CHAPTER IV
DEVIL-WORK
Near a month went by without much doing. The same night of our marriageGaloshes called round, and made himself mighty civil, and got into ahabit of dropping in about dark and smoking his pipe with the family. Hecould talk to Uma, of course, and started to teach me native and Frenchat the same time. He was a kind old buffer, though the dirtiest youwould wish to see, and he muddled me up with foreign languages worsethan the tower of Babel.
That was one employment we had, and it made me feel less lonesome; butthere was no profit in the thing, for though the priest came and sat andyarned, none of his folks could be enticed into my store; and if ithadn't been for the other occupation I struck out there wouldn't havebeen a pound of copra in the house. This was the idea: Fa'avao (Uma'smother) had a score of bearing trees. Of course we could get no labour,being all as good as tabooed, and the two women and I turned to and madecopra with our own hands. It was copra to make your mouth water when itwas done--I never understood how much the natives cheated me till I hadmade that four hundred pounds of my own hand--and it weighed so light Ifelt inclined to take and water it myself.
When we were at the job a good many Kanakas used to put in the best ofthe day looking on, and once that nigger turned up. He stood back withthe natives and laughed and did the big don and the funny dog till Ibegan to get riled.
"Here, you nigger!" says I.
"I don't address myself to you, Sah," says the nigger. "Only speak togen'le'um."
"I know," says I, "but it happens I was addressing myself to you, Mr.Black Jack. And all I want to know is just this: did you see Case'sfigure-head about a week ago?"
"No, Sah," says he.
"That's all right, then," says I; "for I'll show you the own brother toit, only black, in the inside of about two minutes."
And I began to walk towards him, quite slow, and my hands down; onlythere was trouble in my eye, if anybody took the pains to look.
"You're a low, obstropulous fellow, Sah," says he.
"You bet!" says I.
By that time he thought I was about as near as convenient, and lit outso it would have done your heart good to see him travel. And that wasall I saw of that precious gang until what I am about to tell you.
It was one of my chief employments these days to go pot-hunting in thewoods, which I found (as Case had told me) very rich in game. I havespoken of the cape which shut up the village and my station from theeast. A path went about the end of it, and led into the next bay. Astrong wind blew here daily, and as the line of the barrier reef stoppedat the end of the cape, a heavy surf ran on the shores of the bay. Alittle cliffy hill cut the valley in two parts, and stood close on thebeach; and at high water the sea broke right on the face of it, so thatall passage was stopped. Woody mountains hemmed the place all round; thebarrier to the east was particularly steep and leafy, the lower parts ofit, along the sea, falling in sheer black cliffs streaked with cinnabar;the upper part lumpy with the tops of the great trees. Some of the treeswere bright green, and some red, and the sand of the beach as black asyour shoes. Many birds hovered round the bay, some of them snow-white;and the flying-fox (or vampire) flew there in broad daylight, gnashingits teeth.
For a long while I came as far as this shooting, and went no farther.There was no sign of any path beyond, and the cocoa-palms in the frontof the foot of the valley were the last this way. For the whole "eye" ofthe island, as natives call the windward end, lay desert. From Falesaround about to Papa-malulu, there was neither house, nor man, norplanted fruit-tree; and the reef being mostly absent, and the shoresbluff, the sea beat direct among crags, and there was scarce alanding-place.
I should tell you that after I began to go in the woods, although no oneoffered to come near my store, I found people willing enough to pass thetime of day with me where nobody could see them; and as I had begun topick up native, and most of them had a word or two of English, I beganto hold little odds and ends of conversation, not to much purpose to besure, but they took off the worst of the feeling, for it's a miserablething to be made a leper of.
It chanced one day towards the end of the month, that I was sitting inthis bay in the edge of the bush, looking east, with a Kanaka. I hadgiven him a fill of tobacco, and we were making out to talk as best wecould; indeed, he had more English than most.
I asked him if there was no road going eastward.
"One time one road," said he. "Now he dead."
"Nobody he go there?" I asked.
"No good," said he. "Too much devil he stop there."
"Oho!" says I, "got-um plenty devil, that bush?"
