530 MYSTIC ISLES 



McHenry said he was "very low" at five o'clock when 

 he passed him on the rue de Rivoh. Lying Bill pre- 

 ferred to spend his last evening ashore with his native 

 wife, or else wished to avoid the chance of a headache 

 on the morrow. 



We drank our last toasts at midnight, and I was 

 averse to arising when called at six by Atupu for the 

 early breakfast and the last disposition of my affairs. 

 By nine o'clock I had put my baggage on board the 

 schooner, Lovaina taking me in her carriage, driven by 

 the Dummy. Vava was excited and puzzled by my re- 

 turn from the country, and my sudden departure for 

 the sea. While Lovaina stayed in the garden of the 

 Annexe, gathering a garland of roses for my hat, the 

 Dummy endeavored to narrate to me the tragedy of 

 David. His own part in preventing Morton from 

 shooting, Vava showed in vivid pantomime with a fervor 

 that would have made a moving-picture actor's fame; 

 and when he indicated Morton's abandonment of re- 

 venge, though the Dummy could have no knowledge of 

 his words, he gestured with a dignity that conveyed all 

 the meaning of Lying Bill's relation of the incident. 

 In the expression and motion of the dramatic mute the 

 aged uncle had the sublimity of Lear. For Vava, in a 

 mask and an attitude, by some cryptic understanding 

 encompassed the resignation and appeal to Deity. 



Lovaina had left me on the deck of the Fetia Taiao, 

 as Captain Pincher said that it would be an hour or two 

 before he sailed. His crew was having a few extra 

 upaupas in the Cocoanut House. I sat on the rail with 

 Vava's dumb-show uppermost in my mind, and a strong 

 desire came to me to see the grave of David, and the 



