“Poor Panu-Mafili is only a boy. His father, you know, was the late king Malea-Toa or ‘Laupepe,’ a ‘sheet of paper,’ as the natives called him, because he was intellectual. Panu begged to be allowed to go away and study,” she said, “but our great governments need him as a big piece in the political chess game.”
“More aptly a pawn,” Phil corrected.
Alice was gazing wistfully seaward.
“Out there,” she said after a moment’s silence, “is a sail. It’s probably the ‘Talofa,’ a schooner from the Fiji. The natives say ‘Bully’ Scott and the ‘Talofa’ scent out wars in the South Seas and arrive just in time to sell a shipload of rifles.”
The midshipmen saw the tops of a “sail” far out on the horizon.
“If Kataafa needs guns to defy the chief justice, there they are,” she added.
“Isn’t it against the law to sell guns to the natives?” Sydney asked.
Alice regarded him with high disdain.
“‘Bully’ Scott knows no law nor nationality,” she replied. “To give your nationality in Kapua is a disadvantage, because then your consul interferes with your business. When you’re trading in ‘blacks’ and guns, it’s best to deprive yourself of the luxury of a country. ‘Bully’ Scott is from the world.”
“How do you know that is the ‘Talofa’?” Phil asked incredulously, but all the same greatly interested.