ent under a cloud, owing to the success of a usurper,
whom he would reckon with by-and-by.

In the mean time he would have no objection to engaging himself with
us as a harpooner, and would get us as many men as we wanted, selecting
from among the crowd on board, fellows that would, he knew, be useful to
us.

A bargain was soon struck, and Tui entered upon his self-imposed task.
It was immediately evident that he had a bigger contract on hand than he
had imagined. The natives, who had previously held somewhat aloof from
him in a kind of deferential respect, no sooner got wind of the fact
that we needed some of them than they were seized with a perfect frenzy
of excitement. There were, I should think, at least a hundred and fifty
of them on board at the time. Of this crowd, every member wanted to be
selected, pushing his candidature with voice and gesture as vigorously
as he knew how. The din was frightful. Tui, centre of the frantic mob,
strove vainly to make himself heard, to reduce the chaos to some sort
of order, but for a great while it was a hopeless attempt. At last,
extricating himself from his importunate friends, he gained the
captain's side. Panting, almost breathless, with sweat streaming off
him, he gasped out, "Oh, cap'n, dese yer darn niggers all gone mad!
Dribe 'em oberbord; clar 'em out, 'n I'll stan' by to grab some o' der
likely ones as de res' scatter." "But what about the wages?" said the
skipper. "I'm not goin' ter give 'em whatever they like to ask." "You
leab it ter me, cap'n. I bet you'll be satisfy. Anyhow, dishyers no
time fer tradin'; de blame niggers all off dere coco-nuts. Anybody fink
you'se payin' off 'stead o' shippin', an' deyse all afraid dey won't get
'nough."

Unpleasant as the job was to all of us, it had to be done; so we armed
ourselves with ropes'-ends, which we flourished threateningly, avoiding
where possible any actual blows. Many sprang overboard at once, finding
their way ashore or to their canoes as best they could. The majority,
however, had to swim, for we now noticed that, either in haste or from
carelessness, they had in most cases omitted to fasten their canoes
securely when coming alongside, so that many of them were now far out
to sea. The distance to shore being under three miles, that mattered
little, as far as their personal safety was concerned.

This summary treatment was eminently successful, quiet being rapidly
restored, so that Tui was able to select a doz