He left the Rarotongan teacher with the captain in the Nieu. He wished his young friend to stay too. He did not wish him to risk his life, because he hoped that he would live a long time, and carry on the work that he himself had begun. The two men looked at each other. They knew there was great danger. They had seen the hatred and bitterness in the faces of the wild men around them. But Tamate had said he would go. He had never failed to keep his promise to the men and women he sought to help. He would not do it now. And his friend would never let him go alone with that wild mob. The two men stepped into the boat together. The chief and the ten boys joined them, and they rowed for the shore.
The splash of the oars sounded faintly through the shrill shouts of the natives. But Tamate’s clear voice rang over all the noise. “Back in half-an-hour to breakfast.”
A rush of canoes followed the boat. But those in her looked anxious when they saw how many canoes stayed by the Nieu. What could two men do if the natives tried to take the ship?
When the boat reached Dopima the two white men and some of the boys landed and went to the great clubhouse. It was the place where all the fighting men met. The other boys stayed to take care of the boat, but soon villagers came to tell them that they too must come to the clubhouse to eat. To feast together is a sign of peace. Tamate was never willing to refuse to eat with the natives. His boys knew this, and left the boat by the shore.
As they feasted in the clubhouse a crash was heard. Naragi and the boys who had come from Daru sprang up. Before them Tamate and his young friend lay dead.
None of them had noticed two armed men who crept along the floor behind the white men till with two blows from their great stone clubs they killed them both.
No one had ever been able to look in Tamate’s face and still be angry with him. But from behind a native had had courage to strike him. His eyes could not awe the savage then.
He lay dead. His boys had no hope of escape. One by one they fell beside their master. Naragi fought for his life. He had no weapons, but when he saw the white men fall, he leapt forward and seized another man’s club. But one man could not stand long against all those howling warriors, and soon he too lay quiet and still.
The men from the clubhouse went down in triumph to the shore to welcome the others who had stayed by the ship. Their canoes, which had shown only weapons, were now piled high with everything that could be lifted from the Nieu. The savages danced and shouted on the beach as they saw the things that had come from the white man’s ship. The men were smeared with war paint, and the clothes and books that had been on the Nieu were soon stained all over as one wild man after another pounced on what he liked best.
After a time they began to tire of turning over the treasures. A shout rose: “Let us break the boat!”