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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Brothers-In-Law: A Tale Of The
+Equatorial Islands; and The Brass Gun Of The Buccaneers, by Louis Becke
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Brothers-In-Law: A Tale Of The Equatorial Islands; and The Brass Gun Of The Buccaneers
+       1901
+
+Author: Louis Becke
+
+Release Date: April 12, 2008 [EBook #25056]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BROTHERS-IN-LAW ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BROTHERS-IN-LAW: A TALE OF THE EQUATORIAL ISLANDS, and THE BRASS GUN OF THE BUCCANEERS
+
+From "The Tapu Of Banderah and Other Stories"
+
+By Louis Becke
+
+C. Arthur Pearson Ltd.
+
+1901
+
+
+
+
+THE BROTHERS-IN-LAW: A TALE OF THE EQUATORIAL ISLANDS
+
+"There," said Tavita the teacher, pointing with his paddle to a long,
+narrow peninsula which stretched out into the shallow waters of the
+lagoon, "there, that is the place where the battle was fought. In those
+days a village of thirty houses or more stood there; now no one liveth
+there, and only sometimes do the people come here to gather cocoanuts."
+
+The White Man nodded. "'Tis a fair place to look upon. Let us land and
+rest awhile, for the sun is hot."
+
+The native pastor swung the bow of the canoe round towards the shore,
+and presently the little craft glided gently upon the hard, white sand,
+and the two men got out, walked up to the grove of cocoa-palms, and sat
+down under their shade to rest and smoke until the sun lost some of its
+fierce intensity and they could proceed on their journey homeward to the
+principal village.
+
+The White Man was the one trader living in Peru,{*} the native was a
+Samoan, and one of the oldest and bravest missionaries in the Pacific.
+For twenty years he had dwelt among the wild, intractable, and savage
+people of Peru--twenty years of almost daily peril, for in those days
+the warlike people of the Gilbert Group resented the coming of the few
+native teachers scattered throughout the archipelago, and only Tavita's
+undaunted courage and genial disposition had preserved the lives of
+himself and his family. Such influence as he now possessed was due, not
+to his persistent attempts to preach Christianity, but to his reputation
+for integrity of conduct and his skill as a fisherman and carpenter.
+
+     * Francis Island, or Peru, is one of the largest atolls of
+     the Gilbert Group in the South Pacific, about one hundred
+     and twenty miles south of the Equator
+
+The White Man and he were firm friends, and that day they had been down
+to the north end of the lagoon to collect a canoe load of the eggs of
+a small species of tern which frequented the uninhabited portion of the
+island in myriad swarms.
+
+Presently, as they sat and smoked, and lazily watched a swarm of the
+silvery mullet called _kanae_ disporting themselves on the glassy
+surface of the lagoon, the White Man said--
+
+"Who were these white men, Tavita, who fought in the battle?"
+
+"Hast never heard the story?" inquired the teacher in Samoan.
+
+The trader shook his head. "Only some of it--a little from one, a little
+from another."
+
+"Then listen," said Tavita, re-filling his pipe and leaning his broad
+back against the bole of a cocoa-palm.
+
+*****
+
+"It was nineteen years ago, and I had been living on the island but a
+year. In those days there were many white men in these islands. Some
+were traders, some were but _papalagi tafea_{*} who spent their days
+in idleness, drunkenness, and debauchery, casting aside all pride and
+living like these savage people, with but a girdle of grass around their
+naked waists, their hands ever imbued in the blood of their fellow white
+men or that of the men of the land.
+
+     * Beachcombers.
+
+"Here, on this island, were two traders and many beachcombers. One of
+the traders was a man named Carter, the other was named West Carter
+the people called 'Karta,' the other by his fore name, which was 'Simi'
+(Jim). They came here together in a whaleship from the Bonin Islands
+with their wives--two sisters, who were Portuguese half-castes, and both
+very beautiful women. Carter's wife had no children; West, who was
+the younger man, and who had married the younger sister, had two.
+Both brought many thousands of dollars worth of trade with them to buy
+cocoanut oil, for in those days these natives here did not make copra as
+they do now--they made oil from the nuts.
