aid Gordon, nervously. "They must have
read my message wrong. You sent just what I gave you, didn't you?" he
asked.

"Of course I did," said Stedman, indignantly. "I didn't say anything
about the massacre of anybody, did I?" asked Gordon. "I hope they are
not improving on my account. What AM I to do? This is getting awful.
I'll have to go out and kill a few people myself. Oh, why don't that
Dutch captain begin to do something! What sort of a fighter does he
call himself? He wouldn't shoot at a school of porpoises. He's
not----"

"Here comes a message to Leonard T. Travis, American consul, Opeki,"
read Stedman. "It's raining messages to-day. 'Send full details of
massacre of American citizens by German sailors.' Secretary of--great
Scott!" gasped Stedman, interrupting himself and gazing at his
instrument with horrified fascination--"the Secretary of State."

"That settles it," roared Gordon, pulling at his hair and burying his
face in his hands. "I have GOT to kill some of them now."

"Albert Gordon, Correspondent," read Stedman, impressively, like the
voice of Fate. "Is Colonel Thomas Bradley commanding native forces at
Opeki, Colonel Sir Thomas Kent-Bradley of Crimean war fame?
Correspondent London Times, San Francisco Press Club."

"Go on, go on!" said Gordon, desperately. "I'm getting used to it now.
Go on!"

"American consul, Opeki," read Stedman. "Home Secretary desires you to
furnish list of names English residents killed during shelling of Opeki
by ship of war Kaiser, and estimate of amount property destroyed.
Stoughton, British Embassy, Washington."

"Stedman!" cried Gordon, jumping to his feet, "there's a mistake here
somewhere. These people cannot all have made my message read like
that. Someone has altered it, and now I have got to make these people
here live up to that message, whether they like being massacred and
blown up or not. Don't answer any of those messages except the one
from Dodge; tell him things have quieted down a bit, and that I'll send
four thousand words on the flight of the natives from the village, and
their encampment at the foot of the mountains, and of the exploring
party we have sent out to look for the German vessel; and now I am
going out to make something happen."

Gordon said that he would be gone for two hours at least, and as
Stedman did not feel capable of receiving any more nerve-stirring
messages, he cut off all connection with Octavia by saying,