34 CORAL AND ATOLLS 



unfortunate woman, no word would ever come to his ears of 

 Avhat might happen at the meeting. But this did not satisfy 

 the father's conscience, and milder methods were adopted. 



Diplomacy did not succeed, and the discontented coolies 

 assumed a threatening attitude. The climax was reached 

 when, in an angry meeting outside the Governor's house, 

 George Ross faced the blood-guilty leader of the malcontents. 

 The people seemed out of hand, and the ringleader made one 

 step towards George Ross. Things were at high tension, and 

 swift action could alone save the situation and the lives of 

 those in authority. Ross Tertius acted on the instant and 

 struck the man to the ground with a cutlass before the eyes 

 of all the people. 



This prompt action produced an instantaneous effect upon 

 the malcontents, and with the loyal co-operation of the Cocos- 

 born natives, the gang was broken up, and the wretched 

 murderer was handed over to the authorities in Java. 



This event did not long precede the death of Ross 

 Secundus, and the command that Ross Tertius had gained 

 over the natives stood him in good stead when the difficult 

 duty of taking sole charge devolved upon him. At his father's 

 death, George Ross did not tacitly assume the Governorship, 

 but calling all the people together he spoke to them, discussing 

 the affairs of the islands and asked them to elect their ruler. 

 The islanders were not slow to make their choice, and George 

 Ross was duly installed as the elected Governor of the islands. 

 He set about his duties with great resolution, and soon, under 

 his guiding hand, the islands reached a pitch of prosperous 

 tranquillity that they had not known before. 



George Ross had already followed the example of his 

 father in making himself more qualified to act in every way 

 as the friend of his subjects by marrying a wife from among 

 his own people. The lady who became his wife and the 

 mother of his numerous children was named Inin, and she was 

 a member of one of the original high-born Malay families that 

 came to the islands with the pioneer. She was in every way 

 fitted to be the wife of such a man as he, for she was as 



