thighs; then he seized a smallish brave near him
by the neck and hurled him into the sea. Having relieved his feelings
thus he burst into a fit of laughter such as has never been equalled by
the wildest maniac either before or since.

Suddenly he calmed, stepped up to Leo, and wrenched the rifle from his
grasp.

"I will do that!" he cried, and held the weapon out at arms-length in
front of his face with both hands; but there was no answering shot.

"Why does it not bark?" he demanded, turning to Leo sternly.

"It will only bark at my bidding," said Leo, with a significant smile.

"Bid it, then," said the chief in a peremptory tone, still holding the
rifle out.

"You must treat it in the right way, otherwise it will not bark. I will
show you."

Having been shown how to pull the trigger, the chief tried again, but a
sharp click was the only reply. Grabantak having expected a shot, he
nervously dropped the rifle, but Leo was prepared, and caught it.

"You must not be afraid of it; it cannot work properly if you are
afraid. See, look there," he added, pointing to the conical rock on
which another infatuated gull had perched himself.

Grabantak looked earnestly. His timid braves began to creep out of
their holes, and directed their eyes to the same spot. While their
attention was occupied Leo managed to slip a fresh cartridge into the
rifle unobserved.

"Now," said he, handing the rifle to the chief, "try again."

Grabantak, who was not quite pleased at the hint about his being afraid,
seized the rifle and held it out as before. Resolved to maintain his
reputation for coolness, he said to his followers in imitation of Leo:--

"Do you see that gull?"

"Huk!" replied the warriors, with eager looks.

Leo thought of correcting his manner of taking aim, but, reflecting that
the result would be a miss in any case, he refrained.

Grabantak raised the rifle slowly, as its owner had done, and frowned
along the barrel. In doing so, he drew it back until the butt almost
touched his face. Then he fired. There was a repetition of previous
results with some differences. The gull flew away from the rock unhurt;
one of the braves received the bullet in his thigh and ran off shrieking
with agony, while the chief received a blow from the rifle on the nose
which all but incorporated that feature with his cheeks, and drew from
his eyes the first tears he had ever shed since babyhood.

That night Grabantak sat for h