various woodland expeditions,
but there had come no chance to rescue any distressful maiden anywhere,
and the envy and admiration of the other boys had but resulted in
emulation and in the appearance of similar warlike gear among them.

He had tired of carrying the thing about, and had for some time left it
peacefully at home, leaning beside the hog-pen. Now all was different.
The time had come! He would have revenge, and have it in a gory way.
As the South Sea islanders treated their foes, his should be treated.
He would go upon the war-path, and as for Alf--well, he was sorry for
him in a general way, but all mercy was dead within his breast
specifically. He remembered something in the reader:

"'Die! spawn of our kindred! Die! traitor to Lara!'
As he spake, there was blood on the spear of Mudara!"

There must be blood, and he laid his plans with what he considered the
very height of savage craft and ingenuity.

The father of Alf was a sturdy man and good one, but he had a weakness.
He was the chief supporter in the neighborhood of the itinerant
minister who exhorted throughout this portion of the country, and he
had imbibed, perhaps, too much of a fancy for hearing himself talk at
revival meetings, and for hearing himself in long prayers at home. His
petitions covered a great range of subjects, and he was regular in
their presentation. The family prayers before breakfast every morning
were serious matters to the boys from one point of view, and not as
serious as they should have been from another. Present, and kneeling
at chairs about the room, they always were on these occasions, for the
order was imperative, and the father's arm was strong, and above the
door hung a strap of no light weight, constituting as it had once done
that portion of a horse's harness known technically as the bellyband.
So the boys were always there, each at his particular chair, and Grant
Harlson, who had been present at these orisons many a time, knew
exactly where Alf's chair was, and the attitude he must occupy. It was
close beside an open window, and his back was always toward the
opening, this particular attitude having been dictated by the father in
the vain hope of making his buoyant offspring more attentive if their
gaze were diverted from things outside. And all these circumstances
the dreadful savage from the South Sea islands was considering with
care. They are very regular in their habits in the country, and he