Will had no choice but to watch the Hawaiian girl every hour of the day. She seemed oblivious of the near riot she caused when Polifermia’s sailors caught sight of her. One morning she went to the rain barrel near the main mast. Will followed and stood by the rail, staying alert for trouble. Ipo knelt on the deck, leaning over so she could soak her long hair in the water a squall had filled the barrel with overnight. She seemed unconcerned by the attention her brown, half naked body was drawing from the off-duty watch mending their gear on the deck around the foremast. Will listened to the sailors whistle and shout, beckoning to her to join them, daring each other to make a grab for her.

When she had finished soaking her hair, she sat back on her haunches, wringing the dark wet strands tightly with her hands so that drops of water ran down her naked breasts as the men watched. Alarmed by the sounds of their rising excitement, Will called to her to come away from the rain barrel and go down to the cabin. She smiled at him but made no effort to move. “I happy here,” she said.

From the corner of his eye, Will saw a sailor getting slowly to his knees, gesturing, as if in pantomime, to his mates. He sprang from his crouch and raced toward her. Will was slow to react.

Ipo was quicker than either of them. She got to her feet and in an instant she was into the starboard main rigging, climbing toward the small platform just above the main yard. Almost as fast, the sailor gave chase. Ipo flew up the mast as if she were fetching a coconut. Arriving at the platform, she looked down on the sailor only half way up and gave a big, taunting laugh. Will was helpless. Watching the chase from the deck below, he heard the sailor shout up at her, “I’ll catch you, you Kanaka bitch! You can’t escape me now and when I do…” He gulped for breath and kept on climbing.

Ipo waited till the sailor was almost at the yard. Then she gave him another playful laugh. Will watched in horror, as she jumped from the platform. She grabbed the nearest line angling down and came hand over hand to the deck, leaving the sailor high up the mast. Without stopping, she ran across the deck, grabbed Will by the hand and pulled him toward the safety of the companionway, laughing the whole way.