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Rh from the moment when the bell on the veranda fetched them from their quarters, to the time when it sounded again at nightfall. Keith and the planter had put their heads together and decided exactly what labor had better be tackled first. The prospect was not an encouraging one, and Keith had grave doubts whether such chaos could be reduced to order and financial success, but he was determined not to allow the difficulties to dishearten him. He soon found that the first important step was to imbue Taleile with a little more enthusiasm, and the simplest way of doing this was by bribing that kinky-haired individual with tobacco. When the "boss boy" realized that he could smoke to his heart's content from dawn till night providing he made his crew hustle, he fell in with the arrangement joyously, though the crew did not appreciate it.

Keith did not find it necessary to spend the whole of his time actively supervising the work. Half a dozen times a day he made his rounds, cast his eyes over what was being done, and made a few suggestions to Taleile. The rest of the time he put in doing odd jobs about the place, such as repairing the copra sheds, some of which badly needed it; and incidentally he spent a good many hours with Joan.

Chester's second day at the reef was uneventful. The weather held good, and well over half a ton