"I grant that precaution is necessary in dealing with them," Joan agreed; "but I believe that more satisfactory results can be obtained by treating them with discreet kindness and gentleness."

"And there I agree with YOU, but you must understand one thing. Berande, bar none, is by far the worst plantation in the Solomons so far as the labour is concerned.  And how it came to be so proves your point.  The previous owners of Berande were not discreetly kind.  They were a pair of unadulterated brutes.  One was a down- east Yankee, as I believe they are called, and the other was a guzzling German.  They were slave-drivers.  To begin with, they bought their labour from Johnny Be-blowed, the most notorious recruiter in the Solomons.  He is working out a ten years' sentence in Fiji now, for the wanton killing of a black boy.  During his last days here he had made himself so obnoxious that the natives on Malaita would have nothing to do with him.  The only way he could get recruits was by hurrying to the spot whenever a murder or series of murders occurred.  The murderers were usually only too willing to sign on and get away to escape vengeance.  Down here they call such escapes, 'pier-head jumps.'  There is suddenly a roar from the beach, and a nigger runs down to the water pursued by clouds of spears and arrows.  Of course, Johnny Be-blowed's whale- boat is lying ready to pick him up.  In his last days Johnny got nothing but pier-head jumps.

"And the first owners of Berande bought his recruits--a hard-bitten gang of murderers.  They were all five-year boys.  You see, the recruiter has the advantage over a boy when he makes a pier-head jump.  He could sign him on for ten years did the law permit. Well, that's the gang of murderers we've got on our hands now.  Of course some are dead, some have been killed, and there are others serving sentences at Tulagi.  Very little clearing did those first owners do, and less planting.  It was war all the time.  They had one manager killed.  One of the partners had his shoulder slashed nearly off by a cane-knife.  The other was speared on two different occasions.  Both were bullies, wherefore there was a streak of cowardice in them, and in the end they had to give up.  They were chased away--literally chased away--by their own niggers.  And along came poor Hughie and me, two new chums, to take hold of that hard-bitten gang.  We did not know the situation, and we had bought Berande, and there was nothing to do but hang on and muddle through somehow.

"At first we made the mistake of indiscreet kindness.  We tried to rule by persuasion and fair treatment.  The niggers concluded that we were afraid.  I blush to think of what fools we were in those first days.  We were imposed on, and threatened and insulted; and we put up with it, hoping our square-dealing would soon mend things.  Instead of which everything went from bad to worse.  Then came the day when Hughie reprimanded one of the boys and was nearly killed by the gang.  The only thing that saved him was the number on top of him, which enabled me to reach the spot in time.