d
about the corners of his mouth. They all looked on him with that
worship which strong men give to a hero, who can be both brave and
kindly. But "he wist not that his face shone" for them.

Patteson read to these young men from a Book; and the words that
he read were these: "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and
saying, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' And he knelt down and cried,
with a loud voice, 'Lord, lay not this sin to their charge'; and when
he had said this, he fell asleep."

When he had spoken to them strongly on these words and said how it may
come to any man who worships Jesus to suffer so, Bishop Patteson and
all except the man on watch went to their sleep. The South Sea Island
men and the young Englishman who were there remembered all their
lives what Patteson had said that evening; partly because these men
themselves had seen him brave such a death as Stephen's again and
again, and, indeed, they had themselves stood in peril by his side
face to face with threatening savages, but even more because of the
adventure that came to them on the next day.

At dawn they sighted land, and by eleven o'clock they were so near
that they could see, shimmering in the heat of the midsummer sun, the
white beach of coral sand and the drooping palms that make all the
island of Nukapu green.[33] Looking out under their hands to the
island, the men aboard _The Southern Cross_ could see four great
canoes, with their sails set, hovering like hawks about the circling
reef which lay between them and the island. On the reef the blue waves
beat and broke into a gleaming line of cool white foam.

The slight breeze was hardly strong enough to help the ship to make
the island. It was as though she knew the danger of that day and would
not carry Patteson and his men into the perils that lay hidden behind
the beauty of that island of Nukapu.

Patteson knew the danger. He knew that, but a little time before their
visit, white men had come in a ship, had let down their boats and
rowed to the men of the island, had pretended to make friends, and
then, shooting some and capturing others, had sped back to the ship,
carrying off the captives to work for them on the island of Fiji. The
law of the savages of the islands was "Blood for blood." And to
them all white men belonged to one tribe. The peril that lay before
Patteson was that they might attack him in revenge for the foul crime
of those white traders.

Just before noon t