for the Solomons. Malaita, then as now, was good recruiting
ground, and we ran into Malu, on the northwestern corner. There's a
shore reef and an outer reef, and a mighty nervous anchorage; but we
made it all right and fired off our dynamite as a signal to the niggers
to come down and be recruited. In three days we got not a boy. The
niggers came off to us in their canoes by hundreds, but they only
laughed when we showed them beads and calico and hatchets and talked of
the delights of plantation work in Samoa.

"On the fourth day there came a change. Fifty-odd boys signed on and
were billeted in the main-hold, with the freedom of the deck, of course.
And of course, looking back, this wholesale signing on was suspicious,
but at the time we thought some powerful chief had removed the ban
against recruiting. The morning of the fifth day our two boats went
ashore as usual--one to cover the other, you know, in case of trouble.
And, as usual, the fifty niggers on board were on deck, loafing,
talking, smoking, and sleeping. Saxtorph and myself, along with four
other sailors, were all that were left on board. The two boats were
manned with Gilbert Islanders. In the one were the captain, the
supercargo, and the recruiter. In the other, which was the covering boat
and which lay off shore a hundred yards, was the second mate. Both boats
were well-armed, though trouble was little expected.

"Four of the sailors, including Saxtorph, were scraping the poop rail.
The fifth sailor, rifle in hand, was standing guard by the water-tank
just for'ard of the mainmast. I was for'ard, putting in the finishing
licks on a new jaw for the fore-gaff. I was just reaching for my pipe
where I had laid it down, when I heard a shot from shore. I straightened
up to look. Something struck me on the back of the head, partially
stunning me and knocking me to the deck. My first thought was that
something had carried away aloft; but even as I went down, and before
I struck the deck, I heard the devil's own tattoo of rifles from the
boats, and twisting sidewise, I caught a glimpse of the sailor who
was standing guard. Two big niggers were holding his arms, and a third
nigger from behind was braining him with a tomahawk.

"I can see it now, the water-tank, the mainmast, the gang hanging on to
him, the hatchet descending on the back of his head, and all under the
blazing sunlight. I was fascinated by that growing vision of death.
The tomahawk seemed to take