St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1908-06-06

holsted in and deck-load of coal as
nigh as her bulwarks, on the eve of a
Aong trip into the western Pacific. 1t
was the same old story-another
white man sent to his last account in
ane 1nhospitable Solomons, where if
Sne climate does not kill you the
black man soon will: Thomas
hysslop Biggar, commonly known as
capt. Tom;' aged 46; British subject;
occupation, trader in coprah; place
81 residence, Sunfiower bay, island of
Guadalcanar; murdered by the natives
IN September, 1888, between the
seventh and the twenty-fourth, and
MS station looted and burned There
was trouble in store for Sunflower
pay; they had killed Collins in 1884,
and Casseroles, the Frenchman, in
1887, and had drawn upon themselves
an omtnous attention by firing into
the Meg Merrilies in the course of
the same year. Murder was becoming
TOO frequent in Sunflower bay, and
Capt. Easement, while policing those
sWeltering seas, was asked to ''con-
duct an inquiry into the alleged muir
der of T. H. Biggar, and take what
punitive measures he Judged to be
necessary"
After a roundabout cruise through
the pleasant groups of Fiji, Tongata-
boo and Samoa, with little to occupy
him save official dinners, tennis par
ties. and an occasional dance ashore,
Capt Easement headed his ship for
the wild western islands and pricked
out course for Sunf1ower bay.
There was no visible beach, for the
mangroves ran to the waters edge,
save where it had been partially
cleared away by the man whose muir
der they had come to avenge; nor
did the closest scrutiny with the glass
Detray any telltale smoke or the least
sign of habitation. Capt. Easement
surveyed the place with his keen, prac-
ticed eyes, and the longer he looked
the less he liked it. The desolation
Jared upon his nerves, and his heart
fell little as the blow-hole burst
hoarsely under the ships quarter, and
the everlasting breakers on the outer
reef droned their note of menace and
alarm.
Goodness gracious!" he said, in his
abrupt, impatient fashion, as he stood
beside Facey on the bridge and super
intended the laying of the kedge. 81
don't half like the look of it, Mr..
Facey; it's damned nasty-looking
place"
"AmIto go, sir?'asked the lieutenant.
'tYes," said Easement. "You must
take Pickthorn and Is men in the first
cutter. Send Burder in the second,
with 20 more, to cover your landing
And for Gods sake, Facey, keep cool,
and neither get fiustered nor over
friendly! Don't shoot unless you have
to; and always remember they are the
most treacherous savages in the
world. Be gentle and firm, and do
everything with as little fuss and as
great a show of confidence as you
can"
"All right, SIR said Facey.
Half an hour later, Facey, with Is
well-armed men, had vanished into
the mangroves.
Hour after hour passed and brought
never sound from the melancholy
woods.
Just as things were looking des-
perate and all began to fear the
very worst, a sudden shout reused the
ship. and the shore party, noisy and
triumphant, were seen streaming
IN m A
later the two boats pulled slowly off
to the ship, Facey's company the
richer by black man, whose costume
consisted of little more than the ropes
he was bound with. A laundering
cheer hailed them as they swept I'M
der the stern and drew up at the star
board gangwa@, and Facey was soon
reporting himself on the bridge.
well, how did you make out?"
asked the captain.
1--WE landed at the traders house."
began Facey, followed a path that
led inland, and reached some Kanaka
huts. Not a soul in 'em; clean gone,
every man jack. Followed along a
well beaten path which led us into the |
next bay, bearing north-northeast half |
east, keeping the liyeliest lookout all |
the time. Three miles along we ran |
into another village, chock-a-bock |
with niggers. 1t looked a nasty go;
lots of guns and spears, and everybody |
pretty skittish, kind of they would and |
they wouldn't! / recollected your or |
ders and went slow; you know what |
/ mean, sir-Worked off the presents, |
and smoked my pipe 1eisurely. BY |
and by they came round, tricky as the |
devil, on to make friends Or to eat us
alive; whichever seemed the more
promising. / let out what I wanted, |
and bit by bit found out that all the |
Sunflower bay crowd were there, even
to old Jibberik, the chief-him Toombs
said was the biggest scoundrel of the |
lot. He looked pretty sick and knew
mighty we'll what we were after. ] |
talked broadsides to that old man, and |
nut it to him that he had better give
up the chaps who had killed the trader
than waltz back to the ship and be
shot instanter himself-for somebody
had to go, said; and just as soon as
/ got the old codger alongside of me
] gave him to understand that he was
my bird, and kept my cooked pistol
Dofnted at his belly. After no end of
a fuss, and lots of frothing and loud
talk, with things looking precious
ugly now and again. we ended by COM
ing out on top. Then they dragged
along young niger named Billy, q
returned labor-boy from the Queens-
yona .,Iop+a+;onr thny caid and bap5