o be run
aft.

*****

"By and by," said Maru, "woman and girl come to captain and sailor-man
Charlie and me and cry and say good-bye, and then captain he pray too.
Then he get up and take cutlass, and sailor-man Charlie he take cutlass
too, but he too weak and fall down; so captain say, 'Never mind,
Charlie, you and me die now like men.'"

Then, cutlass in hand, the white-haired old skipper stood over the
kneeling figures of the three women and waited for the end. And now the
silence was broken by a rumbling sound, and then came a rush of naked
feet along the deck.

"It is the gun," said Maru to the captain, and in an agony of terror he
lifted up the hatch of the lazarette under the cabin table and jumped
below. And then Deschard's voice was heard.

"_Ta mai te ae_" (Give me the fire).

A blinding flash, a deafening roar, and splintering and crashing of
timber followed, and as the heavy pall of smoke lifted, Deschard and the
others looked in at their bloody work, shuddered, and turned away.

Pedro, the Portuguese, his dark features turned to a ghastly pallor, was
the only one of the four men who had courage enough to assist some of
the natives in removing from the cabin the bodies of the three poor
creatures who, but such a short time before, were full of happiness and
hope. Deschard and the three others, after that one shuddering glance,
had kept away from the vicinity of the shot-torn cabin.

VII.

The conditions of the cutting off of the brigantine were faithfully
observed by the contracting parties, and long ere night fell the last
boatload of plunder had been taken ashore. Tebarau, chief of Oneaka, had
with his warriors helped to heave up anchor, and the vessel, under
short canvas, was already a mile or two away from the land, and in his
hiding-place in the gloomy lazarette the half-caste boy heard Corton and
Deschard laying plans for the future.

Only these two were present in the cabin. Pedro was at the wheel, and
Tamu somewhere on deck. Presently Corton brought out the dead captain's
despatch box, which they had claimed from the natives, and the two began
to examine the contents. There was a considerable amount of money in
gold and silver, as well as the usual ship's papers, &c. Corton, who
could scarcely read, passed these over to his companion, and then ran
his fingers gloatingly through the heap of money before him.

With a hoarse, choking cry and horror-stricken eyes Deschard sprang to
h