Reginald Horsley

“ Presently the watchers heard Te Karearea's voice raised in a shout of savage triumph. 'Mataika! Mataika!' he yelled, and, grasping a young Arawa chief by the hair with his left hand, dashed out the man's brains with a single blow of the heavy club in his right. 'Mataika!' he yelled again. 'Ki au te Mataika!' and, brandishing the blood-stained mere, dashed into the midst of the foe.
'Is that his battle-cry?' called Terence from behind his tree.
'No. The first to be killed in a fight is called the Mataika,' explained George. ”

“ With his arm round Terence's shoulders, George piloted his chum towards the huge fallen tree, beneath which he designed to pass the night. 'You dear old fellow!' he said heartily, drawing Terence to him. 'Who would have thought of meeting here, and like this? What a mercy I came up in time!'
'Thank God you did!' replied Terence, unable to repress a shudder; for when a brave man has stared death in the face, and the grim Gatherer has passed on, leaving him untouched, he is not, as a rule, flippant about his experience. ”

“ Bigham was muttering fearfully in his hammock, two of the men were sobbing with fright, and one prayed brokenly, his scattered wits recalling fragments of the simple petitions of his childhood. Over all there hung the shadow of the same awful terror.
Once more that horrible wailing swept down from above.
'Bigham, I can't stand this,' said George in a harsh whisper. 'I am going on deck to find out what it means.'
The mate only groaned. Then manhood reasserting its grip, 'Don't go, Mr. Haughton,' he implored. 'The devil, I think, is let loose up there. ”

“ In a moment the explosion roared in his ear; but there was no one to be seen in the valley. Only, almost simultaneously with the report of Winata's rifle, the gloom of the distant scrub was rent by a vivid flash, and George ducked again as the bullet came singing up to smash the stock of the Maori's gun and glance off up the hill.
'Na!' grunted the disgusted Winata Pakaro, and called softly to a comrade, who glided out of the bushes, not three feet from George, who, till then, had not the slightest idea that any one lay there. ”

“ I wonder if he will come this way.'
'Whakatore Atua!' (the gods forbid) ejaculated the sentry, with a nervous glance over his shoulder. 'Let him take another road to Reinga. I want no ghosts on my beat.'
'Ghosts? Reinga?' echoed George amazed. And then, as the full significance of the Maori's words came home to him, he turned and sped like the wind towards the bivouac, a prayer in his heart that he might reach it in time. ”

“ For, borne upon the morning wind, came the noise of distant shouting, the snapping crackle of independent rifle fire, and the short, sullen bark of revolvers. Then, as George and Terence hurled down the last obstruction and excitedly pushed through the opening, the roar of a heavy volley close at hand stunned their ears, and to their amazement they saw the plain and hillside alive with men, fighting furiously, and all, apparently, in the most extraordinary confusion. ”

“ So severe was the jar, that the club, unsecured by its wrist-loop, flew out of Te Karearea's hand over the side, and fell into the water, just as Bigham, last survivor of the miserable crew, leaped through the open gangway into the sea. There was an instant swirl of lithe black bodies below the surface, and with a shrill yell the mate sank beneath the waves and was seen no more. ”

“ A tangle of creepers, recently disturbed, guided them, and they moved cautiously along the ledge, which sloped very gradually downwards, until they stood some twenty feet above the river, in full view of a fine waterfall. Thereafter was nothing but sheer cliff to the broken water below. Then while they looked about, puzzled, Terence suddenly dragged George down behind a shrub, and they saw a wondrous sight.
From out of the waterfall itself, right through the veil of falling water, came Sounding Sea, shaking himself like a dog after a plunge. ”

“ The old Maori shook his head and showed his toothless gums. 'Nay; he is not here, Hortoni. He is gone to fight the Pakeha.'
'Gone to fight the Pakeha!' echoed George. He looked down again. A band of armed Maoris had issued from the bush and were crossing the river bridge. 'Is that the Hawk returning?' he asked. 'Wake up, old man!' He gently shook the ancient. 'Is it the Hawk who flies hither?'
The old fellow blinked drowsily in the warm sun. 'Nay; Te Karearea is gone to drive the Pakeha into Moana. Who knows when he will return? ”

“ Together they stretched themselves under a great tree, just as they had done on that other night when Terence had walked into the grip of the Hawk. The flames died down on the summit of the hill—the Pah of Death was no more. The blazing stars of the south looked down upon the battlefield, still strewn with relics of the fight. Here and there in the bivouac some wounded wretch stirred uneasily and groaned in his troubled slumber. But deep in the fern the friends slept the peaceful sleep of healthy, happy youth—youth which can forget past sorrow as easily as it dreams of coming joy ”

