Courtenay was mistaken in thinking that the savages sought a parley.

The canoe was paddled by two women; they changed its course with a

dexterous twist of the blades when within a cable's length of the ship,

and then circled slowly round her. The four men jabbered in

astonishingly loud voices. Suarez, who gathered the purport of their

talk, explained that they were discussing the best method of attack.

"The three younger men belong to the tribe which I lived with," he

said. "The old man sitting between the women is a stranger. I think

he must have come from the north of the island with some of his

friends, attracted by the smoke signals."

"From the north? Is there a road?" asked Courtenay, when he learnt

what Suarez was saying.

"He would arrive in a canoe," was the answer. "The Indians venture out

to sea in very bad weather. He probably passed the ship late last

night, and, now I come to think of it, the canoe which you captured is

not familiar to me, whereas I know by sight every craft owned by the

Feathered People."

"How many do they possess?"

"Twenty-three."

These statements were disconcerting. Not only was it possible for the

natives to surround the Kansas with a whole swarm of men, but the

mere number of their boats would render it exceedingly difficult to

repel a combined assault. And nothing could be more truculent than the

demeanor of the semi-nude warriors. They pointed at each person they

saw on the decks, and made a tremendous row when they passed the canoe

fastened alongside. Despite their keen sight, they evidently did not

recognize Suarez, who now wore a cap and a suit of clothes taken from

the locker of one of the missing stewards, while his appearance was so

altered otherwise that even the people on board found it difficult to

regard him as the monstrous-looking wizard whom they had dragged out of

the water some twelve hours earlier.

The impudence of the Indians exasperated Courtenay. The sheer size of

the Kansas should have awed them, he thought.

"I wish they had left their women behind," he muttered. "If the men

were alone, an ounce or two of buck-shot would soon teach them to keep

their distance."

"Perhaps they are aware of the danger of boarding a ship which stands

so high above the sea as the Kansas," said Christobal. "Why not fire

a couple of rounds of blank cartridge at them?"

"Worst thing you can do," said Tollemache.

"But why?"

"They would be sure, then, you could not hurt them. If you shoot,

shoot straight, with the heaviest shot you possess."

At that moment the rowers permitted the canoe to swing round with the

tide. One of the men stood up, and Elsie, who seized the chance of

snap-shotting the party, ran to the upper deck, so she did not overhear

Courtenay's smothered ejaculation. He was scrutinizing the savages

through his glasses, and he had distinctly seen the ship's name painted

on a small water-cask on which the Indian had been sitting. Tollemache

made the same dramatic discovery.




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