{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_73312/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_73312","id":"gutenberg_73312","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73312","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Adventure","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Novels","Fantasy fiction","M\u0101ori (New Zealand people) -- Fiction"],"text":"The Daughter of\n the Dawn\n\n _A Realistic Story of Maori Magic_\n\n By\n William Reginald Hodder\n\n _Illustrated by_ Harold Piffard\n\n\n\n\n _Boston_\n L. C. Page & Company\n _MDCCCCIII_\n\n\n\n\n [image: images/img094.jpg\n caption: \u201cHIS LONG FIGURE WAS SUSPENDED ABOVE THE DARK ABYSS.\u201d]\n\n\n\n\n [COPYRIGHT.]\n\n _Copyright, 1903_\n By L. C. Page & Company\n (INCORPORATED)\n\n _All rights reserved_\n\n Published July, 1903\n\n\n\n\n [DEDICATION.]\n\n THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED\n TO AN AGED PAIR\n WHO DWELL AT TARANAKI\u2019S BASE,\n THEIR HAIR AS WHITE\n THEIR LIVES AS PURE\n AS THE SNOW ON TARANAKI\u2019S SUMMIT.\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS.\n\n INTRODUCTION\n WANAKI\u2019S FOREWORD\n I. A SPLENDID MADMAN\n II. THE AGED CHIEF\n III. A SECRET OF ANCIENT NIGHT\n IV. THE HAUNTED REGION\n V. ON THE GREAT TAPU\n VI. NGARAKI--CHIEF AND TOHUNGA\n VII. THE INTERIOR OF THE TEMPLE OF HIA\n VIII. THE VILE TOHUNGAS OF THE PIT\n IX. NGARAKI THE FIERCE\n X. KAHIKATEA AND HIS STRANGE BELIEF\n XI. THE SEARCH FOR \u2018THE LITTLE MAIDEN\u2019\n XII. THE MAN-WHO-HAD-FORGOTTEN\n XIII. CRYSTAL GREY\n XIV. THE CHIEF OF THE VILE TOHUNGAS\n XV. THE DARKNESS PUTS FORTH A TENTACLE\n XVI. WHICH REVEALS THE WAY OF THE SORCERER\n XVII. LOVE AT SECOND SIGHT\n XVIII. TE MAKAWAWA IS STARTLED\n XIX. THE DREAD MAKUTU\n XX. CRYSTAL LOVES KAHIKATEA, WHO LOVES HINAURI\n XXI. CRYSTAL AND HINAURI MEET\n XXII. THE TALISMAN\n XXIII. THE DAUGHTER OF THE DAWN\n XXIV. ZUN THE TERRIBLE\n XXV. THE SERVANT OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF HUO\n XXVI. NGARAKI\u2019S HOUR OF TRIUMPH\n XXVII. THE GIANTS CLOSE THEIR TEMPLE\n XXVIII. FAREWELL\n CONCLUSION\n ENDNOTES\n\n\n\n\n LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\nHis long figure was suspended above the dark abyss (img094.jpg)\n\n\u201cThis, O Pakehas, was the legend given me by my father\u201d (img052.jpg)\n\nThe light sank lower and showed more. Then to my astonished eyes was\nunveiled, inch by inch from the darkness, the massive granite brows of\na gigantic head (img107.jpg)\n\nShe seated herself sideways on the hammock, while I resumed my wicker\nchair, and told again the story which I had narrated to her father\n(img165.jpg)\n\nThe flash came, and the sight it revealed I shall never forget. There\nstood Crystal in the path before me, draped in her night garments\n(img184.jpg)\n\nAnother twist and he rolled right across it, his hair and beard\nfrizzling in the flame (img221.jpg)\n\nAt that instant the expected sun ray burst in, and the dazzling beauty\nof the Daughter of the Dawn was revealed (img262.jpg)\n\nThe second Maori that entered with axe upraised had his head cut clean\noff by the first sweeping back stroke (img281.jpg)\n\nI raised the tube, took careful aim, and puffed the dart (img286.jpg)\n\nHe rocked it backwards and forwards until at last he raised it on its\nside, and there, with a firm hand, he held it poised upon the very\nbrink (img301.jpg)\n\nKahikatea stood like a bronze statue, with one arm stretched out. In\nthe hand of that arm was the throat of the wizard, whose body hung\nfrom it, limp and lifeless (img321.jpg)\n\nWith hands crossed upon her bosom, and her shrouding hair drawn over\nher like the curtains of the night, Hinauri lay upon the pyre\n(img326.jpg)\n\n\n\n\n INTRODUCTION.\n\nThe way in which the record of Wanaki, which it has been my\ncompulsory task to edit, was placed in my hands forms not the least\nremarkable episode between these covers. On a certain night two months\nago I was sitting in my library in Harley Street, writing. It was\nlate, and I could hear the tinkling of many little bells in the street\nas the cabs brought home the gay theatre-goers. As I wrote on, the\ntinkling of these little bells grew to a merry chorus, yet it did not\ndisturb me: I was used to it. But the night advanced, and the bells\nseemed to grow tired as the cabs rolled by less frequently. Then\ngradually I began to feel that a disturbing element was creeping in\nbetween me and my work. Indefinable at first, this feeling grew, until\nat last I recognised it as a vague expectancy, and, as each cab\npassed, I caught myself listening to hear if it would stop at the\nstreet door. This struck me as being a very absurd state of mind, for\nno one was due, and a patient would hardly call at that time of night.\nYet the strange feeling of expecting someone grew upon me at such a\nrate that I put down my pen and listened in spite of myself as the\ncabs with the tinkling bells went by. At last, after a longer interval\nthan usual, my ears fastened upon the bells of a vehicle that seemed\nto be approaching from beyond the horizon. They drew near rapidly, and\nthe absurd feeling of expecting someone grew still more intense.\nLaughing at the stupidity of it, I rose from my chair and walked to\nand fro, wondering what had happened to my nerves, usually so strong.\nSuddenly I stood still. The rapid motion of the horse\u2019s hoofs was\nslacking down. Would the cab pull up at the street door? Of course\nnot--it would pass. It had almost done so when there was the sound of\nthe scraping hoofs of a horse suddenly reined in, a violent agitation\nof the little bells, and then the cab drew up at the street door. I\nheard a ring at the bell, and then sat down in my chair to wonder what\nthis late visitor wanted, and, above all, to ask myself again and\nagain how I could account for my extraordinary feeling of expecting\nsomeone who was unexpected, and yet had arrived. While I was thus\nengaged my man Gapper came in with a face that announced the end of\nthe world, and spoke in a voice which betrayed, in the same trembling\nbreath, an overwhelming desire to impart news and a suffocating fear\nof being heard.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a strange man in the \u2019all, sir,\u201d he said, \u201cas wants to see\nyou. I gave \u2019im to understand, sir, as you wouldn\u2019t hever see no one\nafter eleving, but \u2019e looks at me \u2019ard and says quiet like, \u2018You will\ndo as I tell you,\u2019 \u2019e says.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is he like?\u201d I asked.\n\n\u201cWell, \u2019e looks to me as hif \u2019e \u2019ad just come \u2019ome from a fancy-dress\nball. \u2019E\u2019s got feathers in \u2019is \u2019air and drorin\u2019s on \u2019is face, and a\nsort of long fur cloak and--but there it is, sir, I can\u2019t describe\n\u2019im; \u2019e\u2019s a-standin\u2019 there hin the \u2019all just as if the \u2019ole place\nbelonged to \u2019im. Shall I ask him to go away?\u201d\n\nGapper\u2019s knees were knocking together. I saw that he was morally\nincapable of asking this strange visitor to go. I myself felt slightly\nunstrung, and it may have been my fear of showing this that prompted\nme to say abruptly:\n\n\u201cShow him in, Gapper; I expect it\u2019s some friend playing a joke upon\nme. At all events I will see him.\u201d\n\nEvidently relieved by these words, my man retired, and presently, with\na humility born of a fresh access of fear, ushered in my visitor. He\nthen retreated nimbly and closed the door behind him.\n\nAs the stranger stood in the centre of the room I rose from my seat in\nunfeigned astonishment. Well might Gapper have thought that he had\njust returned from a fancy-dress ball, except for the simple, and to\nme obvious, fact that he was not an impersonation at all, but the\ngenuine thing. In fact, my visitor, who had been, so to speak,\nheralded by my inexplicable sensations, was a tall and stately Maori\nchief, dressed in a long robe or war-cloak of dog\u2019s hair, which fell\nalmost to his sandalled feet. He had both spear and _mer\u00e9_, and in\nhis hair were the white-tipped feathers of the _huia_. He was young,\nalmost handsome, and his face was tatooed in a way that denoted an\nexalted rank, while in his fierce black eyes, in his noble bearing, in\nhis profound composure as he waited for me to speak, one might have\nread his right to lead men, or else to drive them before him. He\nseemed to have come right out of the far King Country into my library\nat one stride, so uncivilised was his appearance. My surprise was\nimmediately giving way to a feeling, half of admiration, half of fear,\nfor, after my unwonted sensations preceding his arrival, I was\nassailed with the thought that there was a mysterious power about the\nman--a thought materially strengthened by his perfect ease and\nconscious dignity.\n\n\u201cMay I ask your name?\u201d I said with a brave attempt to appear\ncomplaisant.\n\n\u201cI am Ak\u00e9 Ak\u00e9,\u201d he replied, speaking in good English; \u201cAk\u00e9 Ak\u00e9\nRangitane, the son of Ngaraki, who was the son of Te Makawawa, who was\nthe son of----, but O man of another race, who is to do my bidding, I\nwill not relate to you my ancestry. It would take many moons to do\nthat; many thousand generation boards would not contain it, for lo! it\nstretches back to a far-off age of which your wise men know nothing. O\nPakeha, the blood of the Great River of Heaven, which flowed down from\nthe skies before the darkness of ancient night fell upon the earth,\nruns in my veins.\u201d\n\nI looked at him narrowly. There was no denying that his aspect was\nthat of a man whose blood knew well its own unbroken channel through\nthe ages. Something in his eyes, something more in his stately aspect,\nand a very great deal in the fierce, sudden nature hidden beneath his\nutter serenity, constrained me to take him solemnly.\n\n\u201cYou come to me in a strange way, Ak\u00e9 Ak\u00e9,\u201d I said; \u201clike a man from\nanother world. Tell me why you have come, and what it is you want of\nme.\u201d\n\nInstantly he awoke from his apathy, and his eyes quickened with the\nfire that had been slumbering.\n\n\u201cHearken, then, O man of another land, and I will tell you why I have\ncome. The Great Tohungas of the Earth spoke to me in my sleep and\nsaid, \u2018Ak\u00e9 Ak\u00e9, thou art the last of our ancient blood; the temple\nof the ages is closed for ever and needs no longer a guardian priest\nto keep its ancient secrets; therefore thou must withdraw into the\nsky, leaving no son behind thee. But thy last act is under our\nguidance. Seek out the record of one Wanaki, the \u201cPakeha Maori,\u201d and\ntake it beyond the great Ocean of Kiwa to the land of the mighty King\nwho rules the whole world. There give it to the man whose face thou\nhast seen in dreams, and to whom we will guide thee. Bid him make a\nbook of this record, so that, though thy race is fading away, all\nknowledge of its secrets may not die with thee.\u2019 I followed the word\nof the Great Tohungas, and when I reached this great city I was taught\nyour name and the name of your abode. Then, to-night I discarded my\npakeha garments, dressed myself as becomes a Maori chief, and came to\nfind you. Without doubt I have been guided aright, for your face is\nthe face that I saw in my dreams.\u201d\n\nHe paused, scanning my features still more intently. I was amazed\nbeyond measure at his strange words. The affair was getting more and\nmore inexplicable.\n\n\u201cBut why,\u201d I gasped; \u201cwhy have I been selected to make a book of\nWanaki\u2019s narrative?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause you have sought to discover traces of some lost secrets in\nour lore,\u201d he replied. \u201cI will speak your own words to you--they are\nwords which you put into a book. \u2018We know not the ancient glory of the\nMaori nor yet the wisdom which lies hidden behind his karakia.[01]\nSome have said that the strange words of his incantations mean\nnothing, but there is reason for believing that they are the surviving\nfragments of a priestly language which was spoken many thousands of\nyears ago by a pre-Maori race dwelling on a great southern continent,\nof which the present land of the Maori is but a small remaining part.\u2019\nThose are your own words, O Pakeha, and it is because you have had\nsuch long thoughts of the Maori and the race that came before the\nMaori that I have been bidden to seek you out.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d I said, \u201cthose are my words; I remember them. But what do you\nknow of the race that was before the Maori\u2019s coming from Hawaiki?\u201d\n\nHe was silent, seeming unwilling to speak of that race. At length he\nsaid, \u201cFar back in the ages my ancestors were of that race, but when\nthe Maori came they joined hands with them. Here is the gulf that you\ncannot bridge in the history of our land; and, O Pakeha, it is\nunbridged save by the platted rope of our priesthood, woven without\nbreak, and stretching across the ages of Day and Night and Day. Here\nbefore you is what seems the end of this rope; hidden in a great light\nof long ago is the rock to which the other end is bound. But I have\nnot come to you to reveal the ancient wisdom which has come down to me\nfrom the beginning of the world.\u201d He laid his spear in the hollow of\nhis left arm and drew from within his robe a small bundle, wrapped in\na piece of neatly woven flaxcloth.\n\n\u201cThis is the record of Wanaki,\u201d he said, placing it upon the table\nbefore me. \u201cMake a book of it, and let not the moon die twice before\nyou have completed the task. That is my word, and behind it lies the\nword of the Great Tohungas of the Earth.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, my dear, good man,\u201d said I, with rising temper, \u201cGreat Tohungas\nof the Earth or no Great Tohungas of the Earth, I have other things to\ndo. I have other books to make; look here\u201d--I turned to the piles of\nmanuscript on my table and placed my hand upon the largest--\u201cthis book\nmust be made before the moon has died _once_.\u201d\n\n\u201cI care not,\u201d he replied imperturbably. Then there was a flash of\nquick anger in his eyes as he added: \u201cYou will obey my word, for the\ncursing power of Ngaraki, my father, dwells in my eyes, and before him\nno man could say \u2018I will not!\u2019 and live.\u201d\n\nAt this barbarous attempt to browbeat a civilised human being with the\nmention of a savage hereditary cursing power I was so amused that I\nforgot both my anger and my fear and laughed loudly. But even while my\nlaugh was at its height my glance encountered that of my visitor, and\nI became unaccountably silent. There was a fierce power in his eyes\nwhich backed up his words, and my ill-timed amusement gave place to a\ncold fear. What was this? His gaze held me as if in a grip of iron,\nand though I struggled inwardly to free myself from its strange hold,\nI was unable to do so. I tried to rise from my seat, but could not. I\nmade a frantic effort to cry out, but my voice refused to act. With\nthose terrible black eyes burning into mine I shivered and fell back\nin my chair. Then I saw, or thought I saw, behind the form of Ak\u00e9\nAk\u00e9 a line of grim and stately chiefs, standing in an unbroken chain,\nwhich, ascending gradually into the far horizon, finally disappeared\nin the distant mists of antiquity. As I looked sleep pressed my\neyelids down with a masterful hand, and I sank into oblivion.\n\nWhen I awoke half an hour later and found myself alone, my first\nthought was that I had dreamed fantastically, and I had almost\nconfirmed myself in this conclusion when my glance fell upon the\npackage lying upon the table. I snatched it up and got at the\ncontents. I soon saw that it was indeed what my visitor had said--the\nrecord of one Wanaki. With this record in my hand I could hardly\ndismiss the matter as a dream. I rang the bell, and Gapper came in\nsmiling, just as he is wont to smile when some caller has been\ngenerous. I questioned him as to whether he had let the visitor out.\n\n\u201cO yes, sir,\u201d he replied; \u201csome time ago.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, Gapper,\u201d I asked carelessly, \u201cwhat did you think of him, eh?\u201d\n\nGapper grinned. It was the grin dedicated to gold, not mere silver.\n\n\u201cIn the first place \u2019e was a gentleman, sir,\u201d he said; \u201cand in the\nsecond place \u2019e kep\u2019 up \u2019is disguise remarkable well. \u2019E looked like a\nlord, sir. Might I make so bold as to ask who \u2019e reely was?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is Ak\u00e9 Ak\u00e9,\u201d I said severely; \u201cAk\u00e9 Ak\u00e9 Rangitane, a great\nMaori chief. And look here, Gapper, if you had as many pounds in the\nbank as that chief has eaten men in his time you would be a rich man.\u201d\n\nMy man gaped at me in astonishment; then, when he was fully assured\nthat I was not joking, he went away and double-bolted all the doors\nand windows.\n\nBut the record of Wanaki\u2019s adventures--what of it? If the reader will\npermit me to stand talking a little longer in another man\u2019s doorway,\nas an old writer of prefaces puts it, I have yet something to say in\nreference to the \u2018Pakeha Maori\u2019s\u2019 manuscript. At first I tossed it\naside as worthless, willing to take my chance of the wrath of the\nGreat Tohungas of the Earth, for it was written in such an\nindecipherable hand that I could not bring myself to bear upon it. I\nthen set to other work that had to be completed by a certain date;\nbut, though all was plain sailing with this other work, I could make\nno headway. My subject was void of difficulties, but I seemed to be\nbeating against a heavy wind. Several days passed in this fashion, and\nit struck me that if the cursing power of Ak\u00e9 Ak\u00e9 and all his\nancestors was not at work upon me, I was afflicted with some obscure\nnervous ailment.\n\nAt length, late one night, after many days of unrest, I took up the\nmanuscript again and managed to get through the first page, from which\nI gathered that Wanaki\u2019s adventures were of a remarkable character.