‘Stop!’ quoth he again; and being unarmed, I had nothing for it, in prudence, but to obey.
‘My friend,’ says I, ‘you may as well uncock that gun. Your canoe is taken, as you saw. My comrades are upon the rock. The schooner is not a mile off, and if you are fool enough to fire at me, hit or miss, I warn you that it will be the last time you will ever pull a trigger.’
The little man paused a moment. ‘Let me alone, and I will let you alone,’ he said.
‘No, no,’ quoth I. ‘You paid us the first visit, and we must show our good breeding by returning it.’
The pilot considered for a brief space, made a passionate gesture with the air of a man deeply mortified, and then called out, at the same time grounding his musket—
‘Come on. I will do you no harm.’
So I descended and joined him, just as Nicky and Bristol Tom made their appearance on the beach below, having run round the islet. By this time we were close to the tent.
‘Come in,’ says the dwarf; ‘I shall be more hospitable than you.’ The habitation consisted simply of a dry cleft in the rocks, over which a roof of canvas had been stretched, supported in the centre by a pole. For furniture there was a hammock, not slung, but laid upon the sandy floor, and a sea-chest, upon which lay a very complete set of astronomical instruments, with paper, pens, and ink, and a half-finished chart, which, appearing to be a plan of the shoals, I laid violent hands on at once. There was some common household stuff, such as knives, plates, and pots in a corner, and near them a good-sized water barrel.
‘Well, gentlemen,’ says the dwarf, very politely, ‘behold you in my dwelling. What may be your pleasure?’
‘Our pleasure,’ said I, ‘is that you shift your dwelling for a brief space, and sling your hammock on board the schooner.’