eming to
quiver and sway to and fro in the blinding glare of the bright sunlight.
Beyond lay the wide sweep of the blue Pacific, whose gentle undulations
scarce seemed to have strength enough to rise and lave the weed-clad
face of the barrier reef which, for thirty miles, stretched east and
west in an unbroken, sweeping curve.

In Ailap village, where the trader lived, a strange unusual silence
brooded over all; and though under the cool shades of the groves of
breadfruit and orange-trees groups of brown-skinned people were sitting
together, they only spoke in whispered tones, and looked every now and
again at the figure of the white man standing at his door.

And as the people sat together in silence, Palmer, with his bearded
chin resting on the palm of one hand, gazed steadily before him, seeming
oblivious of their presence, for he was thinking deeply, and wondering
what had best be done to rid the island of Jinaban.

Presently a young man, dressed like a seaman and wearing a wide-rimmed
hat of pandanus leaf, came along the path that led from the village to
the trader's house. He stopped for a moment at the gate as if in doubt
whether to open it or not; and then catching sight of Palmer's figure he
pushed it open quickly and walked towards him, and the trader, roused by
the sound of approaching footsteps, raised his head and looked in some
surprise at the new-comer, who was an utter stranger to him.

"Good morning," said the man to Palmer, and the moment he had spoken and
lifted his hat, the trader saw that he was not a white man, for his dark
complexion, wavy black hair and deep-set eyes proclaimed him to be of
mixed blood. Nearly six feet in height, he yet walked and moved with
that particularly easy and graceful manner so noticeable among the
native races of Polynesia, and Palmer was quick to see from his stature
and appearance generally that he was not a Caroline Island half-caste.
And he noticed as well that the stranger had a firm, square-set jaw and
a fearful raw-looking slash across his face that extended from ear to
chin.

"Good morning," he answered. "Do you want to see me?"

"Yes," answered the man, in a slow, hesitating sort of manner. "I
was the second mate of that schooner "--and he waved his hand with a
backward sweep toward the lagoon, where a large white-painted vessel was
being towed down to the passage by her boats, to anchor and wait for the
land-breeze at night--"but last night I had a row w