mind; but Mapuhi's mother and wife, and Ngakura, Mapuhi's daughter,
bolstered him in his resolve for the house. Through the open doorway,
while he listened for the twentieth time to the detailed description
of the house that was wanted, Raoul saw his schooner's second boat
draw up on the beach. The sailors rested on the oars, advertising
haste to be gone. The first mate of the Aorai sprang ashore, exchanged
a word with the one-armed native, then hurried toward Raoul. The day
grew suddenly dark, as a squall obscured the face of the sun. Across
the lagoon Raoul could see approaching the ominous line of the puff of
wind.

"Captain Raffy says you've got to get to hell outa here," was the
mate's greeting. "If there's any shell, we've got to run the risk of
picking it up later on--so he says. The barometer's dropped to
twenty-nine-seventy."

The gust of wind struck the pandanus tree overhead and tore through
the palms beyond, flinging half a dozen ripe cocoanuts with heavy
thuds to the ground. Then came the rain out of the distance, advancing
with the roar of a gale of wind and causing the water of the lagoon to
smoke in driven windrows. The sharp rattle of the first drops was on
the leaves when Raoul sprang to his feet.

"A thousand Chili dollars, cash down, Mapuhi," he said. "And two
hundred Chili dollars in trade."

"I want a house--" the other began.

"Mapuhi!" Raoul yelled, in order to make himself heard. "You are a
fool!"