The situation was a grave one in some respects, though still far better than it would have been had they landed entire strangers with all their footing to win.
It might even contain advantages, for Ha'o and his party would be driven by stress of circumstances still closer to them, and there was material enough to occupy them there for a long time to come.
Captain Cathie was for grasping this nettle again in such a way as to neutralise its sting.
"If we tackle them at once, Mr. Blair, we can knock the brother out and make things safe, and it'll maybe be the shortest cut in the end, and cost fewest lives. You know what these brown fellows are when they get to loggerheads among themselves. It's just Stewarts and Campbells over again, and no peace till one side or the other goes under."
Blair nodded.
"I know, captain; but, all the same, we can't begin by killing the men we want to convert. Gentle handling and patience may bring us to the appointed end. It may take longer, but the end, I think, will be the larger."
But Captain Cathie shook his head, and Aunt Jannet Harvey shook hers in unison.
"Some things are best nipped in the bud," said she, "and it seems to me that Mr. Ha'o has been very badly treated all round."
"Well, we've done our best for him, and we'll go on doing it, but we must do it in the way we think wisest."
Ha'o himself now struck in through Matti, and his question was the very natural one as to whether the white men, who had done so much for him, would continue to do so, and help him to recover his rights.