who had
brought this boat to my notice? Had Mrs. Krause said anything on the
matter to Niabon herself? I determined to ask.

"Niabon," I said in English, which Tematau also understood fairly well,
though he never spoke it, "tell me truly--did you or Tematau ever speak
to Lucia of this boat which I have just bought?"

"No, never, Mr. Sherry," she replied calmly, and the quiet dark eyes
met mine with such an expression of truthfulness that I was instantly
ashamed of my transitory suspicion. "I have never spoken to her about
this boat, and never has Tematau, I am sure."

"Oh, well, it was a very lucky thought of hers," I said; "we have now
a boat that will be much better than my own, which I must try and
sell, for we shall want money, Niabon, we shall want money badly in the
strange country to which we are going, and I have but little."

"Kaibuka and the head men will buy the other boat, I think."

"How do you know?" I said in surprise, for I had never even been
approached on the subject of selling my boat.

"I will ask them to buy it," she replied, with a smile. "I will go to
them now, if you wish. How much money do you want?"

"The boat is worth two hundred dollars, but I will take one hundred. If
they cannot give me one hundred dollars I will take no less--but because
they and I are good friends, I will give it to them freely, for it will
be of no further use to me."

"They will buy the boat," she said confidently, and lighting her
cigarette, she went out.

A quarter of an hour later she returned, accompanied by old Kaibuka and
another head man. Each of them carried a small bag of money, which they
handed to me, and simply observing that it was the price of the boat,
sat down and waited for me to count the coins. I found there were two
hundred dollars.

"There are one hundred dollars more than the price I asked," I said,
pushing one-half of the money apart. "The boat is well worth the two
hundred; for she is but new, and cost me more than that. But one hundred
is all I asked for."

Hawk-eyed Kaibuka--one of the most avaricious old fellows I had ever met
with in the South Seas--shook his head and said I was trying to wrong
myself. The people would be glad to get such a fine boat for two hundred
dollars, and that if he and the other head men announced that I had
parted with her for a hundred dollars, the entire population of Utiroa
would arise as one man and curse them as mean creatures; also they (the
peop