+
+"Karta built a house on the north end of the island, where there is the
+best anchorage for ships, West chose to remain on the lee side where
+he had landed, and bought a house near to mine. In quite a few days we
+became friends, and almost every night we would meet and talk, and his
+children and mine played together. He was quite a young man, and had
+been, he told me, the third mate of an English ship which was cast away
+on the Bonin Islands four years before, where he had met Karta, who was
+a trader there, and whose wife's sister he married.
+
+"One day they heard from the captain of a whaleship that there was much
+money to be made on this island of Peru, for although there were many
+beachcombers living here there was no trader to whom the people could
+sell their oil. So that was why they came here.
+
+"Now, although these two men were married to two sisters, there was but
+little love between them, and then as time went on came distrust, and
+then hatred, born out of Karta's jealousy and wicked heart; but until
+they came to live here on Peru there had been no bad blood--not even
+enough to cause a bitter word, though even then the younger man did not
+like Karta, who was a man of violent temper, unfaithful to his wife,
+and rude and insulting in his manner to most men, white or brown. And
+Serena, his wife, hated him, but made no sign.
+
+"As time went on, both men prospered, for there was much oil to be had,
+and at the end of the first year a schooner came from Sydney and bought
+it I went on board with Simi, after the oil had been rafted off to the
+ship's side. Karta, too, came on board to be paid for his oil. He had
+been drinking much grog and his face was flushed and angry. With him
+were three beachcombers whose foul language and insolent demeanour
+angered both the captain and Simi, who were quiet men. There were six or
+seven of these beachcombers living on the island, and they all disliked
+Simi, who would have none of their company; but in Karta's house they
+were made welcome. Night after night they would gather there and drink
+and gamble, for some of them had bags of dollars, for dissolute and idle
+as they were for the most of their time they could make money easily
+by acting as interpreters for the natives, to the captains of the
+whaleships, or as pilots to the trading vessels sailing northward to the
+Marshall Islands.
+
+"The captain paid Simi partly in money and partly in trade goods, for
+the two hundred casks of oil he bought, and then Simi and I turned to go
+on shore. Karta had scarce spoken ten words to Simi, who yet bore him no
+ill-will, although for many months tales had come to us of the evil life
+he led and the insults he put upon his wife Serena.
+
+"But after he had bidden farewell to the captain, Simi held out his
+hand to his brother-in-law and said--'My wife Luisa sendeth love and
+greetings to Serena. Is she in good health?'
+
+"Karta would not take the hand held out to him.
+
+"'What is that to thee or thy wife either?' he answered rudely. 'Look to
+thy own business and meddle not with mine.'
+
+"Simi's face grew red with anger, but he spoke quietly and reproved his
+brother-in-law for his rude speech. 'Why insult me needlessly before so
+many strangers?' he said. 'What harm have I or my wife Luisa ever done
+to thee?'
+
+"'Curse thee and Luisa, thy wife,' said Karta again; 'she and thee, aye,
+and Serena too, are well matched, for ye be all cunning sneaks and fit
+company for that fat-faced Samoan psalm-singer who stands beside thee.'
+
+"At these words the three beachcombers laughed, and when they saw that
+Simi made no answer, but turned aside from Karta in contempt, one of
+them called him a coward.
+
+"He turned upon him quickly. 'Thou liest, thou drunken, useless cumberer
+of the earth,' he said, looking at him scornfully; 'no coward am I, nor
+a noisy boaster like thee. This is no place for us to quarrel. But say
+such a thing to me on the beach if ye dare.'
+
+"'He is my friend/ said Karta, speaking with drunken rage, and thrusting
+his face into Simi's, 'he is as good a man as thee any day. To strike
+him or any one of us thou art afraid, thou cat-hearted coward and
+miser.'
+
+"Simi clenched his hands, but suddenly thrust them into his pockets and
+looked at the captain and the officers of the ship.
+
+"'This is no place for me,' he again said in a low voice; 'come, Tavita,
+let us go,' and without even raising his eyes to Karta and the three
+other men he went out of the cabin.
+
+"That night he, Luisa, and I and my wife sat talking; and in the fulness
+of her anger at the insults heaped upon her husband, Luisa told us of
+some things.
