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“You haven’t told Mr. Byam about us,” put in Ellison. “We are going to start a little kingdom of our own. Desperate characters we are—not one but would swing at the yardarm if taken by a British ship! Mr. Morrison has promised to set us down on some island west of here.”

“It is the best thing they can do,” said Morrison. “I shall try to find an island where the people are friendly. Tom is coming, as are Millward, Burkitt, Hillbrandt, and Sumner. Churchill intends to stay here, though he’s certain to be taken and hanged. Dick Skinner believes it his duty to give himself up and suffer for his crime. As for Thompson, he is more of a beast than a man, and I would not have him on board.”

“Where is Burkitt?” I asked.

“He and Muspratt are living in Papara,” said Stewart, “with the chief of the Teva clan.”

“They offered to join us in the work,” Morrison added, “but neither man has any skill.”

I was glad to have news of the Bounty’s people, most of whom I liked. We talked late into the night, while Tipau’s man lit torch after torch from the bundle at his side. The moon was rising when I took leave of my friends and trudged home along the deserted beach.