fronted him with what seemed irony, her helmeted head tossed back, her formidable arm apparently hurling something, whether shell or missile, in the direction of the an

e had been the blind conductress of a ship among the waves; so long she had stood here idle in the violent sun, that yet did not avail to blister her; and was even this the end of so many adventures

fairly solid and quite level, and Herrick's steps fell there noiseless as in new-fallen snow. It bore the marks of having been once weeded like a garden alley at home; but the pestilence had done its work, and the weeds were returning. The buildings of the settlement showed here and there

and capacity; cabin windows and ladders; rusty tanks, a companion hutch; a binnacle with its brass mountings and its compass idly pointing, in the confusion and dusk of that shed, to a forgotten pole; ropes, anchors, harpoons, a blubber dipper of copper, green with years, a steering wheel, a tool chest with the vessel's name upon the top, the Asia: a whole curiosity-shop of sea cu

f a stealthy approach were no doubt audible; and while he still stood staring at the lumber, the voice

y old junk! And does M

, turning quickly, lest he might be able to catch, on

s hands stretched above his head and grasping the architrave. He

frigid, when a bit of an old rail that an old shellback leaned on in the middle watch, would bring me up all standing. But com

Herrick, breathing deep, wi

has a flavour, it has a colour, it has a ring and fall to it; it's like its author - it's half Christian! Remember your first view of th

u!' exclaimed Herrick. '

will make nice work of it,' said Attwater

tly ordered: pumps and pipes, and the leaded boots, and the huge s

to great advantage. It paid beyond belief, and was a queer sight when they were at it, and these marine monsters'- tapping

' said

and all the while the fellow inside as dry as toast!' said Attwater; 'and I thought we all wanted a dr

ceit,' sa

n seriously!'

t, then!' corrected

- 'nothing there'- smiting the wall -'and nothing there'- stamping -'nothing but God's Grace! We walk upon it, we breathe it; we live and die by it; it makes the nails and axles of the universe; and a puppy in pyjamas prefers self

nse, I am afrai

al drunkards,' said Attwater flippantly. 'Le

d act accordingly; decision being till then postponed. Iron cruelty, an iron insensibility to the suffering of others, the uncompromising pursuit of his own interests, cold culture, manners without humanity; these he had looked for, these he still thought he saw. But to find the whole

re to the South Seas

they are too parsonish, too much of the old wife, and even the old apple wife. CLOTHES, CLOTHES, are their idea; but clothes are not Christianity, any more than they are the sun in heaven, or could take the place of it! They thin

island by an accid

ll, and I made my mission pay. No good ever came of coddling. A man has to stand up in God's sight and work up to his weight avoirdupois; then I'll talk to him, but not before. I gave

imperfect wooden things inspired with wicked activity, the crabs trundled and scuttled into holes. On the right, whither Attwater pointed and abruptly turned, was the cemetery of the island, a field of broken stones from the bigness of a child's hand to that of hi

fathers of the

a fellow, now, that used to frisk like a dog; if you had called him he came like an arrow from a bow; if you had not, and he came unbidden, you should have seen the deprecating eye and the little intricate dancing step. Well, his trouble is over now, he has lain down with

was the burier

, with bowed head; his voice sounded now s

ople?' cried Herric

lucked of their lendings, their dead birds and cocked hats, their petticoats and coloured hose. Here was one I liked though,' and he set his foot upon a moun

ouds were beginning to troop together and amass themselves

, 'as a man usually is about himself.

me. If you knew how I despised myself - and w

into your face today when you remembered Oxford. And I could have blushe

with a thrill. 'Wo

aid Attwater. 'Do you know that toda

it well,' sta

I was afraid of the two wolves.' He raised his hand slowly. 'And

; he is a . . . he is . . .' The phantom voice of Davis called in his ear: 'There's going to be a funeral' and the sweat bur

said Attwater. 'And so

Herrick. 'I do not like Huish. And

in all, as good a ship's company

aid Herric

her point of why you despis

e ourselves?' cried H

a bad conscience! Ah, man, that poor diving dress of self-conceit is sadly tattered! Today, now, while the sun sets, and

ng. 'Don't call me that! I mean . . . For

id Attwater. 'Please God, I will bring a penitent this night before His throne. C

ne with the brightness of a seraph's; in his voice,

pon my conscience, only folk-lore. I do not believe there is any form of words under heaven by which I can lift the burthen from my shoulders. I must stagger on to

ppeared; and in his place there stood an easy, sneering gentleman, who took off

mean by tha

he house?' said Attwater. 'O

wung clear in front of him, like the moon out of clouds. He had come to lure that man on board; he was failing, even if it

the now darkened colonnade of palms. There they went in silence, the earth gave up richly of her perfume, the air tasted warm and ar

ound. Incessantly, he had before him the image of that great mass of man stricken down in varying attitudes and with varying wounds; fallen prone, fallen supine, fallen on his side; or clinging to a doorpost with the changing face and the relaxing fingers of the death-agony. He heard the click of the trigger, the thud of the, ball, the cry of the victim; he saw the blood flow. And this building up of circumstance was like a consecration of the man, till he seemed to walk in sacrificial fillets. Next he considered Davis, with his thick-fingered, coarse-grained, oat-bread commonness of nature, his indomitable valour and mirth in the old days of their starvation, the endearing blend of his faults and virtues, the sudden shining forth of a tenderness that lay too deep for tears; his children, Adar and her bowel comp

affairs, and the tide had carried him away; he heard already the roaring of the maelstrom tha

the orgasm was over; he found himself placid with the placidity of despair; there returned to him th

s here would be very pleasant if one had anyt

t?' asked

ter. 'It is faith; I believe my balls will go true; if

iss, then?'

he western islands, who used to empty a Winchester all round a man, and stir his hair or nick a rag out of

?' asked Herrick,

rned the other. 'You do not u

the clear, fierce, essential radiance of cocoanut shells. A fragrance of strange meats was in the air. All round in the ve

safe, or shelf or two of books in a glazed case, and an iron washing-stand. Presently he cried in the n

ime the fourth survivor of the pestilence, and was

left of it. We are all afraid of devils, if you please! and Taniera

etty,' sai

to be a fool about women; so when we were left alone, I had the pair of them to the chapel and performed

as a safeguard?' asked

HATH JOINED TOGETHER, are the words, I fancy. So one m

said H

be a moderate fortune, when I have the time to place the pearls upon the market. Here are ten years' accumulation from a lagoon, where I have had as many as ten

tained himself with difficulty. 'No, thank you, I think not,' said he

se with all of us and everything about us!- hangs. by a hair. Today it groweth up and flourisheth; tomorrow it is cut down and cast into the oven

erstand you,'

said At

unsteadily. 'I do not understand what manner

by the bye, who painted out the schooner's name?' he said, with mocking softness, 'because, do you know? one thinks it should be done again. It can still be partly read; and wha

erry mechanically, drank it, and spoke mechanical words of praise. The object of his terror had become suddenly inverted; till then he had seen Attwater trussed and gagged, a helpless victim, and had longed to

id, and the next moment coul

n through a mutiny here; that was on

them, and looking forth from the verandah