concluded that when he eats a
white man he's flyin' in the face of his own interests, and most
generally a gunboat comes along in a few months and shells the
bush, and--well, anyhow, there ain't been a barbecue on Kandavu
for ten years. It's a capital crime to eat a man now, and
punishable by boilin' the offender alive in palm oil."

"Well," rumbled McGuffey, "this Tabu-Tabu don't look much like a
preacher, if you ask me. But how about this black coral?"

"Oh, I've ribbed up a deal with him," said Mr. Gibney. "He'll see
that we get all the trade we can lug away. We're the first vessel
that's touched here in two years, and they have a thunderin' lot
of stuff on hand. Tabu's gone ashore to talk the king into doin'
business with us. If he consents, we'll have him and Tabu-Tabu
and three or four of the sub-chiefs aboard for dinner, or else
he'll invite us ashore for a big feed, and we'll have to go."

"Supposin' this king don't care to have any truck with us?"
inquired McGuffey anxiously.

"In that case, Mac," replied the commodore with a smile, "we'll
just naturally shell him out of house and home."

"Well, then," said McGuffey, "let's get the guns ready. Somethin'
tells me these people ain't to be trusted, and I'm tellin' you
right now, Gib, I won't sleep well to-night unless them two
quarter gatlings and the Maxim-Vickers rapid-fire guns is mounted
and ready for business."

"All right, Mac," replied Mr. Gibney, in the tone one uses when
humouring a baby. "Set 'em up if it'll make you feel more
cheerful. Still, I don't see why you want to go actin' so foolish
over nothin'."

"Well, Gib," replied the engineer, "I may be crazy, but I ain't
no fool, and if there's a dead whale around the ship, I can come
pretty near smellin' it. I tell you, Gib, that Tabu-Tabu nigger
had a look in his eye for all the world like a cur dog lickin' a
bone. I ain't takin' no chances. My old man used to say: 'Bart,
whatever you do, allers have an anchor out to windward.'"

"By the left hind leg of the Great Sacred Bull," snapped Captain
Scraggs, "if you ain't enough to precipitate war."

"War," replied McGuffey, "is my long suit--particularly war with
native niggers. I just naturally crave to punch the ear of
anything darker than a Portugee. Remember how I cleaned out the
police department of Panama?"

"Mount the guns if you're goin' to, Mac. If not, for the love of
the Lord don't be demoralizin' the crew with this talk of war.
All