steadily, but with ever-increasing velocity, the wind veered
around to the south and the southwest, till the three schooners that
were left pointed directly in toward the beach. The wreck of Parlay's
house was picked up, hurled into the lagoon, and blown out upon them.
Passing the _Malahini_, it crashed into the _Papara_, lying a quarter of
a mile astern. There was wild work for'ard on her, and in a quarter of
an hour the house went clear, but it had taken the _Papara's_ foremast
and bowsprit with it.

Inshore, on their port bow, lay the _Tahaa_, slim and yacht-like,
but excessively oversparred. Her anchors still held, but her captain,
finding no abatement in the wind, proceeded to reduce windage by
chopping down his masts.

"Pretty good engine that," Grief congratulated his skipper, "It will
save our sticks for us yet."

Captain Warfield shook his head dubiously.

The sea on the lagoon went swiftly down with the change of wind, but
they were beginning to feel the heave and lift of the outer sea breaking
across the atoll. There were not so many trees remaining. Some had been
broken short off, others uprooted. One tree they saw snap off halfway
up, three persons clinging to it, and whirl away by the wind into the
lagoon. Two detached themselves from it and swam to the Tahaa. Not
long after, just before darkness, they saw one jump overboard from that
schooner's stern and strike out strongly for the Malahini through the
white, spitting wavelets.

"It's Tai-Hotauri," was Grief's judgment. "Now we'll have the news."

The Kanaka caught the bobstay, climbed over the bow, and crawled aft.
Time was given him to breathe, and then, behind the part shelter of the
cabin, in broken snatches and largely by signs, he told his story.

"Narii... damn robber... He want steal... pearls... Kill Parlay... One
man kill Parlay... No man know what man... Three Kanakas, Narii, me...
Five beans... hat... Narii say one bean black... Nobody know... Kill
Parlay... Narii damn liar... All beans black... Five black... Copra-shed
dark... Every man get black bean... Big wind come... No chance...
Everybody get up tree... No good luck them pearls... I tell you
before... No good luck."

"Where's Parlay?" Grief shouted.

"Up tree... Three of his Kanakas same tree. Narii and one Kanaka'nother
tree... My tree blow to hell, then I come on board."

"Where's the pearls?"

"Up tree along Parlay. Mebbe Narii get them pearl yet."

In the ear of one af