He was the sole survivor, and you can't blame him for being mad. He
pumped one rifle till it got so hot he couldn't hold it, then he pumped
the other. The deck was black with niggers. He cleaned them out. He
dropped them as they went over the rail, and he dropped them as fast as
they picked up their paddles. Then they jumped into the water and
started to swim for it, and, being mad, he got half a dozen more. And
what did he get for it?"
"Seven years in Fiji," snapped the mate.
"The government said he wasn't justified in shooting after they'd taken
to the water," the skipper explained.
"And that's why they die of dysentery nowadays," the mate added.
"Just fancy," said Bertie, as he felt a longing for the cruise to be
over.
Later on in the day he interviewed the black who had been pointed out
to him as a cannibal. This fellow's name was Sumasai. He had spent
three years on a Queensland plantation. He had been to Samoa, and
Fiji, and Sydney; and as a boat's crew had been on recruiting schooners
through New Britain, New Ireland, New Guinea, and the Admiralties.
Also, he was a wag, and he had taken a line on his skipper's conduct.
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