"They are very friendly and seem very glad to see us," said Jean, and they went on to Aia. "Something wrong," said Captain Cathie, as the _Torch_ drew in. The village was not in its usual place. There were no people about. They landed cautiously, Blair and Cathie and half a dozen men, and found the houses in ruins. With added caution they climbed the hill, and in time came upon the villagers lurking in holes and crannies. Their story was simple. The very day after the _Torch's_ last visit, the men of Kanele, headed by Maru and young Kahili, had come over in their canoes and demanded the goods they had received from the white men. These being refused, they proceeded to take them by force. The Aia men were outnumbered and beaten, their village burned, and several of them killed--and eaten. The rest had lived in the fear of death ever since. Blair was a man of wrath that day. His first feeling was the same as Captain Cathie's, in whom the natural man always ran strong. "Well, captain, what do you advise?" he asked. "I'd like to give those Kanele men a right good skelping," said Cathie warmly. "Something they wouldn't forget in a hurry." "So would I, but I'm not sure of the wisdom of it." "Truckling beggars! Sweet as milk when we're there, and playing the devil the minute our back's turned. They need a lesson." "We'll take the night over it. It's a serious matter." They walked the deck far into the night, with the big stars swimming in the smooth black rollers, and the distant roar of the Aia surges, now to port and now to starboard, as they beat gently to and fro in default of anchorage. "In the first place," said Blair, summing up their ideas, "these people are not safe here. Whatever we do or don't do, the Kanele men will take it out of them as soon as we're gone. We must do our best to persuade them to migrate to Kapaa'a. That will be a good thing for them and a good thing for us. As to the Kanele men, the difficulty is that we want to retain our hold on them. This affair only shows how great the need is. And if we take measures against them--any measures almost--we are like to weaken the small hold we have now." "All the same," said Cathie bluntly, "it won't do to let 'em think they can carry on like this and nothing said about it. That'd be fair provoking them to do the same again." "It's difficult to know just what to do," said Blair; and Jean down below, with Kenni-Kenni nestling close in her arms, heard the four feet tramping, tramping, slowly and heavily, to and fro, till she fell asleep. They seemed to be still tramping whenever the _Torch_ gave a sudden kick and woke her. But there was a sense of guardianship in the very sound, and Kenni-Kenni's soft head against her heart was very comforting. In the morning they set to work on the plans they had arrived at overnight. Blair went ashore early, while Cathie prepared for his passengers.