ky. The
gale had passed away into a pleasant breeze, and the sea was now
rippling against the distant reef with peaceful melody.

The sailor wanted to tell her that he would defend her against a host
of savages if he were endowed with many lives, but he was perforce
tongue-tied. He even reviled himself for having spoken, but she saw the
anguish in his face, and her woman's heart acknowledged him as her
protector, her shield.

"Mr. Jenks," she said simply, "we are in God's hands. I put my trust in
Him, and in you. I am hopeful, nay more, confident. I thank you for
what you have done, for all that you will do. If you cannot preserve me
from threatening perils no man could, for you are as brave and gallant
a gentleman as lives on the earth today."

Now, the strange feature of this extraordinary and unexpected outburst
of pent-up emotion was that the girl pronounced his name with the
slightly emphasized accentuation of one who knew it to be a mere
disguise. The man was so taken aback by her declaration of faith that
the minor incident, though it did not escape him, was smothered in a
tumult of feeling.

He could not trust himself to speak. He rose hastily and seized the axe
to deliver a murderous assault upon a sago palm that stood close at
hand.

Iris was the first to recover a degree of self-possession. For a moment
she had bared her soul. With reaction came a sensitive shrinking. Her
British temperament, no less than her delicate nature, disapproved
these sentimental displays. She wanted to box her own ears.

With innate tact she took a keen interest in the felling of the tree.

"What do you want it for?" she inquired, when the sturdy trunk creaked
and fell.

Jenks felt better now.

"This is a change of diet," he explained. "No; we don't boil the leaves
or nibble the bark. When I split this palm open you will find that the
interior is full of pith. I will cut it out for you, and then it will
be your task to knead it with water after well washing it, pick out all
the fiber, and finally permit the water to evaporate. In a couple of
days the residuum will become a white powder, which, when boiled, is
sago."

"Good gracious!" said Iris.

"The story sounds unconvincing, but I believe I am correct. It is worth
a trial."

"I should have imagined that sago grew on a stalk like rice or wheat."

"Or Topsy!"

She laughed. A difficult situation had passed without undue effort.
Unhappily the man reopened it. Whils