And I again have the honour respectfully to request to be informed whether or not the armed natives at Mulinuu are under the protection of the Imperial German naval guard belonging to the vessel under your command." To this no answer was vouchsafed till the 11th, and then in the old terms; and meanwhile, on the 10th, Leary got into his gaiters--the sure sign, as was both said and sung aboard his vessel, of some desperate or some amusing service--and was set ashore at the Scanlons' house.

Of this he took possession at the head of an old woman and a mop, and was seen from the Tamasese breastwork directing operations and plainly preparing to install himself there in a military posture.

So much he meant to be understood; so much he meant to carry out, and an armed party from the _Adams_ was to have garrisoned on the morrow the scene of the atrocity.

But there is no doubt he managed to convey more.

No doubt he was a master in the art of loose speaking, and could always manage to be overheard when he wanted; and by this, or some other equally unofficial means, he spread the rumour that on the morrow he was to bombard.
The proposed post, from its position, and from Leary's well-established character as an artist in mischief, must have been regarded by the Germans with uneasiness.