er did
the work. They cut and squared the timbers, gathered the coral, burnt it
for lime, and plastered the building. The women and children carried the
lime from the beach in baskets, and the men dragged the heavy logs from
the mountains,--in some cases for several miles,--the timber in the
immediate neighborhood not being sufficiently large for their purpose.

The poor natives worked with heart and soul; for love, and the desire to
please and be pleased, had been awakened within them. Besides this, the
work had for them all the zest of novelty. They wrought at it with
somewhat of the feelings of children at play,--pausing frequently in
the midst of their toil to gaze in wonder and admiration at the growing
edifice, which would have done no little credit to a professional
architect and to more skilled workmen.

The white men of the place also lent a willing hand; for although some
of them were bad men, yet they were constrained to respect the
consistent character and blameless life of the missionary, who not
unfrequently experienced the fulfilment of that word: "When a man's ways
please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him."
Besides this, all of them, however unwilling they might be to accept
Christianity for themselves, were fully alive to the advantages they
derived from its introduction among the natives.

With so many willing hands at work, the little church was soon finished;
and, at the time when the events we are describing occurred, there was
nothing to be done to it except some trifling arrangements connected
with the steeple, and the glazing of the windows. This latter piece of
work was, in such a climate, of little importance.

Long before the bell had ceased to toll, the church was full of natives,
whose dark, eager faces were turned towards the door, in expectation of
the appearance of their pastor. The building was so full that many of
the people were content to cluster round the door, or the outside of the
unglazed windows. On this particular Sunday there were strangers there,
who roused the curiosity and attracted the attention of the
congregation. Before Mr. Mason arrived, there was a slight bustle at the
door as Captain Montague, with several of his officers and men, entered,
and were shown to the missionary's seat by Master Corrie, who, with his
round visage elongated as much as possible, and his round eyes
expressing a look of inhuman solemnity, in consequence of his attem