An Island King. 255 
officer. Then he squatted cross-legged on the 
floor. 
“ Every gun, every pistol, and every cart¬ 
ridge on the island must be brought on board 
this ship,” were the startling words he next 
heard. No use was it to try to coax or 
wheedle this captain or tell him lies ; and then, 
while the King remained on board in sullen 
silence, men were sent to collect the arms. 
From that day forth the mana of Apinoka 
weakened, and then, although the bulk of 
his people stood loyally by him in his days 
of trouble and paid their tribute as of yore, 
there were many who gave voice openly to 
their hatred, and to their joy at his downfall. 
A year or so passed, and the King, sitting 
in his grand house, and looking across the 
waters towards the islands of Kuria and 
Aranuka, whose people his forefathers had slain 
in bloody massacre, grew daily more sullen 
and savage as he thought of his vanished 
glories, swept from him by the hated white 
man. A small lump that had formed on one 
of his huge legs began to pain and irritate 
him, and so the native doctors were called, 
and he commanded them to cut it open. He 
