Diving for sponges is risky at best and even more so when the best sponge-water is the home of a very large and hostile-to-divers manta ray. On the near-by island, men fight like beasts for the heart of Nina, the flower of the Pacific. The ruler of the island is a drunk who has lost control of the people, so this isn't exactly paradise. Juan is in love with Nina, but Juan is meaner and disposes of Carl her brother by cutting his life line while Carl is out sponge-diving and dodging the manta ray. Then, Sims, an escaped convict, who must have swum all the way around South America if he came from Devil's Island, shows up posing as a minister. Nina takes a great liking to this man-of-the-cloth. Juan has a great dislike for him.
—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>