“’Yes, and you must never lose it—­never part with it—­never, above all, give it back to me.  Promise me that, beloved; and I, who have wept much, am happy again.’

“So I promised, and she snuggled close to me, and all was as before.  No more was said between us, and by next morning she seemed to have clean forgotten the affair.  But I thought of it at times, and it puzzled me.

“Now, as I said, my master had taken a fancy to me quite apart from the bombardon, and a token of it was his constantly taking me out as companion on his walks.  You may think it odd that he never troubled about my being an unbeliever—­for of course he held by the Prophet, and so did all the islanders, Aoodya included.  But in fact, though his people called themselves Mahommedans, each man treated his religion much as he chose, and Hamid talked to me as freely as if I had been his son.

“In this way I learned a deal of the island and its customs, and of the terms by which Hamid and Hassan between them shared its rule.  But that any others laid claim to it I had no idea, until one day as we were walking on the coast, and not far from the crater where he had found me first, my master asked suddenly, ‘Was I happy?’

“‘Quite happy,’ I answered.

“‘You would not leave us if you could?’ he went on, and began to laugh quiet-like, behind his beard.  ’Oho!  Love, love!  I that am old have been merry in my day.’  We walked for another mile, maybe, without speaking, and came to the edge of a valley.  ‘Look down yonder,’ said he.

“Below us, and in the mouth of the valley, which grew broad and shallow as it neared the sea, I saw a hill topped by a round wall and compound.  There might have been half a dozen houses within the compound, all thatched, and above them stood up a flag painted in red and yellow stripes, and so stiff in the breeze that with half an eye you could tell it was no bunting but a sheet of tin.

“Hullo!’ said I.  ‘Spaniards?’

“‘Puf!’ Hamid grinned at the flag and spat.  ’A Captain Marquinez inhabits there, with four Manila men and their wives.  He is a sensible fellow, and does no harm, and if it pleases him to hoist that toy on a bamboo, he is welcome.’

“‘They claim the island, then?’

“’What matters it if they claim?  There was a letter once came to us from the Spanish Governor in Tolo.  That man was a fool.  He gave us warning that by order of the Government at Manila he would send a hundred men to build a fort inland and set up a garrison.  Hassan and I took counsel together.  ‘He is a fool,’ said Hassan; ’but we must answer him.’  So we answered him thus.  ’Send your men.  To-day they come; to-morrow they die—­yet trouble not; we will bury them.’

“‘Were they sent?’ I asked.