s of sleep in the twenty-four had meant being robbed of four
hours of life. How he had grudged sleep! Now it was life he grudged.
Life was not good; its taste in his mouth was without tang, and bitter.
This was his peril. Life that did not yearn toward life was in fair way
toward ceasing. Some remote instinct for preservation stirred in him,
and he knew he must get away. He glanced about the room, and the thought
of packing was burdensome. Perhaps it would be better to leave that to
the last. In the meantime he might be getting an outfit.

He put on his hat and went out, stopping in at a gun-store, where he
spent the remainder of the morning buying automatic rifles, ammunition,
and fishing tackle. Fashions changed in trading, and he knew he would
have to wait till he reached Tahiti before ordering his trade-goods. They
could come up from Australia, anyway. This solution was a source of
pleasure. He had avoided doing something, and the doing of anything just
now was unpleasant. He went back to the hotel gladly, with a feeling of
satisfaction in that the comfortable Morris chair was waiting for him;
and he groaned inwardly, on entering his room, at sight of Joe in the
Morris chair.

Joe was delighted with the laundry. Everything was settled, and he would
enter into possession next day. Martin lay on the bed, with closed eyes,
while the other talked on. Martin's thoughts were far away--so far away
that he was rarely aware that he was thinking. It was only by an effort
that he occasionally responded. And yet this was Joe, whom he had always
liked. But Joe was too keen with life. The boisterous impact of it on
Martin's jaded mind was a hurt. It was an aching probe to his tired
sensitiveness. When Joe reminded him that sometime in the future they
were going to put on the gloves together, he could almost have screamed.

"Remember, Joe, you're to run the laundry according to those old rules
you used to lay down at Shelly Hot Springs," he said. "No overworking.
No working at night. And no children at the mangles. No children
anywhere. And a fair wage."

Joe nodded and pulled out a note-book.

"Look at here. I was workin' out them rules before breakfast this A.M.
What d'ye think of them?"

He read them aloud, and Martin approved, worrying at the same time as to
when Joe would take himself off.

It was late afternoon when he awoke. Slowly the fact of life came back
to him. He glanced about the ro