\nThen I felt drawn to follow his narrative, and would certainly have\ndone so but for the fact that his handwriting was a thing that made me\nlong for a cursing power of my own; I could not arrive at its hidden\nmeaning. When almost in despair, however, a bright idea came to me. I\nwould send the record to a man skilled in the art of deciphering the\nindecipherable--I refer to my typist. I sent it to him, and before one\nmoon had died I received it back with the mortifying assurance that as\nmy handwriting had proved considerably clearer than usual, he would be\npleased to make a proportionate abatement of the usual terms.\n\nNow the second moon is nearly dead, and I have prepared the work for\nthe press. I am resolved it shall leave my hands this very night, for,\nafter a careful study of this remarkable history of Wanaki\u2019s\nadventures, I am fain to admit that, even when I smile most\nincredulously at his experiences of the ancient magic of the Maori,\nand the terrible cursing power of the hereditary priesthood, I shiver\nmost coldly at the thought that if the third moon sees my task\nunfinished, I shall again be listening for a cab to stop at the street\ndoor, for a bell to ring, and then--and then it will come to facing\nthe inscrutable eyes of Ak\u00e9 Ak\u00e9. Reader, I will be frank with you.\nThe set scientific smile of scorn with which I, as a sane and sober\nmedical man, am wont to ornament my face at the mention of the cursing\nformul\u00e6 of savage magic, and at other things contained in the record\nof Wanaki, is now a matter of long habit, and will continue until\ndeath comes with a powerful screw-wrench to remove it; but behind that\nbold front of second nature there lies a disquieting memory of a\nmoment when, laughing, I encountered the gaze of Ak\u00e9 Ak\u00e9, and was\nbound by some mysterious spell to do his bidding.\n\nThe Maori chief has not visited me again, but I have just received a\nletter from him with another, from a third person, enclosed. Both of\nthese I have inserted at the close of Wanaki\u2019s narrative, which I now\nlay before the reader in the following pages.\n\n                                                   The Editor.\n\n\n\n\n WANAKI\u2019S FOREWORD.\n\n_As I sit down to write this history of strange adventures the words\nof my aged friend, the chief and tohunga Te Makawawa, come up in my\nmind:_\n\n\u201c_O Son, the word of our ancient law is death to any who reveals the\nsecrets that are hidden in the Brow of Ruatapu. The secret of Hinauri,\nthe Daughter of the Dawn; the Mystery of the Vile Tohungas of the Pit,\nthe traditions of far time preserved in the heart of the Great\nRock--all, everything, is a death-blow returning on the head of him\nwho reveals it. Yet, O Son of the Great Ocean of Kiwa, I, who was once\nthe guardian priest of the Temple of Hia and the hereditary curser of\nthe Vile Ones of the Abyss of Huo, now show these things to you, for I\nam weary of climbing the snows of Ruahine and long for rest and Tane\u2019s\nLiving Waters. The Great Tohungas of the Earth have taught me in my\nsleep with words like the voice of the wind in the forest trees: \u2018O\nTohunga of the Great Rock, the mystery of Hinauri is not for the Maori\nunless thou tell it first to the Sons of the Sea, but know, if thou\ntell it, thou must die.\u2019 Therefore, Son, I show it to you, for, what\nthough I fear the eye of the fierce Ngaraki, I fear not death. Friend!\nperchance, when I have descended by the sacred Pohutukawa root, you,\ntoo, will tire of life and tell this thing to your brethren, \u2018but\nknow, if thou tell it, thou must die._\u2019\u201d\n\n_Well may I pause here, for after what I have seen in the Brow of\nRuatapu, in the Temple of Hia, and in the Abyss of Huo, disbelief in\nthe ancient laws of the priesthood of the Great Rock is not for me.\nBut for me is the truth of the aged tohunga\u2019s words, and for me also\nis the rest that he longed for and the living waters of Tane; for so\nclearly do I read the truth of a civilised world in the truth of Maori\nlore, that I believe when I am bathed in those Waters of Life and pass\nthrough the darkness into the Light, I shall look into her eyes\nagain--the dark eyes of Hinauri, the Daughter of the Dawn, the Bright\nOne who came out of ancient night to give a sign, and withdrew again\ninto the skies, leaving my world all desolate. The mystery of her\ncoming was that sign, and I will reveal it, partly because the sorrow\nof her going is such that the penalty of death is welcome to me, and\npartly because a voice--I know not if it is the voice of the Great\nTohungas of the Earth--teaches me, too, in dreams, that my brethren,\nthe Sons of the Sea, of whom the dark-skinned children of Ira might\nwith justice ask much, should hear and consider this Sign of Power.\nNot to be buried at last in oblivion has it been nursed and guarded by\nan unbroken priesthood of hereditary succession extending back,\nthrough Maori and pre-Maori races, through the dark night of Time,\neven to the glorious sunset of a former Day. Not for naught has it\ncome down from a remote age, whence, O Reader, you have heard only the\nvoices of seers telling, in whispered tones, of_\n\n\n \u201c_Mighty pre-Adamites who walked the earth_\n _Of which ours is the wreck._\u201d\n\n\n\n\n The Daughter of the Dawn.\n\n CHAPTER I.\n A SPLENDID MADMAN.\n\nAs this narrative of adventure may possibly fall into the hands of\nsome who will refuse to accept it as anything but a work of the\nimagination, I, Dick Warnock, the narrator (known to the Maoris as\nWanaki), will begin by a slight description of myself, which will\nspeedily disabuse sceptical minds of any doubts. I am, then, a very\nmatter-of-fact individual, so ordinary in intellect that my enemies\nwould without hesitation acquit me of the charge of inventing this\nstrange history, even if they could prove that I was morally capable\nof such deception. So easily will it be guessed that I fall short of\nbeing a creative romancer, that, when the reader looks in vain in\nthese pages for some exalted eloquence of diction, some graphic\ndescription of scenery, or some rhapsody on a flower, he will hesitate\nto cast the blame upon me, the prosaic, especially as here, at the\nvery beginning, I distinctly state that if there is any kind of\neloquence in my story, it is the eloquence of strange happenings--a\nthing which I have endeavoured to keep my pen from spoiling.\n\nIt was because I had been born and bred in Maoriland, because I\nunderstood the language and much of the ancient lore of the Maoris,\nthat I was commissioned by a firm of solicitors in London to search\nfor one, Miriam Grey. The person in question had sailed from the Old\nCountry eighteen years before, and had joined her husband, William\nGrey, at Wakatu, in the northern part of the South or Middle Island of\nNew Zealand, known among the Maoris as Te Wai Pounamou, or the Place\nof the Greenstone. One letter only had reached her relatives at home,\nand that, dated three days after her arrival, told how she and her\nhusband were about to journey southward, overland, to Hokitika, where\nhe owned a small farm. But that letter was the last, and all attempts\non the part of her relatives to discover what had become of her and\nher husband were fruitless. That they had left Wakatu for Hokitika was\neasily proved; that they had never arrived at the latter place was\nalso duly ascertained; but what had happened to them between these two\npoints was a matter that had come to be set down among the\ninexplicables, where it remained, until it was discovered that Miriam\nGrey was the direct heiress to a large estate in Bedfordshire. Then it\nbecame necessary to find, at least, evidence of her death.\n\nFor this task I was selected for reasons already stated, and I began\nby making inquiries at Wakatu, a quaint little English settlement\nnestling in the hollows of the hills by the seashore. There, after\nmany inquiries, I found a peculiar piece of evidence which excited me\nto a belief that Miriam Grey was still living. What that piece of\nevidence was I will not say at this moment, for, though it really\nconstitutes the beginning of my story, its significance was not fully\napparent to me until I chanced upon a certain splendid madman in the\nbush, and compared my fact with a far more extraordinary, though\ndreamlike, reminiscence of his own. Therefore I will simply state that\nin consequence of my discovery I left Wakatu and sailed across the bay\nto Riwaka, having as my destination a wild place called Marahau, the\nValley of the Mighty Wind, where, on a high cliff by the seashore, so\nI was informed, stood the _pa_[02] of a certain Te Makawawa.\nConcerning this aged chief report spoke with awe, for he was more than\na mere tohunga, a priest--he was an _ariki_, an arch-tohunga; and some\nsaid that he was more than _ariki_--he was _matakite_, a seer.\n\nThis Valley of the Mighty Wind was some distance round the coast from\nRiwaka, and it was possible to reach it by boat, but on the day that I\nhad planned to set out a gale was rising, and neither Pakeha nor Maori\nwould put out. Consequently, being both restless and rash, I made the\njourney on foot across the hills, following some directions given me\nby an old settler, who had once been to Marahau.\n\nLate in the afternoon, after a weary tramp over densely-wooded\nmountains, into a region that grew more wild and gloomy as I advanced,\nI came to a tremendous flax swamp running up between the hills from\nthe seashore. As it was impossible to get through this I turned inland\ninto the virgin bush to avoid it. This detour must have taken me many\nmiles away from the coast, how far I could not tell, for the sound of\nthe gale in the great trees overhead altogether drowned the roar of\nthe sea. As I knew that Te Makawawa\u2019s _pa_ was at the opening of the\nlonely valley of Marahau, and that I was already too far inland to\nreach it before dark, I determined to push on as far as possible, and\nthen camp as comfortably as might be under the circumstances.\n\nTowards sunset, after having rounded the great flax swamp, I reached\nthe summit of a line of high hills where the bush was somewhat sparse\nand stunted. Here, to take my bearings, I selected a tall, thin pine,\nand climbed to the head of it. By the sight that met my eyes I was a\ntrifle disconcerted. Many miles away was the sea, white with the gale\nthat now swayed me violently to and fro in the feathery top of the\npine, while all around, in unending monotony, were the bush-clad\nhills, stretching away into the south towards the great snow ranges,\nand rolling on for ever into the west, where, beneath the ragged gold\nof a stormy sunset, lay the mysterious region of Karamea. But nowhere\nin the distance could I see the high palisades of Te Makawawa\u2019s _pa_.\n\nIt is strange what a sense of isolation comes to the traveller among\nthese interminable hills and valleys. I was impressed by the wild\ngloom and solitude of the place, and descended the tree to find a\nsuitable camping-ground by the side of one of the many streams that\nmade their way down between the ridges. It was not the first time I\nhad been compelled to spend the night alone in the bush, and I by no\nmeans disliked the solitary feeling of being the only man in a big\nwilderness. But it so happened that on this occasion I was not the\nonly man there, as I was soon to discover.\n\nI descended the range of hills in an oblique line towards the sea,\nknowing that among the lower slopes I should easily find a convenient\ncamping-ground. After nearly half an hour spent in arguing with the\naggravating creeper known as the prickly lawyer, struggling through\ninterlaced roots up to my chin, and battling with occasional networks\nof supplejacks, whose one idea seems to be to string a man up by the\nneck until his natural life be extinct, I at last came into a somewhat\nbroad and open gully, where a stream made its way through groves of\nwhite pines and tree ferns. The character of the bush here was totally\ndifferent from that of the surrounding hills. Instead of thick\nunderscrub I encountered broad spaces here and there, not unlike those\nof an English wood. Overhead at intervals towered the giant _rimu_ and\n_kahikatea_, the monarchs of the bush, and they roared in the gale as\nsuch trees alone can roar; while under foot the kidney fern decked the\nground and clumped upon the moss-grown tree trunks in profusion. It\nwas while I was making my way through these ferns that I came,\nsuddenly and to my great astonishment, upon a well-worn path.\n\nPerhaps this might be the way to some digger\u2019s hut, occupied or\notherwise; perhaps the approach to the abode of some mad \u201chatter\u201d; at\nall events it was more than a wild goat track, and I resolved to\nfollow it. Before I had gone twenty paces I detected a slightly muddy\npatch, and conceived the idea that if these were any recent footprints\nthey might help me to form some conclusion as to whether this path had\nbeen used by Maoris or Pakehas. Accordingly, I bent down and examined\nthe ground. There were footprints, not of Maoris\u2019 bare feet, but of\nsomeone with boots--long, well-shaped boots they were, such as would\nbe found on the feet of a very tall man. One cannot always judge\nHercules by his foot, but when there are two feet, or rather\nfootprints, situated nearly two yards apart in stride, it is safe to\nsay that they belong to a man considerably over six feet in height.\n\nAs I hurried along, the track became slightly wider, and here and\nthere a marshy part was strengthened with a corduroy of tree-fern\ntrunks. Up, on to a slight ridge, through a long grove of white pines\non the top, with the wind shrieking and whistling among their clean\nboles, I pursued the path, then down into a valley, and through\nanother dark grove of tree-ferns, where, losing it altogether on the\nsoft bed of dry fern dust, I wandered on, thinking to pick it up on\nthe other side.\n\nI had not gone far in the grove when, between the bare trunks of the\ntree ferns, I caught sight of a light twinkling some little distance\nbeyond. I made towards it, and on coming out into an open space, saw\nthat it came from a square window in some small abode standing on a\nrising ground at the further end of the space. I could just discern\nthe vague outlines of a log hut with a giant roof-tree towering above\nit, while beyond was a wooded hill, whose ridge, fringed with roaring\npines, broke the fury of the gale. This was obviously some digger\u2019s\nhut, and here I should certainly get shelter.\n\nCautiously I made my way over the small clearing towards this secluded\nabode in the wilderness, so as to peep in at the window and get a\nglimpse of the inmate before asking for a night\u2019s rest. I took this\nprecaution because solitary \u201chatters\u201d are often so obviously mad that\nthe wisest course is to let them alone. But, when I reached the window\nand looked in, I got a sudden surprise. By the light of the candle\nstanding on a rough table near the window, I encountered the face of\none who was surely as much out of place there as a rough digger would\nbe in the House of Lords. As I looked I saw that the owner of the face\nwas poring over a large, quaint-looking volume and making notes with\npen and ink in the broad margin. Now, to ponder some point, he leaned\nback in his chair and gazed straight before him, so that, by the light\nof the candle and the glow of the fire, which touched the edge of his\nshort, crisp brown beard on the cheek that was turned from me, I saw\nhis face clearly. It was truly a striking one, with a mouth well\nmoulded within the shadow of a short, thick moustache, a nose aquiline\nand strong, eyes lustrous, half passionate and full of dreams, and a\nforehead massive and high, from which the hair rolled back\ngood-naturedly like a mane. This should be some Waring of Browning\u2019s\nportraiture, who had disappeared from his circle to bury himself in\nsolitude, probably leaving a gap behind him which no other could fill.\nIf indeed he was mad--and it seemed that he must be to waste his\npowers in such a hidden corner of the earth--it was a gentle, poetical\nmadness, if one might judge by the almost tender expression of his\nface, and, withal, of a methodical kind, for, having unravelled his\nknotty point, he returned to his broad margin and made certain\nemendations.\n\nAfter my brief glimpse of the remarkable man within, I had no\nhesitation in asking him for a night\u2019s shelter. Accordingly I knocked\ngently at the door, and a deep voice answered, \u201cCome in!\u201d\n\nI obeyed, and entered the hut.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said my host, rising from his seat and looking down at me--his\ndark eyes smiled genially as they met mine--\u201cyou\u2019ve lost your way, I\npresume.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes; I started out to find Te Makawawa\u2019s _pa_, but missed it, saw\nyour light, and ventured to look you up.\u201d\n\n\u201cQuite right. You\u2019re welcome.\u201d He extended his hand and gripped mine\nwithout cracking all the bones as most men who stand six and a half\nfeet high love to do.\n\nI now had a better view of this recluse, and recognised him again from\nhis footsteps. He was a man of magnificent build, and his bush shirt,\nbush trousers, bush leggings, and, still more, bush boots, hid neither\nthe fact that he was of good breeding, nor that his limbs were in\nperfect proportion, even to the point at which a man might wear a\ndress suit successfully. His strong, but sensitive face, with its\ndeep, passionate eyes, which lighted up when he smiled, appealed to me\nas no man\u2019s face has ever done before or since. In the space of time\nwhich it took him to get a chair for me, I had recognised a man who in\nevery way could carry about three editions of myself under his arm,\nand yet in his courteous smile as he addressed me, I saw the gentlest\nman alive.\n\n\u201cCome, sit down then, and get out your pipe and tell me how the\noutside world\u2019s getting on.\u201d I had refused his offer of supper, as I\nhad already supped on cold duck and biscuits in the bush.\n\nIn a few moments, when he had turned a log on the fire, we sat one on\neach side of the hearth as if we had been old friends.\n\n\u201cThe outside world,\u201d I said, lighting my pipe with a glowing ember,\n\u201chas lost a woman, and I am looking for her.