It was well that Rodier did not understand him, or, never having been called a sneaking Frenchman before, he would certainly have fallen tooth and nail on the offender, though in respect of bulk the German would have made two of him.  Fortunately for the keeping of peace, he was quite ignorant of the German tongue, and when Herr Schwankmacher proceeded to shake his pipe at him, and deliver his opinion of trespassers in general and French trespassers in particular, with intermittent allusions to cabbages, Rodier only listened with the same gentle smile and deprecating movements of his grimy hands.

Smith, joining him, addressed Herr Schwankmacher in English, but his intervention seemed only to add fuel to the flames.  The German knew no English; neither Smith nor Rodier knew German; and the affair promised to come to a deadlock.  But here a peacemaker stepped in.  Herr Schwankmacher’s friend, who appeared to be greatly amused, stepped forward with a noticeable limp.

“Gentlemen, gentlemen, zis is not business.  Permit me, sir,” he said to Smith.

He took Herr Schwankmacher by the arm, and spoke a few words to him; upon which the German consented to be silent and in dudgeon resumed his pipe.

“My friend, sir,” the second man went on, “is vat you call chippy because you come plomp into his bed of cabbage, very fine vegetable, vich remind him of his youthful days in ze ever-to-beloved Homeland.”

“Oh, well,” said Smith, “assure him that I am very sorry.  I didn’t mean to hurt his cabbages, and I’ll pay for any damage that I’ve done.”

“Was sagt er?” said Herr Schwankmacher suspiciously.

His friend translated Smith’s words.  Schwankmacher grunted.

“The fact is,” continued Smith, “we’ve run short of petrol, and I had to come down.  I hoped to make Apia; that is it, yonder, I suppose?”

“Zat is so.  You vant petrol.  Zen I introduce you to excellent firma vat supply ze Commandant.  It is good petrol; I know it, for ze firma receive large consignments of it from ze highly respectable firma I haf ze honour to represent—­Schlagintwert Gesellschaft of Duesseldorf.  Sir, viz compliments.”

He took from a capacious pocket a bulky book in a red paper wrapper.

“Zis is our price list, sir, revise and correct.  Ve can supply anyzink vatefer, and I shall esteem it great favour to haf ze opportunity to quote for petrol, machine oil, planes, stays, plugs, propellers, levers, air-bags, goggles, overalls, accumulators—­”

“Thanks, but at present I want nothing but petrol and machine oil, and I must have them at once, as I have to start for Honolulu without delay.”

“For Honolulu, sir?”

“Yes.”

“Across ze sea?”

“There’s no other way, is there?”

“Sree sousand miles?”

“Rather less, isn’t it?”

“Ach! zis knocks me into a—­vat you call it?—­into a billycock.”