of brown, half- 
 -^^ naked men and women 
 rushed to the beach to meet 
 the returning canoes, and as 
 they stood and waited a savage, 
 roaring gust swept through the 
 dense palm-grove at their backs, 
 and whipped up great clouds of 
 the white, clinging sand, and 
 carried it far out seawards. 
 
 "Haste, haste, my children ! " 
 and Sru, the chief of Losap, a 
 great, broad-shouldered native, 
 158 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 naked save for his thick girdle 
 of banana fibre, sprang into the 
 water and looked anxiously at 
 the three canoes as they sped 
 shoreward in face of the rising 
 storm. 
 
 A wild cry went up from the 
 assembled people as the first 
 canoe swept in through the 
 boiling surf and ran her sharp 
 bows upon the beach, and the 
 wet and naked rowers sprang 
 out ; and Herrera, holding 
 Kate Trenton in his arms, was 
 seen seated amidships with two 
 of Harrington's boat's crew. 
 
 Too exhausted to speak, he 
 motioned to the women to take 
 her ; and then, staggering on 
 his feet like a drunken man, he 
 sought to discover something of 
 Barrington and the others ; but 
 159 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 a blinding, stinging rain-squall 
 had obscured the two other 
 canoes from view ; and then he 
 was half carried away by some 
 natives to the shelter of the 
 chiePs house, where the women 
 laad already taken Kate Tren- 
 ton, and with kindly hands and 
 pitying words were bringing her 
 back to life again. 
 
 In the second canoe were two 
 of Herrera's men, for their boat 
 had been hopelessly stove in, 
 and after them came Barring- 
 ton's boat, " swum in " by 
 natives and the rest of his crew ; 
 the third canoe was yet out 
 amid the tumbling breakers a 
 quarter of a mile away, but 
 showing up now and then a 
 black spot amid the white seeth 
 of swirling foam. 
 i6o 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 « Ha ! " cried Sru, " Railik 
 my son hath cause to be last ; 
 for, see, there are yet three 
 more of the rebelli swimming 
 in the shallow water near to his 
 canoe — the current hath swept 
 them far down. Even now do 
 I see the three heads above 
 the water." 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 And away out in the canoe, 
 Railik, with his long black hair 
 streaming out to the gale, saw 
 them too, and urged his men 
 to paddle hard. Ten minutes 
 before he had picked up Bar- 
 rington and the missionary's 
 wife ; and as a whifF of spray 
 smote him fiercely in the face, 
 he shook the water from his 
 eyes and glanced down to see 
 if the woman was yet alive, as 
 
 l6l L 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 she lay in the bottom of the 
 canoe with her head supported 
 by a native boy. Up forward, 
 lying on his back with the 
 blood still flowing from his 
 head, was Barrington. Pre- 
 sently he sought to rise, and 
 placed one hand on the gun- 
 wale of the canoe. 
 
 " Nay, stay thou quiet, Jaki," 
 said the native who paddled on 
 the bow thwart and whose feet 
 were placed one on each side of 
 the white man's body, " try not 
 to rise, for should I miss but 
 one stroke of my paddle then 
 does the canoe fill, and thou 
 and the white woman be 
 drowned." 
 
 Another sea swept by them 
 with an angry hiss, and the 
 canoe buried her outrigger deep 
 162 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 down, and Railik, with his left 
 hand grasping the steering- 
 paddle, bent down and scooped 
 out the water with a half-dozen 
 quick strokes of the wooden 
 baler. Then in another 
 minute the canoe shot along- 
 side the three struggling men 
 — two of Barrington's crew 
 and the missionary. 
 
 " Ha ! " cried Sru, turning 
 to his people, " he hath 
 them." 
 
 And then those who watched 
 saw the canoe, now sunk deep 
 in the water, head for the shore, 
 as with a wild cry of triumph, 
 heard even through the hum of 
 the wind and the thunder of the 
 surf, the half-nude paddlers sent 
 her flying to the beach. 
 
