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“Goodness gracious!” he said, in his abrupt, impatient fashion, as he stood beside Facey on the bridge and superintended the laying of the kedge. “I don’t half like the look of it, Mr. Facey; it’s a damned nasty-looking place.”

The first lieutenant nodded. He was a burly, inarticulate man, to whom speech was always a serious matter.

“And see here, Facey,” went on the captain. “Guns don’t matter much; none of the devils shoot fit to speak of; but their poisoned arrows are the very deuce—you know that was the way Goodenough was killed—and you must keep your weather eye lifting.”

“Am I to go, sir?” asked the lieutenant.

“Yes,” said Casement. “You must take Pickthorn and twenty-five men in the first cutter. Send Burder in the second, with twenty more, to cover your landing. And for God’s sake, Facey, keep cool, and neither get flustered 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.”