now when katafa led le moan away into the shelter of the trees, le moan, with the kiss of katafa warm upon her forehead, knew nothing, nothing of the fact that katafa was taori’s, the dream and treasure of his life, beside whom all other living things were shadows.
and katafa knew nothing, nothing of the fact that taori was le moan’s—was le moan; for le moan had so dreamed him into herself that the vision of him had become part of herself inseparable for ever.
ringed and ringed with ignorance, ignorance of their own race, and the affinity between them, of the fact that they and taori formed amongst the people of karolin a little colony alien in blood and soul, of the fact that taori was their common desire, they went between the trees, katafa leading the way towards the house of uta matu, above which nan on his pole still grinned towards the schooner, grinned without nodding, maybe because the wind that had moved him had ceased.
katafa, taking the sleeping mat used by her and taori, spread it on the floor of the house, then she offered food, but le moan refused, she only wanted sleep. for nights she had not slept and the kiss that katafa again pressed upon her brow seemed to her the kiss of a phantom in a dream as she sank down and died to the world on the bed of the lover who knew nothing of her love.
it was still morning.
outside in the blazing sun the people of karolin went about their business, mending the wall of the house that had been broken, preparing food for the newcomers, rejoicing in the new life that had come back to them. whilst in the lagoon the anchored schooner swung to her moorings, deserted and without sign of life, for dick had decided that no one should board her till he and aioma led the way, that is till the morrow, for there were many things to be attended to first.
le moan had brought him not only a ship, but six full-grown men, a priceless gift if the men were to be trusted.
aioma, who had held off from the business of fraternizing, watching the newcomers with a critical eye, believed that they were good men. “but wait,” said aioma, “till they are fed, till they have rested and slept amongst us; a good-looking coconut is sometimes rotten at the core, but these i believe to be good men even as le moan has said; but to-night will tell.”
at dusk he came to taori, happy. each of the new men had taken a wife; incidentally, in the next few days each of the newcomers, with one exception, had taken from four to six wives.
“each has a woman,” said the direct aioma. “we are sure of them now, they are in the mammee apple, all except one who is very young and who says that he has no heart for women.”
he spoke of kanoa. kanoa brooding alone by the water’s edge, sick with love and desire. love that was even greater than desire, for the deed of le moan that had stirred in him the ghosts of his ancestors, had raised the soul of kanoa beyond the flesh where hitherto it had been tangled and blind.
meanwhile le moan slept. slept whilst the dusk rose and the stars came out, slept till the moon high against the milky way pierced the house of uta matu with her shafts.
then sleep fell from her gradually and turning on her elbow she saw the moon rays shining through the canes of the wall, the little ships ghostly on their shelves and through the doorway the wonderful world of moonlit reef and sea.
nothing broke the stillness of the night but the surf of the reef and a gentle wind that stirred the palm fronds with a faint pattering rainy sound and passed away across the mammee apple where men and women lay embraced, who the night before had not known even of each other’s existence.
before the doorway, sheltered from the moon by a tree shadow, all but their feet that showed fully in the light, two forms lay stretched on a mat—taori and katafa. they had given up their house to the saviour of karolin, taken a mat from one of the women’s houses, and fallen asleep with only the tree for shelter. le moan, not recognizing them, still dazed with sleep, rose, came to the doorway and looked down.
then she knew.
taori’s head was pillowed on katafa’s shoulder, her arm was around his neck, his arm across her body.
