By the tenth day her last cocoanut was gone， and shewas shrivelling from thirst. She dragged herself along thesand， looking for cocoanuts. It was strange that so manybodies floated up， and no nuts. Surely， there were morecocoanuts afloat than dead men！ She gave up at last， andlay exhausted. The end had come. Nothing remained butto wait for death.
Coming out of a stupor， she became slowly aware thatshe was gazing at a patch of sandy-red hair on the head ofa corpse. The sea flung the body toward her， then drew itback. It turned over， and she saw that it had no face. Yetthere was something familiar about that patch of sandy-redhair. An hour passed. She did not exert herself to make theidentification. She was waiting to die， and it mattered littleto her what man that thing of horror once might have been.
But at the end of the hour she sat up slowly and staredat the corpse. An unusually large wave had thrown itbeyond the reach of the lesser waves. Yes， she was right；that patch of red hair could belong to but one man in thePaumotus. It was Levy， the German Jew， the man who hadbought the pearl and carried it away on the Hira. Well， onething was evident： The Hira had been lost. The pearl buyer’sgod of fishermen and thieves had gone back on him.
She crawled down to the dead man. His shirt had beentorn away， and she could see the leather money belt abouthis waist. She held her breath and tugged at the buckles.
They gave easier than she had expected， and she crawledhurriedly away across the sand， dragging the belt after her.
Pocket after pocket she unbuckled in the belt and foundempty. Where could he have put it？ In the last pocketof all she found it， the first and only pearl he had boughton the voyage. She crawled a few feet farther， to escapethe pestilence of the belt， and examined the pearl. It wasthe one Mapuhi had found and been robbed of by Toriki.
She weighed it in her hand and rolled it back and forthcaressingly. But in it she saw no intrinsic beauty. Whatshe did see was the house Mapuhi and Tefara and she hadbuilded so carefully in their minds. Each time she lookedat the pearl she saw the house in all its details， includingthe octagon-drop-clock on the wall. That was somethingto live for.
She tore a strip from her ahu and tied the pearl securelyabout her neck. Then she went on along the beach，panting and groaning， but resolutely seeking for cocoanuts.
Quickly she found one， and， as she glanced around， asecond. She broke one， drinking its water， which wasmildewy， and eating the last particle of the meat. A littlelater she found a shattered dugout. Its outrigger was gone，but she was hopeful， and， before the day was out， shefound the outrigger. Every find was an augury. The pearlwas a talisman. Late in the afternoon she saw a woodenbox floating low in the water. When she dragged it out onthe beach its contents rattled， and inside she found tentins of salmon. She opened one by hammering it on thecanoe. When a leak was started， she drained the tin. Afterthat she spent several hours in extracting the salmon，hammering and squeezing it out a morsel at a time.
Eight days longer she waited for rescue. In the meantimeshe fastened the outrigger back on the canoe， using forlashings all the cocoanut fibre she could find， and alsowhat remained of her ahu. The canoe was badly cracked，and she could not make it water-tight； but a calabash madefrom a cocoanut she stored on board for a bailer. She washard put for a paddle. With a piece of tin she sawed offall her hair close to the scalp. Out of the hair she braideda cord； and by means of the cord she lashed a three-footpiece of broom handle to a board from the salmon case.
She gnawed wedges with her teeth and with themwedged the lashing.
On the eighteenth day， at midnight， she launched thecanoe through the surf and started back for Hikueru. Shewas an old woman. Hardship had stripped her fat from hertill scarcely more than bones and skin and a few stringymuscles remained. The canoe was large and should havebeen paddled by three strong men.
But she did it alone， with a make-shift paddle. Also， thecanoe leaked badly， and one-third of her time was devotedto bailing. By clear daylight she looked vainly for Hikueru.
Astern， Takokota had sunk beneath the sea rim. The sunblazed down on her nakedness， compelling her body tosurrender its moisture. Two tins of salmon were left， andin the course of the day she battered holes in them anddrained the liquid. She had no time to waste in extractingthe meat. A current was setting to the westward， she madewesting whether she made southing or not.
In the eary afternoon， standing upright in the canoe，she sighted Hikueru Its wealth of cocoanut palms wasgone. Only here and there， at wide intervals， could she seethe ragged remnants of trees. The sight cheered her. Shewas nearer than she had thought. The current was settingher to the westward. She bore up against it and paddledon. The wedges in the paddle lashing worked loose， andshe lost much time， at frequent intervals， in driving themtight. Then there was the bailing. One hour in three shehad to cease paddling in order to bail. And all the time shedrifted to the westward.
By sunset Hikueru bore southeast from her， three milesaway. There was a full moon， and by eight o’clock the landwas due east and two miles away. She struggled on foranother hour， but the land was as far away as ever. She wasin the main grip of the current； the canoe was too large；the paddle was too inadequate； and too much of her timeand strength was wasted in bailing. Besides， she was veryweak and growing weaker. Despite her efforts， the canoewas drifting off to the westward.
