CONCLUSION
Stump was not proud of his exploit. The lads saw that he trembled
violently, and his face showed that his nerves were unstrung.
“It was my life or his,” he said sorrowfully. “Klinger had put me in
charge of the store when he was arrested. During the fight on the Siumu
road I was inside the store. Scott and several natives came from the
bush and made me go with them. I was afraid to refuse. They led me
away. Some time later our party was attacked by the Panu men. They did
not attack Captain Scott, who held me by the arm and told me he’d blow
my head off if I ran away. When the Kataafa men were running away Scott
saw that we must run too. He beat and kicked me to make me go faster.
I had been wounded in the left arm.” Here Stump showed his bandaged
arm. “The wound hurt me and made me desperate. By this time we were
surrounded by Panu men. I appealed to them for help, but they only
laughed. One man, however, came to me and handed me a gun. Scott did
not see what was done; he was dragging me along toward the retreating
Kataafa men.
“The next thing I knew,” Stump declared, a strong fit of trembling
seizing him at the thought, “I had stuck the muzzle of the gun close to
his neck and pulled the trigger. He let go his hold of me and I ran. I
heard the shouts and laughter of the natives behind me.”
“I reckon you won’t be hung for it,” O’Neil said consolingly. “The
killing of that scoundrel and pirate is probably the most useful thing
for humanity you’ve ever done, Stump. Now I advise you to dig out on
the next steamer and go home.”
The defenders of Ukula at last were able to relax in a measure their
vigilance. The Kataafa warriors had been badly shattered, and further
attacks were not likely until they could replenish their store of
ammunition. The arrest of Klinger blocked one source of supply. Many
thousands of rounds fitting the enemy’s rifles had been found by the
allied sailors after a search of the Kapuan firm’s store. Kataafa had
probably counted upon the capture of Ukula long enough to restock his
expended ammunition.
The midshipmen dined that evening with the Lees. Alice was eager to
hear the gruesome details of the fighting and was greatly surprised
when the lads declared that neither they nor O’Neil had been wounded.
“How could you help being?” she asked doubtingly. “The air all
afternoon was full of lead. We all hid behind furniture stacked up like
a fort up-stairs. The house was hit, you know, lots of times.”
“Where’s Avao?” Phil asked; he had not seen her for several days.
“She was with her father in the trenches,” Alice replied, admiration in
her eyes. “She was here an hour ago and told us all about the fight.”
“Yes,” Miss Lee added smiling upon her enthusiastic sister, “Alice was
restrained from being on the scene only by force. Father and I had all
we could do to keep her at home.”
After dinner Admiral Spotts and Commander Tazewell came in to confer
with Mr. Lee.
“I have just found out,” the admiral said, “that the Herzovinian
war-ship brought a refusal of annexation to Kataafa, and Count Rosen
was informed that he must act in concert with other nations to prevent
bloodshed. The count returns to-morrow in the mail steamer for
Australia.”
At daylight the next morning Lieutenant Gant led his entire native
regiment over the road taken by the small force some days before. The
enemy was not encountered until they arrived at the Vaileli plantation.
There a few shots were exchanged, but the Kataafa men were not in force
and quickly scattered into the bush. The advance guard under Tuamana
pursued them and returned after a half hour’s chase with several native
heads, and besides carrying the body of a white man, who had been shot
and killed fleeing with the Kataafa men. It was the missing marine
orderly, Schultz.
The regiment returned over the same road recently traversed by the
ill-fated party. The midshipmen and O’Neil sought for the Colt gun.
Childers had dismounted the breech mechanism during that disastrous
battle and brought it to the beach with him upon his retreat. The gun
had been taken away by the Kataafa warriors, although they were unable
to use it. No signs of bodies or arms were found; the victors had
carried away all spoils of their vanquished enemy.
When the expedition reached Ukula, the mail steamer from San Francisco
was in port. The admiral, the war-ship captains and the three consuls
had held a meeting to discuss the instructions received in the mail
from their respective governments.
“A commission has been appointed to finally decide the fate of Kapua,”
Commander Tazewell told the lads as they joined him after turning
over their native company to its native chief. “We are sending word
to Kataafa declaring a truce. He has retired with all his warriors to
Saluafata. Klinger will carry the message and the mail steamer is to
wait until he returns. Klinger has agreed to leave the islands. He and
Count Rosen go together.”
The midshipmen were delighted. The war had ceased to be exciting. They
felt that the useless killing of natives should stop. It had gone too
far already. With Rosen, Klinger and Scott out of the way, a peaceful
settlement would be possible.
