ck in its
own way--a mighty good way, too--and it grew to be a part of you, like
your wife, if you weren't a poor, lone, seafaring slob without one.

Of course, it wasn't much of a house, being a sort of beehive-shaped
concern with a thatched roof a foot thick and open all round the sides
when the cocoanut curtains was hysted. But when these were pulled down
at night, and you were a-setting in one of your own home-made chairs
with your wife on your knee, the night breeze rustling overhead and the
breakers moaning a mile away on the outer reef, it made you sort of feel
like things had come right at last, and that for two cents you'd plank
right down on your knees, then and there, and thank God, by God!

All this had not been accomplished without work, but then it was work
for himself, and not for others. Jack had never known before what it was
to enjoy the fruit of his own labor; he had always been a cog in the
blind machinery of other people, exchanging so much toil for so much
money. Now that he could see his little plantation grow and prosper
beneath his hands, every hour repaid with nature's usury, he began to
feel the elation that a man finds in independence. At first Fetuao had
entered but half-heartedly into his plans; she would sit on a log and
watch him with mirthful wonder as he swung his ax on the land Faalelei
had given them; and when, for a spell, he took a place beside her she
would tenderly wipe the sweat from his forehead and look at him with
perplexity. Work, yes, that, as the preacher said, was the curse of
Adam; but this daily persistency was not understandable. Had not
Faalelei plenty for them both? And if one _taro_ sufficed, why be at the
pains to plant two?

But little by little it began to dawn on her that there was another side
to this feverish devotion to work. Jack took a load of yams to Apia, and
came back with fifteen silver dollars and a bolt of print for a dress.
He went again, and returned with a sewing machine, a pack of cards, and
a bottle of trade scent; still another trip, and lo! he towed behind him
a fine new boat with _Fetuao_ painted on the stern. Then she at last
succumbed to the fascination of the white way. _Paga!_ There were
dollars in the ground, and for the asking they could be made to grow.
This lesson learned, Fetuao threw off her indifference and became as
ardent a planter as her unwearied husband. Lying in his arms at night,
her talk ran continually on the theme of whic