ons to you astin'
as many questions as you bloomin' well likes. We wants 'em to purtect
ourselves again' that snarlin', savage leopard o' yours. It ain't safe
to be on the same hisland with the brute."

"He will not interfere with you, or molest you in any way if you give
him a wide berth," I retorted. "As to giving you the weapons you
demand, I won't do it, so that's flat."

"You won't, eh?" returned the Finn, glowering at me savagely. "Then all
I can say, Mister, is that me and Dirk 'll have to see what can be done
about purtectin' ourselves. I, for one, ain't goin' to take the risk of
bein' tore to pieces; no, not for another day, and so I gives you
warnin'."

"Now, see here, Svorenssen," said I. "I can make allowance--and do--for
your very natural fear of the leopard; but, as I have already told you,
the animal will not hurt either of you men if you keep clear of him.
And don't let me hear any more of such talk as you have been indulging
in during the last few minutes. You forget yourself, my man; and you
seem to forget also that you came to this island of your own free will.
I did not invite you. I did not even _want_ you; I was doing quite well
without your assistance, as I can again, if necessary. So let me have
no more threats of any sort, or I shall be compelled, for peace and
quietness' sake, to request my friend Bowata and his people to take
charge of you. This is not the first time that you have obliged me to
say this. I shall not again repeat it. Let there be no more bickering
between us. The cutter is very nearly completed and, please God, we
shall soon be at sea in her and on our way back to civilisation and
home."

The man stared at me for several seconds with, I thought, murder in his
eyes, then he turned away, remarking:

"All right, Mister, you're top dog now, and what you says goes, but--"

I affected not to catch that final word, but proceeded to indicate to
the natives the several jobs upon which I wished them to employ
themselves on the morrow. But what, I wondered, was the explanation of
this fresh outburst of turbulence on Svorenssen's part--for fresh it
was. Only once before had he displayed such insolence of manner to me;
and I wondered whether, perchance, it had any connection with the
suspicions that had been bred in my mind by Billy's report of the
Dutchman's recent conversation with him. But, I argued, those
suspicions might be wholly unfounded, and be the result of