But one afternoon a sail was sighted standing in for the island, and in
their hateful bond of villainy the two men became reconciled, and agreed
with Pedro and Tamu and some hundreds of natives to try to decoy the
vessel to an anchor and cut her off. The beachcombers, who were tired
of living on Kuria, were anxious to get away; the natives desired the
plunder to be obtained from the prize. A compact was then made that the
ship, after the natives had done with her, was not to be burnt, but was
to be handed over to the white men, who were to lead the enterprise.
*****
Sailing slowly along till she came within a mile of the reef, the
vessel hove to and lowered a boat. She was a large brigantine, and the
murderous beings who watched her from the shore saw with cruel pleasure
that she did not appear to carry a large crew.
It had been agreed upon that Corton, who had special aptitude for such
work, should meet the boat and endeavour to lure the crew into the
interior, under the promise of giving them a quantity of fresh-water
fish from the artificial ponds belonging to the chief, while Deschard
and the other two, with their body of native allies, should remain at
the village on Oneaka, and at the proper moment attack the ship.
As the boat drew near, the officer who was in charge saw that although
there were numbers of natives clustered together on the beach, the
greater portion were women and children. He had with him five men, all
armed with muskets and cutlasses, and although extremely anxious to
avoid a collision, he was not at all alarmed. The natives meanwhile
preserved a passive attitude, and when the men in the boat, at a word
from the officer, stopped rowing, backed her in stern first, and then
lay on their oars, they nearly all sat down on the sand and waited for
him to speak.