OF THE SOUTH SEAS 311 



but convulsed at the antics of the head poHceman, yelled 

 encore. The British consul grinned, and the governor 

 turned and winked at him. The entente cordiale was 

 cemented again. The second in command, who pro- 

 voked the sundering of the tie, had reunited it by his 

 comicality. Ire dissolved in glee. 



A play followed, in which several of the players were 

 in the audience, and in which my barber, M. Bontet, 

 shone, and moving-pictures followed. The babies were 

 long asleep, and we yawning when we were dismissed 

 at half past twelve. 



Bemis, the cocoanut-buyer, sat through the entr'acte, 

 not accompanying me to the buffet. He received a 

 shock during the handing out of the premiums and was 

 silent afterward. Bemis was a striking man, because 

 the very regular features of his young face were set 

 off by a mass of white hair. He was placid, without a 

 disturbing intellect, and interested solely in the price 

 and condition of fresh cocoanuts for shipment. I had 

 seen him start when a little girl of distinctive expression 

 was called to the stage to receive her book. She sat 

 with her mother and putative father, and their other 

 children. When I first saw her, I pulled his arm. 



"Bemis," I said, "for heaven's sake, look at that 

 girl!" 



He looked, and his face tensed, growing ashen white. 

 "She 's the image of you, Bemis," I pursued. 



"For God's sake, talk low!" he cautioned. "People 

 are rubbering at me now. She is mine, I 'm sure. I 

 was here six months a dozen years ago and had an 

 affair with her mother, who sits there. What can I 

 do? I have my own at home in Oakland. I could not 



