The new actor was Brandeis, a Bavarian captain of artillery, of a romantic and adventurous character.

He had served with credit in war; but soon wearied of garrison life, resigned his battery, came to the States, found employment as a civil engineer, visited Cuba, took a sub-contract on the Panama canal, caught the fever, and came (for the sake of the sea voyage) to Australia.

He had that natural love for the tropics which lies so often latent in persons of a northern birth; difficulty and danger attracted him; and when he was picked out for secret duty, to be the hand of Germany in Samoa, there is no doubt but he accepted the post with exhilaration.

It is doubtful if a better choice could have been made.

He had courage, integrity, ideas of his own, and loved the employment, the people, and the place.