\u201d\n\n\u201cA woman?\u201d he laughed. \u201cRather a strange place in which to search for\na woman, isn\u2019t it?\u201d\n\nI returned his laugh. \u201cYes,\u201d I admitted; \u201cbut the whole story, or such\nof it as I have gleaned, is strange enough for anything.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! a romantic story, is it?\u201d His eyes fell from mine to the bowl of\nmy pipe, from which rings of smoke curled and wreathed irresistibly.\n\u201cWait a minute,\u201d he added after a pause. He rose from his chair and\nreached up among the rafters overhead, searching for something. At\nlast he found it, and, returning to his seat, showed me what had once\nbeen a well-coloured meerschaum which, by the dust and cobwebs on the\ncase, had evidently lain undisturbed among the rafters for years.\n\n\u201cIf you will oblige me with a little tobacco,\u201d he said, \u201cI will keep\nyou company, though I haven\u2019t smoked for many a long day.\u201d\n\nPresently, when the necessary conditions of storytelling were\nestablished, he turned to me and said: \u201cNow for your romantic story,\nif I may be permitted to hear it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe story is a long one,\u201d I replied; \u201cbut I am merely in possession\nof detached points of it. These I am only too anxious to lay before\nanyone I meet, on the chance of their being able to strengthen some\npoint or add another from their own experience in this neighbourhood.\nMy own part in the affair is uninteresting. I am merely Dick Warnock,\nor, as the Maoris call me, Wanaki, employed by a firm of solicitors at\nhome to find a more important person named Miriam Grey, or to glean\nevidence of her death.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow that you have given me your name,\u201d put in my host, \u201cI must give\nyou mine. The Maoris, with whom I get on very well, call me\nKahikatea--that is more my real name than any other.\u201d\n\nI saw by his manner that he did not wish to give his English name,\nand, realising that it was no business of mine, I forbore from asking\nit. Kahikatea was certainly a good name, for, from a life spent mostly\namong the Maoris, I was able to see in their quaint way that this man\nwas as a great \u201cwhite pine\u201d among the forest trees. Hence his name was\ngood, and I called him by it.\n\n\u201cGood, O Kahikatea!\u201d I said easily; \u201cI will continue the story, such\nas it is. To put things briefly, a large estate in Bedfordshire has\nbeen left to a certain Miriam Grey, who has been missing for many\nyears. On instituting inquiries, however, it was found that she had\nsailed from England and landed at Wakatu, across the bay, some\neighteen years ago, to rejoin her husband, who came up from Hokitika\nto meet her. They set off together on the return journey towards\nHokitika, but never arrived at their destination. It is supposed that\nthey were captured by the Maoris.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn which case it is exceedingly unlikely that either of them is alive\nat this day,\u201d replied my host.\n\n\u201cWait a moment,\u201d I replied quickly. \u201cI have an extraordinary piece of\nevidence which tends to prove that Miriam Grey was alive and a\nprisoner among the Maoris as late as three years ago. When I was\nmaking inquiries in Wakatu I was almost giving it up as hopeless, and\nwas on the point of starting for Hokitika, when the old curator of the\nlittle museum came up to me one day with the gleam of the clever\ndiscoverer in his eye, and drew me aside.\n\n\u201c\u2018Did you not say that the woman you were looking for was named\nMiriam?\u2019 he asked.\n\n\u201c\u2018Yes,\u2019 I replied; \u2018Miriam Grey.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Come with me then. I\u2019ve got something which may be a clue.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe led me on through the streets until we came to the little museum,\nand there in a lumber room of uncatalogued curiosities, he showed me\nthis bit of carved _akeak_, which he said had been discovered on the\nsea beach two years before.\u201d\n\nI drew a small piece of carved wood from my pocket and handed it to\nKahikatea, who took it in his hands and inspected it carefully.\n\n\u201cThis is not Maori carving,\u201d he said at once, \u201cit is too delicately\ndone for that. But it is the work of someone who understands Maori\nart--look at this double-spiral work round the border. But what are\nthe letters? They are almost worn away.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes; by the scratches on the thing it looks as if it had found its\nway down some rocky mountain stream. Ah! you\u2019ve got it upside down, I\nthink. That way--there now--it\u2019s plain enough. This word is clearly\n\u2018prisoner\u2019; and these are \u2018Te Maka,\u2019 which, with the space left after\nit, must once have been \u2018Te Makawawa.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, and this is \u2018mountain,\u2019\u201d he ran on, spelling in advance of me;\n\u201cand this is meant for \u2018Table Land.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cQuite right; and here is the date fairly clear, showing that this was\ndone three years ago.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut by whom?\u201d he asked quickly; \u201cthat is the point.\u201d\n\nFor answer I pointed to some marks in the corner below the date. \u201cWhat\ndo you make of that?\u201d I asked.\n\nHe scrutinised them carefully for some minutes, then, turning to me\nsaid: \u201cI can certainly make nothing else than \u2018Miriam\u2019 out of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cNor I,\u201d I replied; \u201cand, if you notice, there is an obliteration\nafter it which, from the length of it, might once have been \u2018Grey.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is true, but the conclusion that \u2018Miriam Grey\u2019 is held a\n\u2018prisoner\u2019 of \u2018Te Makawawa\u2019 in a \u2018mountain\u2019 near the \u2018Table Land\u2019 is\nweak in many parts.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue, but I can strengthen it,\u201d I hastened to reply. \u201cDo you see\nanything in that carving which points to superior talent in the person\nwho did it?\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed I do,\u201d he replied with certainty; \u201cthis is the work of no\nordinary carver. I should be inclined to say it was the work of a\ngenius. There are signs of delicate execution about it which no one\ncould mistake.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is precisely it. Miriam Grey, so said the solicitors, showed\nextraordinary signs of genius as a sculptress.\u201d\n\nAt the last word my host stared at me with a dreamy look in his eyes.\nHad I touched upon the peculiar point of his madness?\n\n\u201cA sculptress!\u201d he said slowly, and gazed for a full half-minute into\nthe fire, while I watched him. Then, as I did not break the silence,\nhe resumed: \u201cYes, there is a Te Makawawa, I know him well; there is a\nTable Land not far from here and a mountain near it; and, from what\nyou have shown me, a woman who is a sculptress is held a prisoner\nthere.\u201d\n\nHe rose from his chair and paced up and down the small hut with his\nbrows let down in deep and perplexed thought. \u201cStrange--very strange.\nBut she must be a sculptress of very great genius if----\u201d He paused\nabruptly in his pacing the floor.\n\n\u201cLook here!\u201d he said, casting off his abstraction, \u201cif you will accept\nmy poor hospitality I can put you up for the night, and then, in the\nmorning, I will go with you to old Te Makawawa\u2019s _pa_.\u201d\n\nI saw from his manner that he knew, or thought he knew, something\nabout the matter, and asked simply, \u201cHave you an idea?\u201d\n\nHe looked down at me, then passed his hand over his brow in\nperplexity; finally, smoothing back his wayward mane, he faced the\nquestion and said frankly:\n\n\u201cMy idea is a dream that I had a year or more ago--a very absurd\ndream, but, nevertheless, one so vivid and clear in all its details\nthat it had, and still has, a strange effect upon me. That dream\nsometimes appeals to me as if it were the _raison d\u2019\u00eatre_ of my\nexistence in this solitude. And yet again, sometimes I think that my\ndream was an actual experience, but I have no proof that it was.\nWanaki! all men who live alone in the bush as I do are more or less\nmad. But that word of yours, \u2018sculptress,\u2019 has given me an idea that\nafter all I may not be as mad as I thought. If, to-morrow, old Te\nMakawawa can throw any light upon what has long perplexed me, then I\nwill discuss my dream with you, as it may possibly have some bearing\non the whereabouts of the woman you seek; to-morrow, not now, for,\nuncorroborated, it would appear to you so wild and strange, so\nobviously the vagary of an unhinged mind, that you might hesitate to\naccept my hospitality.\u201d\n\nAs he fixed his fine eyes upon me and smiled, I realised that the fact\nof his being puzzled by the strangeness of his dream argued for his\nsanity; and if, indeed, his mind was really unhinged, it was upon some\nsublime point, some noble idea, having an uncommon object, full of the\ndeep poetry that burned in those eyes.\n\nAs I returned his gaze and his smile I felt drawn towards him with\nfeelings of a sudden friendship, and it was in accord with these\nfeelings that in my mind I wrote him down a splendid madman.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER II.\n THE AGED CHIEF.\n\nIt was dawn when I opened my eyes and saw Kahikatea stooping to get\nthrough the doorway, so as to stretch his limbs outside, where there\nwas no danger of knocking down articles stuck up among the rafters.\nSoon afterwards I joined him in front of the hut.\n\n\u201cHa!\u201d he said, greeting me with a smile full of early morning\nfreshness, \u201cI always turn out before the sun gets up, so as to see the\nlovely colours on the hills--look!\u201d\n\nHe pointed to the roof-tree, the very tip of which was glistening like\nvelvet in the first crimson flush of sunlight. The wooded hill beyond\nwas bathed in splendour, and the birds were gliding down umbrageous\nslopes, chasing the early dragon-flies and filling the place with\nsong. The storm of the preceding night had left no trace, and Nature\nhad emerged all fresh and smiling. Kahikatea walked about enjoying it,\nwhile slowly the sunlight crept lower and lower down his roof-tree\nuntil it flooded on to the top of his log hut, and finally touched his\nown head before it reached mine.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s glorious living all alone in the bush,\u201d he said; \u201cI get more\nsolid satisfaction out of it than out of London, or Paris, or New\nYork, or Sydney, or--hello! there\u2019s my _korimako_--my little\nbell-bird--he always turns up as soon as the sun gets on to his\nfuchsia tree.\u201d\n\nI followed his outstretched finger and saw his fellow poet of the\nsunrise brushing the dewdrops from among the flowers and scattering\nthem around as he trilled out a rain of melody quite as liquid as the\nmany-tinted shower that fell upon the moss beneath.\n\n\u201cHis song is sadder than it used to be,\u201d said Kahikatea; \u201cthe bees get\nmost of his honey now, and he is doomed to extinction.\u201d\n\nI had almost made up my mind before that this man was a poet, and one\nwho could be trusted to catch Nature\u2019s higher meanings from her birds\nand flowers and trees, from her dawns and sunsets, and her mid-day\nhush, when the bell-bird, assuming the _r\u00f4le_ of a solemn, mysterious\nclock, strikes _one_ in the lofty, silent spaces of the bush. Now, as\nI watched his face under the influence of the morning and the\nkorimako\u2019s music, I conceived a picture of his nature which has\nremained with me to this day--the picture of a clear-souled poet, who\ncould dream and yet act, who was mad and yet sane.\n\nThe sun was not far above the horizon when we made a start for Te\nMakawawa\u2019s _pa_. Through the silent grove of palm ferns, along the\nwell-worn path that I had discovered the night before, and finally by\nways that were new to me, I followed my tall friend down out of the\nbush to the sea, where the silver-crested waves were rolling in upon a\ngrey gravel shore.\n\nAfter traversing this for some distance we struck inland to avoid a\nsteep rocky promontory, with bluffs, against which the spray was\ndashing high. Then, after several hours\u2019 tramp through flax swamps,\nalong precipitous ridges, over flooded streams, and through open\ndells, where all the rarest ferns in the world seemed to be growing\ntogether, we reached a broad river, and, following it down to the sea,\nsaw ahead of us, on the summit of a high and bold cliff, the\npalisading of Te Makawawa\u2019s _pa_.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a difficult place to get into,\u201d said Kahikatea. \u201cThere are\nprecipices on three sides of it, and the entrance here at the bottom\nof the hill is not particularly obvious. It must have been a fine\nstronghold in the early days.\u201d\n\nWe raised a peculiar whoop in vogue among the Maoris, in order to\nsignify that visitors were approaching; then, receiving the answering\ncry of welcome: \u201c_Haeremai! Haeremai!_\u201d we began the ascent of the\nhill. At the entrance of the first palisaded enclosure we were met by\nnumerous dogs, which barked out of all proportion to their meagre\nsize. At the second palisading, which enclosed the _pa_ proper, we saw\nan aged chief come through a private opening. It was Te Makawawa\nhimself, and as he drew near I recognised the _tohunga Maori_ of the\norder called _ariki_, which designates the chief, the priest, and the\nseer.\n\n\u201cWelcome, O Kahikatea,\u201d he said, addressing my friend in the Maori\ntongue. \u201cWelcome, O Pakeha stranger,\u201d he added, turning to me; \u201cthe\n_pa_ of Te Makawawa is the home of the stranger who comes with my\nfriend the Forest Tree.\u201d[03]\n\n\u201cProp and mainstay of the children of Ira,\u201d said Kahikatea--and I was\nsurprised at his fluency in the native tongue--\u201cwell I know that thou\nart the _ariki_ who reads things that are hidden from other eyes. We\nhave come with a strange word to speak before you, O tohunga--a word\nthat you alone can make plain.\u201d\n\nTe Makawawa waved his hand with a stately grace, and, inviting us to\nfollow, led the way into the _pa_. Conducting us through fenced lines\ndividing the houses of the tribal families, he at length reached his\nown elaborately carved dwelling, almost on the brink of a great\nprecipice which overlooked the sea. He ordered his servants to place\nclean mats on the ground in the portico, and he--a _rangatira_[04] of\nthe old school, stood with well-simulated humility until such time as\nwe should invite him to be seated. We gave the customary invitation,\nand Te Makawawa seated himself opposite to us.\n\nThen, when the food baskets had been placed before us and we had\neaten, we sat in silence, the chief, according to custom, waiting\nimpassively to hear the object of our visit, and we, also according to\ncustom, deeply considering the words we should use. As Kahikatea had\nundertaken the duty of spokesman I was free to observe more closely\nthe face of the aged chief. He was beardless, his hair was quite\nwhite, and his bold, high forehead, coupled with his piercing black\neyes, gave evidence of great power and ability. His whole face was\ntatooed in a way to denote the highest rank: he had evidently been a\ngreat man among his people--an _ariki_, in whose veins ran the blood\nof the Great River of Heaven. He was nearly ninety years old, so I\nsubsequently discovered, but his age was not written in his eye nor\nyet in his proud and erect bearing.\n\nMy eyes wandered to the sea below, sparkling in the pathway of the\nsun, and holding the little wooded islets in a setting of silver\nbreakers. Now and again the long rising swell of the Great Ocean of\nKiwa came in with a weird sigh, moaning about the cliffs on the coast\nbelow. Sea birds, uttering plaintive calls, circled overhead and again\nswooped down over the face of the cliff. It was a strange spot wherein\nwas about to be unfolded a stranger tale.\n\n\u201cO wise tohunga,\u201d said Kahikatea at length, \u201cI have dreamed a dream,\nand have come to ask you what it means.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe wind has whispered some hidden word in the branches of the\nKahikatea,\u201d said the old chief; \u201clay that hidden word before me, that\nI may hold it in my hand.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy word is a dream which I will tell--a dream on a night when the\nmoon was full. It seemed to me that I climbed a great mountain wall by\na high plain yonder towards the setting sun----\u201d\n\nHe paused, for he had seen, as I had, a passing movement on the old\nchief\u2019s rugged face.\n\n\u201cDo you know of such a mountain wall, O Te Makawawa?\u201d pursued\nKahikatea.\n\nA long silence ensued, and we both watched the aged chief\u2019s face,\nwhile his eyes rested on the ground. He seemed debating in his mind\nwhether he should answer; but at length, with a craftiness through\nwhich I thought I saw the truth, he raised his eyes and said:--\n\n\u201cI have myself in dreams wandered astray in a forest at the foot of a\nmountain wall, by which I know that my death is waiting for me there.\nYour words, O Kahikatea, carried me back to my own dream--did you ask\nme a question?\u201d\n\nThis was artful. He had evidently made up his mind that he knew\nnothing of such a mountain wall, at all events not until he had heard\nmore.\n\nBut my friend did not repeat his question. I think he saw with me that\nthe old chief had been startled, but had extricated himself\ngracefully, and that, now he was on his guard, we should have no\nfurther clue.