on a raft, constructed for the purpose, to
an island some ten miles distant. Here the rioters were left with a
sufficient supply of provisions; a warning being given them that, should
they attempt to return to Comoro, they would be put in irons, and kept
in custody till they could be brought up before the commissioner. The
island being thus happily rid of this disturbing element, there was, at
any rate, outward peace among the inhabitants of Comoro, though, of
course, there was yet abundance of discontent and bitterness beneath the
surface in the hearts of many.

As the commissioner was making his way to the shore preparatory to his
return to the mainland, he passed a tent from which there issued such
deep-fetched sighs that, having obtained permission to enter, he
inquired of the inmate the cause of so much trouble.

"Ah, sir!" replied the poor sufferer, who was a man some sixty years of
age, with grey hair, and a countenance whose expression was one of
mingled shrewdness, discontent, and ill-temper, "our sovereign little
knows the cruelty he has been guilty of in sending me all alone to a
place like this."

"How alone, my friend?" asked the other; "you have plenty of companions
within reach."

"Why, sir," was the poor man's reply, "I have been torn from the best
and most loving of wives--I who am so entirely dependent on her for my
happiness--I who love her so tenderly;--alas! Wretched man that I am,
what shall I do?"

"Do you know this gentleman?" said the commissioner, turning to his
secretary, who had accompanied him into the tent.

"I know him well, your excellency," was the reply; "and a more selfish
man does not exist. He tells the truth, however, when he says that he
is entirely dependent on his wife for his happiness; but it was
impossible for her to accompany him hither, as she is the most unselfish
of women. On her he has ever made it a practice to vent his chief
spleen and bitterness, exacting from her at the same time perpetual
service, and rarely repaying her with anything but sneers and insults,
holding her up even to the scorn and ridicule of his acquaintance."

As the secretary uttered these words, a burning blush covered the face
of the unhappy man, who ceased his sighs and bent his head upon his
hands.

"My friend," said the commissioner gently, "I am truly sorry for you;
but I am in hopes that your solitude will work for your good. Think
over the past with contrition, and be up and