In the Solomon Islands, a battered trader named Gleason arrives wounded, humiliated, and already beaten by the jungle violence that cost him his schooner. Taken in by the hard-bitten plantation owner Henderson, he seethes with resentment as Henderson's confidence, authority, and favorite Bible verse only sharpen his envy. At the center of this tense colonial world is Maehoe, Henderson's devoted houseboy, whose comic imitation of white speech and manners masks fierce intelligence, ambition, and uncanny loyalty. What begins as a story of status, fear, and cultural divide soon erupts into open danger when Henderson dies of black-water fever and the plantation's fragile order collapses. As laborers grow restless and violence gathers, Gleason's terror proves fatal to his judgment. When the house is attacked, Maehoe suddenly becomes the true defender, arming himself with dynamite and throwing himself into the fight. Yet loyalty turns tragic: a desperate chase through mangroves, villages, and war canoes follows, with drums, rumors, and tribal justice closing in from every side. In the end, Maehoe is killed, Gleason's escape fails, and the story ends in brutal irony, exposing the thin line between civilization and savagery. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.