“ And the voice which possessed Te Karearea was so unlike his own, so compact of yell and howl and bark and screech and frenzied raving, that George, shuddering where he lay, muttered to Terence: 'This man hath a devil.'
The awful voice ceased, and Te Karearea, falling headlong, writhed in a convulsion. As if at a signal, the whole crowd, men and women, broke ranks and rushed to form a circle round the niu, or sacred pole. ”

“ The Arawas, taken thus in the rear, and hopelessly outnumbered, had no chance, and the end of the skirmish came when some twenty of the brave, rash fellows—all that were left of fifty—broke through the packed masses of their enemies and fled, unpursued, through the bush.
'The Hawk has all the luck,' grumbled George. 'What a piece of folly for so small a force to attack five hundred!'
'Never mind,' Terence said cheerfully. 'It shows, at all events, that some one is on our trail, and that our sweet chief is not to be allowed to have everything his own way. ”

“ George was gazing thoughtfully at the heads. 'You know the established custom,' he said at last. 'When a Maori is killed in battle, or dies away from home, it is the duty of a friend to cut off his head and bring it to his relations, so that the family mana, or honour, may not be sullied. Then the head is preserved, and retains, as you see, a weirdly lifelike appearance.'
'I do see,' said Terence, whose lips were twitching.
'Now observe,' went on George. 'That is the head of Te Pouri, whom Te Karearea slew, and next to it is all that is left of old Te Kaihuia. ”

“ At any rate, instead of playing tricks and laying ambuscades, there he was on the hillside, fighting like a demon. As the comrades raced down the slope in advance of Te Ingoa, the desperate Hau-hau turned his head and saw them, and with a loud howl of fury sprang through the press and made straight at them.
It was magnificently brave—one man charging two hundred—but the upward rush of the Arawas to meet Te Ingoa bore back the Hau-haus, and Te Karearea, shouting hateful words of vengeance, was swallowed up in the recoiling wave of his own men. ”

“ Familiar with his friend's lightest change of expression, Terence knew that the storm was ready to break, and dropped his hand lightly upon the revolver in his coat pocket, through which he covered the chief. If treachery were intended, it was as well to be prepared.
'Speak, Hortoni!' Te Karearea's tone was imperative to the point of insolence. His scarred face looked terrible under his malignant scowl.
There was a steely glint in George's eyes, and his nostrils quivered; but his voice was fairly calm as he answered: 'A man may do as he likes with his own. ”

“ This allusion to the significance of his name pleased the chief, whose fierce features relaxed in a smile. 'It is good,' he said. 'Fear nought, Hortoni; I mean you no evil. No one shall suffer at my hands.'
'Yet the captain of the brig lies dead upon the sand,' observed George, with less than his usual tact.
'He was a fool,' answered Te Karearea, with darkening brow. 'He resisted, and my young men slew him.' He studied George intently for a moment, and resumed: 'They who are wise will not walk to Reinga. You, for instance, Hortoni, would rather that they should carry you there. ”

“ An instant later, with a look of fiendish malignity, he swept through the press and came upon George from behind.
Within striking distance he stopped, swung up and poised the cruel tomahawk, ready for the smashing downstroke which would have crashed through scalp and skull and brain, when a piercing yell was heard, and George, glancing in the direction of the sound, saw Te Karearea bounding towards him, spear in rest.
Instinctively the young man swerved to one side as far as the close-packed throng would allow, and the movement saved his life. ”

“ The Maoris, uncertain whether they were chasing men or demons, made a lusty noise to scare the latter and keep up their own courage, and with the roar of the pursuit thundering in their ears, George and Terence dashed down the hill at what was very nearly breakneck speed. For a fall among the boulders or a headlong crash against the trunk of a tree might easily serve to smash a skull or snap a spinal column. ”

“ He slept almost all round the clock, awaking next morning considerably later than the sun. The march had evidently been resumed during his long unconsciousness, and the litter was now set behind a boulder on the top of a small hill, below which dense bush spread out over a succession of smaller mounds to the valley. Food and water had been placed near him, but not a Maori could be seen.
George, having breakfasted, felt much better, though still stiff and sore, and presently the unusual silence and absence of all signs of life struck him oddly, and he began to look about him. ”

“ Let me slumber, Hortoni.'
George wheeled round upon Terence. 'The crafty rascal!' he cried wrathfully. 'I see it all now. It was the noise of his departure that you heard in the night, Terence. Well might he scheme that we should bind ourselves fast with our own words. Oh, if you had but woke me! But now we have promised, and——' He shook his fist in the direction of the bush. 'Terence, we have been properly fooled. We are caught in a trap of our own making.'
'A parole extorted by such a piece of treachery can hardly be considered binding,' objected Terence. ”

“ If you mean Tereni, he was slain after the fight at Paparatu,' said the Arawa chief.
'No; he is here,' corrected George. 'Te Karearea meant to kill him that night, but I came up in time to——'
'To stop them from shoving me through the gates of Reinga,' put in Terence, bobbing up from the fern and airing his broken Maori. 'I am very much alive, I assure you, Chief.' The Arawa leader and he grinned cheerfully at one another. ”

