Beach of Falesà by Robert Louis Stevenson. Short summary

5 seconds

Merchant John Wiltshire arrives on a tropical island. There he marries Yuma, reveals the intrigues of his rival Keyes, and kills him. Wiltshire no longer wants to return to England.

1 minute

John Wiltshire, a merchant, has decided to make a profit by buying a copra. He arrived on one of the Polynesian islands. The merchant Caze volunteers to help him. On his advice, John enters into a sham marriage with the girl Yuma.

The islanders shun John. He learns that it is because of Yuma. They believe that a curse is hanging over the girl, which also hangs over her «husband». John understands that in this way Keyes is trying to eliminate a rival. But he falls in love with Yuma.

When a missionary arrives, John asks him to join him and his wife in true marriage.

John discovers that Keyes is keeping the inhabitants in fear. In the interior of the island, he has hung aeolian harps and set up scary scarecrows. Therefore, the inhabitants are afraid to go into the woods and obey Caze. John uses dynamite to blow up the Devil’s Lair.

Yuma warns her husband that Keyes is going to kill him. He injures the couple, but John kills him.

The merchant decides not to return to England. He lives on an island in paradise and his only concern is where to find white suitors for his and Yuma’s daughters.