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Rh profession of friendship after events of the last few months was a little too much for him to swallow whole even in such an isolated spot as Tamba. Perhaps Moniz realized this, but if so he gave no sign of it, nor was he visibly abashed by Chester's lack of enthusiasm.

"Yes," the trader went on. "Two heads are nearly always better than one, even in the South Seas. And there are some big chances to make money at times. Caramba! It was a pity Angell would not eat, for we had some schemes on foot that ought to have made us rich."

Chester elevated his eyebrows, in polite interest.

"He and I could have worked together well," Moniz went on reflectively.

There was a brief pause.

"I shouldn't have thought there were many opportunities here, outside planting and—" he was going to add pearling, but he felt that delicacy forbade—"and trading."

Moniz closed one eye.

"I'm an old stager in the Sulu Sea, and when you've been here as long as I have you'll know that it's quite a game," he said mysteriously. "But one man isn't much good by himself. Now, you and I—"

The trader again closed one eye, and Chester, who felt this was an auspicious moment for thawing, smiled vaguely. The potent spirit—which