\n\n\u201cI was saying,\u201d Kahikatea went on, \u201cwhen I saw that the spirit of your\nancestor was speaking to you, that I climbed up a mountain wall, I\nknow not how, for it seemed to me that no man could have passed that\nway before. In my dream, as I stood on a great platform at the summit\nof the wall against the sky, a thin crust of rock beneath my feet gave\nway and I fell into a narrow cavern. Not being able to get out again I\ngroped my way along and found that it communicated with a passage cut\nin the rock, narrow, but high, as if it had been made by, and for,\ngiants. I followed this passage, winding in and out in the darkness of\nthe rock, and at length came out again on the summit of the wall.\n\n\u201cThen my feet were guided to a funnel-shaped chasm, down which--by\nmeans of a long, stout pole, which I slanted from ledge to ledge again\nand again across the narrow chasm--I made a perilous descent. At last\nI felt a solid floor beneath my feet, and, moving cautiously, made my\nway across a dark cavern towards a faint light showing round a\nbuttress of rock. When I gained this point, O thou prop of the tribes,\nI saw a sight which startled me--even in my dream.\u201d\n\nHe paused, and I wondered what he was coming to. Te Makawawa\u2019s\npiercing eyes were fixed upon my friend in a penetrating scrutiny as\nif he would read his inmost soul. But his own rugged, tatooed face\nbetrayed no thought, no feeling.\n\nAfter a silence Kahikatea continued:\n\n\u201cIt was a form of beauty that I have never since been able to banish\nfrom my mind. There, standing in an open space on the floor of a\ncavern of white marble, with the moonlight flooding in upon her from\nan opening in the rock, was a figure, white and dazzling. For a long\ntime I stood gazing at the most beautiful face and form it has fallen\nto my lot to look upon. It was a woman in the first years of\nwomanhood; her arms were raised towards something she could see in the\nwestern sky through the opening; a thin robe covered her form, and a\nbreath of wind had swayed it gently against her limbs. But, O chief,\nmark this: her hair, which fell in rippling folds over her\noutstretched arms, was white and glistening, and, though the\nexpression on her face was that of one who sees a vision of joy, her\neyes were colourless. Her form was full of yearning--of pursuing\nprayer towards the glory of her vision, but she moved not. I drew\nnearer and stood before her. Then I saw that this woman was an image\nin marble, lifelike, beauteous, wonderful; but stone--cold stone!\u201d\n\nAgain he paused, and I watched the face of the aged chief. It was calm\nand unmoved, but his eyes blazed like polished obsidian reflecting the\nsun. He spoke never a word, and Kahikatea continued:\n\n\u201cWhile I gazed in wonder at this radiant image--in my dream, O\nchief--I heard a step behind me, and, before I could turn, a stunning\nblow on the head felled me. Then I no longer knew light from darkness.\nMy dream ended there for a time, but when again I emerged from\ndarkness I was lying on my back on the bank of a stream at the foot of\nthe mountain wall a thousand feet below, my clothes wet through, and\nmy body stiff and sore with bruises. That is my dream, O chief. My\nwords to you are ended.\u201d\n\nTe Makawawa sat silent and thoughtful, considering his reply. While he\nwas doing so it occurred to me to add my story to Kahikatea\u2019s\nstatement, for I now understood why my friend had been startled at my\nmention of the word \u201csculptress.\u201d\n\n\u201cI also have a word to lay before you, chief,\u201d said I.\n\n\u201cProceed, O Friend of Kahikatea,\u201d he replied.\n\nThen I narrated to him the history of the woman--how it had become a\nmatter of great moment that news of her should be obtained. How I,\nthrough my knowledge of the Maori tongue, had been sent to look for\nher, and how, finally, it seemed to me that what the wind had\nwhispered to the branches of the Kahikatea was connected in some\nstrange way with the woman, for was she not wise in the matter of\ncutting figures out of stone? In conclusion, I handed him the fragment\nof wood. He inspected it carefully, and then asked the meaning of the\nwords.\n\n\u201cThey mean,\u201d said I, watching his face intently, \u201cthat a woman named\nMiriam Grey was taken prisoner eighteen years ago by a certain Te\nMakawawa, that she is near a mountain and a tableland--the meaning\nhere is washed away--and that she was still alive three years ago. O\nchief, my words, too, are ended.\u201d\n\nSilence again ensued, which remained unbroken for a long space, during\nwhich time an artist might have caught the aged chief\u2019s expression\nexactly, for it remained unaltered. I knew that if he did not speak\nsoon he would not speak at all, and we should go back the way we came,\nnot very much wiser than when we started. I employed the time\nwondering how much he knew. Was he considering the terms of his reply,\nor was he quietly making up his mind as to whether he should reply at\nall? At length he raised his eyes and encountered those of my friend.\n\n\u201cO Kahikatea,\u201d he said solemnly, \u201clike Tawhaki of old thou knowest the\n\u2018way of the spider,\u2019 and, like him, thou hast seen Hinauri, the\nDaughter of the Dawn. I can speak of what I know to one with whom the\nGreat Tohungas of the Earth have spoken. But with thee, O Friend of my\nfriend the Forest Tree,\u201d he added, turning to me, \u201cI will not speak\nexcept on a condition which I will lay upon the ground before you.\u201d\n\n\u201cLay thy condition upon the ground, O wild white crane among\ntohungas--lay thy condition upon the ground before us, that we may\nlook at it and take it up or not as it seems good to us.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is well,\u201d he replied. \u201cLo! the beginning of my word to you is\nthis: I am growing old; my foot is already searching for firm places\namong the snows that encircle the summit of Ruahine; I see those who\nare not present, I hear those who do not speak; any day I may look\ninto the eyes of the green lizard that will summon me to Reinga.[05]\nBut before I descend by the sacred Pohutukawa root that leads to the\nAbode of Spirits I would undo a wrong that I did--an evil deed, cruel\nand unfair beneath the eye of Rehua.\n\n\u201cThat is the beginning of my speech to you, and this is how it runs\non. Hearken, Pakehas! You, O Friend of Kahikatea, the Forest Tree,\nseek a woman concerning whom, if you agree to my condition, the\nspirits that linger by night may speak to me: Te Makawawa, whose heart\nis in his face before you, seeks a white-faced child whom he cannot\nfind, for he knows not the speech of the Pakeha.\n\n\u201cHear the end, O Friend of my friend, the Forest Tree--the end is for\nyou. When the child is found I myself will teach you concerning the\nwoman. The tongue of the Maori is known to you as well as the tongue\nof the Pakeha; therefore, you can search among the races of the South\nfor the white-faced child. If this bargain seems good then I will\nspeak to you and to the Forest Tree. And when the child is found I\nwill commune with the spirits of my ancestors about the woman.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd if I find the child, O chief,\u201d I said, \u201cwill you swear upon the\nsacred _tiki_[06] that you will find the woman?\u201d\n\nTe Makawawa turned a withering glance upon me.\n\n\u201cThe Friend of the Forest Tree speaks the Maori tongue, but surely he\ndoes not know the Maori heart----\u201d he began, but Kahikatea broke in\nupon his words.\n\n\u201cIt is enough,\u201d he said. \u201cThe word of Te Makawawa is good; it will not\nsnap like the _kohutukutu\u2019s_ branch. Let my brother Wanaki say whether\nhe will accept the condition.\u201d\n\nI am obstinate by nature, and somewhat cynical, but from Kahikatea\u2019s\nmanner I guessed that old Te Makawawa, notwithstanding his remark to\nthe effect that the spirits of his ancestors would enlighten his\nignorance, already knew more about Miriam Grey than we should ever\nfind out unless we accepted his own terms. Having turned this over in\nmy mind I said:\n\n\u201cI forgot that the word of the _ariki_ was sworn upon his own heart,\nwhich is sacred. I call back my words, O chief, and I agree to your\ncondition. Now speak and answer the words of Kahikatea about his\ndream, and my own words about the woman.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is well,\u201d he said with dignity, drawing his mat closer around him.\n\u201cMy heart flows out to both of you; to you, O Dreamer of dreams, and\nto you, O Seeker in the dark, I will speak words straight from my\nbreast, but in hearing them know that they may not be repeated to\nother ears while I live. That is understood between us.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER III.\n A SECRET OF ANCIENT NIGHT.\n\nFor some minutes the aged chief sat silent, looking out far away\nover the sea, where the white-winged taniwhas[07] of the Pakeha pass\nthrough Raukawa, to gain the great ocean of Kiwa. His thoughts were as\nfar away as the blue Isle of Rangitoto, marked vaguely in the horizon.\nWhat thing was he pursuing over the dim trail of the past? Of a truth\nhe seemed to see those who were not present, to hear those who did not\nspeak. Would he begin his story at the time when those fierce old\nhistory-makers of yore--the Waitahi and the Ngaitahu--dwelt in the\nvalley of the \u201cPensive Water,\u201d and held their land against the fierce\ninvaders coming down from the land of Tara? No, he turned towards us,\nand the words from his breast were of things long, long before the\nWaitahi fought their frays upon the sounding shore.\n\nHe spoke in a hushed voice; for our ears alone were the secret things\nhe was about to unfold.\n\n\u201cO men of the great land beyond the mountains and the sea, why should\nI tell to you those things which none but our priesthood of ancient\nnight have known? It is because I have heard the voices of the Great\nTohungas of the Earth speaking to me in sleep, and I have had no rest.\nTherefore I will obey the words that have come to me in the whistling\nwinds of heaven, and reveal a secret of the ancient tohungas of my\nrace. Yet in doing this I know full well that, by the occult law of\nthe ages, I shall incur my death.\n\n\u201cKnow then, O children of another world, that the blood of the Great\nRiver of Heaven has run through the veins of an unbroken hereditary\npriesthood from the further shore of Time to this day that we see\nbeneath the shining sun. Men who do not know speak of _Te Kahui\nTipua_; a band of man-eating demons, they say, who dwelt here in\nAopawa. Sons! these are no demons, but the powerful priesthood of\nwhich I speak to you, extending back into the far night of the world.\nThe Rangitane and the Ngaitahu have nursed our priests in their\n_wahine\u2019s_ laps; the Ngatimamoe also, and before them the Waitahi,\nskilled in spells--all these came and passed away like the leaves of\nthe _kohutukutu_,[08] but the father blood of the ancient Kahui Tipua\nis of the Great River of Heaven flowing down the ages from times when\nthis land of the Maori was without a shore from the rising to the\nsetting sun.\n\n\u201cWhat the west wind has whispered in the branches of the Kahikatea,\nwhat his friend has spoken with his tongue about the woman, and my own\nword to you about a lost child, are the head, the back, and the tail\nof one story. Hearken to me then, O men from over the sea, while I\nshow to you a hidden thing which has never been shown to a pakeha\nbefore, nor revealed to any but our own priesthood. Then, when Te\nMakawawa has trodden the Highway of Tane, and you see his eye set as a\nstar in the sky, you will tell this sacred thing to your brethren of\nthe other side, for it is a word of power to the Maori and Pakeha\nalike. But know that whoever reveals this hidden thing to the outside\nworld must die.\n\n\u201cNot three days\u2019 journey towards the setting sun is a high plain\nrolling like a yellow sea beneath a great mountain wall. On that\nsacred plain waves now the golden _toi-toi_, and it is desolate; but\nthere was a time when a great city stood there in which dwelt a mighty\nrace of long ago. And within that mountain wall is the vast temple of\nRuatapu, cut out of the ancient rock by the giant tohungas of old.\nThis, O children of the sun that rose to-day, was long before the\n_wharekura_[09] of our lesser tohungas, many ages before the Maori\nset sail from Hawaiki to find these shores. In that temple of the ages\nare strange things preserved from the wreck of the ancient\nworld--things which one day you shall see, but I now shorten my words\nto tell of a sacred stone under the protection of the Good Tohungas of\nthe Brow of Ruatapu, and yet again of another, an accursed stone, the\nplaything of the Vile Tohungas of the Pit.\n\n\u201cIn that far time, when this land of the Maori was but a small part of\na vast land now eaten by the sea, the people who dwelt in the city of\nthe high plain were powerful giants, and they were ruled by a\npriesthood of tohungas, among whom two kinds of magic were practised:\nthe Good and the Vile. The Good Tohungas derived their spells, like\nTawhaki, from the heavens above, where the Great Spider sits weaving\nhis web around him, and they dwelt in the forehead of the mountain\nwall. The Vile Tohungas obtained their spells, like Tangaroa, from the\ndepths of the sea, and from the gloom of Porawa; they inhabited the\nfoundations of the mountain. But although both dwelt in the same\ntemple, there was a deadly hatred between them, and, when they met in\nbattle, fierce lightnings were seen to issue from the rocks.\n\n\u201cI am not now the hereditary priest of that temple, but many moons\nago, before the snows fell on my hair, I was called by the Great\nTohungas, whose eyes look down from the northern sky, to enter the\nmountain and take the place of my father, who was growing old. My\nfather, worn with doing the will of the tohungas in the temple, came\nout to die, and I took his place, even as I, after many years, have\ncome out to die, while my son, Ngaraki the Fierce, has taken my place.\nWhen I entered the mountain by a path any brave man might find and\nfollow, and further, when I ascended to the upper part of the\nmountain, by a way that no man could find unless he were guided as I\nwas, I found there the sacred white stone, before which it was the\nwork of the priest to sing the magic _karakia_, which have been handed\ndown from the time of the ancient city. For the tradition given to me\nby my father, O Pakehas, told that in this stone stood the form of a\nwoman, beauteous as the dawn; and the prophecy attached to her was\nthat one day the stone which enclosed her would be broken, and she\nwould stand free.\n\n\u201cSons of Kiwa, hear the sacred story of the woman of the ancient city,\nand listen well, that my words do not pass by like the empty wind,\nfor, in revealing this for the good of my race and yours, I give\nmyself over to the Woman of Death and Darkness--such is the law by\nwhich I, a sometime priest of the mountain temple, will abide. In the\ntimes of which the rocks of that temple alone keep a record, the\nbright goddess Hia, or, as we call her, Hinauri, the Daughter of the\nDawn, came down from the skies to restore the divine magic which the\nVile Tohungas had almost driven from the world. She became queen of\nthe city on the plain, and tried to rule the people by the love-magic\nshe brought with her. But she failed: the people were being led down\nto death by the vile brethren of Huo, or, as we know her,\nHine-nui-te-Po, the Daughter of the Darkness. They would not look upon\nthe dazzling beauty of Hia\u2019s face, nor would they hear her words. _E\ntama!_ none can sin against the Great Spider and live. Lo! Mariki, the\nWoman of Pestilence, slid down a silky thread of the vast web and\nbreathed death on the city. Tu-of-the-Whirlwind came also and smote\nthe great land.\n\n\u201cBut the Tohungas of the Brow of Ruatapu had been taught in dreams\nwhen the great fire of Io throbbed through them and lighted their\nheads. They foresaw the destruction of the city, and took the Queen\nHinauri to a white cave in the forehead of the mountain, where she\nshowed them the last strange wonder of her magic. Standing on the\nfloor of the cave, with her giant priests around her, she gazed\nthrough the opening towards the western sky above the hills. A ray of\ngolden light pierced the air and shone into the place. It fell upon\nher face and form. It lingered in her eyes and on her dark flowing\nhair. The priests fell back dazzled by her glory. Then she raised her\narms towards the western sky and spoke strange words: \u2018Lo! in the\ndistance it is shown to me--the land of my people as it will be in the\nfar future. I see them living in happiness, ruled by my love-magic.\nAges will pass away before that time will be, but behold, I will leave\nmy body here waiting and watching for that future when my people shall\ncome back; and, at the dawn of that bright age, I too will return as a\nsign to the world. And you, my priests, will watch my sacred body till\nthat day. Then, when I return, Huo, the false image of myself, which\nwill be fashioned in this temple below, shall be hurled down upon the\nheads of the Vile Tohungas, her worshippers.\u2019\n\n\u201cShe ceased, and the golden ray seemed to be fading from her, while\nshe stood as if listening to some mellow music from the sunlit slopes\nof the far-off future land of peace and love. A light leapt into her\neyes, and a smile broke over her face. Lo! even while she stood there\nleaning forward, with her arms outstretched as if to some lovely\nvision of the dawn, the sun ray faded quite away, and left her\nspellbound, immovable--a radiant statue of expectancy.\n\n\u201cThen, as the Tohungas chanted their mystic song they saw that her\nspirit had fled, leaving her body standing like stone. Like stone, I\nsaid, O Kahikatea; but her spirit had not taken away the smile from\nher lips nor the joy from her eyes. The lovelight would still dwell\nthere, and her arms would still remain outstretched in longing until\nthe ages should have rolled by--in constant yearning until some\ndistant day should bring her people back to repeat their history with\na happier close. O Pakehas, it was a thing to see: Hinauri the Radiant\nOne, who rivals the dawn in her beauty, stood there waiting, waiting,\nwaiting till the far future of the world should come with Ihi Ihi, the\nsun ray, to call her back to life.