 A swarm of natives crowded 
 163 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 round as Railik, panting hotly 
 for his breath, stood up, and 
 cast his paddle on the sand. 
 
 '' How many hast thou ? '* 
 said Sru. 
 
 '' Four, oh father Sru — three 
 men and one woman. And see, 
 he there who hath the bloodied 
 face is Jaki — the woman is his 
 wife!" ^ :^ 
 
 A sudden silence fell upon 
 the crowd of natives, but no 
 one spoke. 
 
 Then, muttering something 
 in a savage undertone to his 
 crew, the chiefs son, without 
 another glance at the people he 
 had saved from death, strode 
 away towards the village, and 
 his father told those about him 
 to carry Barrington and the 
 white woman to his house. 
 164 
 
Held in the arms of a tall, slender native girl. 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 " Tend them well," he said, 
 ** for when the storm is ceased 
 the ship will come back for 
 them. So, give them all to eat 
 and drink, and then in a little 
 while, when their strength has 
 come back, will I ask of this 
 dog Jaki how it is he bringeth 
 back a new wife." 
 
 Held in the arms of a tall, 
 slender native girl, who looked 
 pityingly down upon her trem- 
 bling figure, Helen Parker 
 opened her lips and spoke. 
 
 " Where is Jaki ? " she said. 
 
 A woman who stood close 
 by pointed to a number of men 
 who were helping Harrington 
 up over the brow of the 
 beach. 
 
 " Thy husband is there. He 
 is badly hurt and like to die. 
 165 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 Who art thou that speaks out 
 tongue ? " 
 
 "I am the Christ-woman 
 from Ponap^ Take me to my 
 husband." 
 
 And leading her by the 
 hands the girl and woman 
 walked with her to the chief's 
 house, and pointed to the figure 
 of Jack Barrington, who lay 
 upon a mat with some native 
 women bandaging his head. 
 
 She stood over him for a 
 moment trying to speak ; but 
 her voice failed her. At last she 
 spoke. 
 
 "Thank God, Mr. Barring- 
 ton, you are alive. The natives 
 tell me my husband is badly 
 hurt. Where is he ? " 
 
 No answer came, and then 
 looking into the ghastly, pallid 
 i66 
 
His Native Wife 5o^ 
 
 face of the man she loved, she 
 forgot all, and, kneeling beside 
 him, took his face in her hands 
 and kissed him again and 
 again. 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 Railik, speeding along through 
 the groves of coconut and 
 bananas towards the dwelling 
 of old Tariva, took no heed 
 of the crash and roar of the 
 storm that now seemed to shake 
 the island to its foundation^. 
 He knew that even if the few 
 people who lived in the village 
 on the little island with Nadee 
 and the old woman had left it 
 with the intention of seeing the 
 boats land from the ship, they 
 would have returned to their 
 houses again in the face of such 
 a wild sea as was now breaking 
 167 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 over the connecting reef that 
 lay between their village and the 
 main island. No canoe could 
 cross the lagoon now, and to 
 walk round by way of the beach 
 on the lee side would take them 
 many hours. So, on he pushed, 
 through the fast-gathering dark- 
 ness and the clashing and tear- 
 ing of the countless palm tops 
 above him and the frightened 
 shrieks of the sea birds, and the 
 growling thunder of the mighty 
 seas as they dashed against the 
 barrier wall of coral rock to 
 pour like cataracts along its 
 level top into the shallow waters 
 of the lagoon. 
 
 Then, when he came within 
 sight of the tiny village of four 
 houses, he lay down in the dark- 
 ness and waited. He wanted 
 i68 
 
His Native Wife 5o» 
 
 to see Tar* /a alone, and would 
 watch for her. 
 
 One by one the fires were 
 lighted in the houses, and then 
 he caught a glimpse of Nadee 
 as she passed out of Tariva's 
 house to one that stood about 
 fifty yards away. 
 
