A Happar messenger came in with the information that Captain Porter had whipped the Typees thoroughly, and would remain absent from the bay another day in order to destroy the villages belonging to the enemy. It was my good fortune to have the opportunity of carrying this news to Lieutenant Downes, who lay in his cabin on board the _Essex_, and to my great surprise I discovered that he had never been in doubt as to the result of the expedition. "It couldn't have been otherwise," he said, when I had emptied my budget of news. "Thirty-five white men with ample supply of ammunition could beat off all the natives of the island, providing they were not ambushed. It went without saying that Captain Porter would flog them into submission." Because he spoke to me so familiarly, I ventured to ask him concerning Benson, for up to this time neither Phil nor I had been able to learn anything regarding him. "He is below, in such snug quarters that I promise you there is no chance of his escaping." "Will he be taken back to Valparaiso?" I ventured to ask. "I think not, my lad. It is my opinion that he will remain on board until we arrive at the home port, and then be delivered over to the proper authorities. So long as Captain Porter holds command of the _Essex_, there's little chance the young scoundrel will play any more tricks on honest seamen." As a matter of course, Phil and I knew full well that Benson was on board the frigate; but we were not just certain what the captain proposed to do with him when we made Valparaiso again, and this assurance of Lieutenant Downes's caused me to feel decidedly better mentally, for we were not minded he should escape his just deserts. When our people came back, escorted by the triumphant Happars and followed by the chief men of the Typees, who were eager that peace be made between us, we gave them a grand reception, which was not prolonged, for on the following morning the work of refitting the ships of the fleet was continued as if our commander was impatient to be at sea once more, as really was the case if the statements made by Master Hackett the evening following the return of the army were true. I had asked him why Captain Porter was bent on pushing the work forward to the utmost limit of speed, and the old man said gravely, as if he considered it an exceedingly serious matter:-- "It is near time for the arrival in the Pacific of one or more of the frigates sent out from England to destroy us. From all I've gathered, an' by puttin' this an' that together when I've overheard the officers talkin' it amounts to considerable, it's our commander's idee to meet the Britishers one by one as fast as they arrive, instead of givin' them a chance to come at us with a squadron after due preparation. We've got to fight our way home, if we ever get there; an' accordin' to my way of thinkin' Captain Porter couldn't do a wiser thing than to meet the enemy as soon as possible after they round the Horn."