ck word of command, and we plunged
through the foam.

The boat leaped and pitched in the flying spray. The oarsmen,
leaping to their places, struck out with the oars. A sharp "_Haie!_"
of alarm rose behind me, and I saw that an oar had snapped. But
Tetuahunahuna, waist-deep in the water at our stern, gave a mighty
push, and we were safely afloat as he clambered over the edge and
stood dripping on the steersman's tiny perch, while the men, holding
the boat head-on to the rolling waves, drove us safely through to
open water.

Outside the bay they put by their oars and we waited for a breeze to
give the signal for hoisting mast and sail. The beach lay behind us,
a narrow line of white beyond the whiter curve of surf. The blue sky
burned above us, and to the far shimmering horizon stretched the
blue calm of a windless sea.

We rolled idly, the sun scorching us. In an hour I was so hot that I
began to wonder if I could endure the torment. The buckle on my
trousers burned my flesh, and I could not touch my clothes without
pain. The Marquesans lay comfortably on the seats and bundles,
enjoying their pandanus-leaf cigarettes. Every few moments the
bow-oar skillfully rolled one, took a few puffs and handed it to the
next man, who, after taking his turn, passed it down the waiting line.

From time to time Tetuahunahuna, squatting in the stern, made a sign,
and a fresh cigarette passed untouched through eight hands to his.
He smoked serenely, gazing at the smooth swells of water and waiting
with inexhaustible patience for the wind. At his feet the
fifteen-year-old girl, Sister of Anne, disposed her saffron-colored
body upon oars laid across the thwarts and slept. Ghost Girl, beside
me, laid her glossy head in my lap to doze more comfortably.

Jammed against the unyielding thwarts, I passed miserable hours,
unable to move more than a few inches in the narrow space. At noon,
with the vertical eye of the evil sun staring down upon us, my
clothes were so hot that I had to hold them off my body. I meditated
leaping into the ocean and swimming awhile. Ghost Girl saw my
intention when I stirred, and pulled me back beside her.

"_Mako!_" she cried. "_Puaa hae!_" She pointed to starboard. A gray
fin moved slowly through the water twenty feet away. "A shark, and a
wicked beast he is!" She reached to pick up an opened cocoanut and
tossed some of the milk over her shoulder to appease the demon.
"_Mako!_" she repeated. "_Puaa hae!_"