a hearty eater, and accustomed to _palusami_ and luxuries.
The monotony also, was unendurable, especially when the tobacco was
gone, and one was forbidden to move, being condemned to sit hungry and
distressed for a whole day at a time, sucking a white stone by way of
alleviation. To O'olo a white stone was very insufficient for
nourishment, and so he tried grass and weeds like Nebuchadnezzar, to
the undoing of his stomach, which dissatisfied, was afflicted with
cramps, so that he rolled and rolled in pain, and lamented loudly, till
Asi cried out: "Make that Tongan to cease from bellowing, or else the
enemy will surely discover us!"

But let it not be said that O'olo was womanish or afraid, for on the
contrary he thirsted for battle like King David, whom he took for his
example, and his repining was due to the backwardness of his rulers and
the tightness of their leash. When at last the advance was ordered on
the Mataafa stronghold he was noticeable for his leaps of joy; and while
others wore an anxious appearance and showed uncertainty in their walk,
O'olo sang with exultation, and stepped out as though on his way to a
feast.

The stronghold was of stone, and had been used by the Germans for the
retaining of cattle, and stood solitary on a hill with the land falling
away on every side. As it flashed and sparkled with the Mataafa fire it
was seen by O'olo to be a place not easy to capture, with much loss to
be experienced before ax could cross ax, and knife meet knife, in the
final charge; so that, with wisdom, he shot little in order not to tire
himself, and hugged the ground in a manner suggestive of terror rather
than boldness, for to be killed here was useless and foreign to his
purpose, fame resting in the fort, and there the heads to be taken.
Thus, when they sprang up at the call, he was unfatigued, with
cartridges still in his gun, and wind in his body, and up the hill he
raced with swiftness, so that scarcely two of his companions matched
pace with him, and those who had cried: "Coward, coward!" panted in his
rear, and perceived it was a hero they had mocked.

Nor at the gateway was there any slackening of Tongan valor, and over it
O'olo scrambled, undeterred by rifle and ax, so that it was a miracle
that he stayed alive as he dropped within, even as Daniel into the
lion's den, beset by twenty, and he alone. It was like a tempest and he
in the center, and for lightning was the flame of the guns, and for
thund