 Springing to his feet he glided 
 through the swaying wind-tossed 
 palms till he reached the back 
 of the old woman's house, and 
 looked through the cane lattice- 
 work of its walls. 
 
 " Tariva," he called, " 'tis I, 
 Railik. Come thou outside, so 
 that we may talk ; for I be in 
 haste." 
 
 In a few seconds he saw her 
 
 figure coming towards him, 
 
 her white hair blowing and 
 
 whipping about her face as 
 
 169 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 she peered out into the dark- 
 ness. 
 
 '* Here, mother," and he put 
 out his hand. 
 
 She took it in silence, and 
 then they walked together till 
 they reached a great nudu 
 tree, behind the buttressed trunk 
 of which they stood for shelter. 
 
 ^' Now is the time come for 
 thee,Tariva, to prove thy friend- 
 ship to me, and give me Nadee." 
 
 '*That would I have done 
 long since ; but the girl waited 
 for her white husband ; but, 
 see, here do I show my friend- 
 ship for thee ! Only but a 
 little time since we talked to- 
 gether, and to-morrow did I 
 mean to bring her to thee, for 
 now she believeth that her hus- 
 band will come not back." 
 
His Native Wife S^ 
 
 Railik laughed. ** Mother, 
 he hath come back.*' 
 
 "Then why, O RaiJik, dost 
 thou come here to fool me ? 
 How can I give her to thee if 
 Jaki hath come ? Dost think 
 thou can'st force her now ? " 
 
 " Mother, listen. But little 
 time have I to talk, even of 
 such a matter as this : for I 
 must haste back. See, now, 
 and then tell me if I am not 
 wise. Two boats came from 
 the ship and both were over- 
 powered by the seas and the 
 people in them cast out." 
 
 " Good," answered the old 
 dame, '* would they were all 
 eaten by the sharks." 
 
 " Then I and four others in 
 my canoe, and Sirra and Tasa 
 in their canoes, went out to 
 171 
 
^? His Native Wife 
 
 them — and it came about that 
 I saw that two of the rebelli 
 were washed outside the reef 
 apart from the others, and lo, 
 they were a man and a woman 
 — and the man was Jaki. Just 
 was he, and the woman with 
 him, about to sink, when we 
 dragged them in ; for he had a 
 great wound in his head." 
 ** Ahe, and the woman ? " 
 " She was as one dead. And 
 I, mother, when I saw the face 
 of the white man, would have 
 let him drown, but those with 
 me said, * Nay, hurt him not, 
 dost thou not see 'tis the hus- 
 band of Nadee } ' So, though 
 I would have struck my paddle 
 into his brain, I feared to do so. 
 But, tell me, hath not the Christ- 
 woman I have heard thee speak 
 172 
 
His Native Wife So» 
 
 of hair like the yellow of the 
 sun r 
 
 " Aye," said the old woman 
 quickly, clutching his wrist, 
 " and was it she who was with 
 him?" 
 
 *' And was not the man — her 
 husband, the Christ-wizard — 
 little and dark, with a face ugly 
 to look upon ? " 
 
 '' Aye, little and dark, with 
 hair black as night.'* 
 
 Railik laughed. " See how I 
 remember these things that thou 
 hast told me. Now, as Jaki and 
 the woman lay in the canoe I 
 knew she was the Christ-woman 
 thou hast so often told me of, and 
 then I had no wish to do him 
 harm, for I knew that she was 
 wife to him, even as thou hast 
 told Nadee she would be." 
 173 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 " Ah," and the old woman 
 ground her teeth, " the lying 
 white man. Why did'st thou 
 not cast them over again ? " 
 
