The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-05-16

| upon his countenanee, ana forebore To
! communicate with him either by word OF
gesture, II is the invariable custom of the
Samoans to decapitate every prisoner
taken in battle. Fritz knew this, but he
was determined to save Matautele if
there was any possible way of doing it,
The Tamasese warriors knew who he was
and his connection with the plantation
and in the best language he could master
he told them that though he did not de-
sire to save the life of their prisoner, he
would give them a good round sum of
money If they would defer the execution
till next morning, giving as his reason
that he desired to learn from Matautele
some secrets with regard to the plantation
known only to the chief, and which were
valuable to the company. The plausi-
bility of the argument, coupled with the
cupidity of the natives, prevailed, and
Matautele was bound and conducted into
the stockade. In the course of the night,
while the natives, worn out through fight
ing, were asleep, Fritz found means to
liberate the prisoner, and by arts of his
own prevailed upon the German sentry to
let him out of the stockade, the latter not
caring much about one savage more or
less, and being moreover disguised with
the inhuman treatment of prisoners,
'In the morning there was little time
for his captors to speculate upon the es-
cape of their prisoner, as the Mataafa men
resumed hostilities at daybreak. This
time the tables were turned, the Germans
and the Tamasese men being repulsed
and driven within the stockade; and, as
luck would have it, Fritz was taken
prisoner though fighting desperately, and
worse still, found himself in the hands Of
his old enemy and rival, Nanomo. 1t did
not take him two chances at the fiend-like
malice depicted on the countenance of
the victorious savage to tell him that he
need expect no mercy at his hands, and
as Nanomo drew his thumb along the
edge of the Misunderstanding knife that
does service with these islanders for a
sword, Fritz felt that his hour had come.
''Just at this moment, however, a
dusky, but athletic form came bounding
through the knot of natives that had col
lected near the same spot to perform
similar acts of butchery. 1t was Matautele.
| With quick movement he wrenced the
weapon from the hand of Nanomo just as
| it was raised to deal the fatal blow. The
young Samoan, baked of his revenge,
glared sullenly at Matautelc, but he did
not dispute the authority of his chief, and
moodily withdrew. Fritz was too badly
hurt to move, one leg being broken, be-
side number of flesh wounds, and it now
became the turn of the man whose life he
had saved on the previous day to return
the compliment. A litter of branches was
quickly formed, and Fritz was conveyed
by his captors as tenderly as circum-
stances would allow to the village, where
he was soon installed beneath the hospita-
bic roof of Matautele, and even the pain
of his wounds and the calling sense of
captivity were completely nullifed by the
fact that he was nursed by the soothing
hands of Luauna, in whose smiles he
could now uuinterruptedly bask.
"Next day there was cessation of
hostilities, both sides seeming disinclined
to renew the struggle, at any rate for the
moment. Fritz was treated with such
simple remedies as were known to the
natives, and was doing as well as could be
expected.
"During the next night, however, a
strange and startling thing happened.
His bed had been spread under the UNI
brageous foliage of spreading tree, just
outside the door of Matautele's hut. All
was hushed with the deep hush of trop-
ical night, and Fritz was lying in dreamy
sensuousness, recalling the peculiar Incl
dents of the past day or two, when he
felt gag suddenly thrust into his mouth,
while his arms and legs were securely
pinioned with thongs. AS his eyes were
not bandaged he could plainly see that
those who had so roughly broken in upon
his repose were natives, in one of whom
he recognized his arch-enemy Nanomo
He was quickly transferred to the litter
in which he had been brought to the vii
lage, and the natives who bore it struck
stealthily and noiselessly into the dense
jungle beyond. l shall not cndeavor to
describe his thoughts as the journey
progressed, Nanomo acting as leader.
Perhaps a mile or so might have been
traversed when the party came to halt,
and the litter containing Fritz was de-
posted on the ground. As daylight was
approaching, the young German had
ample opportunity to observe what was
going on around him. He saw that he
was lying in vacant space Of circular
form, some fifty feet in diameter, from
which the, underground had been cleared,
and around and about with some thirty
natives were standing or lolling, and
conversing with one another with ami
mated gestures directed, as he could see,
mainly toward himself. About the cen
ter Of the clearing Fritz could see that a
pit had been dug, round which several
of the natives were busy themselves in
some way or other. Sticks, dry brush
and underwood were being brought to
the side of this pit, and, after being set
on fire, were thrown in. This was kept
up for perhaps an hour, during which
time Nanomo, who seemed to be super
intending the operation, whatever it was,
would approach the edge and examine
the interior with critical eye.
"Now, although Fritz had been on the
islands only about a year, he had learnt
much regarding the habits and history of
the natives during his short stay. He
knew that the mode of cooking flesh in
vogue among the Samoans was by heat
ing the interior Of just such a pit as he
now saw before him, the pit having been
previously lined with stones, burning
wood and brush being then cast into it
till the required temperature had been
reached, after which the embers were
withdrawn, and the flesh to be cooked,
wrapped in banana leaves, was put in, the
whole being covered up until sufficiently
baked. But what was the object of Nam
ONO in bringing him there3 Certainly not
in the capacity of guesta What theni
Could it be-the thought suddenly flashed
across his brain and scared itself in as
with a red-hot iron-could it be that he
had been brought there as victim2 The
idea WAS too horrible TO cOptemplate Hf