"Man devil, woman devil; too much devil," said my friend. "Stop thereall-e-time. Man he go there, no come back."
I thought if this fellow was so well posted on devils and spoke of themso free, which is not common, I had better fish for a little informationabout myself and Uma.
"You think me one devil?" I asked.
"No think devil," said he soothingly. "Think all-e-same fool."
"Uma, she devil?" I asked again.
"No, no; no devil. Devil stop bush," said the young man.
I was looking in front of me across the bay, and I saw the hanging frontof the woods pushed suddenly open, and Case, with a gun in his hand,step forth into the sunshine on the black beach. He was got up in lightpyjamas, near white, his gun sparkled, he looked mighty conspicuous; andthe land-crabs scuttled from all round him to their holes.
"Hullo, my friend!" says I, "you no talk all-e-same true. Ese he go, hecome back."
"Ese no all-e-same; Ese _Tiapolo_," says my friend; and, with a"Good-bye," slunk off among the trees.
I watched Case all round the beach, where the tide was low; and let himpass me on the homeward way to Falesa. He was in deep thought, and thebirds seemed to know it, trotting quite near him on the sand, orwheeling and calling in his ears. When he passed me I could see by theworking of his lips that he was talking to himself, and, what pleased memightily, he had still my trade mark on his brow. I tell you the plaintruth: I had a mind to give him a gunful in his ugly mug, but I thoughtbetter of it.
All this time, and all the time I was following home, I kept repeatingthat native word, which I remembered by "Polly, put the kettle on andmake us all some tea," tea-a-pollo.
"Uma," says I, when I got back, "what does _Tiapolo_ mean?"
"Devil," says she.
"I thought _aitu_ was the word for that," I said.
"_Aitu_ 'nother kind of devil," said she; "stop bush, eat Kanaka.Tiapolo big chief devil, stop home; all-e-same Christian devil."
"Well then," said I, "I'm no farther forward. How can Case be Tiapolo?"
"No all-e-same," said she. "Ese belong Tiapolo; Tiapolo too much like;Ese all-e-same his son. Suppose Ese he wish something, Tiapolo he makehim."
"That's mighty convenient for Ese," says I. "And what kind of thingsdoes he make for him?"
Well, out came a rigmarole of all sorts of stories, many of which (likethe dollar he took from Mr. Tarleton's head) were plain enough to me,but others I could make nothing of; and the thing that most surprisedthe Kanakas was what surprised me least--namely, that he would go in thedesert among all the _aitus_. Some of the boldest, however, hadaccompanied him, and had heard him speak with the dead and give themorders, and, safe in his protection, had returned unscathed. Some saidhe had a church there, where he worshipped Tiapolo, and Tiapolo appearedto him; others swore that there was no sorcery at all, that he performedhis miracles by the power of prayer, and the church was no church, but aprison, in which he had confined a dangerous _aitu_. Namu had been inthe bush with him once, and returned glorifying God for these wonders.Altogether, I began to have a glimmer of the man's position, and themeans by which he had acquired it, and, though I saw he was a tough nutto crack, I was noways cast down.
"Very well," said I, "I'll have a look at Master Case's place of worshipmyself, and we'll see about the glorifying."
At this Uma fell in a terrible taking; if I w
ent in the high bush Ishould never return; none could go there but by the protection ofTiapolo.
"I'll chance it on God's," said I. "I'm a good sort of fellow, Uma, asfellows go, and I guess God'll con me through."
She was silent for a while. "I think," said she, mighty solemn--andthen, presently--"Victoreea, he big chief?"
"You bet!" said I.
"He like you too much?" she asked again.
I told her, with a grin, I believed the old lady was rather partial tome.
"All right," said she. "Victoreea he big chief, like you too much. Nocan help you here in Falesa; no can do--too far off. Maea he smallchief--stop here. Suppose he like you--make you all right. All-e-sameGod and Tiapolo. God he big chief--got too much work. Tiapolo he smallchief--he like too much make-see, work very hard."
"I'll have to hand you over to Mr. Tarleton," said I. "Your theology'sout of its bearings, Uma."
