dyguard they are," said Barry as he shook bands with the
three men, who then, with smiling and interested faces, sat down at the
farther end of the house with Velo, Joe, and the two women.

"I have brought you some things which will be useful. In one bundle
are provisions--all the best delicacies that the steward and I could
find, and tea, coffee, sugar, and condensed milk. And I did not even
forget a teapot."

"How kind of you!" she said. "The little provisions the captain of the
_Golden City_ gave me are quite exhausted. I am an Australian born and
can't exist without tea, so do let me make some tea now. There is a
native well here among the jack-fruit trees, with good water."

"The other bundle contains calicoes, prints, and all that sort of gear,
with two pairs of canvas shoes--the smallest I could get--you mustn't
cut your feet again, you know."

"How thoughtful you are!" she said, touching his hand gently; and then
she asked artlessly, "Are you married, Mr. Barry?"

"No; but I hope to be when we return to Sydney. I'll tell you the
story by and by, Mrs. Tracey, if you care to hear it."

"Of course I shall," she said brightly, "and I shall see her too,
shan't I?"

"I hope so," answered Barry, with a smile. "But we may have a long
spell here yet before we can settle up matters with Rawlings and the
others and get possession of the _Mahina_."

"I will wait patiently. Now let me see about the tea, and then we'll
have a long talk. You'll stay all night, won't you?"

"And all to-morrow as well. The men have three days' liberty, and
Rawlings thinks I am going pig-hunting to-morrow."

As they ate their supper Barry told her all that had happened since he
had seen her: of the richness of the pearl beds then being worked, and
of the suspicions of Joe and Velo that Rawlings and his fellow
conspirators intended some mischief against him. Then when he
mentioned Warner and described his appearance and Joe's recognition of
him, she started--

"Warner! His name is not Warner. He is Billy Chase, an American. I
know all about him, and that which Joe has told you is perfectly true.
He was brought to Sydney for trial in the _Alacrity_, surveying sloop,
about ten years ago, and I have often heard my husband speak of him as
one of the most blood-stained ruffians in the Pacific. We heard that
he had, through want of evidence against him, escaped hanging with a
sentence of seven years' imprisonment; and then ab