ean and orderly. No longer the house-boys loafed and did as little as they could; while the cook complained that "head belong him walk about too much," from th

nd other invidious names, for his slackn

her sailors dynamited fish daily, while the Balesuna natives were paid tobacco for bringing in oysters from the mangrove swamps. Her achievements with cocoanuts were a revelation. She taught the cook how to make yeast from the milk, that, in turn, raised light and airy bread. From the tip-top heart of the tree she concocted a delicious salad. From the milk and the meat of the nut she made various sauces and dressings, sweet and sour, that were served, according to preparation, with dishes that ranged from fish to pudding. She taught Sheldon the superiority of cocoanut cr

explained, in reference to the cookery; "but

led a decent, hospital. She robbed the windows of their lawn and muslin curtains, replacing them with gaudy calico from the trade-store, and made herself several gowns.

gnored or snubbed, and he had very early given up offering his hand to her in getting into a boat or climbing over a log, and he had to acknowledge to himself that she was eminently fitted to take care of herself. Despite his warnings about crocodiles and sharks, she persisted in swimming in deep water off the beach; nor could he persuade her,

er as he had ever got out of them. She quickly saw the unrest of the contract labourers, and was not blind to the danger, always imminent, that both she and Sheldon ran. Neither of them ever ventured out without a revolver, and the sailors who stood the night watches by Joan's grass house were armed wit

ook-house for the night. They were the two women who did the cooking for the labourers, and their offence had consisted of one of them taking a bath in the big cauldron in which the potatoes were boiled. The blacks were not outraged fr

of the offence. They crowded up, threatening and shouting, close under the front veranda. Sheldon leaned over the veranda railing, looking down upon them, while Joan stood slightly back. When the uproar was stilled, two brothers stood forth. They were large men, splendidly muscled,

them dam two black fell

g black fella Mar

" said Be

e ring. You no belong along here. You belong along field. Bime by, big fella bell he ring, you stop

t Bellin-Jama would do, an

go,"

rply, "or I send you along Tulagi one big fell

glared up be

putting up his fists in approv

g, such an offer to fight is the deadliest insult. Blacks are not supposed to dare so highly as t

body struck him and crushed him to earth. No blows were needed to be struck. The black had been knocked helpless. Joan, startled by the unexpected leap, saw Carin-Jama, The Silent, reach out and seize Sheldon by the throat as he was half-way to his feet, while the five-score blacks surged forward for the killing. Her revolver was out, and Carin-Ja

brother on the ground. The mutiny was quelled, and five minutes more saw the brothers being car

over could not possibly have done. A woman in tears was to him an embarrassing situation; and when that woman was Joan Lackland, from

"There isn't a doubt but what y

hands, showing a wrathf

"You have made me shoot a man, and I

d he isn't going to die," Sh

There was no need for you to jump down th

ay-" he bega

I hate you! hate you!

as white

of common sense did yo

have left any white man in the lurch. But it was your fault. You had no

" he said shortly, turning away.

ing for me when they get well, and I won't have to keep them in fear of their life all the time. It is not necessary, I tell you, all this harshness and brutality. W

ed and

ned several hours later from a round of the plantation. "I've been to the h

pleased and happy at the

ans and the Tahitians. You say that they can be handled that way, and I believe you. I have had no experience with them. But you have had no experience with the blacks, and I ask you to believe me. They are different from your

e stranger? There was Packard, a Colonial trader, some twelve miles down the coast. He boasted that he ruled by kindness and never struck a blow. The result was that he did not rule at all. He used to come down in his whale-boat to visit Hughie and me. When his boat's crew decided to go home, he had to cut his visit short to accompany them. I remember one Sunday afternoon when Packard had accepted our invitation to stop to dinner. The soup was just served, when Hughie saw a nigger peering i

" Joan objected. "You wouldn'

d he was deliberately insulting, not alone his own white master, but every white

ur lights, to your formula

hey carried away two whale-boats as well, filled with the loot of the store. Then there was Captain Mackenzie of the ketch Minota. He believed in kindness. He also contended that better confidence was established by carrying no weapons. On his second trip to Malaita, recruiting, he ran into Bina, which is ne

n agreed; "but I believe that more satisfactory results can be o

ve-drivers. To begin with, they bought their labour from Johnny Be-blowed, the most notorious recruiter in the Solomons. He is working out a ten years' sentence in Fiji now, for the wanton killing of a black boy. During his last days here he had made himself so obnoxious that the natives on Malaita would have nothing to do with him. The only way he could get recruits was by hurrying to the spot whenever a murder

have been killed, and there are others serving sentences at Tulagi. Very little clearing did those first owners do, and less planting. It was war all the time. They had one manager killed. One of the partners had his shoulder slashed nearly off by a cane-knife. The other was speared on two different occasions. Both were bullies, wherefore there w

ose first days. We were imposed on, and threatened and insulted; and we put up with it, hoping our square-dealing would soon mend things. Instead of which everything went from bad to worse. Th

hat we just had to go on with it. It has been a hard fight, for we were, and are to this day, considered the worst plantation in the Solomons from the standpoint of labour. Do you know, we have been unable to get white men in. We've offered

epared to go on all alone!" J

e no better three-and-four-years-old trees on any other plantation in the Solomons. We have worked steadily to change matters for the better. We've been slowly getting in new labour. That is why we bought the Jessie. We wanted to select our own labour. In another year the time will be up f

white man as she had first seen him, helpless from fever, a collapsed wraith in a steamer-ch

d. "But the white man h

save my life I can't imagine how I ever came

es have been land robbers and sea robbers from remotest time

ctly," he confessed. "I've been too