girl and
she's only seventeen. She's never been promiscuous like some
of these girls -- a captain or a first mate, yes, but she's
never been touched by a native. <i Elle se respecte, vois-tu>.
The purser of the <i Oahu> told me last journey that he hadn't
met a nicer girl in the islands. It's time she settled
down too, and besides, the captains and the first mates like a
change now and then. I don't keep my girls too long. She has
a bit of property down by Taravao, just before you come to the
peninsula, and with copra at the price it is now you could
live quite comfortably. There's a house, and you'd have all
the time you wanted for your painting. What do you say to it?"

Tiare paused to take breath.

"It was then he told me of his wife in England. 'My poor
Strickland,' I said to him, 'they've all got a wife somewhere;
that is generally why they come to the islands. Ata is a
sensible girl, and she doesn't expect any ceremony before the
Mayor. She's a Protestant, and you know they don't look upon
these things like the Catholics.'

"Then he said: 'But what does Ata say to it?' 'It appears
that she has a <i beguin> for you,' I said. 'She's willing if
you are. Shall I call her?' He chuckled in a funny, dry way
he had, and I called her. She knew what I was talking about,
the hussy, and I saw her out of the corner of my eyes
listening with all her ears, while she pretended to iron a
blouse that she had been washing for me. She came. She was
laughing, but I could see that she was a little shy,
and Strickland looked at her without speaking."

"Was she pretty?" I asked.

"Not bad. But you must have seen pictures of her. He painted
her over and over again, sometimes with a <i pareo> on and
sometimes with nothing at all. Yes, she was pretty enough.
And she knew how to cook. I taught her myself. I saw
Strickland was thinking of it, so I said to him: 'I've given
her good wages and she's saved them, and the captains and the
first mates she's known have given her a little something now
and then. She's saved several hundred francs.'

"He pulled his great red beard and smiled.

"'Well, Ata,' he said, 'do you fancy me for a husband.'

"She did not say anything, but just giggled.

"'But I tell you, my poor Strickland, the girl has a
<i beguin> for you,' I said.

"I shall beat you,' he said, looking at her.

"'How else should I know you loved me,' she answered."

Tiare broke off her narrative and a