+
+"'This man Karta hateth both my sister and myself, as well as my
+husband. He hateth me because that it was I whom he desired to marry,
+four years ago; but I feared him too much to become his wife, for
+even in those days I knew him to be a drunkard and a gambler, and a
+licentious man. Then although she loved him not my sister Serena became
+his wife, for he was a man of good property, and promised to give over
+his evil ways and be a good husband to her. And he hateth her and would
+gladly see her dead, for she hath borne him no children. He is for
+ever flinging cruel words at her, and hath said to her before me that a
+childless man is a thing of scorn and disgrace even to the savage people
+of this island. And he makes no secret of his wickedness with other
+women. That is why my sister Serena is dull and heavy-minded; for she is
+eaten up with grief and shame.'
+
+"'That is true,' said Simi, 'I have known this for a year past, for
+when he is drunk he cannot conceal his thoughts. And he is full of anger
+against me because I have nought in common with him. I am neither a
+drinker of grog nor a gambler, and have suffered from him what I would
+suffer from no other man. I am no brawler, but yet 'tis hard to bear.'
+
+*****
+
+"Just as dawn came, and I was sunk in slumber, I heard a footstep
+outside my door, and then Simi called to me. 'Bring thy wife to my house
+quickly,' he said, 'evil work hath been done in the night.'
+
+"My wife and I followed him, and when we entered we saw Luisa his wife
+kneeling beside a couch and weeping over Serena, who lay still and quiet
+as if dead.
+
+"'Look,' he said sternly, 'look what that devil hath done!'
+
+"He lifted Serena's left arm--the bone was broken in two places, above
+and below the elbow.
+
+"We set to work quickly, and fitting the broken bones in place we bound
+her arm up in stiff, smooth strips of the spathe of the cocoanut tree,
+and then washed and dressed her feet, which were cut and bleeding, for
+she had walked barefooted, and clothed only in her night-dress, all the
+way from the north end of the island, which is nearly two leagues from
+my house.
+
+"After she had drunk some coffee and eaten a little food she became
+stronger, and told us all that had befallen her.
+
+"'Karta and the three other white men came back from the ship when it
+was long past midnight, and I knew by the noise they made that they had
+all been drinking grog. I heard them talking and laughing and saying
+that thou, Simi, were a paltry coward; and then one of them--he who is
+called Joe--said that he would one day end thee with a bullet and take
+Luisa to wife, as so fine a woman deserved a better man than a cur for
+a husband. And Karta--Karta my husband--laughed and said that that could
+not be, for he meant to take thee, Luisa, for himself when he had ridden
+himself of me. His shameless words stung me, and I wept silently as I
+lay there, and pressed my hands to my ears to shut out their foul talk
+and blasphemies.
+
+"'Suddenly I heard my husband's voice as he rose from the table and came
+towards the sleeping room. He threw open the door and bade me come out
+and put food before him and his friends.
+
+"'I rose at his bidding, for his face terrified me--it was the face of
+a devil--and began to clothe myself. He tore the dress from my hands and
+cursed me, and bade me go as I stood. In my fear I sprang to the window
+and tried to tear down the cane lattice-work so as to escape from the
+house and the shame he sought to put upon me. He seized me by the waist
+and tried to tear me away, but I was strong--strong with the strength of
+a man. Then it was that he went mad, for he took up a heavy _paua_ stick
+and struck me twice on the arm. And had it not been that the other
+white men came in and dragged him away from me, crying shame on him, and
+throwing him down upon the floor, I would now be dead.
+
+"'I lay quiet for a little time and then rising to my feet looked out
+into the big room, where the three men were still holding my husband
+down. One of them bade me run for my life, for Karta, he said, had gone
+mad with grog.
+
+"'I feared to seek aid from any of the natives, for they, too, dread
+Karta at such times; so I walked and ran, sometimes along the beach,
+sometimes through the bush till I came here. That is all.'
+
+* * * * *
+
+"That morning the head man in our village caused the shell to sound,{*}
+to call the people together so that they might hear from Simi the story
+of the shame put upon his wife's sister and upon himself and his house.
+As the people gathered around the _moniep_{**} and the head men sat down
+inside, the captain of the ship came on shore, and great was his anger
+when he heard the tale.
+
+     * A conch-shell.
+
+     ** The council house.
+
+"'Let this poor woman come to my ship,' he said; 'her life here is not
+safe with such a man as that. For I know his utter vileness and cruelty
+to her. With me she shall be safe and well cared for, and if she so
+wishes she shall come with me to Fiji where my wife liveth, and her life
+will be a life of peace.'
