"If it had been you we would have brought you back just the same." "Ha'o is a fool to have dealings with white men." "Those others were not white men, they were yellow. They are not of our tribe. We, too, hate the things they do, and we have come to stop them." "You are all the same. If you hate them, why did you not kill them?" "We do not kill if we can help it. If they come again, we may have to kill them." "Why is that noise?" as the voice of Long Tom bellowed in the hills once more. "It is the voice of my big canoe." "It is only a voice. It does no harm." "When I choose. You saw the other big canoe's masts? It did that with twice speaking." "What do you want?" asked Ra'a once more. "We have come from the other end of the world, where the people are all white, to try and be of use to you." "We do not want you. We do quite well." "There are many things you do not know, many things you have not got. Axes, spades," and he laid them down at the brown man's feet, "and cloth, and beads, and fish-hooks, and knives"; and he opened the bundles and gave them to him, and the black eyes round about snapped greedily. "Very many things we have, and we would share them with you. But we must have peace. If you will make things as they were before, we will share all these among you, and many more. It is far better than killing one another." There was a visible inclination in the crowd towards a share in the good things, and Ra'a saw it and countered quickly. The man was a savage and brutalised, but he did not lack brain. "We do not need your gifts. We can take them--all you have." "You cannot take them. My big canoe could blow you all to pieces. But it has come to fight for you, not against you, and when it has done fighting it will go back and bring many more things for you. But it must be in peace." Ra'a, whatever else he was, was a diplomat. Truculent he was without doubt, treacherous if it served him, and his word was probably of small account; but such things are not unknown in even more accomplished diplomatic circles. He saw the inclination of his people, and that he must go with the tide. "Give us our share of the things and we will be satisfied." "You shall have your share if it is peace. There must be no more killing." "The taro and the yams belong to us also?" "Certainly. We will divide equally. If you will draw a line, we will draw a line, and you and your people will keep to your side, and Ha'o and his people will keep to his side." "We will draw the line and tapu it. When will you send the things?" "When the line is drawn. Will you come and draw it now?"