“ George stared up at him. 'Are my wits wandering again?' he said. 'Do you seriously ask that question? You know as well as I do that the greenstone club went to the bottom of the sea.'
'Nevertheless, I ask you whether you have yet recovered it,' persisted the chief; whereat George, weakened by his accident, grew peevish. 'Am I then a magician, O Te Karearea?' he snapped back.
Te Karearea's rich brown skin turned curiously sallow, and he recoiled a step. 'Far be it from me to offend you, Hortoni,' he said submissively. 'You are not a wizard if you say you are not. ”

“ Ascend the ladder which I am holding for you, and you will be great. Refuse, and you are doomed, even as your race is doomed. You ask for Paeroa. He is gone to carry the message of my coming.'
'And who will listen to it?' George asked dryly.
'Say rather, who will not hear my word?' Te Karearea drew himself up proudly. 'Waikato and Ngatiawa shall hear and flock to my standard. Taranaki and Wanganui shall lift the spear and shake the tomahawk. Taupo and Ngaiterangi, Whakatoea and Ngatiporou, Ngatiapa and Ngatihau [1] —all these and more shall hear and come with club and gun. ”

“ The superstitious veneration in which the Maoris held the greenstone, and their devotion to family relics, were well known to George; but when he realised that the old chief was sincere in his intention to destroy the heirloom rather than allow it to pass into other hands than his own, he made suitable acknowledgments, and thrust the beautiful weapon into that division of his belt which had once contained his revolver.
His point gained, old Te Kaihuia seemed highly delighted, and rubbed his lean hands together, grinning and chattering to himself. ”

“ Here and there in New Zealand these dead worlds exist, in which, when once you have found your way thither, you must believe yourself to be within the veritable home of the gnomes and elementals. The tops of dead trees, fixed in the earth above and cemented by the decay of ages, form the roof of your new world, while their great trunks, not so much decayed as changed by mineral deposit, stand like tall sentinels guarding the long gone past, the very emblems of the grandeur of repose. ”

“ For Te Turi knew that the gods had sent him the mat because he had thought of his friends before himself. So, marvelling, he put it on and turned to rejoin his companions.
But a voice cried 'Stay!' and Te Turi, seeing no one, feared, and turned again.
And the voice was dull and muffled, as though it came from the bowels of the earth, and it said: 'O Te Turi, I am HAUMIATIKITIKI, god and father of men and of the foods which men gather and eat. For all thy life abundance of such food shall be thine. ”

“ The Maori still held George at a disadvantage, but made no effort to follow up his attack. Bending down until his lips were close to the Englishman's ear, he muttered in agitated tones, 'Hortoni! Master! Forgive! I knew thee not, and have brought danger upon thee. Fly swiftly. I will hold them back.'
The case was not one for argument, and as George and Terence raced down the hill, Paeroa—for it was indeed he—sprang out of the bushes with a yell and bounded after his comrade. ”

“ Confusion seized George's brain as he snatched up the club and bounded into the bush in search of the assassin. As he broke through the fringing trees, he saw Terence, fists up, waiting for a burly Maori to rise from the ground. No sooner had the fellow found his feet than the Irishman hit him a terrific blow on the point of the chin, and down he went again into the fern and lay senseless. ”

“ Terence put his ear to the wall and could hear the shuffling of naked feet, as if a number of men were dispersing. He turned to his friend.
'If the mere had been in your belt, George, I believe that the chief would have taken chances and attacked you to gain possession of it. He had a dozen men outside. But its absence puzzled him. Am I far wrong in saying that, either by its presence or its absence, the greenstone club is for ever coming between you and death?'
'Even as I said to Te Karearea,' agreed George. 'Yes; old Te Kaihuia's gift was nothing short of a providence. ”

“ Colonel Cranstoun's gesture indicated impatience. 'I must inspect the men before we pass the Heads,' he said. 'Listen to me, George. I am going to send you back in the tug; but I want you to promise me that when you reach Sydney you will go straight home.'
'No, sir; I will make no such promise.'
The colonel's temper departed with startling suddenness. 'You obstinate young dog!' he roared. 'I don't wonder your father thrashed you. Give me your promise, or I'll have you clapped in irons and handed over to the master of the tug.'
'I shall make no promise, whatever you do,' retorted George. ”

“ But the old man begged him to remain, as he had something further to say.
With the greatest gravity Te Kaihuia drew a parcel from beneath his mat, and with trembling fingers unrolled the half-dozen layers of native cloth which formed the wrapping. Then with an air of reverence almost amounting to awe, he drew out a greenstone mere, [1] or club, of most perfect shape and colour, which he held up to the admiring gaze of the Englishman.
[1] Pronounced almost as the English word 'merry.'
'What a beautiful—what a magnificent piece of greenstone!' exclaimed George in genuine delight. ”