It was as if those people had a premonition of something.  In the taciturn days of the passage he had noticed their reserve even amongst themselves.  The professor smoked his pipe moodily in retired spots.  Renouard had caught Miss Moorsom’s eyes resting on himself more than once, with a peculiar and grave expression.  He fancied that she avoided all opportunities of conversation.  The maiden lady seemed to nurse a grievance.  And now what had he to do?

The lights on the deck had gone out one after the other.  The schooner slept.

About an hour after Miss Moorsom had gone below without a sign or a word for him, Renouard got out of his hammock slung in the waist under the midship awning—­for he had given up all the accommodation below to his guests.  He got out with a sudden swift movement, flung off his sleeping jacket, rolled his pyjamas up his thighs, and stole forward, unseen by the one Kanaka of the anchor-watch.  His white torso, naked like a stripped athlete’s, glimmered, ghostly, in the deep shadows of the deck.  Unnoticed he got out of the ship over the knight-heads, ran along the back rope, and seizing the dolphin-striker firmly with both hands, lowered himself into the sea without a splash.

He swam away, noiseless like a fish, and then struck boldly for the land, sustained, embraced, by the tepid water.  The gentle, voluptuous heave of its breast swung him up and down slightly; sometimes a wavelet murmured in his ears; from time to time, lowering his feet, he felt for the bottom on a shallow patch to rest and correct his direction.  He landed at the lower end of the bungalow garden, into the dead stillness of the island.  There were no lights.  The plantation seemed to sleep, as profoundly as the schooner.  On the path a small shell cracked under his naked heel.

The faithful half-caste foreman going his rounds cocked his ears at the sharp sound.  He gave one enormous start of fear at the sight of the swift white figure flying at him out of the night.  He crouched in terror, and then sprang up and clicked his tongue in amazed recognition.

“Tse!  Tse!  The master!”

“Be quiet, Luiz, and listen to what I say.”

Yes, it was the master, the strong master who was never known to raise his voice, the man blindly obeyed and never questioned.  He talked low and rapidly in the quiet night, as if every minute were precious.  On learning that three guests were coming to stay Luiz clicked his tongue rapidly.  These clicks were the uniform, stenographic symbols of his emotions, and he could give them an infinite variety of meaning.  He listened to the rest in a deep silence hardly affected by the low, “Yes, master,” whenever Renouard paused.

“You understand?” the latter insisted.  “No preparations are to be made till we land in the morning.  And you are to say that Mr. Walter has gone off in a trading schooner on a round of the islands.”