Dost think I am a fool?"

"Nay," and she looked at me so wistfully that I at once repented of my
harsh manner--"nay, indeed, Simi. Thou art a man strong in thy mind, and
shall be strong in thy body if thou wouldst but let me give thee----"

"No more, woman," I said roughly. "Leave me. I want none of thy
medicines, I say again."

"Thy wish is my law," she said gently, "but, ere I leave thee, I pray
thee that in a little way thou wilt let me show thee that I _do_ mean
well to thee."

I laughed, and asked her what medicine or charm she desired to
experiment with upon me.

"No medicine, and no charm," she answered. "But I know that because
of many things thy mind and thy body alike suffer pain, and that sleep
would be good for thee. And I can give thee sleep--strong, dreamless
sleep that, when thou awakenest, will make thee feel strong in thy body
and softer in thy now angry heart to Niabon."

"If you can make me sleep now, I'll give you twenty dollars," I said in
my English fashion.

She took no notice of my rude and clumsy remark, though she had good
reason to be offended.

"Simi," she said, "shall I give thee sleep?"

"Ay," I replied, "give me sleep till the master of this house returns."

She rose and bent over me, and then I noticed for the first time that,
instead of being about thirty-five or forty years of age, as I had
judged her to be by her hard, clear features and somewhat "bony"
appearance externally, she could not be more than five-and-twenty, or
even younger.

She placed her right hand on my forehead, and held my right hand in her
own.

"Sleep," she said--"sleep well and dreamlessly, man with the strong will
to accomplish all that is before thee. Sleep."

Her hand passed caressingly oyer my face, and in a few minutes I
_was_ asleep, and slept as I had not slept for many weeks past. When I
awakened at sunset I felt more refreshed and vigorous than I had been
for many months.

[Illustration: Met me with outstretched hand 042]

Krause had just returned in his boat, and met me with outstretched hand.
His welcome was, I thought, unnecessarily effusive, and, declining his
pressing invitation to remain for the night, I left, after remaining an
hour or so longer. I noticed that immediately Krause arrived the girl
Niabon disappeared, and did not return.

That was my first meeting with her, and I did not see her again till the
evening of the storm, when she brought Tematau to me.

CHAPTER