said Mr. Tarleton. "And now
what am I to do for you? I will speak to Namu, I will warn him he is
observed; it will be strange if he allow anything to go on amiss when he
is put upon his guard. At the same time, this precaution may fail, and
then you must turn elsewhere. You have two people at hand to whom you
might apply. There is, first of all, the priest, who might protect you
by the Catholic interest; they are a wretchedly small body, but they
count two chiefs. And then there is old Faiaso. Ah! if it had been some
years ago you would have needed no one else; but his influence is much
reduced; it has gone into Maea's hands, and Maea, I fear, is one of
Case's jackals. In fine, if the worst comes to the worst, you must send
up or come yourself to Fale-alii, and, though I am not due at this end
of the island for a month, I will just see what can be done."

So Mr. Tarleton said farewell; and half an hour later the crew were
singing and the paddles flashing in the missionary boat.

FOOTNOTE:

[3] Alas!

CHAPTER IV

DEVIL-WORK

Near a month went by without much doing. The same night of our marriage
Galoshes called round, and made himself mighty civil, and got into a
habit of dropping in about dark and smoking his pipe with the family. He
could talk to Uma, of course, and started to teach me native and French
at the same time. He was a kind old buffer, though the dirtiest you
would wish to see, and he muddled me up with foreign languages worse
than the tower of Babel.

That was one employment we had, and it made me feel less lonesome; but
there was no profit in the thing, for though the priest came and sat and
yarned, none of his folks could be enticed into my store; and if it
hadn't been for the other occupation I struck out there wouldn't have
been a pound of copra in the house. This was the idea: Fa'avao (Uma's
mother) had a score of bearing trees. Of course we could get no labour,
being all as good as tabooed, and the two women and I turned to and made
copra with our own hands. It was copra to make your mouth water when it
was done--I never understood how much the natives cheated me till I had
made that four hundred pounds of my own hand--and it weighed so light I
felt inclined to take and water it myself.

When we were at the job a good many Kanakas used to put in the best of
the day looking on, and once that nigger turned up. He stood back with
the natives and laughed and did the big don and the f