ek or so afterwards, "and that saucy Manhiki
woman as usual with him, to see that he doesn't get drunk. The devil
take such as her! There's no show of getting him tight."

"How are you, Lannigan?" said the supercargo, wiping his perspiring
brow. He had just come out of the hold where he had been opening tinned
meats, and putting all the "blown" tins he could find into one especial
case--for Lannigan. This was what he called "makin' a mairgin for loss
on the meats, which didna pay well."

"Fine," said the genial Lannigan, "an' I haven't got but five casks of
oil for yez. Devil a drop av oil would the people make when they looked
at the bewtiful lot av trade ye gave me last time. They just rushed me
wid cash, an' I tuk a matter av a thousand dollars or so in a month."

"Verra guid business," said the supercargo, "but ye made a gran'
meestake in selling the guids for Cheelian dollars instead of oil.
An' sae I must debit ye wi' a loss of twenty-five par cent, on the
money----"

"Chile dollars be damned!" said Lannigan; "all good American
dollars--we've had about twenty whaleships here, buyin' pigs an' poultry
an' pearl shell."

"Twenty-one ship!" said Tariro, blowing the smoke of her cigarette
through her pretty little nose.

"Whaur's the money, onyway?" said the supercargo; "let's get to
business, Lannigan. Eh, mon, I've some verra fine beef for ye."

"Get the bag up out of the boat, Tariro," said the trader; "it's mighty
frightened I was havin' so much money in the house at wanst, wid all
them rowdy Yankee sailors from the whaleships ashore here."

*****

There was a great crowd of natives on deck--over a hundred--and the mate
was swearing violently at them for getting in his way. The schooner
was a very small vessel, and Motukoe being her first place of call for
cargo, she was in light trim, having only her trade and a little ballast
on board.

"Send those natives away from the galley," he called out to the cook,
who was giving some of the young women ship-biscuits in exchange for
young cocoanuts; "can't you see the ship keeps flying up in the wind
with all those people for'ard!"

*****

Hekemanu, Lannigan's native "Man Jack," sat in the boat towing
alongside, with the bag of "dollars" at his feet. He and all the boat's
crew were in the secret. Lannigan owned their souls; besides, they all
liked him on Motukoe.

Tariro stood for a moment beside the captain, indulging in the usual
broad "chaff," and then