They were very glad when he came bringing his pretty wife, and they tried to learn all he told them.
All went well until the traders who came to the South Seas for sandalwood and cocoanuts and the rich tropical fruits, discovered that the natives were becoming more intelligent, and could not be cheated or swindled so easily since the missionaries were teaching them.
So the traders made up their minds to try to turn the blacks against Doctor Paton and his wife, and his native helpers.
They had not been able to do much until the time of the long drought, told about at the beginning of this story. You see, they depended almost entirely upon rain for fresh water to drink.
Never before in the memory of living men had the islands been so long without rain. The people were terrified and ready for any outbreak.
But the young missionaries, sitting silently under the palms, realized that the traders might so excite the natives with their talk, and with the rum, that they might become murderers and revert to cannibalism.
“Where will you dig the well, John?” Margaret asked at length.
“On the slope over there.” He nodded toward the opposite hill. “I shall begin work to-morrow. Chief Namakei comes an hour after sunrise.”
“If you succeed in reaching fresh water, shall we be safe?”
“Yes, and if not, I hate to think of what may happen.”