\n\n\u201cO Sons of the Shining Sea, hear how my tale runs on. Summer and\nwinter came and went for hundreds of years, while in the cave high up\nin the silence of the mountains stood for ever the Daughter of the\nDawn, holding out her arms to the unborn future of the South. Far\nbelow upon the plain lay the City of the Southern Cross, deserted,\nsilent, and crumbling to ruin. A pestilence had fallen upon the land,\nslaying the people as one man, and now through the silent streets\nwandered the dragons of the desert. By night the moonlight glinted\nupon the palaces and domes, showing here gigantic columns, and there a\npatch of open square, while sometimes from the shadowy streets arose a\nghostly murmur, as of a phantom race that is dead and gone, whose\nspirits linger by night around the desolation of their former homes.\nBut the Bright One\u2019s gaze was fixed, not upon the city below, but on\nthe limits of future time.\n\n\u201cHow can I show you the wonder of Hinauri\u2019s waiting for the dawn? O\nPakehas, on calm moonlight nights the children of the misty moonbeam\nlooked in at the opening of the cave and wondered to see her standing\nthere, a figure of beauty, all shining with moisture, in the clear,\npale ray. The drops that drip so slowly in limestone caves had begun\nto deposit their treasures upon her form. Her robes shone with a\nthousand crystalline gems. Her hair rippled down like wavy stalactites\nladen with sparkling clusters of precious stones. They had gathered\nlike the dust of diamonds upon her arms, and neck, and brow, while\nfrom the roof of the cave the ever-dripping, crystal-laden water had\ntried to place a crown upon her stately head.\n\n\u201cO men of a later day, how can I picture to you the wonder of Hinauri\nin that high solitude? The spirits of the wind would pause in their\nwanderings round the mountain sides to look in at the silent\ninhabitant of the cave. Then they would sigh along upon their way down\nthe ridges to whisper among the shadows of the deserted city. And on\ndark nights, when the anger of Tawhirimatea smote the feet of\nTane-holding-up-the-Sky, that storm-god loved to linger at the opening\nof the cave and watch her mysterious beauty, as Taki\u2019s lightning lit\nthe place; and, while he watched, his fierce heart would melt, and his\nwild breath soften into sighs of love.\n\n\u201cOn and on sped the years. Ages rolled over this land, and the City of\nthe Southern Cross crumbled to dust. Other ages came and went, and the\nsea lapped about the crags beneath the opening of the cave and rolled\nits huge billows over the buried city. And lo! as the moons, gliding\nby on the floor of the crystal heaven, chased each other for ever\nacross the sky, the sea sank back, and there, where once had surged\nthe hurrying throng of a mighty people, stood the gigantic moa in the\ndense fern, and on the rocks crept the three-eyed lizards of old time.\nBut in the mountain cave the ancient spell had endured. Hear the tale\nof the Great Tohungas, who watched one by one in the temple. Slowly,\nthrough the ages, the limestone covered the form of the goddess, but\nnot to hide her from the eyes of the _matakite_. The expectant look\nupon her face had deepened, and her whole body seemed ready to spring\nto life at a word. To the eyes of the seer her face shone glorious\nfrom within a crystal stone, but some who saw less clearly passed down\nthe word that her features were chased as if with the dust of stars,\nthrough which the pink in her cheeks and lips showed like rata through\na glistening mist. But to me, when my father took me to the cave,\nthere was naught but a large block of pure white marble, roughly hewn,\nsuch as the mighty fingers of the ages fashion from the limestone. Yet\nI could see, though my sight was dim, that within the dull, hard stone\nstood the wondrous form of Hinauri, waiting to be released from her\nage-long prison. My father said that the time was near when Hinauri\nshould return, and the Great Tohungas had told him in dreams that it\nwas by the \u2018magic of a woman\u2019 that her spirit should come back into\nher body. He then instructed me in the ways and duties of the temple,\nshowing me many things which I cannot speak of now.\n\n\u201cBut I said my words to you were also of the accursed stone. When the\nspirit of the Bright One had fled, the Good Tohungas withdrew into the\nsky, leaving one of their number to protect the sacred stone. Even the\nname of this mighty one has come down to us as surely as his blood\nruns in my veins. \u2018Zun[10] the Terrible\u2019 he was called, and it was he\nwho concealed once and for ever the secret of the sacred stone. The\nVile Tohungas of the Pit were searching for Hinauri to destroy her,\nbut Zun tricked them. He cast himself down into the foundations of the\ntemple and dwelt among them to learn their vile magic. Then, when he\nhad mastered their secrets, he fashioned a false image of Hinauri as a\ngreat spar, and bound it down to the rock with a round stone. The Vile\nTohungas, believing that this spar, stranded on the shores of Time,\ncontained the sacredness of Hinauri, cursed it for ever, so that woman\nshould never rise to the skies, but remain bound down to do their\nwill. Zun the Terrible then drew a phantom spirit from the spar and\ndelivered it over to them, saying it was Hinauri, the Daughter of the\nDawn. The Vile Ones took it and bound it to the moon-face, where for\nall time they have paid it a sneering worship of disdain. Thus did Zun\nthe Terrible give them the false for the true, and tricked them with\ntheir own magic. Then he turned his back upon these Vile Ones and set\nhimself to climb up out of the darkness into which he had fallen. But,\nO my sons! the Vile Ones still live upon the earth. The giant\nsorcerers of old stand for ever on the floor of the mighty abyss in\nthe temple, waiting the day when they shall return. Their red fire was\nremoved by one of their slaves, whom Zun drove from the temple into\nthe north, and we say it is burning even now, though we know not\nwhere.\n\n\u201cSo the sacred stone in the white cave has been preserved to this day,\nand to this day the magic of the sun ray may be seen. It is true it\nnow strikes into the cave at certain times of the year through a\ncrevice in some outstanding crags, but, O children of a later sun, it\nis a ray of the same light that shone there ages since, and bore\nHinauri\u2019s spirit away. _E tama!_ there is a prophecy that one day,\nwhen this ray of Ihi Ihi is upon the sacred stone, her ancient spirit\nwill return upon it, and she will live. Already is the stone that\nbound her broken away; already she stands free, as she stood long,\nlong ago, with her arms outstretched to the future, and the dawn of a\nnew age upon her radiant face. This, O Kahikatea, is the truth which\nlies behind your dream. This, O Pakehas, was the legend given me by my\nfather, who had received it from his father in like fashion as it had\nbeen told by father to son from the beginning of the world.\n\n\u201cNow, Friend of the Forest Tree, I will answer your words to me about\nthe woman Miriami Kerei.\n\n\u201cMany moons of fasting and singing of karakias passed over my head\nbefore the Great Tohungas\n\n\n [image: images/img052.jpg\n caption: \u201c\u2018THIS, O PAKEHAS, WAS THE LEGEND GIVEN ME BY MY FATHER.\u2019\u201d]\n\n\nbegan to speak to me in dreams. One night the spirit of my father\nstood before me and told me that the woman upon whom the tohungas had\nset their true mark was travelling southwards with her husband,\ninland, towards Hokitika. She was the woman by whose magic the\nage-long fetters of Hinauri should be broken; therefore he bade me\nfind her and take her to the white cave, where she must dwell as\nsacred as Hinauri\u2019s self until the object of her coming was\naccomplished. Therefore, I summoned the warriors of my tribe and sent\nthem to guard all the mountain ways to the south of the \u2018Pensive\nWater,\u2019 and to take the man and the woman without injury and bring\nthem to me at the boundary of the Great Tapu, which enclosed the plain\nand the sacred mountain.\n\n\u201cAt the end of half a moon they returned with the pakeha and his wife.\nShe was a comely _wahine_, with eyes like those of a Maori\nchieftainess, but they held more of the \u2018magic of a woman.\u2019 O Pakehas,\nhave you looked into a dark lake among the mountains and seen the star\nTawera shining there all alone? Like that was the light of Miriami\u2019s\neyes; like that was the spirit far within them. I do not remember the\npakeha\u2019s name, but I remember learning by the signs he made to me,\nthat he had journeyed from Hokitika to Wakatu to meet his wife, who\nhad come in a great canoe from the land beyond the sea, and that now\nthey were on their way back to Hokitika. I was sorry, and my heart\nwent out to the pakeha, but the word of the tohungas was to be obeyed.\nI could not let him go his way, lest he should bring a great army\nagainst the mountain for revenge, so I ordered the tongueless men of\nthe temple to bear both man and woman to the mountain, for there I\nmeant to deal with the man according to the customs of our ancient\nmagic. By a secret entrance at the back of the mountain, which no man\nmight find--the \u2018way of the lizard\u2019--then by the secret \u2018way of the\nfish with wings,\u2019 which no man can travel without guidance, I had them\ntaken to the white cave, where I showed them the stone and explained\nas much of the ancient story as I could by signs. The woman understood\nme, for a clear light came in her eyes as she gazed at the stone. At\nthat moment the sun ray, coming through a rift in the crags outside,\nfell through the opening like a shaft of gold, and shone upon the\nwhite fetters of the Bright One. Then I saw that the Tohungas\u2019 real\nmark was on the woman, for her eyes became fixed. She held out her\narms to the stone with a cry, and the pakeha caught her as she fell. I\nknew now that she was _matakite_,[11] and had seen Hinauri within the\nstone.\n\n\u201cWhen she came out of darkness she spoke to the pakeha with many\nwords, and I judged her meaning to be this: that she would stay in the\ncave and release Hinauri from the stone, and he would stay with her;\nbut when they made me understand this I replied by signs that the man\nmust go, but the woman must stay. He grew angry, and showed me with\nhis hands that he would go and call the pakehas together and bring\nthem with guns against the mountain, and take the woman away by force.\n\n\u201cAt this I ordered the tongueless men to bind the pakeha again. Then I\nsigned to the woman that he should be taken down and set free, and\nthat if she would watch from the opening of the cave she should see\nhim go. This quieted her, and I conducted the pakeha down through the\nsecret ways; but before setting him free I tatooed upon his breast one\nof the magic signs of the temple--the sign of silence and forgetting,\nand rubbed into it an ointment which has power to make a man forget\nthe events of his life while the tohunga lives who cast the spell over\nhim. _There is another ointment, O Kahikatea, which will cause a man\nto forget only the events of a single moon, or at least to recall them\ndimly as dreams._ But it was necessary that the pakeha should forget\neverything, and he went forth from the mountain as one in a trance,\nfrom which at sunset he would awake in his right mind, but as a man\nwho can speak the words that he always spoke, and do the things which\nhe always did, yet can remember neither his own name nor the face of\nhis friend. This, O men of to-day, is a word of the ancient magic for\nwhich our lower tohungas seek in vain.\n\n\u201cThen I did many things for the comfort of the woman Miriami--that is\nthe name by which she bade me call her, O Wanaki. I placed mats within\na recess of the white cave and brought her food and water and\nfirewood, and in it all I made her understand that she was\n_tapu_[12], and she grew to trust me. At her bidding I procured\nthrough my tribe some sharp instruments for her with which to break\nthe bonds of the Radiant One, and also some books, that she might\nlearn to speak the Maori tongue. When this was done she showed me the\n\u2018magic of the woman\u2019 by which Hinauri should return. She would break\nand cut the stone away from the divine form within, so that it should\nstand free.\n\n\u201cWhen I knew this I fell at her feet and worshipped her. For many\nmoons she laboured, and though I heard the chipping of the tools upon\nthe stone--the breaking of Hinauri\u2019s fetters--I set not my foot within\nthe cave. Eight moons passed away, and the ninth was growing old, when\none day she waited for me outside the entrance to her abode, on the\nwhite steps that lead down into the lower parts of the temple.\n\n\u201c\u2018O Te Makawawa,\u2019 she said, \u2018the work is finished. Hinauri, the Bright\nOne, stands free, but she does not yet live. Nevertheless, Chief and\nTohunga, there will be another life in this cave before many days.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Blessed be the child that is born under the smile of Hineteiwaiwa,\u2019\nI said. \u2018I will go to my tribe and bring back a woman to be with you.\u2019\n\n\u201cI brought the woman, and Miriami\u2019s child was born before another moon\nhad set out to find the Sacred Isle in the West. Then was I summoned\nto the cave to see the magic the woman had wrought upon the stone.\nHinauri stood free. She stood as thou didst see her in thy dream, O\nKahikatea--a thing to wonder at and worship. _E Koro!_ the magic of\nthe woman was not of earth. It was the Chisel of Tonga--and more than\nthat, though I know not what more.\n\n\u201cThen for two summers and winters I toiled in the temple, cursing the\nVile Tohungas in the abyss at the full moon, as my father and all my\nfather\u2019s fathers had done before me, and singing the ancient\n_karakias_ in the white cave at sunset. But the spirit of Hinauri\nreturned not. Yet from that time forward certain men with the fire of\nthe Vile Tohungas in their eyes found entrance to the temple. My\nthought is that they had heard a threatening voice teaching them\nstrange things. Perchance the ages had told them how they had been\ntricked, and they came to learn the secret of our greater magic, and\nto destroy the Bright One. But, O Sons of Kiwa, I took their heads,\nbaked them, and hung them in the abyss.\n\n\u201cBut hear me, O Friend of the Forest Tree. These are my words to you,\nand this is the thing which keeps me from rest. When the little\ngirl--Keritahi Kerei was her name--was able to run about and speak her\nown tongue and mine, I used to lead her and Miriami down to a place\nwhere the river hemmed them in against the mountain wall. Here the sun\nshone upon the moss, and flowers grew, and here the little one would\nplay. One day I was cutting wood on the bank lower down, when I heard\na scream, and, looking up, I saw Miriami standing on the bank waving\nher arms. I hastened to the place, and she pointed to the water, where\nI saw, rising to the surface, the little body of the child. O my\nbrethren of the pale skin, I saw her white face, and in her hand she\nheld some mountain lilies, in reaching for which she had fallen over\nthe bank. The current swept her under, and though I plunged in at\nonce, it was some time before I could find her among the twisting\nfolds of the water. When at last I laid the little body at Miriami\u2019s\nfeet, its spirit had fled beyond Wai Ora Tane.[13]\n\n\u201cHave you seen the grief of a mother weeping for her child, O Pakehas?\nI hope I may never see it again. I sat down and covered my head, and\nmy own tears flowed like rain. But not for long. Miriami dashed her\ntears away and tried to bring the little one\u2019s spirit back from\nReinga. I knew that a spirit sometimes halts and lingers on the hither\nbank of Wai Ora Tane; therefore I worked with her on the little body,\ntrying to charm the spirit back, and, as we worked, I sang an\nincantation, while her tears fell on the child\u2019s pale face.\n\n\u201cBut Keritahi\u2019s spirit had passed beyond the waters, from whose\nfurther bank none may return by the way they went. The sun was sinking\nwhen we ceased our efforts, and then Miriami sank down in despair. By\nthe ancient rites of the temple no dead body must remain within its\ninner _tapu_. I told Miriami that I would bury it at once somewhere in\nthe outer _tapu_ across the stream. She pleaded with me to let her\ncome, but I would not; I had sworn to my father\u2019s spirit that she\nshould not go beyond the inner _tapu_. \u2018Then,\u2019 she said, \u2018bury the\nbody of my child beneath the shade of the great rimu in the valley,\nwhere the tui sits and sings in the twilight, that when I listen from\nthe mouth of the cave I may mingle my grief with his singing.\u2019\n\n\u201cI promised this. When she had taken a last farewell of her little\none, she sank on the ground numbed with grief, and I crossed the river\nwith Keritahi\u2019s body in my arms. As I was hurrying towards the rimu in\nthe valley, I said in my heart, \u2018It is the will of the tohungas--the\nchild stood in the way of Hinauri. The attention was divided. Now the\nchild is dead, Hinauri will delay no longer. It is best: the tohungas\nhave spoken----\u2019\n\n\u201cThe tongue in my heart stopped, and I stood still, looking down at\nthe child. Was it a tremor passing through the little body, or was it\nmy dream? Who could come back after so long a stay in Reinga?\n\n\u201cI hurried on again into the shades of the valley, and came to a\nsudden stop a second time, for the body was trembling visibly in my\narms. There was no longer any doubt. The little lips parted. The child\ndrew a breath and sighed. Then the eyes opened and closed again. She\nwas returning from the arms of the Great Woman of Darkness.\n\n\u201cMy first thought was to turn back and restore the child to her\nmother, but when I had taken some steps I hesitated. Another thought\nheld me, and I stood still. Miriami would conquer her grief; the worst\nof it was over. The tohungas had spoken, and I saw their meaning. The\nchild was to live, but not, O Pakehas, not with its mother, not within\nthe _tapu_ of Hinauri. Yes, it was plain. My heart bled for Miriami,\nbut there was something more important: Hinauri was first.