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“I have talked with Peggy,” said Stewart in a low voice, “and explained our determination to desert the ship. She thinks that I am leaving for her sake—a half-truth, at least. As for you two, she believes that you are enamoured of the Indian life, or of some of the young ladies on shore. Peggy will aid us with her whole heart. Unfortunately, the only large canoe her family possesses is at Tetiaroa. She will send a small vessel to fetch it to-morrow if the wind is fair.”

“Then let us pray for a fair wind,” said Morrison seriously.

“I wish we could take the others,” I said.

“There will be no chance of that,” Morrison replied. “Christian means to keep them confined below till the ship sails.”

“In any case there would be too many,” said Stewart. “Their very numbers would make escape impossible.”

Morrison shrugged his shoulders. “No—we can think only of ourselves. I have only one desire, one thought—to return to England. A ship will come, you may count on that, though we may have to wait two or three years for her. We shall have to be patient, that is all.”