“‘I assure you, Miss Greendale,’ he said, ’that this poor hut is but a temporary affair.  I will shortly have a more comfortable one erected for you.  You see, your residence here is likely to be a long one, unless you change your mind.  Pray do not nourish any idea that you can someday escape me.  It is out of the question; and certainly no white man is ever likely to come to this valley, nor is any negro, except those who live in this village.  Its head is an Obi man, whose will is law to the negroes.  Their belief in his power is unlimited, and I believe that they imagine that he could slay them with the look of his eye, or turn them into frogs or toads by his magic power.  I pray you to think the matter over seriously.  Why should you waste your life here You did not always regard me as so hateful; and the love that I bear you is unchangeable.  Even could you, months or years hence, make your escape, which I regard as impossible, what would your position be if you returned to England?  What story would you have to tell?  It might be a true one, but would it be believed?’

“‘I have my maid, sir,’ I said, passionately, ’who would confirm my report of what I have suffered.’

“‘No doubt she would,’ he said quietly, ’but a maid’s testimony as to her mistress’s doings does not go for very much.  I endeavoured to make the voyage, which I foresaw might be a long one, pleasant to you by requesting you to bring her with you, and I believe that ladies who elope not unfrequently take their maids with them.  But we need not discuss that.  This valley will be your home, Miss Greendale, until you consent to leave it as my wife.  I do not say that I shall always share your solitude here.  I shall cruise about, and may even for a time return to England, but that will in no way alter your position.  I have been in communication with the Obi gentleman since I first put into the bay, and he has arranged to take charge of your safety while I am away.  He is not a pleasant man to look at, and I have no doubt that he is an unmitigated scoundrel—­but his powers are unlimited.  If he ordered his followers to offer you and your maid as sacrifices to his fetish, they would carry out his orders, not only willingly, but joyfully.  He is a gentleman who, like his class, has a keen eye to the main chance, and will, I doubt not, take every precaution to prevent a source of considerable income from escaping him.’

“‘You understand,’ he went on, in a different manner, ’I do not wish to threaten you—­very far from it.  I have endeavoured from the time that you set foot on board to make you as comfortable as possible, and to abstain from thrusting myself upon you in the slightest degree, and I shall always pursue the same course.  But please understand that nothing will shake my resolution.  It will pain me deeply to have to keep you in a place like this, but keep you I must until you consent to be mine.  You must see yourself the hopelessness,