“Good boatmen,” was Sheldon’s verdict, as he saw the boat leap forward on the face of a huge breaker, the sweeps plying swiftly to keep her on that front of the moving mountain of water that raced madly for the shore.  It was well done.  Part full of water, the boat was flung upon the beach, the men springing out and dragging its nose to the gate-posts.  Sheldon had called vainly to the house-boys, who, at the moment, were dosing the remaining patients in the hospital.  He knew he was unable to rise up and go down the path to meet the newcomers, so he lay back in the steamer-chair, and watched for ages while they cared for the boat.  The woman stood to one side, her hand resting on the gate.  Occasionally surges of sea water washed over her feet, which he could see were encased in rubber sea-boots.  She scrutinized the house sharply, and for some time she gazed at him steadily.  At last, speaking to two of the men, who turned and followed her, she started up the path.

Sheldon attempted to rise, got half up out of his chair, and fell back helplessly.  He was surprised at the size of the men, who loomed like giants behind her.  Both were six-footers, and they were heavy in proportion.  He had never seen islanders like them.  They were not black like the Solomon Islanders, but light brown; and their features were larger, more regular, and even handsome.

The woman—­or girl, rather, he decided—­walked along the veranda toward him.  The two men waited at the head of the steps, watching curiously.  The girl was angry; he could see that.  Her gray eyes were flashing, and her lips were quivering.  That she had a temper, was his thought.  But the eyes were striking.  He decided that they were not gray after all, or, at least, not all gray.  They were large and wide apart, and they looked at him from under level brows.  Her face was cameo-like, so clear cut was it.  There were other striking things about her—­the cowboy Stetson hat, the heavy braids of brown hair, and the long-barrelled 38 Colt’s revolver that hung in its holster on her hip.

“Pretty hospitality, I must say,” was her greeting, “letting strangers sink or swim in your front yard.”

“I—­I beg your pardon,” he stammered, by a supreme effort dragging himself to his feet.

His legs wobbled under him, and with a suffocating sensation he began sinking to the floor.  He was aware of a feeble gratification as he saw solicitude leap into her eyes; then blackness smote him, and at the moment of smiting him his thought was that at last, and for the first time in his life, he had fainted.