very badly ever since he landed. Young banana trees
were his especial fancy, cotton plants he devoured wholesale, and it
was generally asserted that he was also addicted to kicking chickens. My
three predecessors on the station had each repudiated the creature, and
each man when he left the island had said that his successor would pay
for all damage done.

'Where is the brute now?' I asked.

Looking cautiously around to see that no one was within earshot, Harry
informed me that until a week previously the _nua_ had been running
quietly in the interior of the island for many months, but since my
arrival had been brought back by two of the deacons and was now feeding
about the immediate vicinity.

'Why did the deacons bring him back, if he destroys banana trees and
kill chickens?'

Harry looked very uncomfortable and seemed disinclined to speak, but
at last let the cat out of the bag and revealed a diabolical
conspiracy--the horse had been brought back for my undoing, or rather
for the undoing of the strings of my bag of dollars.

'You see, sir,' said he, confidentially, 'these people on this island
very clever--all dam rogue' (his mother was a native of the island),
'an' 'bout a month ago, when you give two dollar to help build new
church, the _fakafili_ and _kaupule_{*} (judge and councillors) 'say you
is a very good man and that you might pay that horse's fines. An' if you
pay that horse's fines then the people will have enough money to send to
Sydney to buy glass windows and nice, fine doors for the new church. An'
so that is why the deacons have bring that horse back.'

'But what good will bringing the horse here do? That won't make me pay
his fines.'

'Oh, you see, sir, since the horse been come back the people take him
out every day into some banana plantation and let him eat some trees.
Then, by-and-by--to-morrer, perhaps--they will come an' ask you to go
and look. Then you will look an' say, "Alright, I will pay five dollar."
An' then when you pay that five dollar the _kaupule_ and the judge will
say, "Now you mus' pay for all the bad things that that horse do before
you come here." An' s'pose you won' pay, then I b'lieve the judge an'
headmen goin' to _tapu_{*} your store. You see they wan' that money for
church very bad, because they very jealous of Halamua church.'

* Tapu, in this sense, means boycotting.

'Jealous of Halamua church! Why?'

'Oh, because Halamua people been buy a foolpit for t