She saw the strange man, and suddenly
stood still; struck motionless by the amazing discovery that had burst
upon her. The Captain approached, smiling and holding out his hand. She
never moved; she stood before him in helpless wonderment--her lovely
black eyes fixed spellbound on his face; her dusky bosom palpitating
above the fallen folds of her robe; her rich red lips parted in mute
astonishment. Feasting his eyes on her beauty in silence, the Captain
after a while ventured to speak to her in the language of the main
island. The sound of his voice, addressing her in the words that she
understood, roused the lovely creature to action. She started, stepped
close up to him, and dropped on her knees at his feet.

"My father worships invisible deities," she said, softly. "Are you a
visible deity? Has my mother sent you?" She pointed as she spoke to the
deserted hut behind them. "You appear," she went on, "in the place where
my mother died. Is it for her sake that you show yourself to her child?
Beautiful deity, come to the Temple--come to my father!"

The Captain gently raised her from the ground. If her father saw him, he
was a doomed man.

Infatuated as he was, he had sense enough left to announce himself
plainly in his own character, as a mortal creature arriving from a
distant land. The girl instantly drew back from him with a look of
terror.

"He is not like my father," she said to herself; "he is not like me. Is
he the lying demon of the prophecy? Is he the predestined destroyer of
our island?"

The Captain's experience of the sex showed him the only sure way out
of the awkward position in which he was now placed. He appealed to his
personal appearance.

"Do I look like a demon?" he asked.

Her eyes met his eyes; a faint smile trembled on her lips. He ventured
on asking what she meant by the predestined destruction of the island.
She held up her hand solemnly, and repeated the prophecy.

The Holy Island was threatened with destruction by an evil being, who
would one day appear on its shores. To avert the fatality the place
had been sanctified and set apart, under the protection of the gods
and their priest. Here was the reason for the taboo, and for the
extraordinary rigor with which it was enforced. Listening to her with
the deepest interest, the Captain took her hand and pressed it gently.

"Do I feel like a demon?" he whispered.

Her slim brown fingers closed frankly on his hand. "You feel soft and
fr