daresay it would," he said meditatively; then, as if struck
with a sudden inspiration, he added quickly, "What about Malie? He has
any number of boats--a dozen at least."

"Just the man!" replied Raymond. "He will let the captain have all the
boats and men to man them that are wanted--but he'll want to be paid for
it."

"Certainly," interrupted the mutineer, who little imagined how adroitly
he was being meshed. "I'll pay anything reasonable. Who is he?"

"Oh, he is a big chief living quite near me, and a decent enough fellow.
He has a number of large native-built boats. The natives call them
_taumualua_, which means sharp at both ends.{*} They seat from six to
eight paddlers on each side. Five, or even four such boats, well manned,
would make the ship move along. Three or four hours' towing will put her
into the edge of the counter current setting to the south and eastward
away from the land, and then she'll be out of danger, no matter how long
the calm lasts."

In a few minutes it was decided that the boat should return to the
shore, where Raymond was to see the chief and arrange with him to
provide five or six well-manned _taunwalua_, which Frewen said should be
alongside to receive the tow-lines within two or three hours.

As he (Frewen) was about to go over the side Ryan made a half apology
for the ship's crew carrying arms, at which the young man smiled and
said--

"Oh, a good many captains that touch at Samoa for the first time keep
their crews armed, imagining the natives might try to cut them off. But
the Samoans are a different kind of people to the savages of the Western
Pacific; there has only been one ship cut off in this group, and that
must have occurred fifty years ago."{**}

* These boats are usually built from the wood of the
breadfruit-tree. Not a single nail is used in their
construction; every plank is joined to its fellow by
lashings of coconut fibre.

** A fact.

Just as he had taken his seat beside Raymond and Cheyne, the Greek said
politely--

"If there is no necessity for both of you gentlemen to go on shore
again, won't one of you stay on board and have some supper?"

This was just the invitation that Frewen was looking for, but he
appeared to hesitate for a moment or two.

"Thank you, captain, I think I will. There is certainly nothing for me
to do on shore that my partner cannot do as well or better than myself.
And I should like to hear any news from