sorrowful farewell to his friends,
and said his heart was broken by the slanders of a vile Tongan pig
from a mission school. He would, he said, go back to Apia, where he was
respected by all who knew him. Then he began to pack up. Some of the
natives sided with the Tongan, some with 'Reo, and in a few minutes
a free fight took place on the village green, and 'Reo stood in his
doorway and watched it from his narrow, pig-like eyes; then, being of a
magnanimous nature, he walked over and asked three stout youths, who had
beaten the Tongan into a state of unconsciousness, and were jumping on
his body, not to hurt him too much.

About midnight 'Reo's house was seen to be in flames, and the owner,
uttering wild, weird screams of "_Fia ola! Fia ola!_" ("Mercy! Mercy!")
fled down the beach to his boat, followed by his wife, a large, fat
woman, named appropriately enough Taumafa (Abundance). They dashed into
the water, clambered into the boat, and began pulling seaward for their
lives. The villagers, thinking they had both gone mad, gazed at them in
astonishment, and then went back and helped themselves to the few goods
saved from the burning house.

As soon as 'Reo and the good wife were out of sight of the village
they put about, ran the boat into a little bay further down the coast,
planted a bag containing seven hundred dollars, with the best of the
trade goods (salved _before_ the fire was discovered), and then set sail
for Apia to "get justice from the Consul."

The Consul said it was a shocking outrage, the captain of U.S.S.
Adirondack concurred, and so the cruiser, with the injured, stolid-faced
'Reo on board, steamed off to Leone Bay and gave the astounded natives
twelve hours to make up their minds as to which they would do--pay 'Reo
one thousand dollars in cash or have their town burnt. They paid six
hundred, all they could raise, and then, in a dazed sort of way, sat
down to meditate as they saw the _Adirondack_ steam off again.

'Reo gave his wife a small share of the plunder and sent her home to her
parents. When Tom Denison next saw him he was keeping a boarding house
at Levuka, in Fiji. He told Denison he was welcome to free board and
lodging for a year. 'Reo had his good points, as I have said.

THE BLACK BREAM OF AUSTRALIA

Next to the lordly and brilliant-hued schnapper, the big black bream
of the deep harbour waters of the east coast of Australia is the finest
fish of the bream species that have