"This man Krause is a devil. He seeks his wife"s death because of another woman in his own country. He hath tried to poison her, and the poison still rankles in her blood. That is why she is so white of face and frail of body. And now she will neither eat nor drink aught but that of which I first eat or drink myself."
"How know you of this?"
"I know it well," she answered impressively, "and the man would kill me if he could by poison, as he hath tried to kill his wife. But poison can do me no harm. And he hateth but yet is afraid of me, for he knoweth that I long since saw the murder in his heart."
"These are strange things to say, Niabon. Beware of an unjust accusation when it comes to the too ready tongue."
She laughed scornfully. "No lie hath ever fouled mine. I tell thee again, this man is a devil, and has waited for a year past to see his wife die, for he married her according to the laws of England, and cannot put her away as he could do had he married her according to the native custom."
"Who hath told thee of these marriage laws of England?" I asked.
"What does it matter who hath told me?" she asked sharply. "Is not what I say true?"
"It is true," I said.
"Ay, it is true. And it is true also that she and thee and the man Tematau and I shall together look death in the face upon the wide sea.
And is not thy boat ready?"
Her strange, mysterious eyes as she spoke seemed to me--a physically weak but still mentally strong man at the moment--to have in them something weird, something that one could not affect either to ignore or despise. What could this woman know of my desire to leave the island in my boat? What could the man Tematau know of it? Never had I spoken of such an intention to any person, and I knew that, even in my worst attacks of fever and ague, I had never been delirious in the slightest degree. A sudden resentment for the moment took possession of me, and I spoke angrily.
"What is all this silly talk? What have I to do with thee, and for what should my boat be ready?"
"Be not angry with them, Simi, for there is nought but goodwill toward thee in my heart. See, wouldst have me cure the hot fever that makes the blood in thy veins to boil even now?"
"No," I said sullenly, "I want none of thy foolish charms or medicines.
Dost think I am a fool?"
"Nay," and she looked at me so wistfully that I at once repented of my harsh manner--"nay, indeed, Simi. Thou art a man strong in thy mind, and shall be strong in thy body if thou wouldst but let me give thee----"
"No more, woman," I said roughly. "Leave me. I want none of thy medicines, I say again."
"Thy wish is my law," she said gently, "but, ere I leave thee, I pray thee that in a little way thou wilt let me show thee that I _do_ mean well to thee."
I laughed, and asked her what medicine or charm she desired to experiment with upon me.
"No medicine, and no charm," she answered. "But I know that because of many things thy mind and thy body alike suffer pain, and that sleep would be good for thee. And I can give thee sleep--strong, dreamless sleep that, when thou awakenest, will make thee feel strong in thy body and softer in thy now angry heart to Niabon."
"If you can make me sleep now, I"ll give you twenty dollars," I said in my English fashion.
She took no notice of my rude and clumsy remark, though she had good reason to be offended.
"Simi," she said, "shall I give thee sleep?"
"Ay," I replied, "give me sleep till the master of this house returns."
She rose and bent over me, and then I noticed for the first time that, instead of being about thirty-five or forty years of age, as I had judged her to be by her hard, clear features and somewhat "bony"
appearance externally, she could not be more than five-and-twenty, or even younger.
She placed her right hand on my forehead, and held my right hand in her own.
"Sleep," she said--"sleep well and dreamlessly, man with the strong will to accomplish all that is before thee. Sleep."
Her hand pa.s.sed caressingly oyer my face, and in a few minutes I _was_ asleep, and slept as I had not slept for many weeks past. When I awakened at sunset I felt more refreshed and vigorous than I had been for many months.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Met me with outstretched hand 042]
Krause had just returned in his boat, and met me with outstretched hand.
His welcome was, I thought, unnecessarily effusive, and, declining his pressing invitation to remain for the night, I left, after remaining an hour or so longer. I noticed that immediately Krause arrived the girl Niabon disappeared, and did not return.
That was my first meeting with her, and I did not see her again till the evening of the storm, when she brought Tematau to me.
CHAPTER III
We, Niabon, Tematau and myself, were undisturbed by any visitors during the night, for the storm increased in violence, and, as daylight approached, the clamour of the surf upon the reef was something terrific. About four in the morning, however, there came such a thunderous, sudden boom that the island seemed shaken to its coral foundations, and Niabon declared that the storm had broken.
"That is what the people of the Tokelau Islands call _O le fati le galu_--the last great wave, that gathering itself together far out on the ocean, rushes to the reef, and curling high up as the mast of a ship, falls and shakes the land from one side to the other."
The girl knew what she was talking about, for from that moment the fury of the wind sensibly decreased, and half an hour later we were able to open the door and gaze out upon the sea, still seething white with broken, tumbling surf?
Walking down to my boat-house, I found that the boat herself was not injured in any way, though most of the roof had been blown away. Then feeling that my usual attack of ague was coming on, I returned to the house, and found that Niabon had made my coffee.
I drank it, and then wrapped myself up in a couple of blankets in readiness for the first touch of that deadly, terrible chill which seems to freeze the marrow in the bones of any one who is suffering from malarial fever. Niabon watched me gravely, and then came and stood beside me.
"Mr. Sherry," she said, this time speaking in English, "why don"t you let me give you some medicine to cure you of that fever? I _can_ cure you."
"I believe you can, Niabon," I replied; "you certainly mesmerised me when I was at Krause"s station that day, and I awakened feeling a lot better."
"What is "mesmerise"?" she asked quickly.
"Sending any one to sleep, as you did me."
"I can always do that," she said simply, "and so could my mother."
"Can you make me sleep now?"
"Not just now. Wait till the col" fit has gone. And then when you are wake up I shall have some medicine ready for you, and then you shall have no more fever."
My attack of ague lasted about half an hour, and left me with the usual splitting headache and aching bones. When I was able to turn myself, I saw that Niabon was seated beside Tematau dressing his lacerated back with some preparation of crushed leaves. She heard me move, turned her head, and smiled, and said she would be with me in a few moments.
Although my head was bursting with pain, I watched her with interest, noting the tenderness with which her smooth, brown fingers touched her companion"s body. When she had finished she rose, carefully washed and dried her shapely hands, and came over to me.
"Give me thy hand," she said in the native dialect, as she knelt beside my couch.
I gave her my left hand. She clasped it firmly but softly, and then the fingers of her right hand gently pressed down my eyelids.
"Sleep, sleep long."