ark except for the lights that came from
the open windows of the bungalows. Men wandered about, looking at the
women who sat at their windows, reading or sewing, for the most part
taking no notice of the passers-by; and like the women they were of all
nationalities. There were Americans, sailors from the ships in port,
enlisted men off the gunboats, sombrely drunk, and soldiers from the
regiments, white and black, quartered on the island; there were
Japanese, walking in twos and threes; Hawaiians, Chinese in long robes,
and Filipinos in preposterous hats. They were silent and as it were
oppressed. Desire is sad.

"It was the most crying scandal of the Pacific," exclaimed Davidson
vehemently. "The missionaries had been agitating against it for years,
and at last the local press took it up. The police refused to stir. You
know their argument. They say that vice is inevitable and consequently
the best thing is to localise and control it. The truth is, they were
paid. Paid. They were paid by the saloon-keepers, paid by the bullies,
paid by the women themselves. At last they were forced to move."

"I read about it in the papers that came on board in Honolulu," said Dr
Macphail.

"Iwelei, with its sin and shame, ceased to exist on the very day we
arrived. The whole population was brought before the justices. I don't
know why I didn't understand at once what that woman was."

"Now you come to speak of it," said Mrs Macphail, "I remember seeing her
come on board only a few minutes before the boat sailed. I remember
thinking at the time she was cutting it rather fine."

"How dare she come here!" cried Davidson indignantly. "I'm not going to
allow it."

He strode towards the door.

"What are you going to do?" asked Macphail.

"What do you expect me to do? I'm going to stop it. I'm not going to
have this house turned into--into...."

He sought for a word that should not offend the ladies' ears. His eyes
were flashing and his pale face was paler still in his emotion.

"It sounds as though there were three or four men down there," said the
doctor. "Don't you think it's rather rash to go in just now?"

The missionary gave him a contemptuous look and without a word flung out
of the room.

"You know Mr Davidson very little if you think the fear of personal
danger can stop him in the performance of his duty," said his wife.

She sat with her hands nervously clasped, a spot of colour on her high
cheek bones, listening to