rhaps
wonder, but will probably conclude that we are laying it by, to
make a great feast upon our wedding day.

"As to water, we must do with the calabashes which they bring the
day before, and with the milk which the cocoas contain, and which
is to the full as quenching as water. With a good number of cocoas,
we ought to be able to shift for some days without other food; and
there is, indeed, an abundance of juice in many of the other fruits
which they offer us."

This programme was carried out. Every morning the lads danced in
solemn procession round the hut, lessening their rounds by one each
day. Daily the heap of fruit, dried fish, and vegetables under the
shed increased; and the natives, who believed that their new
deities were intent upon the thoughts of marriage, had no suspicion
whatever of any desire, on their part, to escape.

Having settled how to prevent their escape being detected before
morning, they accustomed themselves to go to sleep with the cloths,
woven of the fiber of the palm with which the natives had supplied
them, pulled over their heads.

Seven days after the fight with the other islanders, the lads
judged that the pile of provisions was sufficiently large for their
purpose, and determined upon making the attempt that night. A canoe
of about the size that they desired, which had been used during the
day for fishing, lay on the shore close to the water's edge.

They waited until the village was fairly hushed in sleep. An hour
later they believed that the four guards--or worshipers, for it
struck them that their attendants partook partly of both
characters--were beginning to feel drowsy; and each of the boys,
having furnished himself with a rope of twisted coconut fiber,
stole quietly up to one of these men.

To place their hands over their mouths, to seize and throw them
upon their faces, was but the work of a moment; and was
accomplished without the least noise, the natives being paralyzed
by the sudden and unexpected assault. A piece of wood was shoved
into the mouth of each, as a gag; and secured by a string, passing
round the back of the head, and holding it in its place. Their arms
and legs were tied, and they were set up against the posts, in the
same position they had before occupied.

Four of the great effigies were then taken from their places, and
laid down upon the ground and covered over with the mats, so that
to any casual observer they presented exactly the same appearan