Page:Weird Tales Volume 02 Number 2 (1937-02).djvu/86

 a sailor's life. It held him down too utterly to one particular thing.

When on a certain voyage he landed in Tahiti, he decided at once that he had found at last the land in which he would settle. At the time he had had quite a bit of money as wealth is measured in the South Seas; so he bought an interest in a sailing-vessel which plied in and out among the islands. In this venture he prospered. He made more money than he could squander. At first he dealt in all commodities. Later he switched to copra alone. He never tried to branch out, to develop a larger business. He was satisfied with what he already had. An indolent life appealed to him.

In the end he abandoned the sea and settled on the island where Guy and Jolly Cauldron had found him. Now he had attained his heart's desire. His days were passed slothfully in a hammock on the screened porch of his one-storied house. His nights were passed in wild carousing, drunken nights and mysticism.

He lived with Kum-Kum and a score of Marquesan servants, not to mention two Chinese cooks who were veritable conjurers at their calling, for they could cook the most savory dishes from the most ordinary ingredients. They knew how to make the native kava, coconut brandy. It was this accomplishment that endeared them to Fernay Corday.

Fetia, Kum-Kum's mother, was dead. She had died of old age at thirty-eight. Like Kum-Kum she had been beautiful in her youth, but her blooming was forced like that of a hot-house flower. She lived intensely, loving pleasure, sleeping by day, feasting by night, a gorgeous flame consuming itself in its own glowing. Even when death was upon her she was not sorry for the manner in which her time had been passed.

"At least," she said, "I have lived, and that is much. Now I die. It is inevitable. There is nothing sad about it. One need only grieve over the death of a person who dies before he has lived."

So passed Fetia, mother of Kum-Kum.

graciously welcomed Guy and Jolly Cauldron into his home. "I have enough rooms," he said, "to accommodate a regiment. But they are never used. This island is rather off the beaten track. Therefore it gives me great pleasure to welcome you. Enter my home and remain as long as you desire."

It was not until late in the evening that Kum-Kum appeared. Then when the dark shadows of night had settled down over the island and the dim oil lamps were lighted, she came softly to them, as though she had stepped out of the shadows through opaque curtains. Fernay Corday had ordered his Marquesan boys to play. There were three of them and they sat on the coral sand not far from the veranda steps, playing sad dreamy music. Then came Kum-Kum.

She whirled into the dim-lit circle, her strong white teeth glowing through her opened lips, as though lighted by the flame within her. In her hair were entwined a few hibiscus blossoms and about her neck was a string of pink coral beads. She was dressed in a single garment which accentuated the soft lines of her body.

The effect of her appearance upon the three men was peculiar. Fernay Corday gazed at her through half-closed eyes. He was amused. She was a pretty picture to gaze upon as he sipped his kava. Perhaps he thought of Fetia in the heyday of her youth. He was on the verge of sleep.

Crouched in the sand like a great ape was Jolly Cauldron. He had left his place on the veranda as soon as she had come to them. Even in his wildest fancies he had never imagined that she would be