You and your wife must follow bearer of this note to his boat,
which will bring you to a schooner. The captain's name is Revels. He
expects you, and you can trust him. Have pledged him my word that
you will give him L500 to land you at Manila or thereabouts; also
that you will hand it to him as soon as the schooner is clear of the
land. _All_ your luggage is on board the schooner, awaiting you.
Allen helped me. You might send him a present by Revels. Goodbye,
and all good luck. One last word--_be quick, be quick_!"

"Boat is ready," said Revels.

"Right," and Otway closed the letter and handed it to the mate. "Here
you are, Le Brun. Now, listen. Pull in to the mouth of the creek at the
French Mission, just beside the bridge. Leave your boat there and then
take this letter to D'Acosta's Hotel and ask to see Mr. Lacy. If he and
his wife have gone out for a walk, you must follow them and give him the
letter; but I feel pretty sure you'll find them on the verandah. Bring
them off on board as quickly and as quietly as possible. No one will
take any notice of the boat in the creek. Oh! and tell Mr. Lacy to be
dead sure not to bring anything in the way of even a small bag with
him--Joe D'Acosta might wonder. I'll settle the hotel bill later on. Are
you clear?"

"Clear as mud," replied Le Brun, a big, black-whiskered Guernsey man.

"Then goodbye."

The schooner's boat, manned by two hands only, pushed off, and then
Revels turned to Otway.

"Shall I heave short so as to be ready?"

"Heave short, be d----d!" replied Otway testily. "No, just lie nice and
quiet, and as soon as you have your passengers on board slip your cable.
I'll see that your anchor is fished up for you. And even if you lost
your anchor and a few fathoms of chain it doesn't matter against five
hundred sovereigns. The people on shore would be sure to hear the sound
of the windlass pawls, and there's a man here from Auckland--a
detective--who might make a bold stroke, get a dozen native bullies and
collar you. So slip, my boy, slip. There's a fine healthy breeze which
will take you clear of the reef in ten minutes."

The two men shook hands, and Otway stepped into his boat, which he
steered in towards the principal jetty.

Jumping out he walked along the roadway which led from Matafele to Apia.
As he passed the British Consul's house he saw Mr. O'Donovan standing on
the verandah talking to the Consul. He waved his hand to them