"Whom dost thou mean, Velo?" he asked.
"Whom but she whom thou wilt see presently--the wife of the dead captain," replied the Samoan, elevating his brows in astonishment.
"Nay, not she, Velo; though as thou sayest she is a fair, good woman. But she is but a friend; the woman I love liveth far away in Sini." [2]
Velo puffed at his pipe in silence for a few seconds ere he answered.
"But this woman Alisi loves thee, and she and thee are mau tonu ,[3] together. If thou dost not take her to wife she will be shamed in the eyes of all men."
The white man laughed again. "Not in the eyes of all men, Velo; the customs of us Englishmen are different from those of thy people. This woman is nothing to me and I am nothing to her but a friend. The ship is hers, and I am her servant, pledged to her s
