thyself."

Niabon angrily bade him be silent and make no threats; it would be time
enough, she said, to talk of revenge when he was able to put a gun to
his shoulder or a hand to his knife.

"How came this thing about?" I asked her presently.

"The German sent Tematau away in his boat to one of the little islands
at the far end of the lagoon to gather coco-nuts, and bade him hasten
back quickly. Tematau and those with him filled the boat with husked
coco-nuts, and were sailing homewards in the night when she struck on
a reef and tore a great hole in her side. Then the surf broke her in
pieces, and Tematau and the other men had to swim long hours to reach
the shore. And as thou knowest, the north end of the lagoon hath many
sharks, and it is bad to swim there at night even for a little time."

"Bad indeed, Niabon," I said, with a shudder; "'tis a wonder that any
one of them reached the shore."

She smiled mysteriously. "They were safe, for each one had around his
neck a cord of black cinnet interwoven with the hair of a sea-ghost. So
they came to no harm."

She spoke with such calm assurance that I carefully abstained from even
a smile. Then she went on--

"When they reached the white man's house and told him that the boat
was lost he became mad with rage, and seizing a hatchet he hurled it at
Tematau and cut his face open. Then as he fell to the ground the German
seized a whip of twisted shark-skin and beat him until he could beat no
longer."

Then she went on to tell me that the unfortunate man was carried to the
house where she lived, and she, knowing that I should be well able and
willing to protect him, decided to bring him to me. The only difficulty
that presented itself to her was that the people of the village in which
I lived, though not exactly at enmity with the natives of the north end
of the island, were distinctly averse to holding any more communication
with them than was absolutely necessary, and a refugee such as Tematau
would either be turned back or kept as a slave. For, for nearly
fifty-five years internecine feuds had been kept alive among the
various clans on the island, and had caused terrible slaughter on many
occasions. Whole villages had been given to the flames, and every soul,
even children in arms, massacred by the conquering party. The advent of
white men as traders had, however, been of great advantage to the island
generally in one respect--the savage, intractable inhabitants bega