They told the captain of the death of his unfaithful orderly and of
burying him at Vaileli.
Commander Tazewell was thoughtful for several minutes. “Poor fellow,”
he said. “I suppose he could not withstand the golden bribe offered
him.”
Kataafa sent in word that he agreed to suspend hostilities and would
remain in Saluafata, ten miles away from Ukula.
The mail steamer departed, carrying with it the two men who had
overreached themselves in their patriotic endeavor to bring Kapua under
the control of their own nation.
The American and English sailors and the natives loyal to Panu
meanwhile garrisoned and preserved order in Ukula and over the
surrounding country.
Stump was rewarded and sent home on a mail steamer, promising to look
up his folks and turn over a new leaf.
One day, several weeks after the last fight, another American war-ship
came to anchor in the harbor of Ukula. On board were three great
commissioners of the treaty powers.
Two days later Phil and Sydney said good-bye to their friends in Ukula.
The war-ships “Sitka” and “Sacramento” were under orders to return to
the United States.
As the two war-ships lifted their anchors, many canoes filled with
natives hung in the quiet water about them. The sweet plaintive air
of the Kapuan farewell song floated up to the ears of the midshipmen,
really sorry to leave behind those for whom they had formed a strong
bond of friendship.
Some days later the midshipmen dined in the cabin with Commander
Tazewell.
“What has Herzovinia gained in Kapua after all the years of stirring up
uncertainty and strife?” Sydney asked earnestly.
“Her policy has been to prove to the other nations that the islands
are not worth the trouble to govern them,” the commander answered.
“She has proved that the three nation control cannot be carried on with
peace. She has lost her own sailors in fighting rebels and we have lost
ours.
“She still persists in her desire for the islands. England and America
are almost on the point of giving up the struggle. You will find,” he
added, “that Herzovinia will be given most if not all of Kapua by the
commission now working for a settlement there.”
The midshipmen remembered this accurate summing up when a month or so
later the decision of the commission was given out to the world.
“Know what you want, and always keep wanting it and trying to get it;
it’s a cinch that you can’t miss it,” was O’Neil’s moral, derived from
his Kapuan experiences.
Other Stories in this Series are:
A U. S. MIDSHIPMAN AFLOAT
A U. S. MIDSHIPMAN IN CHINA
A U. S. MIDSHIPMAN IN THE PHILIPPINES
A U. S. MIDSHIPMAN IN JAPAN
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Kataafa is king of Kapua.
[2] Tupu--King.
[3] Talofa, Alii--Good-day, chief.
[4] Papalangi--White person.
[5] Tapa--Native cloth beaten out of mulberry bark.
[6] Felinge--Literally friend, a benefactor.
[7] Tapau--Princess of a village.
[8] Leonga Alii--Bad chief.
[9] Kapua Uma--The real Kapua.
[10] Papasea--A waterfall.
[11] Suva--A town in the Fiji.
[12] Sea-lawyer--A sailor socialist.
[13] Salt-horse--Salt pork.
[14] Lava-lava--Loin cloth.
[15] Kava Fa’a Kapua. Kava--A drink something like oat-meal water.
Fa’a--Native custom.
[16] Alii--Chief.
[17] Fomai--Doctor.
[18] Strainer--Made of vegetable growth.
[19] Hipu--Cup.
[20] Fui--A bunch of long horsehair on the end of a short stick--used
by Kapuan chiefs to fan away the flies.
[21] Tonga-fiti--A native word for a stratagem.
[22] Kowtow--Chinese word for humbling oneself.
[23] Buscar--Sailor and soldier slang to hunt for.
[24] Lanai--A covered porch.
[25] Talofa, Alii--Good-night, sir.
[26] Savvys--Understands.
[27] The Tapau is the leader of the dance called the Siva-Siva, that
requires much grace and dexterity.
[28] Fono--Native council.
[29] Kataafa is the king of Kapua.
[30] Alii papalangi--White chiefs.
[31] Meliti--Native for American.
[32] Cry--Appeal.
[33] Turning off--Springing the trap.
[34] Malae--Square.
[35] Solomon Islanders are black; Kapuans are brown.
[36] Tofa, Alii--Good-bye, chief.
[37] Amuck--A form of insanity where the person affected desires to
kill.
[38] Talola--A ceremony of giving presents to the one honored.
[39] Fa’a moli-moli--Excuse me.
[40] Faimalosi--Go it.
[41] The prevailing wind in the islands of the South Seas is
southeast--so “windward” or “leeward” means easterly or westerly in
direction.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
Archaic or alternate spelling has been retained from the original.