The Incidental Bishop Author:Grant Allen Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: if that canoe there ain't flying the British colours!" All hands looked in front. The skipper was quite right. Four well-manned canoes were sweeping round the... more » point from Temuka harbour; and the first of them displayed the Union Jack, waved prominently in front by a man in a pith helmet. The skipper gazed again. Then he whistled long and hard. " Blamed if it ain't one of them confounded missionaries! " Still, the four canoes rowed straight on, heading steadily between the boats and the John Wesley. " And he means to cut us off," Hem- mings put in, acquiescing. " I shall fire," the skipper said briefly. " He's a white man," Hemmings answered. " It's an act of piracy. You're boss on your own ship, of course; but if I was you, Captain Ford, I'd be careful." " White man or no white man, what does he want to come interfering with the Labour Traffic for? " the skipper answered angrily. " We've got to have labourers; and we've got to get 'em the best way we can. If it wasn't for these confounded white-livered missionaries, we wouldn't have half the trouble. I shall give him a piece of my mind.—Fire a shot across her bows, Jim.'' The man he had ordered fired without a second's hesitation. But the canoe, never heeding the shot, came on till it was within hailing distance. Then a weather-beaten man, with an open honest face, stood up in her bow and shouted. " Don't shoot," he said quietly. " We come on a mission of peace. We only want to ask what you are doing in our waters." " What the blank is that to you? " the skipper answered, scowling. " We're trading among the islands. Don't interfere with free trade. Keep your distance, or we'll fire." Then he added lower: " He don't know we've got 'em already. If he comes near enough to see we have stock aboard, he'll make...« less