imself) believes they have planned to murder him as they
first planned to dispose of me. But they are closely watched, not only
by the steward, but by Barradas himself, who plays his part of 'the
good comrade' well. Heaven forgive the man for his past crimes, for he
is, I know, deeply penitent. Your supposed death weighed heavily on
his mind. When he came to my house that evening and unburthened
himself to me, and I told him that you were alive and living on this
very island, he sobbed like a child and besought me to bring him to
you. In the intensity of his excitement he wanted to set off and walk
round the lagoon to Tebuan to meet you, and I had some little
difficulty in restraining him. He left me to go on board, looking like
another man. He is of an impassioned, excitable nature, but we can
count absolutely upon his discretion not to do anything which would
imperil our plans. Now, good-bye. I trust you are well, and that it
will not be long before we meet again. We are all working hard for
you, and hope to soon see you in possession of your ship, and the
_Mahina's_ white wings spread for Sydney."

This letter was brought to Mrs. Tracey by a Tebuan native, who had
received it from one of Barry's men at the usual rendezvous. She
opened it with an exclamation of pleasure and read it through. Then,
with her hands lying upon her lap, she gave herself up to thought. Her
two attendants, the girls Pani and Toea, watched her with their full,
lustrous eyes as they sat on a mat in the centre of the house smoking
their cigarettes of strong, black tobacco. Without all was silent,
save now and then when an occasional footfall would sound on the path
in front of the quiet dwelling as some native returned to the village
from the beach, carrying a string of fish or a basket of sea-birds'
eggs for the evening meal. Straight from the open door the lagoon lay
shining under the light of myriad stars, its placid waters undisturbed
by even the faintest ripple, for the trade wind had died away with the
setting of the sun, and the fronds of the long belt of palms fringing
the inner beach hung as still as if they had been carven out of stone.

Presently the white woman raised her face, and a smile parted her lips
when she saw how intently the two girls were regarding her, and they
too responded to her glance with smiles, for to them "Alisi," as Mrs.
Tracey was called by the people of Tebuan, was not only a mistress but
a fr