rk out" this tax. It had to be paid in "cash." Out of the taxes so
received, the school, the church, the "hospital" and the "government"
were to be supported.

The "governor" of Trigger Island and the humblest workingman were to
receive exactly the same pay: "hour" for hour. Thirty thousand "hours"
represented the total issue, or, approximately fifty units for each
individual over the age of thirteen.

As no man's hours was worth more than another's, and as every
transaction was to be based on time, rather than on money, there was no
small likelihood that any one man or group of men could ever obtain a
commanding grip on the finances of the Island.

And so it came to pass that all manner of enterprises sprang into
existence. Competition was not allowed. There could be but one millinery
shop, one dress-making establishment, one shoe and sandal factory, and
so on. Everything was conducted on a strictly cash basis; there were no
"charge accounts."

Olga Obosky, as the proprietress of the millinery shop, earned no more
than any one of her half-dozen assistants,--and they were all paid by
the "government." The same could be said of Madame Careni-Amori, who
conducted a school of music, and the great Joseppi who graciously,--even
gladly,--went into the tailoring business. Andrew Mott, one time First
Officer on the Doraine, opened a "smoke" store and dispensed cured
weed that Flattner authorized him to call "tobacco." The austere Mrs.
Spofford decided to open a dress-making shop!

It was all very simple, this man-to-man system of traffic, but no one
took it lightly or in the spirit of jest. They were serious, they were
sober-minded. Interest, incentive, grim determination centred in the
seemingly childish arrangement. Greed was lacking, for there was no
chance to hoard; confidence was paramount, for there was no chance to
lose.

The "hours" travelled in a circle, from the "government" to people, from
people to "government"; when all was said and done, it was the product
of soil and sea that formed the backbone of the system.

With the adoption of the plan, it was to become a punishable
offence,--indeed, it was to be classified as treason,--for any resident
of Trigger Island to "forage" for necessities. He could do what he
pleased in respect to the non-essentials, but when it came to foodstuffs
of any kind or description, he was guilty of a felony if he failed to
turn all that he produced or secured into the general stor