\n\n\u201cKeritahi opened her eyes and looked up at me. Her little lips moved,\nand I heard the only part of my name that she could say: \u2018Wawa.\u2019 Then\nthe eyes closed again, and my breast melted. How could I play this\ntrick upon the woman whose magic had done so much? Miriami\u2019s soft eyes\ncame up before my mind, and my body shook like the kahikaha\u2019s leaf.\nBut I must do it. It was for Hinauri. \u2018Besides,\u2019 I said, \u2018the child\nmust have the spirit of a great witch--none but a witch could come\nback out of the Land of Silence. Yes, the Great Ones have spoken--she\nis a witch, and that is why my karakias have been powerless.\u2019\n\n\u201cNeed I tell you, O my sons, how I coaxed the child to sleep on a\nstone that I had warmed with fire--then how I dug a grave beneath the\nrimu and buried a large stone there--and afterwards how I went back to\nMiriami with a lie in my throat and took her again into the mountain,\nwhere in the white cave she remained alone with her grief? But I will\ntell you, O Friend of the Forest Tree, what I did with the child, for\nthat word is for you, to guide you in the search.\n\n\u201cI went back to her lying on the warm stone. I bent over her and\nlistening for her breathing. It was regular and deep.\n\n\u201c\u2018She is a witch,\u2019 I said, \u2018she will live.\u2019\n\n\u201cWhen she awoke I took her to my tribe, though on the way I sat down\nmany times to cover my head, for, with her arms round my neck, she\nasked me questions that I could not answer. I gave her to a young\nchief of my tribe, and said to him, \u2018Take a band of warriors and\njourney on towards the south, and when you come to a pakeha\u2019s house\nleave the child there in safety without any word, so that the one into\nwhose care the child falls knows neither whence it comes nor who\nbrings it.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey went forth, and the child was under my word of protection.\n\n\u201cO Friend of the Forest Tree, within two moons they returned, and the\nyoung chief spoke a strange thing in my ear. \u2018We have ended the work\nyou set us to do, O Te Makawawa, and lo! a moon ago we came to a hut\non the bank of a river southwards, and within sat a pakeha asleep by a\nfire. With my own hand I unfastened the door and set the child inside.\nThen I closed the door with a loud noise, and looked in at the window.\nThe man awoke, and when I looked upon his face I saw that it was the\nface of him we captured with the woman many moons ago. That is truth,\nO chief.\u2019\n\n\u201cThen I, having heard this, returned to the temple and sought rest,\nsaying to myself: \u2018It is not such a bad deed you have done, Te\nMakawawa--you have stolen a child from its mother and have restored it\nto its father.\u2019 But no rest came to me, neither did the tohungas speak\nto me again in dreams. In the many years that followed I grew weary of\nlife, for Hinauri came not, and I felt the displeasure of the tohungas\nheavy upon me. I still kept the woman a sacred prisoner, and she lived\nin peace, for was she not _matakite_,[14] and a lover of solitude?\n\n\u201cAt length my son Ngaraki, the Fierce One, arrived at the age when he\nshould take up the duties of the ancient temple, and I came forth to\ndie. But lo! I cannot go hence until I have undone the wrong that I\ndid, until I have restored the child to her mother. Make haste, O\nFriend, and find the little maiden in the south. The sun lingers over\nthe hills, but cannot set--my eyes grow dim, and I see your faces in a\nmist--my head is bowed to the ground, but my spirit cannot pass hence\ntill this is done. O Sons of the Shining Sea, my words to you are\nended.\u201d\n\nThe aged chief covered his head with his flaxen robe and bowed himself\nto the earth. A solemn silence fell upon us, so astonished were we at\nthis, his strange story.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n THE HAUNTED REGION.\n\nIf there were not so much to tell before I lay down my pen, I might\ndescribe the feast which Te Makawawa and his chiefs prepared for us\nthat evening, or give the substance of the wild, poetical songs that\nwere sung in our honour, and of the speeches that were delivered--all\nbristling with allusions to ancient tradition. But the matter, though\ninteresting, does not concern this history directly. Suffice it to\nsay, then, that I had, from the first, developed a slightly sceptical\nattitude towards the old chief\u2019s story. This was accentuated by the\nfact that, after the feast of which I have spoken, one of the songs\nsung by a young chief contained a chance allusion to Hinauri, giving\nin a few words the skeleton of a popular legend which differed almost\nentirely from Te Makawawa\u2019s tradition of the same person. Even if this\ndiscrepancy could be explained by saying that a popular legend is\noften fabricated around the central name of some more ancient\ntradition, it still remained to deal with the extraordinary parts of\nTe Makawawa\u2019s story, which were not easy of belief without some kind\nof verification. Therefore I had many a grave doubt.\n\nOn the following day, when we took our departure, the aged chief sent\nwith us a Maori named Tiki, who had been with the party which had\ntaken the child, fifteen years before, and left her at the hut of the\nMan-who-had-forgotten. This Maori was to be my servant, to aid me in\nfinding Keritahi Kerei, or, as we should pronounce it, Crystal Grey.\nHe was to obey me in all things, and not to leave me under any\nconditions until the child--now, of course, if living, a girl\nseventeen or eighteen years of age--was found and brought to Te\nMakawawa.\n\nWhen we three, Kahikatea, Tiki, and myself, were leaving the _pa_, the\nold chief gave us a solemn and sad farewell. Sitting at the doorway of\nhis house, he said: \u201cDepart, O Kahikatea, Dreamer of dreams! Take not\nagain the \u2018way of the spider\u2019 lest you become even as he who has\nforgotten his name and the face of his friend. Depart, O seeker of the\nchild whose mother awaits you, and forget not my words. Go, my\nfriends, to whom I have shown the secret of the ages. Go! while I\nremain here watching the _kohutukutu\u2019s_ yellow leaf that will not\nfall, watching the western sun that cannot set.\u201d\n\nSo we left the _pa_ of Te Makawawa, our hearts full of the strange\ntale we had heard. When we reached the bank of the river we sat down\non a log and looked at one another.\n\n\u201cDo you believe the old chief\u2019s tale?\u201d I asked Kahikatea.\n\n\u201cIt accounted for my dream,\u201d he replied; \u201cbut, do you know, I have\nnever been able to decide whether I dreamed that about the stone woman\nin the cave, or whether it was an actual experience I went through.\nAll I can be certain of is, that on the floor of my hut, two years\nago, I awoke from what I took to be a kind of syncope due to failure\nof the heart\u2019s action. I went out and shook myself together, and\nrecalled a hazy memory of those things I related to the old chief. Of\ncourse, I dismissed the matter as a dream, though that pure white\nwoman\u2019s face I could not, cannot, and do not wish to, dismiss, for I\nadmit to you candidly that I would risk my life to see it again: it\nhas a fine meaning. I say I explained it as a dream, but what\nperplexed me some time later was, that in my record of the month from\nfull moon to full moon I discovered a gap of three days. Then another\nthing which puzzled me was that I had a great many bruises that I\ncould not account for, one in particular: a painful sore on my\nback--by Jove!\u201d\n\nHe started up in an excited manner and threw off his coat. Then in\nanother moment his shirt followed, and he stood stripped to the waist.\n\n\u201cLook!\u201d he cried, turning his back to me; \u201cjust between the shoulder\nblades--is there any kind of mark?\u201d\n\nIt was my turn to express surprise now, for there, in the spot he had\nindicated, was a peculiar tatooed sign--a square in a circle, with a\nsmall cross in the centre.\n\nI described it to him, and when I had finished he turned round and\nfaced me.\n\n\u201cThe sign of forgetting,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cThe \u2018sign of forgetting,\u2019\u201d I repeated, and my scepticism suffered a\nshock.\n\n\u201cI thought,\u201d he mused slowly, as he proceeded to dress himself again,\n\u201cI thought I could not have spent three whole days in that syncope. If\nI went to that mountain temple and was branded with this mark, which\nmade my adventure seem like a dream, why should not they have branded\nGrey in such a way--say by rubbing in a different drug--as to make him\nforget his own name and the face of his friend?\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd yet--and yet--\u201d I said with some hesitation, \u201cthe whole of Te\nMakawawa\u2019s tale is so remarkable that I cannot say I feel justified in\nsetting out to look for that child without some more certain proof. It\nis quite possible the old chief has invented the story of the child so\nas to get us out of the way. The search may lead me to the other side\nof the world, whereas the Table Land and the mountain are not three\ndays\u2019 journey from here. I believe most firmly that Miriam Grey is\nthere if she is living, but I\u2019m inclined to think that, if there was a\nchild, it died, or was drowned, and that old Te Makawawa invented the\nrest of the story to throw us off the track. What do you think? Is not\nour best plan to go and spy out the mountain first?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt may be so,\u201d he replied meditatively. \u201cPersonally my interest is\nneither in the child nor in the woman, but in the existence of that\nancient temple of a forgotten race, with its white goddess who rivals\nthe dawn, gazing out into the sky with a prayer on her face, and her\narms held up to the daybreak of the golden age. It is a grand symbol\nand, as I said before, I would risk my life to verify it; for even the\nface of that marble woman appeals to me as no woman\u2019s face has ever\ndone before. I see it in my mind, not as stone, but as that of a\nliving woman whose eyes are full of a holy light. I will go with you\nto the mountain wall, and, notwithstanding the old chief\u2019s warning, I\nwill search for the \u2018way of the spider.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cAgreed,\u201d I said, \u201cand I will look for the \u2018way of the fish,\u2019 whatever\nthat may be, and take my chance of the fierce Ngaraki.\u201d\n\nWith our minds made up we decided that it would be better not to\ninform Tiki of our purpose until, in our route southwards, we came to\na point where we could branch off towards the Table Land. We took this\nprecaution lest he should find an opportunity of hurrying back in the\nnight or sending a chance messenger to Te Makawawa telling him of our\npurpose, in which case I felt convinced we should be followed by a\nband of his warriors. Having questioned Tiki, I found that the way by\nwhich I was to seek the child lay through Karamea, to the west of the\nGreat Tapu Land. It would be an easy matter then to change our minds\non the journey, and direct our course towards the forbidden region\nwhich we knew must be the place we wanted.\n\nOf our progress on foot towards Karamea little need be said, except\nthat it was fraught with all the difficulties of the virgin bush.\nKahikatea had a fowling-piece, and I had my rifle, so that we had no\ndifficulty in procuring wild duck, with here a pig and there a\n_pukako_ or a _kakariki_. We gathered our larder up as we went along,\nfor we found the bush-clad hills and gullies most plentifully stocked.\n\nOn the evening of the third day we saw a high range of snow-capped\nmountains far away on our left, and questioned Tiki about them.\n\n\u201cThat is the Great Tapu Land,\u201d he said, lowering his voice.\n\nAfter a conversation over the camp fire in our own tongue, we decided\nthat the time had come to change our course. Accordingly, in the\nmorning we informed the Maori that the curiosity of the white man was\ngreat: we wished to see this forbidden country. He looked scared at\nthis; but, when we told him he must accompany us, his legs trembled\nunder him, and I verily believe that if they had been any use to him\nat the moment, he would have fled for his life.\n\n\u201cTaniwha lives there,\u201d he said, \u201cit is tapu. The Maori must not go\nthere; it is the place of evil spirits.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy is it tapu?\u201d I asked.\n\nHe shook his head. \u201cWhen the _ariki_ make a place tapu it is because\nit is dangerous to go there.\u201d\n\nI was determined to see how much he knew, so I continued to question\nhim.\n\n\u201cHow long has it been tapu?\u201d I asked.\n\n\u201cFrom the times of Wiwa and Wawa, when men had wings,\u201d he replied. \u201cDo\nnot venture on it, O Pakehas. The _ariki_ who have been there to\nappease the evil spirits have come back and told us of the terrible\nmonsters that inhabit the land, and of the evil spirits that are on\nthe watch for anyone who sets foot there.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat kind of spirits are they?\u201d\n\n\u201cListen, O Rangatira! Some men of Ngatimamoe once lost their way and\ncrossed the high level land beneath those peaks, when they came to a\ngreat wall of rock, out of which a stream ran forth into a deep pool.\nHere they stood and watched the bubbles coming up, when they saw\nsomething rising out of the depths. It came to the surface and spouted\nthe water from its mouth. Then they fled, for they knew that only\n_taniwha_ rise out of the depths in that way. It was the evil spirit\nof the mountain, and they who had seen it were doomed.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat happened to them?\u201d I asked.\n\n\u201cThey all died before another moon had passed,\u201d he replied\ntriumphantly.\n\n\u201cAnd are you afraid because of a silly story like that?\u201d I said, well\nknowing the superstitious dread the Maori has of the demon _taniwha_,\neven if it only comes in the shape of a small green lizard. But he was\nnot to be shaken in his belief.\n\n\u201cAh,\u201d he replied gravely. \u201cI have heard that the Pakeha is afraid of\nnothing, because he believes in nothing. But the Maori knows these\nthings are true: the whole place is bewitched with devils, Pakeha; do\nnot go near it.\u201d\n\nKahikatea, who had been sitting on a log cutting tobacco with his bush\nknife, now restored the weapon to its sheath on his hip, and remarked,\nas he charged his pipe: \u201cThe fact of this tremendous tapu being laid\non the whole place shows very clearly that there is a secret to be\nkept by those mountains--a secret known only to the tohungas who\nimposed the tapu. And these wild tales I imagine to be a piece of\npriestcraft to add additional protection to the secret.\u201d\n\nThen, rising and standing over the Maori, he went on in his forcible\nway: \u201cLook here, Tiki! We\u2019re going, and you\u2019ll have to come with us.\nTe Makawawa, the _ariki_, has been many a time to this Great Tapu to\nappease the taniwha; remember that. And his words to you were, \u2018Do not\nleave the Pakeha Wanaki until the child is found.\u2019 Now, if you run\naway in the night while we sleep, I shall tell Te Makawawa, and he\nwill turn the whole brood of taniwha loose on you, and they will tear\nyou to pieces, so that the name of Tiki will be forgotten in the\nland.\u201d\n\nThis idea was too much for the Maori, and he gave in.\n\n\u201cO Kahikatea,\u201d he said, \u201cI will go with you, but remember my word: he\nwho goes into the Great Tapu returns not--all that returns is a cry\nfrom the dark.\u201d\n\nSo the matter ended, and, after a substantial breakfast, we started,\nheading towards the east, where the peaks of the great mountain chain\nshowed against the sky. But it was like dragging a load of stones,\ngetting Tiki along against that heavy tapu. Whenever he could get me\nalone he improved the opportunity by telling me some of his terrible\ntales of taniwha, in the hope of getting me to prevail upon Kahikatea\nto turn back from the haunted mountain. But, interesting as his tales\nwere, he only succeeded in making his own hair stand on end, for\nthough I may be a lover of Maori lore, I cannot lay claim to an\noverwhelming fear of the taniwha.\n\nBut we found there was some foundation for Tiki\u2019s spouting monster. It\nhappened in this way. In the afternoon we travelled along the bank of\na mountain stream, that ran down from the Great Tapu beyond. It was a\nsmall body of water in a deep rocky bed. We followed it up for several\nhours, and by sunset reached what we took to be its source--a deep\npool, some twenty yards across, at the foot of a tremendous rocky\ncliff, on the face of which grew rare ferns, with here and there the\ncrimson or white rata vine. The quiet overflow of this pool swept down\nbeneath high banks, whose flowers and ferns were now flushed and\nglistening in the sun, which sent a few struggling rays between the\nblack trunks of some mountain birches. It was a pleasant spot, with a\nbroad green bank on the one hand, where the afternoon sun had found an\nentrance, while, on the other, where the sunlight never reached, a\nperfect grotto of rare ferns grew from the crevices of the rocks that\ncomposed the high overhanging bank.\n\nHere upon the broad green sward we built our camp fire and prepared to\nstay the night, and it was here that the strange thing happened which\nwent a long way to confirm Tiki in his ideas of the haunted mountain\nand perplexed us not a little. Twilight was deepening over the gloomy\nhills, and the silence in which bush travellers hear mysterious noises\ngrew deeper and deeper as the late-singing birds stopped their songs\none by one to make way for the little owls. We sat upon the bank of\nthe pool, smoking after our meal and looking idly at the water, when\nthe Maori\u2019s quick ear caught some unusual sound. He sprang up and\nstood stock still, with a scared look upon his face.\n\n\u201cIs it a taniwha coming, Tiki?\u201d I asked, for I could hear nothing.\n\nPresently, however, a distant moaning sound seemed to come out of the\nground.\n\n\u201cThe earth is shivering,\u201d said Kahikatea, rising from his sitting\nposture.