Stroganoff got on his feet, rubbed his knees to limber them, and
began to move off slowly toward Fa'a, his place of abode.

"But, Mr. Stroganoff," I called to him, "you said all that about the
Tahitians, also."

The Russian octogenarian drew an over-ripe mango from his skirt, and
bit into it, with dire results to his whiskers and coat,--it should
be eaten only in a bathtub,--and replied wearily:

"I except nobody here."



Chapter VI

The Cercle Bougainville--Officialdom in Tahiti--My first visit to the
Bougainville--Skippers and merchants--A song and a drink--The flavor
of the South Seas--Rumors of war.

In Papeete there were two social clubs, the Cercle Bougainville and the
Cercle Militaire. Even in Papeete, which has not half as many people
as work in a certain building in New York, there is a bureaucracy,
and the Cercle Militaire, in a park near the executive mansion on
the rue de Rivoli, is its arcanum. Only members of the Government
may belong, and a few others whose proposals must be stamped by the
political powers. There is a garden, with a small library, but not many
read in this climate, and the atmosphere of the Cercle Militaire was
tedious. The governor himself and the black procureur de la Republique,