+
+"So Serena was put in the ship's boat, and Luisa went with her to remain
+on board till the ship sailed, which would be in three days. Then Simi
+and the head men talked together in the council house, and they made a
+law and sent a message to Karta. This was the message they sent to him:
+'Because of the evil thou hast done and of the shame thou hast put upon
+the sister of the wife of our white man, come no more to this town. If
+thou comest then will there be war between thy town and ours, and we
+will burn the houses and harry and slay thee and the seven other white
+men, and all men of thy town who side with thee, and make slaves of the
+women and children. This is our last word.'
+
+"A swift messenger was sent. Before the sun was in mid-heaven he
+returned, crying out as he ran, 'War is the answer of Karta and his
+village. War and death to Simi and to us all are his words; and to
+Luisa, the wife of the white man, he sendeth this message: "Prepare a
+feast for thy new husband, for he cometh to take thee away from one who
+cannot stand against him."'
+
+"In those days there were seven hundred fighting men in our town, and
+a great clamour arose. Spears and clubs and muskets and hatchets were
+seized, the armour of stout cinnet which covered a man from head to foot
+was put on, women filled baskets with smooth stones for the slings; and
+long before sundown the warriors set out, with Simi and the head men
+leading them, to meet their enemies mid-way--at this very place where we
+now sit. For this narrow strip of land hath been the fighting-ground of
+Peru from the old, old times long before I was born, and my years are
+three score and seven.
+
+"The night was dark, but Simi and his people, when they reached this
+place, some by land and some in canoes, lit great fires on the beach
+and dug trenches in the sand very quickly, behind which all those who
+carried muskets were placed, to fire into the enemy's canoes as they
+paddled along the narrow passage to the landing place. Karta and his
+white friends and the people of their town had more than two hundred
+muskets, whilst our village had less than fifty. But they were strong of
+heart and waited eagerly for the fight.
+
+"Just before sunrise we saw them coming. There were over one hundred
+canoes, each carrying five or six men. Karta and the beachcombers were
+leading in a whaleboat, which was being rowed very swiftly. When within
+rifle-shot she grounded.
+
+"As they leapt out of the boat, rifles in hand, they were followed by
+their natives, but our people fired a volley together, and two of the
+white men and many of their people fell dead in the shallow water. Then
+Simi and twenty of our best men leapt out of their trenches and dashed
+into the water to meet them. Karta was in advance of them all, and when
+he saw Simi he raised his rifle and fired. The bullet missed the white
+man but killed a native behind him. Then Karta, throwing away his rifle,
+took two pistols from his belt and shot twice at Simi who was now quite
+close to him. These bullets, too, did Simi no harm, for taking a steady
+aim at his foe he shot him through the body, and as Karta fell upon his
+side one of our people leapt on him and held his head under the water
+till there was no more life in his wicked heart.
+
+"The fight was soon ended, for seeing three of their number killed so
+quickly, the rest of the white men ran back to their boat and tried to
+float her again; and then Simi, taking a shot-gun loaded with slugs
+from one of his men, ran up to them and shot dead the one named Joe. The
+other white men he let escape, for all their followers were now paddling
+off or swimming to the other side of the lagoon, and Simi was no lover
+of bloodshed.
+
+"That day the people at the north end sent a message for peace, and
+peace was made, for our people had lost but one man killed, so the thing
+was ended well for us.
+
+"Serena came back from the ship, for now that Karta was dead she had
+no fear. The three white men who were spared soon left Peru in a
+whale-ship, for they feared to remain.
+
+"Simi and his wife and children and Serena did not long stay with us,
+for he sold his house and boats to a new trader who came to the island
+about a month after the fight, and they went away to live at a place in
+Fiji called Yasawa. They were very good to me and mine, and I was sore
+in my heart to see the ship sail away with them, and at night I felt
+very lonely for a long time, knowing that I should see them no more."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BRASS GUN OF THE BUCCANEERS
+
+
+Challoner was a trader at Jakoits Harbour in Ponape, one of the
+loveliest of the great Caroline Archipelago in the North Pacific. He
+was a quiet but determined-looking man of fifty, and at the time of
+this story had been living on Ponape for over five years. Unlike the
+generality of the white men who were settled on the island, he never
+carried arms and never entered into any of the disputes that too often
+occurred among them and ended in bloodshed.
