164 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS 
“Hnaisiline and party reached their destination in the eve- 
ning, and when Wabutrune, the acting chief of the district, 
heard of their arrival, he got out of the way. The true chief 
was an elder brother of Wabutrune, named Waetheane. 
Hnaisiline requested that Wabutrune might be sent for, and 
told that he had come to preach to him the gospel. He came, 
and the message was delivered, and he and his people were 
urged to embrace Christianity. 
“Seeing Tizelo and Waingara, he asked, ‘Who are these 
two men?’ Hnaisiline replied, “They are my subjects, and 
men of God.’ ‘Oh,’ said he, ‘but they belong to the Nade 
Kuruba [a district that was still heathen and on hostile terms 
with the Medu people], and some day they will be fighting 
against me.’ ‘That,’ replied Hnaisiline, ‘is impossible, as they 
do not live among the Nade Kuruba, but with me, and are 
Christians.’ 
“Hnaisiline and party began to suspect that evil was brew- 
ing ; the heathen of Medu had long been waiting for a pre- 
text to attack the Christians, and the presence of these two 
men seemed to furnish what they desired. Wabutrune re- 
plied, ‘I will be nashene today and nesene tomorrow;’ that 
is, ‘I will be darkness (heathen) today, and light (Christian) 
tomorrow.’ Hnaisiline and party did not like that speech; 
it looked like a threat. Hnaisiline thought, however, that 
if evil had been seriously intended, the chief would have 
been more reserved; so he concluded that it was only a 
bit of brag designed to frighten him and his party. 
“With this feeling they retired to rest; but one man of 
Hnaisiline’s party took a more serious view of Wabutrune’s 
speech than the others, and after they had retired he said 
to Tizelo and Waingara, ‘Did you hear what Wabutrune 
said? They intend some evil to us, and especially to you 
two; you had better swim across the bay under the cover 
of night, and run toward home from the other side.’ They 
replied, ‘No, we will not run away; we are in God’s hands, 
and if they kill us they can only kill our bodies—our souls 
they cannot touch.’ 
