OF THE SOUTH SEAS 237 



treasure?" I inquired. "Have we time for that his- 

 tory?" 



''Mais J ouir said Noanoa Tiare. "That is too good 

 for you not to know. You know that the French are 

 excitable, n'est-ce pas? B'en, a French officer, Major 

 Marchand, put up the tricolor in some place called 

 Fashoda in Africa, and the English objected. There 

 was some parleying between the two nations, and the 

 information arrived in Tahiti that England was going 

 to make war on France. The French papers or the 

 American papers said so, and every one was alarmed. 



" 'The treacherous Anglais might strike at any 

 moment,' said the French, and they were afraid. Then 

 one night some one rode in from near Point Venus and 

 reported to the Governor that two British frigates had 

 been sighted. Mon dieu! what to do ? There was only 

 a French transport at Papeete, worth nothing for de- 

 fense. They tore the trimmings from that vessel and 

 prepared to scuttle her. The guns were rushed to Faere 

 Hill for a last, desperate stand against odds. They 

 could die like Frenchmen! All lights were ordered ex- 

 tinguished, and even the beacon of Point Venus was 

 dark. The enlisted natives were sent to watch on every 

 headland, a cabinet meeting was held, — the apothecary, 

 and the governor, and the secretaries, and the doctor, — 

 and it was determined to save the money of the city and 

 the archives of the Govermnent. The valuables and 

 the papers were put in strong boxes and the governor 

 and all of them made a mad race for this fort." 



The princess covered her mouth with her hand to still 

 her laughter. 



"Was it not funny? They arrived here at daybreak, 