+
+Many of his neighbours were scoundrels and ruffians of the deepest
+dye--deserters from whale-ships and men-of-war, or escaped criminals
+from California and the Australian colonies. Some of these earned a
+living by trading with the natives for turtle-shell and cocoanut oil,
+others were simply beachcombers, who attached themselves to the leading
+chiefs and gave their services to them in war time, receiving in return
+houses and land, and spending their lives in time of peace in the
+wildest dissipation and excesses.
+
+In those days the American whaling fleet made Jakoits and the other
+three harbours on the beautiful island their rendezvous before sailing
+northward to the coasts of Japan and Siberia. Sometimes there would be
+as many as thirty ships arrive within a week of each other, carrying
+from thirty to forty hands each; and these, when given liberty by their
+captains, at once associated with the beachcombing element, and turned
+an island paradise into a hell during their stay on shore.
+
+There was among these beachcombers a man named Larmer. He was of
+Herculean stature and strength, and was, in a manner, their leader. It
+was his habit in his drunken moments to vaunt of the bloody deeds
+which he had perpetrated during his crime-stained career in the Pacific
+Islands. For the lives of natives he had absolutely no regard, and
+had committed so many murders in the Gilbert Islands that he had been
+forcibly taken on board a whaler by the few white men living there, and
+threatened with instant death if he returned.
+
+The whaleship landed him on Ponape, and his presence soon became a
+curse. Being possessed of plenty of arms and ammunition, he soon gained
+the friendship of a native chief ruling over the western district of the
+island, and his savage nature at once showed itself by his offering to
+destroy the inhabitants of a little island named Pakin, who had in some
+way offended this chief. His offer was accepted, and, accompanied by
+five ruffianly whites and some hundreds of natives, the unfortunate
+people were surprised and butchered. Elated with this achievement,
+Larmer returned to Ponape, and, during the orgy which took place to
+celebrate the massacre, he shot dead one of his white companions who had
+displeased him over some trifling matter.
+
+The news was brought by a native to Challoner, who with a fellow-trader
+and several local chiefs was sitting outside his house smoking and
+enjoying the cool of the evening, and watching the flashing torches of
+a number of canoes catching flying fish beyond the barrier reef. Neither
+of them felt surprised, and Challoner remarked to the native that it was
+good to know that one bad and useless man was dead, but that it would be
+better still to hear that the man who slaughtered a whole community in
+cold blood was dead also.
+
+"I wouldn't have said that if I were you," said Dawson, the other
+trader, nervously; "that fellow Larmer is bound to hear of it."
+
+"I am quite prepared," Challoner replied quietly, "as you know, Dawson.
+Things cannot go on like this. I have never killed a man in my life, but
+to kill such a brute as Larmer would be a good action."
+
+The distance between Challoner's place and Kiti, where Larmer dwelt with
+his villainous associates, was but ten miles. Yet, although Larmer had
+now been living on the island for a year, Challoner had only once met
+and spoken to him.
+
+*****
+
+During a visit which he (Challoner) had made to a little harbour called
+Metalanim, he had explored some very ancient ruins there, which
+were generally believed by the white uneducated traders to have been
+constructed by the old buccaneers, though the most learned antiquarians
+confess themselves puzzled to solve the mystery of their existence. But
+that these ruins had been used as a _depot_ or refuge of some sort by
+those who sailed the North Pacific more than two hundred years ago was
+evident, for many traces of their occupancy by Europeans had been found
+by the few white men who had visited them.
+
+It was Challoner's fortune to discover amid the mass of tangled vines
+and creepers that grew all over the walls, and even down in the curious
+chambers, an old brass cannon. With the aid of some of his native
+friends he succeeded in dragging it forth and conveying it in his boat
+to his house, where, upon cleaning it, he found it bore the Spanish
+arms over the date of its casting in Manila, in the year 1716. Much
+interested in this, he refused to sell the gun to several whaleship
+captains, who each wanted to buy it. He would sell it, he thought, to
+better advantage by sending it to Australia or Europe.
+
+Soon after its discovery he had set his people to work to clean and
+polish it One day he saw coming towards him a man, who from his huge
+figure he knew must be Larmer, the beachcomber.
+
+"I say, boss," said the man roughly, "let's have a look at that cannon
+you've found, will yar?"
+
+"There it is," said Challoner quietly, pointing to his boat-house, but
+not deigning to accompany the beachcomber and show him the weapon.
+
+Larmer made a brief but keen inspection, and then walked into the
+trader's room and, unasked, sat down.
