might strike the boat and send us over.
Our minds were too much occupied with the thoughts of the schooner, or
rather of those on board her, to enable us to talk on any other subject
Charlie Tilston every now and then tried to get up a lively
conversation, but found that he could not succeed. All night long we
glided smoothly on.

"I hope that we shall be treated in a more hospitable way by the
inhabitants of the next island we visit," he observed.

"We cannot be very certain about that, sir," observed Sam Pest. "I have
been up and down these islands, and I have seen the way white men have
treated the blacks. No wonder they ain't friendly, for there's not a
village scarcely where some of the natives have not been carried off,
while others have been fired on and the people killed. We must make
them understand that we come as friends, or we shall have no chance of
getting anything out of them."

By daylight we were close up to Aurora Island. The inhabitants had seen
our boat approaching, and had gathered on the beach to receive us. They
probably thought that our vessel was not far off, round a point to the
westward.

"Come, I think we have a chance of a friendly intercourse with these
people," observed Charlie; "and if you like, I will land and try to have
a talk with them by signs. Neither Tubb nor Potts seem to understand
their language better than we do."

Although the natives waved no green boughs, and kept a short distance
back on some high ground above the beach, yet, as their women and
children were with them, and as they made no hostile demonstrations, we
concluded that we might safely land. We therefore ran the boat on to
the beach, and Charlie, stepping out, moved a few paces from them, and
sat down on a rock. In a short time six or seven persons came down to
where he was sitting, apparently inclined to hold a palaver, Sam Pest
all the time watching them narrowly.

"Take care, sir," he shouted, "or they'll play you some foul trick."
The next instant he added, "Jump up! Run for your life down to the
boat!"

As he spoke I seized a musket, and old Sam took up another and presented
it at the natives, to cover Charlie and enable him to get back to the
boat. Just as he sprang up, I saw a young native in the act of lifting
a club as if about to strike him; but the suddenness with which Charlie
started up and retreated to the boat prevented the savage from dealing
the intended blow. Charlie springin