 " So we turned shoreward,** 
 went on Railik, " and as we 
 rose to the sea I saw Sirra and 
 his men take up another woman 
 and a man from the sea, even as 
 I had done ; and as we crossed 
 over the reef we saw three more 
 rebelli struggling in the shallow 
 water between the reef and the 
 shore. And when we came to 
 them I saw that two were ship- 
 men and the other a little dark 
 man with a smooth face." 
 "The Christ-man?" 
 " Aye, the Christ-man. And 
 then I knew that the woman 
 who lay in the canoe was not 
 wife to Jaki, and while the 
 174 
 
His Native Wife 5o^ 
 
 thought of Nadee was hot 
 within me, and my men helped 
 in the two ship-men, I sprang 
 into the sea as if to save the 
 Christ-man and " 
 
 " Ah " — and the old woman's 
 eyes glistened. 
 
 " And took him by the hair 
 and dived with him, and struck 
 his head against a rock beneath 
 so that he died quickly. This 
 did I because I told those with 
 me that Jaki had now a new 
 wife." 
 
 "Thou art both brave and 
 wise, my son. I can see what 
 was in thy mind." 
 
 '' That to-morrow thou shalt 
 bring Nadee and show her the 
 white woman and Jaki sitting 
 together in my father's house, 
 and say, ' See, thy white man 
 175 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 with his new wife — the Christ- 
 woman from Ponape.' " 
 
 " Good," said the old dame, 
 pulling his face down to hers 
 and embracing him, " now go, 
 and leave what else is to be done 
 to me." 
 
 176 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 A CONVERT THROUGH LOVt. 
 
 nPHE Storm had nearly 
 ^ ceased, and although the 
 wind was yet high and the 
 branches of a hundred thousand 
 graceful palms thrashed and bent 
 and swayed wildly to its whist- 
 ling note, overhead the blue sky 
 was unspecked by a single 
 cloud. 
 
 Kate Trenton awoke as she 
 
 lay upon her couch of mats in 
 
 the house of Sru, the chief, and 
 
 looking out through the opened 
 
 177 M 
 
^5 His Native Wife 
 
 window up into the star-spangled 
 heavens thanked God that her 
 life had been spared, and that 
 He had spared Jose's too. 
 
 She rose softly and looked at 
 the three sleeping figures that 
 lay near her. That which was 
 nearest was her sister, and Kate, 
 taking a rude oil lamp in her 
 hand, sank on her knees beside 
 her, and with tears welling fast 
 to her eyes scanned the pale face 
 of the sleeping w^oman, and then 
 touched lovingly the bright hair 
 that clustered about her temples. 
 
 "Sleep, sleep, dear Helen," 
 she murmured, and then she 
 moved silently away again to the 
 little window and gazed out past 
 the wildly tossing plumes of the 
 coconut grove that encompassed 
 the house, at the rearing, leap- 
 178 
 
His Native Wife 5<^ 
 
 ing billows that thundered with 
 a dulled but savage symphony 
 upon the black line of reef half 
 a mile away. 
 
 ** Poor Hosea," she said, and 
 then her tears fell fast. " He 
 had so often said that he would 
 willingly give his life if need 
 be for his work, and now to 
 think of him lying out there," 
 and she turned away from the 
 window with a sob, and covered 
 her face with her hands. 
 
 For nearly an hour the girl 
 lay upon her couch till the 
 light of the lamp paled in the 
 silent house, and the grey light 
 of the dawn stole through the 
 serried boles and crowns of the 
 countless palm trees. Drawing 
 over her shoulders, with a 
 strange, happy feeling in her 
 179 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 heart, a seaman's pea-jacket, 
 which she had found placed be- 
 side her couch and knew was 
 Herrera's, she walked noise- 
 lessly over to the wicker door, 
 stepped outside, and sat down 
 upon a great, flat slab of coral. 
 
 " He loves me ! he loves me/* 
 she kept saying to herself, with 
 a whispering, joyous laugh, 
 " and I love him. How can 
 I help loving him ; he is so 
 good and brave." 
 
 A step on the gravel made 
 her look up, and the man who 
 was in her heart stood beside 
 her, with his black, passionate 
 eyes looking into hers. 
 