However, we stuck to this business all the evening, and, with thestories she told me of the desert and its dangers, she came nearfrightening herself into a fit. I don't remember half a quarter of them,of course, for I paid little heed; but two come back to me kind ofclear.
About six miles up the coast there is a sheltered cove they call_Fanga-anaana_--"the haven full of caves." I've seen it from the seamyself, as near as I could get my boys to venture in; and it's a littlestrip of yellow sand. Black cliffs overhang it, full of the black mouthsof caves; great trees overhang the cliffs, and dangle-down lianas; andin one place, about the middle, a big brook pours over in a cascade.Well, there was a boat going by here, with six young men of Falesa, "allvery pretty," Uma said, which was the loss of them. It blew strong,there was a heavy head sea, and by the time they opened Fanga-anaana,and saw the white cascade and the shady beach, they were all tired andthirsty, and their water had run out. One proposed to land and get adrink, and, being reckless fellows, they were all of the same mindexcept the youngest. Lotu was his name; he was a very good younggentleman, and very wise; and he held out that they were crazy, tellingthem the place was given over to spirits and devils and the dead, andthere were no living folk nearer than six miles the one way, and maybetwelve the other. But they laughed at his words, and, being five to one,pulled in, beached the boat, and landed. It was a wonderful pleasantplace, Lotu said, and the water excellent. They walked round the beach,but could see nowhere any way to mount the cliffs, which made themeasier in their mind; and at last they sat down to make a meal on thefood they had brought with them. They were scarce set, when there cameout of the mouth of one of the black caves six of the most beautifulladies ever seen: they had flowers in their hair, and the most beautifulbreasts, and necklaces of scarlet seeds; and began to jest with theseyoung gentlemen, and the young gentlemen to jest back with them, all butLotu. As for Lotu, he saw there could be no living woman in such aplace, and ran, and flung himself in the bottom of the boat, and coveredhis face, and prayed. All the time the business lasted Lotu made oneclean break of prayer, and that was all he knew of it, until his friendscame back, and made him sit up, and they put to sea again out of thebay, which was now quite deserted, and no word of the six ladies. But,what frightened Lotu most, not one of the five remembered anything ofwhat had passed, but they were all like drunken men, and sang andlaughed in the boat, and skylarked. The wind freshened and came squally,and the sea rose extraordinary high; it was such weather as any man inthe islands would have turned his back to and fled home to Falesa; butthese five were like crazy folk, and cracked on all sail and drove theirboat into the seas. Lotu went to the bailing, none of the others thoughtto help him, but sang and skylarked and carried on, and spoke singularthings beyond a man's comprehension, and laughed out loud when they saidthem. So the rest of the day Lotu bailed for his life in the bottom ofthe boat, and was all drenched with sweat and cold sea-water; and noneheeded him. Against all expectation, they came safe in a dreadfultempest to Papa-malulu, where the palms were singing out, and thecocoa-nuts flying like cannon-balls about the village green; and thesame night the five young gentlemen sickened, and spoke never areasonable word until they died.
"And do you mean to tell me you can swallow a yarn like that?" I asked.
She told me the thing was well known, and with handsome young men aloneit was even common; but this was the only case where five had been slainthe same day and in a company by the love of the women-devils; and ithad made a great stir in the island, and she would be crazy if shedoubted.
"Well, anyway," says I, "you needn't be frightened about me. I've no usefor the women-devils. You're all the women I want, and all the deviltoo, old lady."
To this she answered there were other sorts, and she had seen one withher own eyes. She had gone one day alone to the next bay, and, perhaps,got too near the margin of the bad place. The boughs of the high bushovershadowed her from the cant of the hill, but she herself was outsideon a flat place, very stony, and growing full of young mummy-apples fourand five feet high. It was a dark day in the rainy season, and now therecame squalls that tore off the leaves and sent them flying, and now itwas all still as in a house. It was in one of these still times that awhole gang of birds and flying foxes came pegging out of the bush likecreatures frightened. Presently after she heard a rustle nearer hand,and saw, coming out of the margin of the trees, among the mummy-apples,the appearance of a lean grey old boar. It seemed to think as it came,like a person; and all of a sudden, as she looked at it coming, she wasaware it was no boar, but a thing that was a man with a man's thoughts.At that she ran, and the pig after her, and as the pig ran it holla'daloud, so that the place rang with it.
