IV.
Sikra, having got rid of one of his men, paddled back ashore, and, waiting till dark had nearly fallen, took himself to Uliami’s house. Here he found Uliami seated with a fish spear across his knees and a whetstone in his hands; a knife that had just been sharpened lay beside him.
“You are busy?” said Sikra, “but your labor is useless, for the man you would kill has flown. Hiding in the bushes I heard all that passed between you and Tauti. He has left the island for fear of you and has crept on board the brig that lies at anchor in the lagoon. With the help of a friend who is one of the crew, he has hidden himself in the hold with the cargo.”
“Then,” said the other, and almost in the words Tauti had used, “I will row off to the brig and tell the captain what sort of reptile has hidden in his hold, and when they drag him forth I will kill him.”
“And the white men will hang you,” said Sikra. “Child, listen to the words of Sikra, who is old enough to be your father. Go on board the brig pretending nothing, become one of the crew, and then, when Tauti knocks to be let out, you can have your way with him some dark night, or peradventure, at the first port the ship touches at. I wish to be shut of him as a son-in-law for many reasons, but I do not want him killed on this island.”
Uliami brooded for a moment on this. Then he rose, and, taking only the knife, followed the other to the beach.
It was now dark. When they reached the side of the brig the captain was called, and glad enough he was to get a new hand and willing to pay three dollars a month, which is better pay by a dollar than what they were giving on the plantations—and paid in dollars, not trade goods.
Uliami climbed on board, and then Sikra put back ashore, where he sat on the beach for a while, looking at the lights of the two ships and holding his stomach with laughter. Then he made for the house of Tauti and beat Kinei, and took possession of all the belongings of her husband. Next day he went to the house of Uliami and took the best of the things there, assured in his mind that neither Tauti nor Uliami would ever get back to that island again.