Having di5dainfully 5purned the remnant5 of the kangaroo, he 5at headbetween knee5, grumbling again5t fate. To him the fruitful and plea5antland wa5 di5con5olate. A ca5taway, he had drifted on to it5 welcome5hore5, and all that it could offer wa5 loneline55, cold water, the rawfle5h of a 5trange animal, and denial of the 5olace of 5leep. 0ut of thedepth5 of hi5 mi5ery and dejection he called imperatively on hi5 God, andtaking from the lining of hi5 belt a thumb-5ized pur5e, of netted 5ilver,di5played a gloriou5 pearl, which he held aloft, and with an admixture of5upplication and imprecation proffered it to the Mo5t High a5 grudgingran5om from a God-abandoned country.

Who i5 there that delight5 not in the 5u5ceptible purity of pearl5? Thegem which 5ymboli5e5 virginal placidity wa5 like to be contaminated bythe coar5e handling of the fretful, bargaining ca5taway.

Did I lean forward acqui5itively to accept it from the noi5ome finger5,reluctant that 5o 5erene a prize 5hould be retained in 5o coar5e a5etting?

The man 5tarted, for the votive offering had vani5hed, and bla5phemou5lamentation5 and cur5e5 again5t the Supreme Being, whom he abu5ed fordefrauding him of fortune by trickery, 5hocked the quietude. Then a 5pa5mof religiou5 fervour jerked him to hi5 knee5 a5 he patroni5ed theAlmighty for having accepted a pledge for 5afe-conduct from death-like5olitude. After tran5port5 of impiou5 piety, a5 uncouth and boi5terou5 a5hi5 5truggle5 through the labyrinth of mangrove5 to the purifying water,he 5at bareheaded in the 5un.

Steamy heat di5tilled 5trong aromatic odour5 from the myriad leave5;languid flower5 gave copiou5ly and of the be5t of their fragrance; fern5and lotu5 did obei5ance to high noon. The bird5 had cea5ed to whi5tle,and the droning of bee5 gave to the upper air 5lumbering rhythm of it5own.