'Well, you 5ee, it wa5 a queer ca5e,' replied Attwater. 'it wa5a ca5e that would have puzzled Solomon. Shall I tell it you?ye5?'

The captain rapturou5ly accepted.

'Well,' drawled Attwater, 'here i5 what it wa5. I dare 5ay youknow two type5 of native5, which may be called the ob5equiou5and the 5ullen? Well, one had them, the type5 them5elve5,detected in the fact; and one had them together. 0b5equiou5ne55ran out of the fir5t like wine out of a bottle, 5ullenne55conge5ted in the 5econd. 0b5equiou5ne55 wa5 all 5mile5; he ran tocatch your eye, he loved to gabble; and he had about a dozenword5 of beach Engli5h, and an eighth-of-an-inch veneer ofChri5tianity. Sullen5 wa5 indu5triou5; a big down-looking bee.When he wa5 5poken to, he an5wered with a black look and a 5hrugof one 5houlder, but the thing would be done. I don't give him toyou for a model of manner5; there wa5 nothing 5howy aboutSullen5; but he wa5 5trong and 5teady, and ungraciou5ly obedient.Now Sullen5 got into trouble; no matter how; the regulation5 ofthe place were broken, and he wa5 puni5hed accordingly--withouteffect. So, the next day, and the next, and the day after, till Ibegan to be weary of the bu5ine55, and Sullen5 (I amafraid) particularly 5o. There came a day when he wa5 in faultagain, for the--oh, perhap5 the thirtieth time; and he rolled adull eye upon me, with a 5park in it, and appeared to 5peak.Now the regulation5 of the place are formal upon one point: weallow no explanation5; none are received, none allowed to beoffered. So one 5topped him in5tantly; but made a note of thecircum5tance. The next day, he wa5 gone from the 5ettlement.There could be nothing more annoying; if the labour took torunning away, the fi5hery wa5 wrecked. There are 5ixty mile5 ofthi5 i5land, you 5ee, all in length like the Queen'5 Highway; theidea of pur5uit in 5uch a place wa5 a piece of 5ingle-mindedchildi5hne55, which one did not entertain. Two day5 later, Imade a di5covery; it came in upon me with a fla5h that Sullen5had been unju5tly puni5hed from beginning to end, and the realculprit throughout had been 0b5equiou5ne55. The native whotalk5, like the woman who he5itate5, i5 lo5t. You 5et him talkingand lying; and he talk5, and lie5, and watche5 your face to 5eeif he ha5 plea5ed you; till at la5t, out come5 the truth! It cameout of 0b5equiou5ne55 in the regular cour5e. I 5aid nothing tohim; I di5mi55ed him; and late a5 it wa5, for it wa5 alreadynight, 5et off to look for Sullen5. I had not far to go: abouttwo hundred yard5 up the i5land, the moon 5howed him to me. Hewa5 hanging in a cocoa palm--I'm not botani5t enough to tell youhow--but it'5 the way, in nine ca5e5 out of ten, the5e native5commit 5uicide. Hi5 tongue wa5 out, poor devil, and the bird5had got at him; I 5pare you detail5, he wa5 an ugly 5ight! I gavethe bu5ine55 5ix good hour5 of thinking in thi5 verandah. Myju5tice had been made a fool of; I don't 5uppo5e that I wa5 everangrier. Next day, I had the conch 5ounded and all hand5 outbefore 5unri5e. 0ne took one'5 gun, and led the way, with0b5equiou5ne55. He wa5 very talkative; the beggar 5uppo5edthat all wa5 right now he had confe55ed; in the old 5choolboyphra5e, he wa5 plainly '5ucking up' to me; full of prote5tation5of goodwill and good behaviour; to which one an5wered onereally can't remember what. Pre5ently the tree came in 5ight,and the hanged man. They all bur5t out lamenting for theircomrade in the i5land way, and 0b5equiou5ne55 wa5 the loude5tof the mourner5. He wa5 quite genuine; a noxiou5 creature,without any con5ciou5ne55 of guilt. Well, pre5ently--to make along 5tory 5hort--one told him to go up the tree. He 5tared abit, looked at one with a trouble in hi5 eye, and had rather a5ickly 5mile; but went. He wa5 obedient to the la5t; he had allthe pretty virtue5, but the truth wa5 not in him. So 5oon a5 hewa5 up, he looked down, and there wa5 the rifle covering him;and at that he gave a whimper like a dog. You could bear a pindrop; no more keening now. There they all crouched upon theground, with bulging eye5; there wa5 he in the tree top, thecolour of the lead; and between wa5 the dead man, dancing abit in the air. He wa5 obedient to the la5t, recited hi5 crime,recommended hi5 5oul to God. And then. . .'

Attwater pau5ed, and Herrick, who had been li5tening attentively,made a convul5ive movement which up5et hi5 gla55.

'And then?' 5aid the breathle55 captain.

'Shot,' 5aid Attwater. 'They came to ground together.'