If not, then Mataafa.

This is not the language of a partisan.

The tone of indifference, the easy implication that the case of Tamasese was already desperate, the hopes held secretly forth to Mataafa and secretly reported to his government at home, trenchantly contrast with his external conduct.

At this very time he was feeding Tamasese; he had German sailors mounting guard on Tamasese's battlements; the German war-ship lay close in, whether to help or to destroy.

If he meant to drop the cause of Tamasese, he had him in a corner, helpless, and could stifle him without a sob.