e said. "Can I wash?"

Grief nodded and ordered Mauriri to bring a calabash. Raoul looked into
the Goat Man's eyes, but saw nothing save languid uninterest as the
precious quart of water was wasted on the ground.

"The dog is thirsty," Raoul said.

Grief nodded, and another calabash was presented to the animal.

Again Raoul searched the eyes of the natives and learned nothing.

"Sorry we have no coffee," Grief apologized. "You'll have to drink plain
water. A calabash, Tehaa. Try some of this shark. There is squid to
follow, and sea urchins and a seaweed salad. I'm sorry we haven't any
frigate bird. The boys were lazy yesterday, and did not try to catch
any."

With an appetite that would not have stopped at wire nails dipped in
lard, Grief ate perfunctorily, and tossed the scraps to the dog.

"I'm afraid I haven't got down to the primitive diet yet," he sighed,
as he sat back. "The tinned goods on the _Rattler_, now I could make a
hearty meal off of them, but this muck----" He took a half-pound strip
of broiled shark and flung it to the dog. "I suppose I'll come to it if
you don't surrender pretty soon."

Raoul laughed unpleasantly.

"I came to offer terms," he said pointedly.

Grief shook his head.

"There aren't any terms. I've got you where the hair is short, and I'm
not going to let go."

"You think you can hold me in this hole!" Raoul cried.

"You'll never leave it alive, except in double irons." Grief surveyed
his guest with an air of consideration. "I've handled your kind before.
We've pretty well cleaned it out of the South Seas. But you are a--how
shall I say?--a sort of an anachronism. You're a throwback, and we've
got to get rid of you. Personally, I would advise you to go back to the
schooner and blow your brains out. It is the only way to escape what
you've got coming to you."

The parley, so far as Raoul was concerned, proved fruitless, and he went
back into his own lines convinced that the men on the Big Rock could
hold out for years, though he would have been swiftly unconvinced could
he have observed Tehaa and the Raiateans, the moment his back was
turned and he was out of sight, crawling over the rocks and sucking and
crunching the scraps his dog had left uneaten.

IX

"We hunger now, Brother," Grief said, "but it is better than to hunger
for many days to come. The Big Devil, after feasting and drinking good
water with us in plenty, will not stay long in Fuatino. Even to-morrow