d share in the
general good luck. Then, as the lights from the houses on shore died
out, and the murmur of voices ceased, the crew of the _Queen Charlotte_,
officers and men, lay down on deck and went to sleep.

*****

One for'ard and one aft, the two sentries paced to and fro, and only the
slight sound of their naked feet broke the silence of the tropic night.
Now and then a fish would leap out of the water and fall back again
with a splash, and the sentries watched the swell and bubble of the
phosphorescent water for a minute or so, and then again resumed their
walk.

But though so silent, the darkness of the night was full of danger to
the unsuspecting ship's company of the _Queen Charlotte_. A hundred yards
away, swimming together in a semicircle, were some two hundred savages,
each with a dagger in his mouth and short ebony club held in the left
hand. Silently, but quickly, they swam towards the dark shadow of the
brigantine, whose lofty spars stood silhouetted against the white line
of beach that lay astern.

Suddenly fifty naked, dripping savages sprang upon the deck, and ere the
sentries could do more than fire their muskets the work of slaughter
had begun. Nearly all the white seamen, and many of the Tahitians, were
lying upon the main hatch, and these were slain almost ere they had time
to awake and realise their dreadful fate. As the loud reports of the
sentries' muskets reverberated across the motionless waters of the
lagoon, the master of the brigantine and his two officers awoke, and,
cutlasses in hand, tried bravely to defend those terrified and unarmed
members of the crew who had not yet been slaughtered. For some ten
minutes or so these three men, with Upaparu beside them, defended the
approaches to the poop, and succeeded in killing no less than fifteen
of their assailants. Swinging a short, heavy axe in his right hand, the
Tahitian chief fought like a hero, till a club was hurled at him with
such force that it broke two of his ribs. As he sank down he saw the
wild rush of naked bodies pass over him, and heard the death-cries
of the first and second officers, who, borne down by numbers, were
ruthlessly butchered. After that he remembered no more, for he was dealt
another blow on the head, which left him stunned.

When he came to his senses in the cold grey of the morning he found the
ship in possession of the people of Fakarava, and of all his shipmates
but two remained alive--Captain Shelley and