\n\n\u201cIt is nothing, Tiki,\u201d I cried; \u201cit\u2019s only Ru, your restless\nearthquake-god, turning in his rocky bed. He is rearranging his mat\nand his pillow; he\u2019ll soon settle down again.\u201d\n\nBut the sound grew nearer and louder, and the bank on which we stood\ntrembled visibly. Then there was a hollow roar underground, and Tiki,\nwithout waiting to see what came of it, shrieked \u201cTaniwha!\u201d and turned\nto fly.\n\nBut Kahikatea was too quick for him. His long arm swept out and caught\nthe Maori by the shoulder. Then, as he wheeled him round and nailed\nhim to the spot, a great torrent of water burst forth out of the pool,\nand rose to a height of ten or fifteen feet in the air, swelling the\nstream level with its banks as it swept away. The noise of this\nrushing fountain, as it rose and fell into the pool, drowned all\nspeech, and for some minutes we stood looking at it, too surprised to\nspeak. I heard a howl of fear from Tiki, as my friend, gripping him by\nboth arms from behind, made him face it.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s an intermittent spring,\u201d roared Kahikatea presently, above the\ntumult.\n\nWe watched the column of water springing now several feet higher, and\nthen sinking lower as its force increased and abated alternately, and\nshouted many conjectures between the howls of Tiki. The seething pool\ndashed spray in our faces, and we drew back.\n\nIn ten minutes or a quarter of an hour a sudden change came over the\nspringing column of water. It sank gradually back into the pool. The\ntumult ceased, and the water fell to its former level. The small\nstream then flowed quietly through the bed of its channel, and all was\nstill again.\n\nTiki was the first to break the silence.\n\n\u201cThe evil spirits have let the flood loose,\u201d he cried. \u201cDid I not say\nthe place was tapu? O Wanaki, let us go back.\u201d\n\nA profuse perspiration was on the Maori\u2019s forehead, and his knees\nshook. I felt sorry for him, and proceeded to explain an elaborate\ntheory of intermittent springs, helped here and there by a word from\nKahikatea. At length we took the keen edge off his fear, for he\nadmitted that our _mana_[15] was great, but he would not accept our\nexplanation. Taniwhas were more in his line, and his attitude seemed\nto be based on this principle: Why invent an elaborate hypothesis like\nours when a simple one like his would account for all the facts?\n\nSome little time later, when our astonishment had worn off a little,\nand Kahikatea had begun to gather ferns on the other side of the pool,\nTiki took advantage of the opportunity to urge me even more strongly\nto turn back and not venture further into the haunted place. But I\nassured him that we had no intention of taking his advice, and he\naccepted the inevitable, saying again that our _mana_ was great, and\nthat when we got out of the tapu we would no doubt reward his bravery\nby giving him a pair of trousers and a new pipe--indeed, in\nconsideration of value received, he seemed almost willing to renounce\nhis religion altogether. By his reassuring remarks I certainly\ngathered the impression that if he were only clad in a complete suit\nof European clothes no taniwha could touch him. He was no high-class\nMaori to talk like that, for, if Te Makawawa had caught him in\ntrousers, he would have ordered them off, and thrashed him within an\ninch of his life for forsaking the ancient glory of his race.\n\nNothing remarkable happened during the remainder of that night, unless\nit was that Kahikatea moaned in his sleep several times, and I caught\nthe impassioned words, \u201cHinauri! Hinauri!\u201d A strong feeling of\nfriendship had sprung up within my heart for this strange man, with\nhis passionate love of birds and trees, of snow-capped mountains and\ndeep, wide solitudes; of great symbols and lofty ideals. His very\nstone goddess, set with fantastic meaning in the high solitudes of the\neverlasting mountains, appealed to me as the strongest part of the\nbond that already existed between us. I lay wondering who he was, and\nwhat his past life had been; and, as I wondered, I fell asleep.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER V.\n ON THE GREAT TAPU.\n\nOn the following day, when, after much up-hill work through thick\nbush, we gained what seemed the summit of a line of hills, we sent\nTiki up a tree to search in the distance for the bold mountain wall\nwhich Kahikatea said he could dimly remember. When the Maori reached\nthe top he called down that he could see a long, high rock running\nbetween two peaks like a great wall. It was far away in the horizon,\nbut he said we could reach it by sunset. Tiki remained up the tree for\nmore than a quarter of an hour, but what he was doing we did not learn\nuntil, continuing our march, we discovered that he seemed to know\nevery tree and gully and fern patch on the way. Soon we realised that\nhe was a most useful Maori--he had been mapping out the way from the\ntop of that tree, and was now giving us an instance of the perfection\nto which the savage bump of locality can be brought. Without the aid\nof Tiki\u2019s mental chart, I think we should never have been able to\nthread that mazy labyrinth of dense fern, supplejacks, and tangled\nundergrowth; and I am positively certain that if it had not been for\nmy fluency of tongue in the matter of Maori abuse, Tiki would never\nhave set his face so resolutely against the dread beings which he\nfully expected to encounter at every turn.\n\nAt length, late in the afternoon, having reached an elevation of some\n3,000 feet above the sea level, we came to a gigantic rift in the\nmountains, through which, in a deep, rocky gully, issued the river\nwhich watered the plains far below. Fed by many little mountain\ntributaries, it issued from the gorge as a considerable body of water,\nbut as we traced it back into the mountains it became a mere stream,\nfrothing between great moss-grown boulders, on which gleamed here and\nthere a mountain daisy, or a white lily bobbing its head in the\nswishing tide. Crossing and re-crossing this stream to avoid the\nprecipitous rocks that occasionally barred our way, we toiled onwards\nand upwards until the vegetation began to grow thin and stunted, and,\nabout sunset, we passed beneath two red birches that stood like the\ngateposts of a meadow land, with their heads woven together in the\nsunlight by luxurious clusters and festoons of the native scarlet\nmistletoe bloom.\n\nStanding beneath these gateposts we looked out over what we knew was\nthe Table Land of Te Makawawa\u2019s legend. It was a strange, silent\nplace--a yellow, rolling plain, some three or four miles across,\nsloping off into rounded hills on the west, and bounded on the east by\nthe peaks we had seen from the distance. The moss-covered plain was\nalmost bare, save for a few clumps of _toi-toi_, with plumes that\nwaved all golden in the slanting sunlight, while everywhere in the\nyellow moss grew strange wild flowers, and long ribands of lichen,\nswept by the wind, trailed from a few stunted and isolated trees. It\nwas like a piece of summer Siberia set down amid verdant surroundings.\nBut what caught my eye more particularly was a stupendous wall of rock\nthat ran up against the eastern sky at a distance of two miles on our\nleft. It seemed to connect the bases of the two peaks which towered\nabove it, their summits tipped with snow. This wall--on which there\nwas now a dark, uneven shadow creeping up as the sun went down beneath\nthe rounded hills opposite--must have been nearly a thousand feet\nhigh, and, near its topmost crags, veins of obsidian, or mica, caught\nand threw back the rays of the sun like the coloured windows of a vast\ncathedral front.\n\n\u201cBeyond a doubt this is the place old Te Makawawa spoke about,\u201d said\nKahikatea, gazing at the mighty rock; \u201cand now I am certain that I\nhave seen it before. That outstanding oblique spur at the base of the\nwall, those jagged rocks at the top, and the snowy peaks--I can recall\nthem well, though the how and the when of it seem gone completely.\u201d\n\nHe passed his hand across his forehead, and his face wore a puzzled\nexpression, as he tried to recall the details of his strange,\ndreamlike experience.\n\n\u201cIt certainly does suggest a giant\u2019s temple with two grand spires,\u201d I\nsaid. \u201cI wonder if Miriam Grey is there.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I wonder if Hinauri is there,\u201d returned Kahikatea.\n\n\u201cAnd Ngaraki!\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, Ngaraki, the fierce guardian priest, with his foes, the Vile\nTohungas of the Pit, and his wild incantations, taken up where Te\nMakawawa dropped them.\u201d\n\nThe sun\u2019s last ray was now pink upon the snowy summits of the peaks.\nAs we watched, it faded away and twilight fell upon the Table Land\nwith a solemn hush, broken only by the murmuring of the river, and the\ndeep, hammer-on-anvil notes of the tui\u2019s last song. It was time to\nlook for a camping-place and to gather firewood, for the air was crisp\nalmost to the point of frostiness, and our blankets were few.\n\nBy the time the Southern Cross was visible above the mountain wall we\nwere comfortably established on a mossy bank of the stream, behind a\nclump of outstanding trees, and Tiki was busy cooking our supper in\nhis own peculiar way. After the evening meal was finished the Maori\nrolled himself together near the fire and was soon sound asleep. We\nsat awhile smoking, and then followed his example, for we were both\nvery tired. But scarcely had we settled ourselves on our beds of dry\nfern when the moon, almost full, rose above the great rock and\nlingered a moment on the edge of the southern peak before passing\nbehind it.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s very fine,\u201d said Kahikatea appreciatively.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d I replied, \u201cbut I don\u2019t like the idea of sleeping in the\nmoonlight. Supposing we move our beds down behind that larger clump of\ntrees. Tiki appears to have monopolised the only shadowy spot here.\u201d\n\nHe assented, and we took up our beds and walked to the spot indicated,\nwhere we re-made them and settled down to our night\u2019s rest. A small\nwaterfall poured into a pool in the river near by, and, lulled by the\nmonotonous sound, we lapsed into silence, and then into sleep.\n\nI do not know whether it was the enchanted solitude of the place that\naroused my imagination, or whether I was overtired, but my sleep was\nfull of dreams based on the strange story of Te Makawawa. I saw the\ngiant sorcerers of old coming and going out of the great temple with\nthe two snow-capped spires; I heard their mystic chant echoing down\nthrough the ages; then, the fair queen who came down from the skies\nhovered like a misty moon-goddess above the mountains, and I had to\nmove away from there. But my dreams went on. I saw the great city of\nold standing on the site of the yellow plain, its palaces glistening\nlike alabaster in the moonlight, while faintly to my ears came the\nghostly hum of a phantom race, hurrying through the ways of that city,\nbent on the business or pleasure of long ago.\n\nSuddenly this ghostly murmur ceased abruptly, and I awoke with a\npeculiar sense of an unnatural silence, and found that day was just\nbreaking. What had happened? I could no longer hear the waterfall. I\nsuddenly fancied that I had been struck deaf, and, to make sure of the\nfact, I called out:\n\n\u201cKahikatea! are you awake?\u201d\n\nRelieved at the sound of my own voice, I was still puzzled at his\nreply:\n\n\u201cYes, just woke up. What\u2019s become of that waterfall? River seems to\nhave dried up.\u201d\n\nIn another moment we were on our feet and making towards the spot\nwhere the waterfall had been. It was not there, and the channel was a\nmere string of pools. The flowing water had been shut off at its\nsource, wherever that was.\n\n\u201cIt must have been the sudden stopping of that waterfall that woke\nus,\u201d I suggested.\n\n\u201cYes, it must have been,\u201d returned Kahikatea. Then, after gazing\nabstractedly at the bed of the channel for a time, he continued: \u201cI\u2019ve\nan idea that the drying up of this intermittent stream accounts for\nthe other one\u2019s spurting up in that extraordinary way. They must be\nconnected at their source in such a fashion that the shutting off of\nthe water in this one causes an overflow in the other.\u201d\n\n\u201cI should like to see how it is managed,\u201d I said. Then, having an idea\nin my turn, I went on excitedly: \u201cI propose we follow this stream up\nand see if we can get to the source--now\u2019s our chance while it is\nempty.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! while it is empty. But if it has anything to do with the other\nstream it probably will not be empty for longer than that was flooded\nlast night. Besides, it may lead us miles away into the mountains for\nno good. I\u2019m more inclined to make the attempt to get round to the\nback of those peaks and so on to the top of that precipice. I\u2019m sure\nI\u2019ve been there before, and I don\u2019t see why I shouldn\u2019t do it again.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you are going to look for \u2018the way of the spider,\u2019 then,\u201d I said,\n\u201cI\u2019ll have a try at \u2018the way of the fish,\u2019 and it seems to me that\nthis stream may be in some way connected with it.\u201d\n\n\u201cPossibly. \u2018The way of the fish\u2019 must as certainly be by water as \u2018the\nway of the spider\u2019 must be by climbing.\u201d\n\nFor some time we discussed the possibilities of these two hints old Te\nMakawawa had let fall in the course of his story, and finally we\narranged to make a start as soon as possible, with the understanding\nthat Kahikatea was to take his way round the western end of the Table\nLand until he reached the south-eastern side of the peak, and there\nattempt the ascent, while I was to follow up the bed of the stream and\nreconnoitre the base of the mountain wall. We told Tiki that the\nfierce chief Ngaraki dwelt among the mountains, and that he must\nremain hidden in a sheltered spot in the bush till our return, to\nwhich he replied that he had once seen the great tohunga Ngaraki, and\nwould be very pleased to keep well out of his way, for Ngaraki would\ncertainly kill him if he found him on the tapu.\n\nThen, after a hasty meal, we set out. As I shook hands with Kahikatea\nour eyes met, and he said: \u201cWhen we meet again we shall probably know\nmore about this mysterious business. Don\u2019t set out to look for me\nwithin three days, but if I reach camp before you I shall conclude you\nhave fallen into Ngaraki\u2019s clutches--if there is such a person,\u201d he\ncalled back over his shoulder as he strode away.\n\n\u201cIf there is such a person,\u201d I repeated to myself, as I set out along\nthe bank of the silent watercourse. I was very soon to discover,\nhowever, that Ngaraki the Maori was no phantom of Te Makawawa\u2019s brain.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n NGARAKI--CHIEF AND TOHUNGA.\n\nIn the dim shadows cast by the towering rocks upon the Table Land I\nfollowed the course of the dried-up stream, which, after a distance of\nnearly a mile, took a turn and led round towards the mountain wall on\nmy left. In half an hour I came within the deep shadow of this mighty\npile, and, looking up, saw its tremendous outstanding crags, nearly a\nthousand feet above, surmounted on each hand by the snow-capped peaks\nclearly defined against the rosy flush of the eastern sky. High up on\nthe wall, where it united with the base of the northern or left hand\npeak, a spur left the parent rock and ran down obliquely from a height\nof several hundred feet to within fifty feet of the ground, then,\ncurving upwards again, terminated in a gigantic crag, which to my mind\nsuggested a strange resemblance to a huge lion sitting upon the plain\nwith his head erect, and mounting guard over the approaches to the\nmountain.\n\nFollowing the bed of the stream right up to the base of the great\nwall, I saw that this spur hemmed in from the bare plain a small\nvalley, about a hundred yards across at its mouth, but gradually\nnarrowing back until it ended in a precipitous ravine in the acute\nangle formed by the descending ridge and the main rock. Great pines\ngrew upon the spur\u2019s inner face, and the varied foliage of the virgin\nbush which it enclosed softened its rugged contour. In the broadest\nparts of the valley grew smaller trees, isolated and with green grass\nbeneath them, while further back the creeping vines wove the tree-tops\ntogether and crowned the tangled undergrowth with white flowers and\nyellow berries. One or two tall palm ferns nodded their heads over the\nlower growth, and some little distance up the valley towered a\ngigantic rimu, holding its massive foliage against the deep gloom of\nthe ravine beyond. On seeing this great tree I immediately recalled\nthat part of the aged Maori\u2019s story in which he spoke of burying a\nstone instead of the child beneath its shade, and determined to visit\nthe place and see for myself.\n\nBut meanwhile the course of the stream was demanding all my attention.\nI was beginning to wonder whither it was leading me as I followed it\nfor another hundred yards towards the valley, its one bank the mossy\nturf of the plain sheltered by a little scattered bush, the other the\nbare rock itself. Here a little proof of human occupation confronted\nme: I almost stumbled over a small stack of firewood, neatly piled\nbeneath a clump of silver birches and giant _manuka_. A little further\non I came upon a _kumara_[16] patch and some peach trees laden with\nripening fruit.\n\nWhile I was inspecting these, a far away hollow roar fell upon my\nears, followed by a hissing and a rushing near at hand; then presently\nI heard the sound of waters coming down the bed of the stream towards\nme, and knew that the mysterious freak of nature was at work again. I\nrushed to the edge of the bank and watched the foaming water, flooding\nthe channel as it poured by, leaping and dancing as if glad to be free\nagain.