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Updated: June 24, 2025
"Stand him out there on the beach and let one of the Ailap people shoot him." Jinaban was led forth from Palmer's house into the village square, and bound with his back to a coconut palm. On three sides of him were assembled nearly every man, woman, and child on Las Matelotas Lagoon.
His second brother, Raô, a courageous young man, seizing the only weapon available a seaman's cutlass rushed forth from his house and, calling upon Jinaban to lay down his weapon, advanced towards him.
"Because this man Porter is both wise and brave; and in two days or less we shall sleep in peace, for Jinaban shall be dead." Back from the clustering houses of Ijeet village the man who was "wise and brave" was sitting upon the bole of a fallen coco-palm with his arms clasped round the waist of the star-eyed Sépé, who listened to him half in fear, half in admiration.
Palmer called to his wife. She came in, heavy-eyed and pale-faced, for the youth whose head she and her women had just buried was much attached to her, and her husband as well. At that moment the lad's relatives were searching the lagoon in the hope of finding the body, into which it had doubtless been thrown by the ruthless hand of Jinaban; and Letanë had just returned alone to the house.
Slowly the young native raised the rifle to his shoulder, glanced along the barrel, then grounded it on the sand. "I cannot do it," he said, handing the weapon back. Jinaban heard and laughed. "Just what I thought would happen," muttered Palmer to Porter. "We must hurry things along, even if we have to do it ourselves," and then, raising his voice, he called out
"Stand, thou coward, Jinaban!" she called, setting the child down in the path "stand, thou coward, for though thou hast slain my husband thou shalt not rob me of that which was his give me back the gun." Jinaban laughed fiercely, and his white teeth flashed from his black-bearded lips; he slipped some cartridges into the rifle.
For some minutes, however, after the trader had finished, he did not speak, and then at last said in his slow, methodical way "I will promise you that I'll get you Jinaban, dead or alive, before a week is out. And I don't want money. But I want you, please, to get some one of your natives here to come and tell me all they can about Jinaban's friends in the other village."
"Nay," she said presently, in answer to something he had said, "no love have I for Jinaban; 'tis hate alone that hath led me to aid him, for he hath sworn to me that I shall yet see Letanë lie dead before me. And for that do I steal forth at night and take him food." "Dost thou then love Parma?" "As much as thou lovest his wife," the girl answered quickly, striking him petulantly on his knee.
Then Sépé was to settle her account with your wife while Jinaban rallied the Ijeet people, in case the Ailap natives wanted to fight. After that he and I were to divide all the plunder in the house and station between us, take two of your whaleboats, and with some of his people make for some other island in the Carolines as quick as possible. And Sépé was to be Mrs. Frank Porter.
"Where is Sépé?" he asked, as he sat down. "Locked up in there," said Palmer, pointing to one of the store-rooms. "Poor devil! Don't be too rough on her. I had to lay a stick across her back pretty often before she would help me to carry Jinaban down to the canoe. And I had to threaten to shoot her coming across the lagoon.
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