he doesn't say enough to let any one know which side of the fence he is
on. He has only learned to say yes and no, and he is mighty particular
about the number of times he will use those words."

I laughed at the bitterness the youngster threw into his speech. It is
good to be young. One can love and hate with some intensity, and it
appeared to me that Holman had found marks for both adoration and hatred
on the yacht that was slipping into the mysterious islands of the South
Sea.

"You mustn't look at the black side of things," I said. "Leith's face is
not a likable one, I will admit, but a lot of good fellows have ugly
dials. It seems that the Professor wants skulls, and it appears that
Leith knows of a spot where he can gather up the oldest specimens in
Polynesia. There's nothing wrong about that. As to Miss Herndon, she
struck me as being a young lady who was well able to look after
herself."

"That's all right," stammered the youngster. "Perhaps I said too much,
but I had to speak to you."

"And I'm mighty glad you did!" I cried.

He gripped my hand and turned away, leaving me to my own reflections. It
was a wonderful night. The silvery sea through which _The Waif_ drove
a path with plunging forefoot awoke strange dreams and fancies within my
brain. All the mystery of the tropic night welled up around me, and my
soul seemed to have suddenly awakened to the beauty of life. The veil of
morbid pessimism that came before my eyes during the weary days I had
spent upon the beach at Levuka was torn aside, and a wave of gladness