e,'
says she. And there I was stuck. 'Hold on,' says I; 'wait till I see my
owners.' 'No, you don't,' says she. 'It's customary,' says I. 'Not
anywhere in the world,' says she. 'Then it's courtesy in the Solomons,'
says I.

"And d'ye know, on my faith I think Burnett'd have done it, only she
pipes up, sweet and pert as you please: 'Mr. Auctioneer, will you kindly
proceed with the sale in the customary manner? I've other business to
attend to, and I can't afford to wait all night on men who don't know
their own minds.' And then she smiles at Burnett, as well--you know, one
of those fetching smiles, and damme if Burnett doesn't begin singing out:
'Goin', goin', goin'--last bid--goin', goin' for fifty-five
sovereigns--goin', goin', gone--to you, Miss--er--what name, please?'

"'Joan Lackland,' says she, with a smile to me; and that's how she bought
the _Martha_."

Sheldon experienced a sudden thrill. The _Martha_!--a finer schooner
than the _Malakula_, and, for that matter, the finest in the Solomons.
She was just the thing for recruits, and she was right on the spot. Then
he realized that for such a craft to sell at auction for fifty-five
pounds meant that there was small chance for saving her.

"But how did it happen?" he asked. "Weren't they rather quick in selling
the _Martha_?"

"Had to. You know the reef at Poonga-Poonga. She's not worth tuppence
on it if any kind of a sea kicks up, and it's ripe for a nor'wester any
moment now. The crowd abandoned her completely. Didn't even dream of
auctioning her. Morgan and Raff persuaded them to put her up. They're a
co-operative crowd, you know, an organized business corporation, fore and
aft, all hands and the cook. They held a meeting and voted to sell."

"But why didn't they stand by and try to save her?"

"Stand by! You know Malaita. And you know Poonga-Poonga. That's where
they cut off the _Scottish Chiefs_ and killed all hands. There was
nothing to do but take to the boats. The _Martha_ missed stays going in,
and inside five minutes she was on the reef and in possession. The
niggers swarmed over her, and they just threw the crew into the boats. I
talked with some of the men. They swear there were two hundred war
canoes around her inside half an hour, and five thousand bushmen on the
beach. Said you couldn't see Malaita for the smoke of the signal fires.
Anyway, they cleared out for Tulagi."

"But why didn't they fight?" Sheldon asked.