PROLOGUE

Though it was night and there was no moon,a dim, weird light lay over the isle and piercedto the depths of the forests. It was in theSolomons, where the dark, picturesque surroundingsof palm and reef, the noise of the distant surfs, madea suitable setting for anything unexpected. Even thesilver sea-birds had weird, startled-looking eyes downFelisi beach way. And when the wild brown mencrept away from the grave-side of one whom they hadjust buried in the forest, the winds sighed a fittingmusic across the primeval heights. But there wasnothing strange in that; men must die wherever onegoes, and it was a common enough occurrence in thatheathen land where the ocean boomed on the one sideand inland to the south-west stood the mountains,looking like mighty monuments erected in memory ofthe first dark ages. Across the skies of Bougainvillethe stars had been marshalled in the millions. Itseemed a veritable heathen faeryland as the nightechoed a hollow “Tarabab!” But even that heathenishword was only the tribal chief’s yell as he stood underthe palms conducting the semi-religious tambu ceremony.The tawny maidens and high chiefs, with theirfeather head-dresses, all in full festival costume,were squatting in front of the secret tambu stage,some mumbling prayer, others beating their handstogether as an accompaniment. And still the duskytambu dancer moved her perfect limbs rhythmicallyto the rustling of her sarong-like attire, swaying firstto the right then to the left as she chanted to thewailings of the bamboo fifes and bone flutes. Theorchestral-like moan of the huge bread-fruits, asodorous drifts of hot wind swept in from the tropicseas, seemed to murmur in complete sympathy withthe pretty dancer. One might easily have concludedthat Oom Pa, the aged high priest, was the “star turn”of the evening as he stood there enjoying his thoughtsand performing magnificently on the monster tribaldrum.

There was something fascinating and super-primitiveabout the whole scene. The very scents fromdecaying forest frangipani and hibiscus blossomsseemed to drift out of the damp gloom of the dark ages.The presence of civilisation in

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