 " It is very cold, Mr. 
 
 Herrera," she murmured, " and 
 
 I have your coat. But I am 
 
 going in again now. I only 
 
 i8o 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 came out because I could not 
 sleep with the dreadful sound 
 of the surf, and " 
 
 She stopped, and then as she 
 was about to rise he sank at her 
 feet, and seizing her hands in 
 his covered them with kisses. 
 
 '' Kate, Kate ! Do not go 
 just yet. I love you. See, 
 sweet one, there is no one here 
 to hear us. Do you think that 
 I have been sleeping ? No ! I 
 have been lying there beside 
 Barrington watching you, and 
 waiting for the moment when 
 I could come to you and tell 
 you that I love you. Love 
 you, Kate ! Holy Saints for- 
 give me ; but yesterday I cursed 
 the poor padre, because I 
 thought he would come be- 
 tween us. And I, with the 
 i8i 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 devil in my heart to get you, 
 would have run a knife into 
 my own father before that 
 should happen." 
 
 Trembling, partly with joy 
 and partly with fear at his 
 passionate words, Kate Trenton 
 let him draw her to him, and 
 then he kissed her again and 
 again. 
 
 '*See, Kate,*' and the man's 
 voice shook as he turned her 
 face to him and looked into 
 her honest eyes, "I, Jose 
 Herrera, swear to you by the 
 soul of my mother, and my 
 belief in heaven and hell, that 
 if you will marry me, I, too, 
 will become one of your faith — 
 that would I do if my mother 
 rose from her grave and cursed 
 me " 
 
 182 
 
His Native Wife §^ 
 
 '* Jose " — and there was a 
 happy trill in her voice — "I 
 am so glad . . . because I love 
 you. 
 
 Then, as the sound of foot- 
 steps sounded near them on the 
 pebbly path, she glided away 
 from him inside the house, and 
 the first mate of the Keller 
 Passmorey picking up the jacket 
 she had dropped, walked round 
 to the little window, and tapping 
 softly on the cane-work side, 
 held up the garment in view. 
 
 A white hand and arm came 
 out of the gloom of the still 
 darkened room, and Kate 
 Trenton's fingers touched his 
 bearded face. 
 
 " Good night," she whis- 
 pered. 
 
 "Good night," he said in a 
 183 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 low voice ; " I will see you 
 again soon, sweet Kate." 
 
 Then he walked quickly 
 away to the beach. 
 
 Forty-eight hours before Jose 
 Herrera had talked with his 
 boat's crew on board the barque, 
 and had promised each man a 
 hundred dollars the day they 
 landed him and Kate Trenton 
 at Guam. 
 
 "God is good to me," he 
 said, piously crossing himself. 
 " Two days ago I was ready to 
 kill the poor padre, and run 
 the lives of five men into 
 danger on a long boat voyage. 
 And now the poor padre is 
 dead, and there is no need for 
 me to commit a crime." 
 
 Then, as he had no tobacco 
 to smoke, he sat down on the 
 184 
 
His Native Wife S^ 
 
 cool sand watching the paling 
 stars, and wondering when the 
 Kellet Passmore would turn up 
 again. 
 
 " DioSy** he said, clasping his 
 small, sinewy hands around his 
 knees, *' Kate and I may be 
 married in a month from now 
 if we touch at Guam. And 
 touch there we shall, if I run 
 the ship ashore in the night." 
 
 185 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 HIS NATIVE WIFE. 
 
 WITH the first red streaks 
 of sunrise through the 
 palm-grove, came the murmur 
 of voices and the tramp of 
 naked feet about the gravelled 
 path that led to the chiefs 
 house, and Helen Parker awoke 
 to her sister's kiss. 
 
 " Kate," and the pale face 
 lightened up as she drew the 
 girl to her bosom, " I have had 
 such a long sleep, and feel so 
 well and strong," and then her 
 i86 
 
His Native Wife S<^ 
 
 eyes wandered over to where 
 Barrington lay with Jose 
 Herrera sitting by his side. 
 
