'228 THE CBCflSE OF THE ' CUBAQOA.' 



' armed men ' from a neighbouring village on the coast, who 

 came with the design of murdering and robbing theiu. 

 They reach the mission house at night, rouse up the 

 teachers, and, though they are thirty in number, make the 

 singular request that the teachers would come out and help 

 them to pull the canoe out of the water, meaning, as soon 

 as they got them outside the house, to despatch them ; a 

 singular intention, seeing that if the village were aroused 

 they would certainly be captured and destroyed, and that 

 the best chance of effecting their murder would be within 

 the house. Provide7itially (for this is the gist of the narra- 

 tive) the teachers declined to comply with tlie request, but 

 for a rather mysterious reason, namely, that it ^vas ' not 

 agreeable to their notions of propriety.' So, apparently 

 forgetting their boat, they all Avent to sleep quietly under 

 the teachers' roof, and breakfasted with them the next morn- 

 ing. This over, the day, it seems, was spent by the guests 

 in waiting for an opportunity to take their hosts unawares ; 

 the teachers however, for some reason or other, refused to 

 be lured out ; why is not explained, but it could hardly be 

 from any suspicion, otherwise they would have alarmed the 

 village, and thus got rid of their visitors by vulgar human 

 means. 



At length the day closed in, and these ' savage men ' all 

 went in to the teachers' house Avith their hatchets, and, it 

 being the hour of prayer, they all sat doAvn with the family 

 to worship. One of them, however, keeping his hatchet 

 over his shoulder, placed himself opposite the teacher con- 



