"You will soon become a nation at this rate, Ha'o."
"I will deal well with them," said Ha'o.
"And now as to the men of Kanele?"
"We will make an end of them."
"I want them as part of your nation, and dead men are no use. If we go in force enough, I do not think they will fight. But they have broken the peace, and they must have a lesson."
"We will teach them with the spear. It will be a lesson for the others also. When shall we start?"
"The sooner the better; but first we must see the newcomers housed."
That took two days, and then the Torch and the Jean Arnot sailed with larger crews than they were in the habit of carrying. First round the other islands, at each of which Blair and Ha'o landed and had a talk with the headmen and explained their ideas to them.
And much hard talking it took, in some cases, to carry their views. But they were set on it, and they prevailed.
From each village they enlisted the headman and certain of his followers, from six to ten, according to the population, and in due course came down on Kanele one hundred and fifty brown men and eighteen whites, with Long Tom in reserve, and great hopes that so large a display would suffice without any fighting.