 "Will he die?" she whis- 
 pered. " How horribly white 
 his face is ? " 
 
 "Die.? Silly Helen! No, 
 dear ; but Mr. Herrera says 
 that the cut in his head is some- 
 thing terrible, and that he will 
 be very weak for a long time 
 from loss of blood," and then 
 Kate laid her cheek to Helen's, 
 " but we will nurse him in 
 turns, dear. I would be so 
 miserable if he died, Helen, for 
 Jose — I mean Mr. Herrera — 
 told me that not only did he 
 save your life, but his and mine 
 too, for, before swimming out 
 to you, he told two of his men 
 to go to our aid." 
 187 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 Helen pressed her hand, and 
 again she glanced at the pallid 
 features of the sleeping man, 
 and Jose Herrera nodded and 
 smiled reassuringly. 
 
 " Helen," and Kate's arm 
 stole round her waist, "don't 
 weep, dear. It was his wish to 
 die at his post. It is such men 
 as he who win the crown of 
 glory for the cause of Christ." 
 
 Helen Parker shuddered, and 
 then a hot flush dyed her face ; 
 she had not been thinking of 
 her dead husband as Kate 
 imagined, but of the man who 
 had all but given his life for 
 hers, 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 The tramping sound of naked 
 feet on the gravelled paths 
 around the house increased, and 
 i88 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 Herrera rose and came over to 
 them. 
 
 " The native women are 
 bringing baskets of food and 
 placing them outside," he said to 
 Kate ; '^ they are very anxious 
 to come inside and talk to 
 you both, but Sru, the chief, 
 has forbidden them to make 
 any noise. He thinks you are 
 still asleep. Would you like 
 to come outside for a little ? 
 They are getting us something 
 to eat, I can see." 
 
 Moving very quietly so as 
 not to awaken Barrington, 
 Herrera opened the door, and 
 Helen and Kate followed him 
 outside and faced the crowd of 
 natives who sat awaiting them. 
 A little apart from the rest, 
 seated on a mat fringed with 
 189 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 scarlet parrot's feathers, was 
 Sru, the chief; behind him, his 
 wife and Railik his son. 
 
 A murmur of approval broke 
 from the people as Helen 
 stepped across to the chief, and 
 spoke to him. 
 
 "We thank thee, Sru of 
 Losap, that thou and thy people, 
 have saved us from death." 
 
 " Sit thou there, Christ- 
 woman, thou and the other 
 woman, and the dark-faced ship 
 man," and the chief pointed to 
 where, among the rest of the 
 whaling gear saved from the 
 boats, the four line tubs were 
 placed side by side ; " sit thou 
 there, and while my women get 
 ready food for thee to eat, let 
 us talk." 
 
 They sat down and waited 
 190 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 for him to speak, and Herrera 
 who, although he could not 
 speak the language, knew by the 
 chiePs manner that something 
 was wrong, looked anxiously 
 around for his and Barrington's 
 boats' crews. Not one of the 
 men was to be seen. 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 Suddenly, with a fierce scowl 
 at Helen, the chief raised his 
 huge, brawny arm, and with his 
 open palm struck the mat upon 
 which he sat. 
 
 " Christ-woman, why came 
 ye here ? " 
 
 The rude, rough words — so 
 different from what she ex- 
 pected, started and alarmed 
 her. 
 
 " Why such angry words to 
 those who have been cast upon 
 191 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 the beach by the waves, O 
 Sru." 
 
 " 'Tis to thee alone I speak, 
 thou stealer of women's hus- 
 bands. See," and he sprang to 
 his feet, and pointed to the 
 oars, lances, and harpoons that 
 lay piled together by the tubs, 
 "there be all the things that 
 were taken from the boats. 
 Now listen, and make the dark- 
 faced ship-man by thy side un- 
 derstand my words. Presently, 
 when ye have eaten and drank, 
 shall my people fill the one 
 boat that is unbroken with food 
 and water, and then shall ye all 
 get to the boat and go away 
 from my land and seek the ship 
 again. But the white man Jaki 
 shall stay." 
 
