"'Twenty-nine,' said Attwater. 'Twenty-nine deaths and thirty-one cases, out of thirty-three souls upon the island. --That's a strange way to calculate, Mr. Hay, is it not? Souls! I never say it but it startles me.'"
When the ship reaches Attwater's island, the crew discovers that smallpox has spread here as well. Due to the heavy losses, Attwater now counts his men according to how many have died, how many are sick, and how few remain untouched by the sickness. The stress of watching men die is taking its toll upon him. He worries for their souls since he is a deeply religious man.
"'There can be no reason why I should affect the least degree of secrecy about my island,' returned Attwater . . .
'What brought you here to the South Seas?' he asked presently.
'Many things,' said Attwater. 'Youth, curiosity, romance, the love of the sea, and (it will surprise you to hear) an interest in missions. . . But religion is a savage thing, like the universe it illuminates; savage, cold, and bare, but infinitely strong.'"
Attwater is a man of mystery. He lives relatively alone on an island in the middle of the ocean, yet when questioned he says he has no need to hide. He chose his present lifestyle for various reasons, but the most important reason he came is to be a missionary to the native peoples. In the same way the sea is a ruthless, vast obstacle to the sailor, so Attwater views religion. He doesn't conform to a gooey, optimistic set of religious beliefs; he views Christianity as unforgiving as the sea.
"Then came over Davis, from deep down in the roots of his being, or at least from far back among his memories of childhood and innocence, a wave of superstition. This run of ill luck was something beyond natural; the chances of the game were in themselves more various; it seemed as if the devil must serve the pieces. The devil? He heard again the clear note of Attwater's bell ringing abroad into the night, and dying away. How if God. . . ?"
Davis and Huish are plotting to murder Attwater for his pearls, but something doesn't sit right with Davis. He remembers the strange set of circumstances, bad fortune, which have landed them here on this island in this desperate situation. Deeply superstitious, he suspects that perhaps he is toying with supernatural forces which will not allow him to succeed in this venture. This unease grows as he hears the bell ringing, a symbol of judgement.
"In all this there was no thought of Robert Herrick. He has complied with the ebb-tide in man's affairs, and the tide had carried him away; he heard already the roaring of the maelstrom that must hurry him under. And in his bedevilled and dishonoured soul there was no thought of self."
After the first attempt to steal Attwater's pearls fails, Herrick is plagued with guilt. He was complicit in all his friends' schemes up to this point, but he knows he's in the wrong on this one. Unable to deal with the guilt of conscience any longer nor to resist the persuasion of his mates, Herrick jumps overboard.
