An Island King. 
2 5 1 
look towards these venturesome whites. Then 
it was time to clear ; to leave the island abso¬ 
lutely, for he would tolerate no white man 
living on shore except those actually in his 
service and in his favour. 
• • • # • 
Back from the house were the copra sheds 
and other buildings used for storing the King’s 
produce; and all day long his slaves toiled about 
him, cutting up the coconuts and drying them 
on mats in the fierce, hot sun. Patiently and 
in silence they worked, for they knew that those 
small, keen eyes, under that heavy, sullen brow, 
might fall upon them if they rested or talked. 
And then might the King give a sign, and one 
of the guards would come with a weighty stick, 
and the sound of savage blows upon naked 
backs be heard. 
Out upon the broad, shady verandah sat the 
Royal harem—women captured mostly from 
Apian and Tarawa and Maiana. Before them 
was spread a profusion of food—native and 
European—and as they ate and talked in low 
whispers each one sought to rival the others in 
her caressing attentions to a strong, handsome 
boy of ten years of age who ate among them. 
