soon as we get
to the canoe, and we'll give him a lesson neither he nor his followers
will forget in a hurry."

The two men in the canoe, guessing what their officers intended, kept
her afloat; and Adair and Desmond with a sudden jerk running the old
chief into the water, the latter tripped up his heels, and, before he
knew where he was, he was hauled on board and stowed away in the bottom.

"Shove off," cried Adair, as he and Desmond sprang into the stern; and
the next instant they were paddling away in the canoe, before even the
natives on shore had clearly comprehended that their chief was being
spirited off. He groaned and shrieked, without exciting the slightest
compassion, and was soon lifted crop and heels on board the boat.
Archie had already begun to weigh anchor; the sails were hoisted, and
the wind being off-shore, the boat stood out to the offing, leaving the
natives lost in wonder as to what had become of their chief.

"Thank you, Gordon; you behaved admirably under the circumstances," said
Adair.

"I am glad of your good opinion, sir," answered Archie; "but, if you
will allow me to say so, I think you and Desmond acted still more
admirably."

The crew, of course, were loud in their expressions of admiration at
their officers' conduct.

"Now we've got him, what are we to do with him?" asked Desmond.

"Treat him well, and send him back a wiser if not a better man than he
was," answered Adair. "We'll carry him with us on board the _Opal_ as a
proof of the transaction, and perhaps, after a few months' stay on
board, he will have learned better manners."

The old chief, however, did not seem at all to approve of the change of
his circumstances, and at first it was thought that he was going to give
it up as a hopeless case, and die of vexation. Jerry Bird, however,
patted him on the back. "Don't take on, old fellow, in this fashion,"
he said, in a consoling voice; "you thought you were going to play the
lieutenant a trick, and, like many a better man, you found you caught a
Tartar. What's the odds? we'll give you as much pork and biscuit as you
can eat, and a glass of grog to cheer you up, and you'll come all right
by and by."

Whether it was the words of this address, or the tone in which it was
uttered, need not be discussed; but it seemed to have the effect of
bringing the old chief round, and when a basin of "kettler" was served
out to him, he did not inquire what were the ingredients, but g