village, for cloth and European goods, to be paid in
jungle produce--honey, wax, gums, and so forth. The Subanos did not deny
their liability--the natural man is absolutely truthful and honest. Nor
did they assert that they could not pay. Their contention was simply that
the merchandise had been charged at a figure beyond the market rate.
Another Chinaman had paid them a visit, and sold the same wares at a lower
price. They proposed to return Sam Choon's goods unused, and to pay for
anything they could not restore on this reduced scale. It was perfectly
just in the abstract, and the natural man does not conceive any other sort
of justice. Sam Choon could not dispute that his rival's cloth was equally
good; it bore the same trademark, and those keen eyes were as well able to
judge of quality as his own. But the trader everywhere has his own code of
morals. Those articles for which the Subanos were indebted had been
examined, and the price had been discussed, at leisure; an honest man
cannot break his word. Such diverse views were not to be reconciled.
Roebelin took a practical course. He asked whether it could possibly be
worth while to quarrel with these customers for the sake of a very few
dollars? At the lower rate there would be a profit of many hundreds per
cent. But the Chinaman, threatened with a loss in business, is not to be
moved, for a while at least, by demonstrations of prudence.

Meantime the dispute still raged at the Council fire, for the crew also
were interested. Suddenly there was a roar. Several of them rushed across
to Sam Choon and shouted great news. Roebelin understood afterwards. The
caitiff who had undersold them was in the village at that moment! Whilst
they jabbered in high excitement another roar burst out. One of the men,
handling the rival's cloth, found a private mark--the mark of his 'Hoey.'
And it was that to which they all belonged.

The Hoey may be described as a trade guild; but it is much more. Each of
these countless associations is attached to one of the great secret
societies, generally the T'ien T'i Hung, compared with which, for numbers
and power, Freemasonry is but a small concern. By an oath which expressly
names father, son, and brother, the initiated swear to kill any of their
fellows who shall wrong a member of the Hoey. This unspeakable villain who
sold cheap had wronged them all! He must die!

They pressed upon the chief in a body, demanding the traitor. All had arms
an