e King fumbled among his necklaces until he had
brought out a leather bag tied round his neck with a cord, and
containing a plain stem-winding silver watch marked on the inside
"Munich."

"That doesn't tell anything," said Gordon. "But it's plain enough. Some
foreign ship of war has settled on this place as a coaling-station, or
has annexed it for colonization, and they've sent a boat ashore, and
they've made a treaty with this old chap, and forced him to sell his
birthright for a mess of porridge. Now, that's just like those
monarchical pirates, imposing upon a poor old black."

Old Bradley looked at him impudently.

"Not at all," said Gordon; "it's quite different with us; we don't want
to rob him or Ollypybus, or to annex their land. All we want to do is to
improve it, and have the fun of running it for them and meddling in
their affairs of state. Well, Stedman," he said, "what shall we do?"

Stedman said that the best and only thing to do was to threaten to take
the watch away from Messenwah, but to give him a revolver instead, which
would make a friend of him for life, and to keep him supplied with
cartridges only as long as he behaved himself, and then to make him
understand that, as Ollypybus had not given his consent to the loss of
the island, Messenwah's agreement, or treaty, or whatever it was, did
not stand, and that he had better come down the next day, early in the
morning, and join in a general consultation. This was done, and
Messenwah agreed willingly to their proposition, and was given his
revolver and shown how to shoot it, while the other presents were
distributed among the other men, who were as happy over them as girls
with a full dance-card.

"And now, to-morrow," said Stedman, "understand, you are all to come
down unarmed, and sign a treaty with great Ollypybus, in which he will
agree to keep to one half of the island, if you keep to yours, and there
must be no more wars or goat stealing, or this gentleman on my right
and I will come up and put holes in you just as the gentleman on the
left did with the goat."

Messenwah and his warriors promised to come early, and saluted
reverently as Gordon and his three companions walked up together very
proudly and stiffly.

"Do you know how I feel?" said Gordon.

"How?" asked Stedman.

"I feel as I used to do in the city, when the boys in the street were
throwing snow-balls, and I had to go by with a high hat on my head and
pretend not to know th