all her near kin and she lived now in the house of distant cousins.
The household consisted of two ancient crones, bowed and wrinkled, two
younger women, and a man and a boy. For a few days he stayed there. But
perhaps he felt himself too near the shore, with the possibility that
he might fall in with white men who would reveal his hiding-place;
perhaps the lovers could not bear that the company of others should rob
them for an instant of the delight of being together. One morning they
set out, the pair of them, with the few things that belonged to the
girl, and walked along a grassy path under the coconuts, till they came
to the creek you see. They had to cross the bridge you crossed, and the
girl laughed gleefully because he was afraid. She held his hand till
they came to the end of the first tree, and then his courage failed him
and he had to go back. He was obliged to take off all his clothes before
he could risk it, and she carried them over for him on her head. They
settled down in the empty hut that stood here. Whether she had any
rights over it (land tenure is a complicated business in the islands),
or whether the owner had died during the epidemic, I do not know, but
anyhow no one questioned them, and they took possession. Their furniture
consisted of a couple of grass-mats on which they slept, a fragment of
looking-glass, and a bowl or two. In this pleasant land that is enough
to start housekeeping on."

"They say that happy people have no history, and certainly a happy love
has none. They did nothing all day long and yet the days seemed all too
short. The girl had a native name, but Red called her Sally. He picked
up the easy language very quickly, and he used to lie on the mat for
hours while she chattered gaily to him. He was a silent fellow, and
perhaps his mind was lethargic. He smoked incessantly the cigarettes
which she made him out of the native tobacco and pandanus leaf, and he
watched her while with deft fingers she made grass mats. Often natives
would come in and tell long stories of the old days when the island was
disturbed by tribal wars. Sometimes he would go fishing on the reef, and
bring home a basket full of coloured fish. Sometimes at night he would
go out with a lantern to catch lobster. There were plantains round the
hut and Sally would roast them for their frugal meal. She knew how to
make delicious messes from coconuts, and the bread-fruit tree by the
side of the creek gave them its frui