228 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS 
“What will you do?” they asked. “Will you fight? If 
that is your idea, just look at those men outside. How could 
you fight a crowd like that? Then the chief says he will 
set fire to the thatch of your house. You will then have to 
come out, and what can you do against such a crowd?” 
To all this Mr. Brown replied by handing the messengers 
a small American ax, and saying, “Take that to your chief. 
If he accepts that, all is well; if not, then keep it yourself.” 
As soon as the messengers left, the door was closed and 
bolted, and the inmates of the house watched with intense 
anxiety, through a shutter left unfastened, the movements 
of the savages. There was nothing separating them from 
the crowd but a frail bamboo fence which they could have 
kicked down with little effort. They both saw and heard 
the chief leaping, shouting, and pointing toward the house. 
He was evidently urging them to make an attack, but not 
one of the crowd seemed to want to do so. After some time 
they saw the chief suddenly take the American ax which 
Mr. Brown had sent, and hold it high above his head. This 
was to signify that he had accepted the terms offered him, 
and that his wife’s life was to be spared. 
Thankful that the incident had ended so happily, Mr. 
Brown went at once to the chief, and spoke kindly to him, 
telling him that he was still his friend, and that he would for- 
get the violence that the chief had displayed toward him. The 
chief came into the house and solemnly promised that he 
would not again injure his poor wife. She gradually got 
well, and lived to recognize that her husband’s promise had 
been well kept. Some years afterward she died, and it 
was then seen that her husband, who in his savage rage 
had so resolutely sought to kill her, manifested great sor- 
row at her loss. 
The effect of this incident was very beneficial to the work 
of the mission. It revealed, as no sermon could have done, 
the true purpose of the missionary’s efforts in behalf of the 
people. Especially were the women much impressed, and 
