Emile had first met Irishman Mike Sullivan in Papeete in the South Seas; Mike had been lying in a drunken stupor on the quayside and was in imminent danger of falling into the sea. Emile had learned that the huge man was known as "Mad Mike," who owned a small sloop called the Pearl. With the help of several other seamen, Emile had managed to hoist Mike back aboard the Pearl, and this had been the beginning of their many adventures together. But when they met Luamona, a beautiful native girl, the lives of both men changed forever.