"I wish I had been there with my gun," said I. "I guess that pig wouldhave holla'd so as to surprise himself."
But she told me a gun was of no use with the like of these, which werethe spirits of the dead.
Well, this kind of talk put in the evening, which was the best of it;but of course it didn't change my notion, and the next day, with my gunand a good knife, I set off upon a voyage of discovery. I made, as nearas I could, for the place where I had seen Case come out; for if it wastrue he had some kind of establishment in the bush I reckoned I shouldfind a path. The beginning of the desert was marked off by a wall tocall it so, for it was more of a long mound of stones. They say itreaches right across the island, but how they know it is anotherquestion, for I doubt if anyone has made the journey in a hundred years,the natives sticking chiefly to the sea, and their little colonies alongthe coast, and that part being mortal high and steep and full of cliffs.Up to the west side of the wall the ground has been cleared, and thereare cocoa-palms and mummy-apples and guavas, and lots of sensitive. Justacross, the bush begins outright; high bush at that, trees going up likethe masts of ships, and ropes of liana hanging down like a ship'srigging, and nasty orchids growing in the forks like funguses. Theground where there was no underwood looked to be a heap of boulders. Isaw many green pigeons which I might have shot, only I was there with adifferent idea. A number of butterflies flopped up and down along theground like dead leaves; sometimes I would hear a bird calling,sometimes the wind overhead, and always the sea along the coast.
But the queerness of the place it's more difficult to tell of, unless toone who has been alone in the high bush himself. The brightest kind of aday it is always dim down there. A man can see to the end of nothing;whichever way he looks the wood shuts up, one bough folding with anotherlike the fingers of your hand; and whenever he listens he hears alwayssomething new--men talking, children laughing, the strokes of an axe afar way ahead of him, and sometimes a sort of a quick, stealthy scurrynear at hand that makes him jump and look to his weapons. It's all verywell for him to tell himself that he's alone, bar trees and birds; hecan't make out to believe it; whichever way he turns the whole placeseems to be alive and looking on. Don't think it was Uma's yarns thatput me out; I don't value native talk a fourpenny-piece; it's a thingthat's natural in the bush, and that's the end of it.
As I got near the top of the hill, for the ground of the wood goe
s up inthis place steep as a ladder, the wind began to sound straight on, andthe leaves to toss and switch open and let in the sun. This suited mebetter; it was the same noise all the time, and nothing to startle.Well, I had got to a place where there was an underwood of what theycall wild cocoa-nut--mighty pretty with its scarlet fruit--when therecame a sound of singing in the wind that I thought I had never heard thelike of. It was all very fine to tell myself it was the branches; I knewbetter. It was all very fine to tell myself it was a bird; I knew nevera bird that sang like that. It rose and swelled, and died away andswelled again; and now I thought it was like someone weeping, onlyprettier; and now I thought it was like harps; and there was one thing Imade sure of, it was a sight too sweet to be wholesome in a place likethat. You may laugh if you like; but I declare I called to mind the sixyoung ladies that came, with their scarlet necklaces, out of the cave atFanga-anaana, and wondered if they sang like that. We laugh at thenatives and their superstitions; but see how many traders take them up,splendidly educated white men that have been book-keepers (some of them)and clerks in the old country. It's my belief a superstition grows up ina place like the different kind of weeds; and as I stood there andlistened to that wailing I twittered in my shoes.
You may call me a coward to be frightened; I thought myself brave enoughto go on ahead. But I went mighty carefully, with my gun cocked, spyingall about me like a hunter, fully expecting to see a handsome youngwoman sitting somewhere in the bush, and fully determined (if I did) totry her with a charge of duck-shot. And sure enough, I had not gone farwhen I met with a queer thing. The wind came on the top of the wood in astrong puff, the leaves in front of me burst open, and I saw for asecond something hanging in a tree. It was gone in a wink, the puffblowing by and the leaves closing. I tell you the truth: I had made upmy mind to see an _aitu_; and if the thing had looked like a pig or awoman, it wouldn't have given me the same turn. The trouble was that itseemed kind of square, and the idea of a square thing that was alive andsang knocked me sick and silly. I must have stood quite a while; and Imade pretty certain it was right out of the same tree that the singingcame. Then I began to come to myself a bit.
