One morning Big Chief roused Jarwin with his toe, and said—
“Get up. We go home now.”
“What say ’ee, old man?”
“Get ready. We go to-day. I have seen and heard enough.”
Big Chief was very stern, so that Jarwin thought it wise to hold his tongue and obey.
There was a long animated palaver between the chief, the missionary, and the king, but Jarwin had been carefully prevented from hearing it by his master, who ordered him to keep by the canoes, which were launched and ready. Once again he was assailed by an intense desire to escape, and this sudden approach of the time that was perchance to fix his fate for life rendered him almost desperate—but he still looked up, and “honour bright” carried the day. He remained dumb to the last, and did not even allow himself the small comfort of waving a piece of native cloth to the missionary, as he and his captors paddled from the Raratonga shore.