 Utterly at a loss to account 
 . 192 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 for the chief's angry words and 
 inhospitable manner, Helen 
 answered him — 
 
 " Why to me alone, O Sru 
 of Losap, is thy anger turned ? 
 And how am I a stealer of 
 women's husbands ? " 
 
 " Is not Jaki the husband of 
 Nadee?" 
 
 An agony of shame for the 
 moment overcame her. She 
 knew how prone the native 
 mind was to suspicion, and 
 hastened to explain. 
 
 " He is not my husband. 
 My husband is dead but yester- 
 day." 
 
 And then, in as few words as 
 possible, she told how it was 
 that she and her husband came 
 to take a passage in the whaler, 
 and then asked the chief if he 
 193 N 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 did not know that her husband 
 was dead. 
 
 He listened to the end, and 
 then answered coldly : 
 
 *' What lies are these ? Are 
 we fools? Are not every one 
 that were in the boats alive and 
 well but Jaki ? Thou dost 
 but say this for fear of thy life, 
 thou cunning Christ-woman. 
 Old Tariva knoweth of thy 
 love for the husband of Nadee, 
 and hath told us." 
 
 For a minute she was too 
 dazed to speak, and then a 
 young girl who sat directly 
 in front of her took up a 
 small piece of broken coral 
 and tossed it at her feet con- 
 temptuously. 
 
 "Thou stealer of women's 
 husbands ! " she said with a 
 194 
 
His Native Wife 5^ 
 
 mocking laugh, and then came 
 a chorus of gibes and jeers. 
 
 Herrera, with a red gleam in 
 his eyes, sprang up, and in 
 another moment Helen had 
 fainted in her sister's arms. 
 
 Lifting her up, Herrera car- 
 ried her back to the house and 
 laid her down. 
 
 Kate followed him in, and 
 splashing her face with water 
 she soon revived. 
 
 " What is wrong, dear ? 
 Why is that dreadful-looking 
 man so angry ? " 
 
 "For God's sake don't ask 
 me now, Kate. Mr. Herrera, 
 we must leave the island at 
 once ; our lives are in peril 
 else. The chief says that as 
 soon as we have eaten some- 
 thing we must go away ; 
 195 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 and that he will provision the 
 boat." 
 
 " Dios ! Is the man mad ? '* 
 " No, no," said Helen, hur- 
 riedly. " I know the cause of 
 it all. A fierce old woman 
 named Tariva, who was once 
 at Ponape, and hates the mis- 
 sionaries bitterly, has poisoned 
 his mind against us — me in 
 particular. We must go, Mr. 
 Herrera. I know our danger. 
 She is a terrible woman, and 
 would have great influence over 
 these Losap natives," and then 
 she added in calmer tones, 
 " Leave me here, please. I 
 cannot face those women again, 
 but they will offer no harm to 
 either Kate or you. Go, Mr. 
 Herrera, I beg of you, and see 
 to the boat." 
 
 iq6 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 The mate, with a sympathetic 
 grasp of her hand, turned to go. 
 " Do not fear, ladies. We will 
 be safe enough in the boat, and 
 even if we miss the ship we can 
 run down to Truk, with this 
 wind, in thirty hours." 
 
 The moment Herrera stood 
 outside two of his boat's crew 
 met him, and he learned that 
 the four Maoris had told them 
 that they had been asked by the 
 natives to remain on the island ; 
 but that all the others, except 
 Barrington, were to go, or they 
 would be killed. 
 