+
+"It's as good as new," he said. "What do you want for it?"
+
+"I will not sell it," replied the trader coldly, eyeing the beachcomber
+steadily, "at least to no one in Ponape. There is too free a display of
+and use of arms here as it is," and he looked pointedly at the brace of
+heavy Colt's revolvers in his visitor's belt.
+
+A scowl darkened Larmer's face. "I'll give you a hundred dollars for
+the thing," he said. "I want it, and I mean to have it" And he rose and
+dashed his huge hand down upon the table.
+
+Challoner was unarmed, but his face betrayed neither fear nor any other
+emotion. He was standing with his back to the doorway of his bedroom.
+A thick curtain of navy blue calico concealed the interior of this room
+from the view of any one in the living room, and Larmer had seen no one
+but the trader about.
+
+For some few seconds there was silence; the beachcomber, with his
+clenched fist still on the table, was trying to discover whether the man
+before him was intimidated. Challoner stood unmoved.
+
+"Yes," began Larmer again, "I want that cannon. Sru, the chief of Kiti,
+an' me is going on a little war-party again. But I'll pay you for it."
+
+"And I tell you that I won't sell it. Least of all to a man like you,
+who would use it for murder."
+
+The beachcomber's hand went to his belt--and stayed there, as the trader
+stepped aside from the doorway and he saw a rifle pointed at his heart.
+It was held by the trader's wife.
+
+"Put up your hands," said Challoner, with a contemptuous laugh. "And
+now listen to me. I want no quarrel with you--don't force one on me. Now
+clear out."
+
+Without a word the baffled man turned away. But the look of savage
+hatred that gleamed in his fierce eyes told Challoner that he had made
+a dangerous enemy. And only a few days passed before he heard from the
+natives that Larmer said he would have his revenge--and the brass gun as
+well--before many months were over.
+
+But the trader, though apparently taking no heed, was yet watchful. His
+influence with the natives of the Jakoits district was great, for they
+both liked and trusted him as a just and honourable man, and he knew
+that they would rally round him if Larmer attempted either to carry off
+the gun or do harm to him.
+
+For some months matters went on at Jakoits very quietly, and the last of
+the whaling fleet having sailed, Challoner and Dawson went about their
+usual work again, such as trading along the coast in their whaleboats
+and storing their cocoanut oil in readiness for the _Mocassin_, the
+trading ship which visited them once a year, and was now due.
+
+Although living only a few miles apart from each other, the two did not
+very often meet, but Challoner was one day surprised to see Dawson's
+boat pulling into the beach, for he had had a visit from his friend only
+the previous evening. The moment the boat touched the sand Dawson jumped
+out, and Challoner at once saw by the anxious expression on his face
+that something was wrong.
+
+He soon learnt Dawson's news, which was bad enough. The _Mocassin_
+had run ashore in the night at a place five miles away from Dawson's
+village, and it was feared she would become a total wreck unless she
+could be lightened and floated over the reef into smooth water. The
+captain had sent an urgent message for aid, and in less than half an
+hour the two men were on their way to the wreck, accompanied by nearly
+every male native in Challoner's village.
+
+Towards sunset on the following day, just as the boats were in sight,
+returning from the wreck, Tiaru, the trader's wife, with her one child
+and some of her female relatives, were coming from their bathe in
+the sea, when they heard screams from the village, and presently some
+terrified women fled past them, calling out that Larmer and another
+white man and a number of their native allies were carrying away the
+brass gun. In an instant the young wife gave the babe to a woman near
+her, and darted towards her husband's house. A number of women and
+children, encouraged by her presence, ran to alarm the approaching
+boats.
+
+In front of the trader's house Larmer and another beachcomber were
+directing a score of Kiti natives how to sling the heavy gun between two
+stout poles. A sentry stood on guard at the gate of Challoner's fence,
+but Tiaru dashed his crossed musket aside, and then sprang into the
+midst of her husband's enemies.
+
+"Set down the gun," she panted indignantly, "ye coward men of Roan Kiti,
+and ye white men thieves, who only dare to come and steal when there are
+but women to meet and fight with thee."
+
+Larmer laughed.
+
+"Get out o' this, you meddling fool," he said in English, and then,
+calling to the natives to hasten ere it grew dark, he took no further
+notice of the woman before him. Then, as they prepared to raise their
+burden by a united effort upon their naked shoulders, Tiaru sprang
+into the house and quickly reappeared with a heavy knife in her hand.
