OF THE SOUTH SEAS 125 



crew and the laissez-faire of the Noa-Noa officers, and 

 the British consul received a letter from the governor in 

 which the affair of the riot was revived in an absurd 

 manner. 



One might understand M. Lontane, second in com- 

 mand of the police forces, — six men and himself, — mag- 

 nifying the row between the tipsy stokers and his bat- 

 talions, but to have the governor, who was a first-rate 

 hand at bridge, and even knew the difference between a 

 straight and a flush, putting down in black and white, 

 sealed with the seal of the Repuhlique Fraiifaise, and 

 signed with his own hand, that "France had been in- 

 sulted by the actions of the savages of the Noa-Noa/^ 

 was worthy only of the knight of La Mancha. 



So thought the consul, but he was a diplomat, his 

 adroitness gained not only in the consular ranks, but also 

 in Persia as a secretary of legation, and in many a fever- 

 stricken and robber-ridden port of the Near and Far 

 East. He pinned upon his most obstreperous uniform 

 the medal won by merit, straddled a dangling sword, 

 helmeted his head, and with an interpreter, that the in- 

 terview might lack nothing of formality, called upon the 

 governor at his palace. 



He told him that the letter of complaint had roused 

 his wonderment, for, said his British Majesty's represen- 

 tative, "There can be no serious result, diplomatically or 

 locally, of this Donnybrook Fair incident. In a hun- 

 dred ports of the world where war-ships and merchant 

 ships go, their crews for scores of years have fought 

 with the police. Besides, I am informed that Monsieur 

 Lontane put a revolver against the stomach of one of the 

 stokers, and that provoked the nastiness. Until then it 



