ith his elbow, and he nudged the next, but none of the officers
moved, because the captain had begun to read.

"One minute, please," called Gordon.

He stepped out into the hollow square formed by the marines, and raised
his helmet to the captain.

"Do you speak English or French?" Gordon said in French; "I do not
understand German."

The captain lowered the book in his hands and gazed reflectively at
Gordon through his spectacles, and made no reply.

"If I understand this," said the younger man, trying to be very
impressive and polite, "you are laying claim to this land, in behalf of
the German Government."

The captain continued to observe him thoughtfully, and then said, "That
iss so," and then asked, "Who are you?"

"I represent the King of this island, Ollypybus, whose people you see
around you. I also represent the United States Government, that does
not tolerate a foreign power near her coast, since the days of
President Monroe and before. The treaty you have made with Messenwah
is an absurdity. There is only one king with whom to treat, and he----"

The captain turned to one of his officers and said something, and then,
after giving another curious glance at Gordon, raised his book and
continued reading, in a deep, unruffled monotone. The officer
whispered an order, and two of the marines stepped out of line, and
dropping the muzzles of their muskets, pushed Gordon back out of the
enclosure, and left him there with his lips white, and trembling all
over with indignation. He would have liked to have rushed back into
the lines and broken the captain's spectacles over his sun-tanned nose
and cheeks, but he was quite sure this would only result in his getting
shot, or in his being made ridiculous before the natives, which was
almost as bad; so he stood still for a moment, with his blood choking
him, and then turned and walked back to where the King and Stedman were
whispering together. Just as he turned, one of the men pulled the
halyards, the ball of bunting ran up into the air, bobbed, twitched,
and turned, and broke into the folds of the German flag. At the same
moment the marines raised their muskets and fired a volley, and the
officers saluted and the sailors cheered.

"Do you see that?" cried Stedman, catching Gordon's humor, to
Ollypybus; "that means that you are no longer king, that strange people
are coming here to take your land, and to turn your people into
servants, and to drive you bac