nd
on the contrary changed to view like a kaleidoscope. Whatever pretty
thing my wife might have given to Nei Takauti--a string of beads, a
ribbon, a piece of bright fabric--appeared the next evening on the
person of Nan Tok'. It was plain he was a clothes-horse; that he wore
livery; that, in a word, he was his wife's wife. They reversed the
parts, indeed, down to the least particular; it was the husband who
showed himself the ministering angel in the hour of pain, while the wife
displayed the apathy and heartlessness of the proverbial man.

When Nei Takauti had a headache Nan Tok' was full of attention and
concern. When the husband had a cold and a racking toothache the wife
heeded not, except to jeer. It is always the woman's part to fill and
light the pipe; Nei Takauti handed hers in silence to the wedded page;
but she carried it herself, as though the page were not entirely
trusted. Thus she kept the money, but it was he who ran the errands,
anxiously sedulous. A cloud on her face dimmed instantly his beaming
looks; on an early visit to their maniap' my wife saw he had cause to be
wary. Nan Tok' had a friend with him, a giddy young thing, of his own
age and sex; and they had worked themselves into that stage of
jocularity when consequences are too often disregarded. Nei Takauti
mentioned her own name. Instantly Nan Tok' held up two fingers, his
friend did likewise, both in an ecstasy of slyness. It was plain the
lady had two names; and from the nature of their merriment, and the
wrath that gathered on her brow, there must be something ticklish in the
second. The husband pronounced it; a well-directed cocoa-nut from the
hand of his wife caught him on the side of the head, and the voices and
the mirth of these indiscreet young gentlemen ceased for the day.

The people of Eastern Polynesia are never at a loss; their etiquette is
absolute and plenary; in every circumstance it tells them what to do and
how to do it. The Gilbertines are seemingly more free, and pay for their
freedom (like ourselves) in frequent perplexity. This was often the case
with the topsy-turvy couple. We had once supplied them during a visit
with a pipe and tobacco; and when they had smoked and were about to
leave, they found themselves confronted with a problem: should they take
or leave what remained of the tobacco? The piece of plug was taken up,
it was laid down again, it was handed back and forth, and argued over,
till the wife began to look