ay my fath' go to hell
because he get drunk all de time.'

'Don' you b'lieve him, Ati; Ioane is only dam Kanaka mission'ry. Wassa
the hell do _he_ know 'bout such thing? _You_ go to heav' sure 'nuff,
and you' fath' come to you there by-an'-by. He never been steal or lie;
he on'y get drunk. Don' you be 'fraid 'bout dat, Ati, dear. An' you will
see yo' mother, too. Oh, yes, yo' will see yo' mother; an' yo' fath' will
come there too, all nice, an' clean, an' sober, in new pyjamas all shinin'
white; an' he will kiss yo' mother on her mouf, an' say, "I forgive you,
Nellie Ransom, jes' as Jesu Christ has forgive me."'

The girl sighed heavily, and then lay with closed eyes, breathing
softly. Suddenly she turned quickly on her side, and extended her arms,
and her voice sounded strangely clear and distinct.

'Where is you, fath'? Quick, quick, come an' hol' me. It is dark....
Hol' me tight... clos' up, clos' up, fath', my fath'... it is so
dark--so dark.'

* * * * *

The natives told Wallis next morning that 'Ranisome' had gone quite mad.

'How know ye he is mad?'

'_Tah!_ He hath taken every bottle of grog from two boxes and smashed
them on the ground. And then we saw him kneel upon the sand, raise his
hands, and weep. He is mad.'

IN A NATIVE VILLAGE

When I first settled down on this particular island as a trader, I had,
in my boundless ignorance of the fierce jealousy that prevailed between
the various villages thereon, been foolish enough to engage two or three
servants from outlying districts--much against the wishes of the local
_kaupule_ (town councillors), each of whom brought me two or three
candidates (relatives, connections or spongers of their own) and urged
that I should engage them and no others. This I refused to do, point
blank, and after much angry discussion and argument, I succeeded in
having my own way, and was allowed to choose my servants from villages
widely apart. In the course of a few weeks some terrific encounters had
taken place between my women servants and other of the local females,
who regarded them as vile usurpers of their right to rob and plunder the
new white man. However, in time matters settled down in a measure;
and beyond vituperative language and sanguinary threats against the
successful applicants, the rejected candidates, male and female, behaved
very nicely. But I was slumbering on a latent volcano of fresh troubles,
and the premonitor