“A commission has been appointed to finally decide the fate of Kapua,” Commander Tazewell told the lads as they joined him after turning over their native company to its native chief. “We are sending word to Kataafa declaring a truce. He has retired with all his warriors to Saluafata. Klinger will carry the message and the mail steamer is to wait until he returns. Klinger has agreed to leave the islands. He and Count Rosen go together.” The midshipmen were delighted. The war had ceased to be exciting. They felt that the useless killing of natives should stop. It had gone too far already. With Rosen, Klinger and Scott out of the way, a peaceful settlement would be possible. They told the captain of the death of his unfaithful orderly and of burying him at Vaileli. Commander Tazewell was thoughtful for several minutes. “Poor fellow,” he said. “I suppose he could not withstand the golden bribe offered him.” Kataafa sent in word that he agreed to suspend hostilities and would remain in Saluafata, ten miles away from Ukula. The mail steamer departed, carrying with it the two men who had overreached themselves in their patriotic endeavor to bring Kapua under the control of their own nation. The American and English sailors and the natives loyal to Panu meanwhile garrisoned and preserved order in Ukula and over the surrounding country. Stump was rewarded and sent home on a mail steamer, promising to look up his folks and turn over a new leaf. One day, several weeks after the last fight, another American war-ship came to anchor in the harbor of Ukula. On board were three great commissioners of the treaty powers. Two days later Phil and Sydney said good-bye to their friends in Ukula. The war-ships “Sitka” and “Sacramento” were under orders to return to the United States. As the two war-ships lifted their anchors, many canoes filled with natives hung in the quiet water about them. The sweet plaintive air of the Kapuan farewell song floated up to the ears of the midshipmen, really sorry to leave behind those for whom they had formed a strong bond of friendship. Some days later the midshipmen dined in the cabin with Commander Tazewell. “What has Herzovinia gained in Kapua after all the years of stirring up uncertainty and strife?” Sydney asked earnestly. “Her policy has been to prove to the other nations that the islands are not worth the trouble to govern them,” the commander answered. “She has proved that the three nation control cannot be carried on with peace. She has lost her own sailors in fighting rebels and we have lost ours. “She still persists in her desire for the islands. England and America are almost on the point of giving up the struggle. You will find,” he added, “that Herzovinia will be given most if not all of Kapua by the commission now working for a settlement there.” The midshipmen remembered this accurate summing up when a month or so later the decision of the commission was given out to the world.