"Well," says I, "if this is really so, if this is a place where thereare square things that sing, I'm gone up anyway. Let's have my fun formy money."
But I thought I might as well take the off-chance of a prayer being anygood; so I plumped on my knees and prayed out loud; and all the time Iwas praying the strange sounds came out of the tree, and went up anddown, and changed, for all the world like music, only you could see itwasn't human--there was nothing there that you could whistle.
As soon as I had made an end in proper style, I laid down my gun, stuckmy knife between my teeth, walked right up to that tree, and began toclimb. I tell you my heart was like ice. But presently, as I went up, Icaught another glimpse of the thing, and that relieved me, for I thoughtit seemed like a box; and when I had got right up to it I near fell outof the tree with laughing.
A box it was, sure enough, and a candle-box at that, with the brand uponthe side of it; and it had banjo-strings stretched so as to sound whenthe wind blew. I believe they call the thing a Tyrolean[4] harp,whatever that may mean.
"Well, Mr. Case," said I, "you've frightened me once, but I defy you tofrighten me again," I says, and slipped down the tree, and set out againto find my enemy's head office, which I guessed would not be far away.
The undergrowth was thick in this part; I couldn't see before my nose,and must burst my way through by main force and ply the knife as I went,slicing the cords of the lianas and slashing down whole trees at a blow.I call them trees for the bigness, but in truth they were just bigweeds, and sappy to cut through like carrot. From all this crowd andkind of vegetation, I was just thinking to myself, the place might haveonce been cleared, when I came on my nose over a pile of stones, and sawin a moment it was some kind of a work of man. The Lord knows when itwas made or when deserted, for this part of the island has lainundisturbed since long before the whites came. A few steps beyond I hitinto the path I had been always looking for. It was narrow, but wellbeaten, and I saw that Case had plenty of disciples. It seems, indeed,it was a piece of fashionable boldness to venture up here with thetrader, and a young man scarce reckoned himself grown till he had gothis breech tattooed, for one thing, and seen Case's devils for another.This is mighty like Kanakas; but, if you look at it another way, it'smighty like white folks too.
A bit along the path I was brought to a clear stand, and had to rub myeyes. There was a wall in front of me, the path passing it by a gap; itwas tumble-down, and plainly very old, but built of big stones very welllaid; and there is no native alive to-day upon that island that coulddream of such a piece of building. Along all the top of it was a line ofqueer figures, idols or scarecrows, or what not. They had carved andpainted faces, ugly to view, their eyes and teeth were of shell, theirhair and their bright clothes blew in the wind, and some of them workedwith the tugging. There are islands up west where they make these kindof figures till to-day; but if ever they were made in this island, thepractice and the very recollection of it are now long forgotten. And thesingular thing was that all these bogies were as fresh as toys out of ashop.
Then it came in my mind that Case had let out to me the first day thathe was a good forger of island curiosities, a thing by which so manytraders turn an honest penny. And with that I saw the whole business,and how this display served the man a double purpose, first of all, toseason his curiosities, and then to frighten those that came to visithim.
But I should tell you (what made the thing more curious) that all thetime the Tyrolean harps were harping round me in the trees, and evenwhile I looked, a green-and-yellow bird (that, I suppose, was building)began to tear the hair off the head of one of the figures.
A little farther on I found the best curiosity of the museum. The firstI saw of it was a longish mound of earth with a twist to it. Digging offthe earth with my hands, I found underneath tarpaulin stretched onboards, so that this was plainly the roof of a cellar. It stood right onthe top of the hill, and the entrance was on the far side, between tworocks, like the entrance to a cave. I went as far in as the bend, and,looking round the corner, saw a shining face. It was big and ugly, likea pantomime mask, and the brightness of it waxed and dwindled, and attimes it smoked.
"Oho!" says I, "luminous paint!"
