"That doesn't tell anything," said Gordon. "But it's plain
enough. Some foreign ship of war has settled on this place as
a coaling-station, or has annexed it for colonization, and
they've sent a boat ashore, and they've made a treaty with
this old chap, and forced him to sell his birthright for a
mess of porridge. Now, that's just like those monarchical
pirates, imposing upon a poor old black."

Old Bradley looked at him impudently.

"Not at all," said Gordon; "it's quite different with us; we
don't want to rob him or Ollypybus, or to annex their land.
All we want to do is to, improve it, and have the fun of
running it for them and meddling in their affairs of state.
Well, Stedman," he said, "what shall we do?"

Stedman said that the best and only thing to do was to
threaten to take the watch away from Messenwah, but to give
him a revolver instead, which would make a friend of him for
life, and to keep him supplied with cartridges only as long as
he behaved himself, and then to make him understand that, as
Ollypybus had not given his consent to the loss of the island,
Messenwah's agreement, or treaty, or whatever it was, did not
stand, and that he had better come down the next day, early in
the morning, and join in a general consultation. This was
done, and Messenwah agreed willingly to their proposition, and
was given his revolver and shown how to shoot it, while the
other presents were distributed among the other men, who were
as happy over them as girls with a full dance-card.