my; for by Harry's account the hostile party was
approaching, and would, if not stopped, quickly destroy the taro fields
and cut down all the trees in their course. The chief expressed his
gratitude to Harry for giving him the warning, and promised to defend
him should those from whom he had escaped attempt his recapture. To my
surprise, Harry was able to make himself clearly understood, though the
dialect he spoke evidently differed considerably from that of Paowang
and his people.

"But I am eager to learn how you found your way to this place, and knew
that I was here," I observed.

Harry then, having said how anxious he and the rest of them had become
at not hearing of Dick and me, told how one day he and Tamaku had set
off on an exploring expedition farther to the north than they had yet
ventured, in search of cocoa-nuts and other fruit, which was becoming
scarce around them; that they had crossed a stream which seemed to
separate the southern from the northern end of the island; but as they
were going through a forest which extended down to the sea, they were
suddenly set upon by a large party of savages; when Tamaku, attempting
to defend himself, was struck down, and, he feared, killed. The savages
then hurried him along with them to their village, where they treated
him with tolerable kindness; but still he dreaded lest, should he by any
chance offend them, they might without ceremony kill him, and he
intended to make his escape, if possible, in order to warn Mudge and the
rest of their danger. Understanding tolerably well what they said, he
learned that a white man and a boy--and of course he had no doubt that
Dick and I were spoken of--had been captured in a boat by their enemies
at the northern end of the island, and that an attack upon Paowang's
tribe had been planned. The chief of the party into whose hands he had
fallen was, he found, called Oamo; he appeared to be a fierce,
sanguinary savage, and he felt that his own life, while he remained in
the chief's power, was very insecure. So, finding that he could much
more easily reach us than get back southward, and that his captors were
less likely to look out for him on our side, he resolved to escape; and
that very night succeeded in doing so.

On hearing this, Paowang and Whagoo hurried on their preparations; and,
led by the latter, the warriors sallied forth in battle array, taking
Harry and me with them. As we had no arms, and should have been
un