And I must say I rather admired the man's ingenuity. With a box of toolsand a few mighty simple contrivances he had made out to have a devil ofa temple. Any poor Kanaka brought up here in the dark, with the harpswhining all round him, and shown that smoking face in the bottom of ahole, would make no kind of doubt but he had seen and heard enoughdevils for a lifetime. It's easy to find out what Kanakas think. Just goback to yourself any way round from ten to fifteen years old, andthere's an average Kanaka. There are some pious, just as there are piousboys; and the most of them, like the boys again, are middling honest,and yet think it rather larks to steal, and are easy scared, and ratherlike to be so. I remember a boy I was at school with at home who playedthe Case business. He didn't know anything, that boy; he couldn't doanything; he had no luminous paint and no Tyrolean harps; he just boldlysaid he was a sorcerer, and frightened us out of our boots, and we lovedit. And then it came in my mind how the master had once flogged thatboy, and the surprise we were all in to see the sorcerer catch it andbum like anybody else. Thinks I to myself, "I must find some way offixing it so for Master Case." And the next moment I had my idea.
I went back by the path, which, when once you had found it, was quiteplain and easy walking; and when I stepped out on the black sands, whoshould I see but Master Case himself! I cocked my gun and held it handy,and we marched up and passed without a word, each keeping the tail ofhis eye on the other; and no sooner had we passed than we each wheeledround like fellows drilling, and stood face to face. We had each takenthe same notion in his head, you see, that the other fellow might givehim the load of his gun in the stern.
"Yo
u've shot nothing," says Case.
"I'm not on the shoot to-day," said I.
"Well, the devil go with you for me," says he.
"The same to you," says I.
But we stuck just the way we were; no fear of either of us moving.
Case laughed. "We can't stop here all day, though," said he.
"Don't let me detain you," says I.
He laughed again. "Look here, Wiltshire, do you think me a fool?" heasked.
"More of a knave, if you want to know," says I.
"Well, do you think it would better me to shoot you here, on this openbeach?" said he. "Because I don't. Folks come fishing every day. Theremay be a score of them up the valley now, making copra; there might behalf a dozen on the hill behind you, after pigeons; they might bewatching us this minute, and I shouldn't wonder. I give you my word Idon't want to shoot you. Why should I? You don't hinder me any. Youhaven't got one pound of copra but what you made with your own hands,like a negro slave. You're vegetating--that's what I call it--and Idon't care where you vegetate, nor yet how long. Give me your word youdon't mean to shoot me, and I'll give you a lead and walk away."
"Well," said I, "you're frank and pleasant, ain't you? And I'll be thesame. I don't mean to shoot you to-day. Why should I? This business isbeginning; it ain't done yet, Mr. Case. I've given you one turn already;I can see the marks of my knuckles on your head to this blooming hour,and I've more cooking for you. I'm not a paralee, like Underhill. Myname ain't Adams, and it ain't Vigours; and I mean to show you thatyou've met your match."
"This is a silly way to talk," said he. "This is not the talk to make memove on with."
"All right," said I, "stay where you are. I ain't in any hurry, and youknow it. I can put in a day on this beach and never mind. I ain't gotany copra to bother with. I ain't got any luminous paint to see to."
I was sorry I said that last, but it whipped out before I knew. I couldsee it took the wind out of his sails, and he stood and stared at mewith his brow drawn up. Then I suppose he made up his mind he must getto the bottom of this.
"I take you at your word," says he, and turned his back and walked rightinto the devil's bush.
I let him go, of course, for I had passed my word. But I watched him aslong as he was in sight, and after he was gone lit out for cover aslively as you would want to see, and went the rest of the way home underthe bush, for I didn't trust him sixpence-worth. One thing I saw, I hadbeen ass enough to give him warning, and that which I meant to do I mustdo at once.
You would think I had had about enough excitement for one morning, butthere was another turn waiting me. As soon as I got far enough round thecape to see my house I made out there were strangers there; a littlefarther, and no doubt about it. There was a couple of armed sentinelssquatting at my door. I could only suppose the trouble about Uma musthave come to a head, and the station been seized. For aught I couldthink, Uma was taken up already, and these armed men were waiting to dothe like with me.