 "All right, boys, let the 
 Maoris stay — we don't want 
 them. Where are Pedro and 
 Tom, and the boatsteerer ? " 
 
 " Down at the boat, stowing 
 her with baskets of food. She's 
 197 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 about a mile farther down on 
 the beach." 
 
 " Very well, go down and 
 lend them a hand. Here ! 
 take the oars down to the boat, 
 and pull up here as quick as 
 you can. I will stay with the 
 ladies." 
 
 Picking up the oars the men 
 walked quickly away along the 
 beach, and Herrera saw with 
 astonishment that there was not 
 a native about. They had all 
 gone into their houses, and 
 seemed to show the most utter 
 indifference to the movements 
 of the white people. 
 
 He sat down on one of the 
 line tubs, and presently Kate 
 Trenton, her face pale with 
 excitement, joined him. 
 
 " Helen is coming presently," 
 ?98 
 
His Native Wife ^ 
 
 she said, and she sat beside him 
 and placed her trembling hand 
 in his. 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 Slowly Harrington opened his 
 eyes and gazed stupidly around 
 him. A raging thirst and a 
 sound of some one sobbing had 
 roused him from his death-like 
 sleep, and in a faint voice he 
 called for water. 
 
 " Thank God ! " murmured 
 Helen, and raising his head on 
 her arm, she placed a young 
 coconut to his lips. 
 
 He drank, and then with a 
 heavy sigh sank back on the 
 roUed-up mat that formed his 
 pillow, and closed his eyes 
 again. 
 
 She knelt beside him for a 
 few moments with her hands 
 199 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 clasped tightly together, and 
 then bent down and kissed 
 him — -for the last time. 
 
 Then came the sound of the 
 crunching gravel outside, and 
 the doorway of the house was 
 darkened by two figures, but 
 she heard nor saw them not, 
 as she sobbed out her heart 
 over the unconscious man. 
 
 " See, Nadee, see thy white 
 husband and the Christ-woman 
 for whom he hath cast thee off," 
 and then old Tariva slipped a 
 knife into the girl's hand. As 
 Nadee sprang forward Helen 
 raised her face ; and then the 
 knife flashed and sank deep 
 down into her heart, and stilled 
 it for ever. 
 
His Native W ife 5o^ 
 
 A wild, shrieking laugh made 
 Kate Trenton and Jose Herrera 
 spring to their feet, to see a 
 hideous old woman with long, 
 snow-white hair, standing at the 
 door of the chief's house, and 
 the next moment a young girl, 
 as fair-skinned almost as Kate 
 herself, stepped outside. 
 
 Again that awful screeching 
 laugh rang out, and the hag 
 took Nadee by the hand and 
 led her out in full view of the 
 village. Then she spoke. 
 
 " See, O men of Losap. See 
 the red hana of Nadee. Hold 
 thou it up, my wood-dove, and 
 let them see the blood of the 
 Christ -woman who stole thy 
 lover from thee with her strong 
 witchcraft." 
 
 And Nadee, with blazing 
 
 2CX 
 
^ His Native Wife 
 
 eyes and panting bosom, held 
 up the bloodied knife. 
 
 At sunset the whale-boat, 
 with Kate's head pillowed against 
 her lover's bosom, was fifty 
 miles away ; and Jack Barring- 
 ton awoke to find bending over 
 him the calm face of his native 
 wife. 
 
 THE END. 
 
RETURN TO the circulation desk of any 
 University of California Library 
 
 or to the 
 
 NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 BIdg. 400, Richmond Field Station 
 University of California 
 Richmond, CA 94804-4698 
 
 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 
 
 • 2-month loans may be renewed by calling 
 (510)642-6753 
 
 • 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing 
 books to NRLF 
 
 • Renewals and recharges may be made 
 4 days prior to due date 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 SiNTONILL 
 
 U. c ^iRKELEY 
 
 DD20 1M 3-02 
 
 1 LD 21-100m.-12,'43 (87961 
 
Yfc5 fSJ 7U 
 
 y c 
 
 268511 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY