“I listen,” said Tauti.
“Well,” said Sikra, “you go aboard the schooner now and become one of the crew. They are in need of hands, as, indeed, is also that brig that lies by her. Then in a day or less, when Uliami knocks to be let out, you will be on board and on some dark night, or peradventure at the next port the schooner reaches, you can do the business you have set your heart to.”
Now this counsel fell in not only with Tauti’s desire for blood, but also with his wish to be shut of that island for a while and the wife who had betrayed him.
He thought for a moment on the matter, and then he fell in with the idea of Sikra, and, not even returning to his house, just as he was, let himself be led to the far end of the beach, where Sikra, borrowing a canoe, rowed him to the schooner, whose captain was right glad to have him, being, as Sikra had stated truly enough, short of hands.
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.