However, as I came nearer, which I did at top speed, I saw there was athird native sitting on the verandah like a guest, and Uma was talkingwith him like a hostess. Nearer still I made out it was the big youngchief, Maea, and that he was smiling away and smoking. And what was hesmoking? None of your European cigarettes fit for a cat, not even thegenuine big, knock-me-down native article that a fellow can really putin the time with if his pipe is broke--but a cigar, and one of myMexicans at that, that I could swear to. At sight of this my heartstarted beating, and I took a wild hope in my head that the trouble wasover, and Maea had come round.
Uma pointed me out to him as I came up, and he met me at the head of myown stairs like a thorough gentleman.
"Vilivili," said he, which was the best they could make of my name, "Ipleased."
There is no doubt when an island chief wants to be civil he can do it. Isaw the way things were from the word-go. There was no call for Uma tosay to me: "He no 'fraid Ese now, come bring copra." I tell you I shookhands with that Kanaka like as if he was the best white man in Europe.
The fact was, Case and he had got after the same girl; or Maea suspectedit, and concluded to make hay of the trader on the chance. He haddressed himself up, got a couple of his retainers cleaned and armed tokind of make the thing more public, and, just waiting till Case wasclear of the village, came round to put the whole of his business myway. He was rich as well as powerful. I suppose that man was worth fiftythousand nuts per annum. I gave him the price of the beach and a quartercent better, and as for credit, I would have advanced him the inside ofthe store and the fittings besides, I was so pleased to see him. I mustsay he bought like a gentleman: rice and tins and biscuits enough for aweek's feast, and stuffs by the bolt. He was agreeable besides; he hadplenty fun to him; and we cracked jests together, mostly through theinterpreter, because he had mighty little English, and my native wasstill off colour. One thing I made out: he could never really havethought much harm of Uma; he could never have been really frightened,and must just have made believe from dodginess, and because he thoughtCase had a strong pull in the village and could help him on.
This set me thinking that both he and I were in a tightish place. Whathe had done was to fly in the face of the whole village, and the thingmight cost him his authority. More than that, after my talk with Case onthe beach, I thought it might very well cost me my life. Case had asgood as said he would pot me if ever I got any copra; he would come hometo find the best business in the village had changed hands; and the bestthing I thought I could do was to get in first with the potting.
"See here, Uma," says I, "tell him I'm sorry I made him wait, but I wasup looking at Case's Tiapolo store in the bush."
"He want savvy if you no 'fraid?" translated Uma.
I laughed out. "Not much!" says I. "Tell him the place is a bloomingtoy-shop! Tell him in England we give these things to the kids to playwith."
"He want savvy if you hear devil sing?" she asked next.
"Look here," I said, "I can't do it now because I've got nobanjo-strings in stock; but the next time the ship comes round I'll haveone of these same contraptions right here in my verandah, and he can seefor himself how much devil there is to it. Tell him, as soon as I canget the strings I'll make one for his picaninnies. The name of theconcern is a Tyrolean harp; and you can tell him the name means inEnglish that nobody but dam-fools give a cent for it."
This time he was so pleased he had to try his English again: "You talktrue?" says he.
"Rather!" said I. "Talk all-e-same Bible.--Bring out a Bible here, Uma,if you've got such a thing, and I'll kiss it. Or, I'll tell you what'sbetter still," says I, taking a header, "ask him if he's afraid to go upthere himself by day."
It appeared he wasn't; he could venture as far as that by day and incompany.
"That's the ticket, then!" said I. "Tell him the man's a fraud and theplace foolishness, and if he'll go up there to-morrow he'll see allthat's left of it. But tell him this, Uma, and mind he understands it:If he gets talking, it's bound to come to Case, and I'm a dead man! I'mplaying his game, tell him, and if he says one word my blood will be athis door and be the damnation of him here and after."
She told him, and he shook hands with me up to the hilt, and says he:"No talk. Go up to-mollow. You my friend?"
"No, sir," says I, "no such foolishness.--I've come here to trade, tellhim, and not to make friends. But as to Case, I'll send that man toglory!"
So off Maea went, pretty well pleased, as I could see.
FOOTNOTE:
[4] AEolian.