+Twisting her lithe body from the grasp of one of the beachcombers, with
+flaming eyes she burst in amongst the gun carriers and began slashing at
+the strips of green bark with which the cannon was lashed to the poles.
+
+"Curse you!" said Larmer fiercely, striding forward and seizing her by
+her long hair. "Take away her knife, Watty, quick!" And he dragged her
+head back with brutal strength--to release his hold with a cry of savage
+fury as the woman turned upon him and with a swift stroke severed the
+fingers of his left hand. Again she raised her hand as Larmer drew a
+pistol and shot her through the body. She fell without a cry upon the
+gun beneath.
+
+"By ------, you've done it now!" said the man
+
+Watty. "Look there! There's all our natives running away. We're as good
+as dead men if we stay here five minutes longer. I'm off anyway"; and
+then, hurriedly binding up his companion's bleeding hand, he disappeared
+into the surrounding forest after his native allies.
+
+For a few moments Larmer stood irresolute, looking first at the body of
+the woman lying across the gun, then at his wounded hand. Already the
+shouts of Challoner's natives sounded near, and he knew that the boats
+had reached the beach. The gun, which had cost him so dear, must be
+abandoned, but he would take a further revenge upon its owner. He ran
+quickly to a fire which burned dimly in Challoner's cooking-house, lit
+a bunch of dried palm leaves, and thrust it into the thatch of the
+dwelling-house. Then he struck into the jungle.
+
+As Challoner, followed by Dawson and the men of Jakoits village, rushed
+along the narrow path that led to his house, they heard the roar and
+crackle of the flames; when they gained the open they saw the bright
+light shining on the old cannon, whose polished brass was stained and
+streaked with red. Tiaru lay across the breech, dead.
+
+*****
+
+For nearly two days Challoner and his natives followed the tracks of
+the murderer into the heart of the mountain forest of Ponape. Dawson
+and another party had left early the same night for the Roan Kiti coast,
+where they landed and formed a cordon, which it would be impossible for
+Larmer to pass.
+
+Watty, his fellow-scoundrel, was captured early next morning. He had
+lost his way and was lying asleep beside a fire on the banks of a small
+stream.
+
+He was promptly shot by Dawson. Larmer was to be taken alive.
+
+Meanwhile Challoner and his men pressed steadily on, driving their prey
+before them. At noon on the second day they caught sight of his huge
+figure ascending a rocky spur, and a party of natives ran swiftly to its
+base and hid at the margin of a small, deep pool. Challoner knew that
+his man wanted a drink, and would soon descend the spur to get it.
+
+For some hours not a sound broke the silence, then a stone rolled
+down, and presently Larmer's head appeared above a boulder. He looked
+carefully round, and then, finding all quiet, began the descent. On the
+very edge of the pool he again stopped and listened, holding his pistol
+at full cock. His left hand was slung to his chest by a piece of green
+hibiscus bark, which was passed round his neck and roughly tied.
+
+The silence all around him was reassuring, but he still held out the
+pistol as he bent his knees to drink. Ere his lips could touch the water
+two half-naked figures sprang upon him and bore him down. He was too
+weak to resist.
+
+"Do not bind him," said Challoner, "but tie his right hand behind his
+back."
+
+Larmer turned his bloodshot eyes upon the trader, but said nothing.
+
+"Give him a drink."
+
+A native placed a gourd of water to his lips. He drank greedily. Then,
+in silence, Challoner and his men began their march back.
+
+*****
+
+At sunset the people of Jakoits gathered together in front of the
+blackened space whereon the trader's house had stood. Raised on four
+heavy blocks of stone was the still blood-stained cannon, and bound with
+his back to its muzzle was Larmer.
+
+Challoner made a sign, the brown-skinned men and women moved quickly
+apart in two parties, one on each side of the gun. Then Rul, the chief
+of the Jakoits* village, advanced with a lighted stick, touched the
+priming, and sprang aside. A sheet of flame leaped out, a bursting roar
+pealed through the leafy forest aisles, and Challoner had avenged his
+murdered wife.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Brothers-In-Law: A Tale Of The
+Equatorial Islands; and The Brass Gun Of The Buccaneers, by Louis Becke
+
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