lligerent state." The same day (24th) de Coetlogon complained that
Fletcher, manager for Messrs. MacArthur, had been summoned by Fritze. In
answer, Knappe had "the honour to inform your Excellency that since the
declaration of the state of war, British subjects are liable to martial
law, and Mr. Fletcher will be arrested if he does not appear." Here,
then, was the gauntlet thrown down, and de Coetlogon was burning to
accept it. Fletcher's offence was this. Upon the 22nd a steamer had come
in from Wellington, specially chartered to bring German despatches to
Apia. The rumour came along with her from New Zealand that in these
despatches Knappe would find himself rebuked, and Fletcher was accused
of having "interested himself in the spreading of this rumour." His
arrest was actually ordered, when Hand succeeded in persuading him to
surrender. At the German court, the case was dismissed "_wegen
Nichtigkeit_"; and the acute stage of these distempers may be said to
have ended. Blessed are the peacemakers. Hand had perhaps averted a
collision. What is more certain, he had offered to the world a perfectly
original reading of the part of British seaman.

Hand may have averted a collision, I say; but I am tempted to believe
otherwise. I am tempted to believe the threat to arrest Fletcher was the
last mutter of the declining tempest and a mere sop to Knappe's
self-respect. I am tempted to believe the rumour in question was
substantially correct, and the steamer from Wellington had really
brought the German consul grounds for hesitation, if not orders to
retreat. I believe the unhappy man to have awakened from a dream, and to
have read ominous writing on the wall. An enthusiastic popularity
surrounded him among the Germans. It was natural. Consul and colony had
passed through an hour of serious peril, and the consul had set the
example of undaunted courage. He was entertained at dinner. Fritze, who
was known to have secretly opposed him, was scorned and avoided. But the
clerks of the German firm were one thing, Prince Bismarck was another;
and on a cold review of these events, it is not improbable that Knappe
may have envied the position of his naval colleague. It is certain, at
least, that he set himself to shuffle and capitulate; and when the blow
fell, he was able to reply that the martial law business had in the
meanwhile come right; that the English and American consular courts
stood open for ordinary cases; and that in differe