\n\nAnxious to find out whence this water came I followed the bank,\nconcealing myself as much as possible among the bushes, until, just at\nthe opening of the valley, I found that it curved round at right\nangles, enclosing a patch of mossy ground against the rock, and came\nto an abrupt halt, as far as I was concerned, at the foot of the\nmountain wall. Here the water welled forth silently right out of the\nside of the rock, forming a deep pool some seven or eight yards\nacross. The smooth open bank on which I stood carried its yellow moss\nand daisies up to the feet of the precipice, and then sloped away into\nthe dark shades of the valley to the left.\n\nI could see no opening through which the water issued. Evidently the\ncurrent ran far below the surface, but how was the water dammed back\nto such an extent? I soon ascertained the cause: after flowing\nstraight out for about twenty yards the water was obstructed by a\nnarrow constriction in the rocks, through and over which it frothed\nand seethed before swirling round again towards the great wall.\n\nI strained my eyes down into the dark green pool, trying to catch\nsight of the hidden opening, but the stream of bubbles which rose to\nthe surface obscured the depths. I regretted that I had not been five\nminutes sooner, but my only plan now was to wait until the stream\nstopped flowing again, and then I should see what I should\nsee--perchance the \u2018way of the fish.\u2019\n\nNot knowing the habits of this extraordinary stream, I had no idea how\noften it dried up. It might be weeks before the strange phenomenon\nhappened again, and yet on the other hand it might occur a second time\nthat very day. I was willing to take the chance of this, and, as it\nwas evident from the wood heaps and the _kumara_ patch that the place\nwas inhabited by someone, I resolved to conceal myself among the thick\nbushes across the pool on the strip of land which the river enclosed\nagainst the wall of rock.\n\nAccordingly, I jumped across at a narrow part at the end of the deep\npool and crept beneath a large spreading arm of a dwarf tree-fern. The\ntip of this leafy arm drooped till it touched the water, so that, as\nI lay at full length beneath it on the edge of the pool, I was fairly\nconcealed from view, although through my green screen I could see the\nopposite bank and the edge of the bush at the opening of the valley.\nHere I made up my mind to wait and watch all day, for if there was\nanyone about I was certain either to see or hear them.\n\nI conjectured many things as I lay, looking now at the bubbles that\ncame up from the depths of the pool, and now at the blue sky,\nbrightening with the morning sun. But of all the wild imaginations\nthat flitted through my mind concerning that mysterious place, none\nwas so strange as the series of events and adventures which actually\nbefell. For several hours I lay beneath my fern shield hearing nothing\nmore unusual than the singing of many birds in the valley, the\nfrothing of the water among the rocks at the end of the pool, and its\ngentle lapping against the granite wall, a yard on my right. There\ncould be no one in the valley, for if the fierce Ngaraki had been\nthere he would have been up and abroad long since; there was no sound,\nno sign of any human being. What if, after all, Ngaraki dwelt within\nthe mountain? By what strange and hidden gateway did he pass in and\nout of his temple?\n\nWhile speculating on this matter the southern sun appeared over the\ntop of the mountain wall, and I knew it must be near noon. The bright\nrays flooded down into the pure green depths of the pool, and the\nbubbles rose like great shining pearls. About ten feet down I thought\nI could distinguish something that looked like an aperture in the rock\nthrough which the stream was pouring. It did not appear to be a very\nstrong current, for there was no indication of its force anywhere on\nthe surface of the pool.\n\nAs I peered down trying to see it more clearly, some dark object sped\nthrough the opening. At first I thought it was part of a tree; then,\nby its movement in the water, it suggested a gigantic fish. Another\nsecond and I held my breath, while my heart beat hard against my ribs,\nfor the object was now more clearly defined. A cold shiver ran through\nme; and now, as I write of that feeling, I must record my firm belief\nthat there are moments when the wildest superstitions touch us with an\nicy finger, if they can but touch us unawares. Tiki\u2019s taniwha flashed\ninto my mind in that half-second, while I saw the dark monster with\nwaving limbs rising from the bottom, and then flashed out of it again\nas I saw a head and neck, a pair of massive shoulders and two great\nbrown arms approaching the surface. Now the sunlight glistened on the\nwavy black hair and dark brown skin of a Maori not two yards away from\nme.\n\nWith my heart thumping against my ribs I lay perfectly still, while\nthe man who had come out of the mountain by \u2018the way of the fish\u2019\nshook his head angrily, tossing the water from his long black hair;\nthen he struck out for the opposite bank. He caught hold of some roots\nthat were growing there, and with a sudden spring, set his foot in a\nhanging loop above the surface. In another moment he was standing on\nthe moss, the water dripping from his hair and from his flaxen waist\ngarment.\n\nIt needed no searching scrutiny to tell me that this was the fierce\nNgaraki, of whom Te Makawawa had spoken. The stately dignity of his\ntall form, and the easy grace of his movements as he turned himself\nabout upon the bank, marked him out as a chief among his people. His\nneck was like a pillar of bronze. His hairless face was tatooed in a\nway to denote his high rank. In his arched nose there was an untamable\npride, which his piercing, coal-black eyes made fierce and fiery. His\nbrow bespoke him a learned man of his race--a tohunga versed in occult\nlore and ancient traditions, while the long wavy hair that rolled back\nfrom his forehead and fell dripping on his glistening shoulders,\nrevealed the perfect shapeliness of his head. From my concealment I\nmarked him down a magnificent savage--a terrible fellow; and yet--and\nyet, for all the wrath that slumbered in his eyes, I fancied I\ndetected something gentle in the lines of his sensitive mouth;\nsomething which imparted to his whole rugged, tatooed face a pervading\nexpression of melancholy sadness.\n\nHe looked up at the sun; then a forcible, nasal-guttural, which seemed\nto be spoken by his whole body at once, fell from him:\n\n\u201cNgha!\u201d\n\nThe ferocity of that single word was like the sudden snarl of an angry\ntiger. It seemed almost enough to knock a man down. With a quick pace\nhe turned and strode towards the valley, where he disappeared in the\ngloom of the trees.\n\nWhen he was gone I had time to consider the situation. This opening,\nthen, was \u2018the way of the fish\u2019--\u201cthe way a brave man might take to\nenter the ancient temple\u201d--but not so fast: a good swimmer might come\nout that way with the current, but could he go in against it? The\ncoming out was evidently not an easy task, for while he had been\nstanding on the bank, the Maori\u2019s broad chest had heaved considerably\nwith the exertion of it. What, then, must the going in against the\ncurrent be like? Of course, it was possible that Ngaraki, knowing the\nhabits of the stream, would wait for the water to cease flowing, and\nthen simply walk in dry shod through the hole in the mountain side. In\nthis case I determined to follow him, for I knew there must be a\ncavern of some sort within. What I should do when I got there I did\nnot know. The thought of the Vile Tohungas of the Pit came to me and\nfilled the supposed cavern inside with vague, shadowy horrors. But I\nshook them off and held to my resolve.\n\nPresently I saw the chief emerge from the shade of the trees in the\nvalley, carrying a heavy axe over his shoulder and some other rude\nagricultural implements in his hand. I guessed that he was going to\ntill his _kumara_ patch and cut firewood. In a few minutes I heard the\nsound of his axe from the bank of the stream further down, and knew\nthat I was probably a prisoner until sunset, for I well understood\nthat if Ngaraki became aware of my presence, my chances of exploring\nthe mountain were gone.\n\nTherefore, through the long hours of that summer afternoon, I lay\nbeneath the fern thinking, imagining, wondering what the vast pile\nabove me contained. For long intervals Ngaraki\u2019s axe was silent, and I\nwatched for his return, but, as he did not come, I knew his work was\nnot finished. At length, when the sun was within half an hour\u2019s\njourney of the hills, I caught sight of him returning into the valley,\nevidently to put his tools away. Arranging a few stray ferns as an\nextra precaution against his catching sight of me, I watched eagerly\nto see whether he would return to the bank.\n\nIn a few minutes his tall form emerged from among the trees. He\napproached the pool and stood for awhile looking down into the water\nmeditatively. Then he raised his eyes and swept them slowly around the\npool. Now they rested on the fern beneath which I was concealed, and I\nhalf closed my own eyes lest they should attract his notice through\nthe screen.\n\n\u201cNgha!\u201d\n\nFor a moment I fancied he had seen me, but the next I knew that he had\nnot, for he began striding up and down the bank without looking again\nin my direction. He was beginning a chant, for some purpose which as\nyet I could not ascertain. As he strode down the bank for half a dozen\npaces he hung his head in thought; then, turning, he quickened his\nsteps and muttered a few low words which I could not catch. Again and\nagain he repeated this movement, and each time his retreating form\nbecame more suggestive of repose and his on-rushing aspect more wild\nand fierce. He was working himself up for something. What it was I\nsoon guessed, for the words of his chant began to be intelligible to\nme in places:\n\n\n \u201cThrust aside the running waters,\n With one arm beat them aside:\n Pierce the heart of the dark.\n Like a spear thrown in battle\n Cleave the rushing torrent.\u201d\n\n\nBy this, given out with many a fierce gesture, I saw that he was\ngetting ready in the real Maori style for some deed of daring. Now the\nchant was coming to a climax:\n\n\n \u201cThe door of the dark:\n The side door of Te Ika:\n The concealed door of Maungatapu.\n Enter the door of the dark--\n Ngha!\u201d\n\n\nThe last word was given on turning suddenly. Then, rushing forward\nwith a quick run, the Maori shot from the bank like an arrow, and\nplunged beneath the pool in the direction of the opening. I watched\nthe bubbles stream upwards from him as he darted through the sunlit\ndepths. I strained my eyes and saw him hover in the current. A short\nstruggle ensued, and for nearly ten seconds something moved far down\nbetween the light and the dark. Then I knew that the fierce tohunga of\nthe mountain had passed within.\n\nFor a moment I indulged the thought of following. Swimming was one of\nmy strong points. I had not many of those said points, but that was\none, and as for diving, the women of the Sandwich Islands once wagered\ntheir bracelets and anklets in my favour in a surf-riding competition;\nand they did not lose, for my antagonist miscalculated the waves, and,\nquitting his board too late to dive beneath the oncoming breaker, was\ndashed on the rocks and killed. Yet, notwithstanding a certain skill\nin the water, I dared not follow Ngaraki; first, because I had never\ninspected the passage, and secondly, thirdly, and fourthly, because I\nhad no idea of what I might encounter inside. \u201cThe door of the dark\u201d\nwas all I could see, and, for all I knew, there might be other doors\nto pass through before I could find the surface, in which case I\nshould probably lose my way and be drowned.\n\nOn the whole, I resolved to do nothing overcourageous, and made up my\nmind to go a considerable distance down stream and camp on a secluded\npart of the bank, whence I could return easily at daybreak, or at\nwhatever hour of the night the stream might stop again.\n\nScarcely had I selected my camp at the point where, some distance\naway, the stream left the cover of the mountain wall, when I heard a\nstrange sound far above me. It was a faint, hollow murmur, like that\nof a ghostly voice chanting within the mountain. Very weird it\nsounded, and, as I listened, I recalled the words of Te Makawawa, when\nhe had said that high in the forehead of the great rock the guardian\npriest chanted the chant of the dying sun before the white form of\nHinauri. The Eye of Tane was half closed beyond the hills, and as his\nlight crept up the mountain wall the far-off chant died away into the\nsilence. Later, in the solemn hush of the twilight, a tui sat on the\ngreat rimu up in the valley and rang his vesper bell in deep, liquid\nnotes, which echoed again from the stupendous sides of the ravine.\n\nAfter making a good meal off some cold duck I had brought with me, and\nsome of Ngaraki\u2019s peaches I had borrowed from the tree, I lighted a\nsmall fire and composed myself to a pipe, more meditative than usual.\nI felt there was little fear of Ngaraki seeing my fire, as he had\nretired within the mountain for the night. Secure enough with my back\nto the great wall, I smoked on until about nine or ten, when the\nmoonlight began to creep nearer and nearer over the plain towards me,\nglinting on the waving _toi-toi_ plumes, and casting a silver sheen\nupon the moss.\n\nIt was a strange spot above the homely levels of the world, this land\nof legend and of mystery. Te Makawawa\u2019s story had certainly received\nverification in one important point, viz.: there was a \u2018way of the\nfish\u2019 into the interior of the mountain, for I had seen a man pass\nthither. Was there also a \u2018way of the spider\u2019 into that high white\ncave, where Hinauri stood holding out her arms to the future of the\nworld? My thoughts turned to Kahikatea, and I wondered if he had found\nthat way among the mountains. The chanting I had heard far above me\nperhaps proceeded from this high cave, and, if Ngaraki could go there\nby the \u2018way of the fish,\u2019 I did not see why I should not follow him.\nBut the aged chief had said that no man passing by the \u2018way of the\nfish\u2019 could find the ascent to the marble cave without a guide. So\nimbued was I becoming with the spirit of the place, that I was\nbeginning to believe in Te Makawawa most firmly, and almost forgot\nthat as yet I had no proof of the existence of an ancient temple, to\nsay nothing of Miriam Grey, her daughter, and the statue of Hinauri.\nWondering what light the morrow would throw upon these mysteries I\nfell asleep with the sound of the stream in my ears, well knowing that\nif it stopped I should awaken on the instant.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n THE INTERIOR OF THE TEMPLE OF HIA.\n\nThe moon, looking a trifle faded, was just above the western hills\nwhen I started up out of my sleep as if I had heard a sudden noise,\nbut all was still as the grave. For several seconds I wondered what\nhad awakened me; then I recollected my whereabouts, and, missing the\nsound of the stream, knew that its sudden stoppage had served the\npurpose of an alarum clock.\n\nMy first thought was to make sure that it had only just stopped, and I\nsoon settled this, for when I hurried to inspect the channel I found\nthat the water was still trickling slightly from one pool to another\nbefore ceasing entirely.\n\nNow was my chance. I obliterated all the signs of my camp as far as\nwas possible, and, stowing my rifle and ammunition in a safe place,\nhurried along the bank towards the deep pool. Scarcely had I reached\nthe last group of bushes, however, when I had cause to start back and\nhide myself. There was someone climbing out of the empty pool. Peering\nthrough the branches I saw Ngaraki raise himself to the bank. He had a\nlarge Maori kit in his hand, and with this he walked along the bank\ntowards me. The light was dim, and I crouched among the bushes while\nhe passed by within several feet of where I stood. He was evidently\ngoing to fill the kit with kumaras and fruit, and take it within the\nmountain again. Why was this lordly chief, whose back was tapu,\nplaying the part of a slave, if not for the same reasons that had\nactuated Te Makawawa before him--to serve the woman with the stars in\nher eyes?\n\nI saw my best chance was to enter at once. Accordingly, as soon as\nNgaraki was out of immediate earshot, I slipped from my concealment,\nand, climbing cautiously down the bank, dropped on to the shingly bed\nof the stream. Before me in the wall of the rock, its lower lip level\nwith the bottom of the channel, was the now vacant aperture, between\nsix and seven feet in diameter, and beyond this was the inky blackness\nof the cavern within.\n\nI entered the gloomy place, and felt slight gusts of wind upon my\nface. Advancing a pace or two on the hard, smooth, rocky floor within,\nI looked about me. At first I could see nothing, but presently my eyes\ngrew accustomed to the gloom, and I found that the cavern--for such it\nwas--was not as dark as I had thought; I could discern great spaces,\nwith vast shadows beyond them. Immediately before me, some ten paces\naway, was visible the dim outline of a colossal rock, smooth and\nrounded. From this a tremendous spar sloped upwards towards the\nfurther wall of the cavern. But these things were towering above me,\nand I could get but the vaguest idea of their outline.\n\nI now felt at a loss to know which way to proceed; and, fearing that\nat any moment Ngaraki might return, or that a torrent of water might\nspring up out of the darkness and wash me out of the mountain like a\nbruised rat out of a hole, I made up my mind to risk lighting a match\nto see if I could find the source of the stream. I advanced further\ninto the cavern, testing every footstep, then, striking a match, I\nheld it up and took a hurried glance round. The floor, worn smooth by\nthe action of water, sloped up to a huge basin-shaped rock about five\nyards in advance of where I stood, and from the lower part of this\nrock I caught sight of water trickling as if from a crevice. Quickly\nI ran towards this and examined it. In the lower part of the side of\nthe great vessel was an aperture five or six feet in diameter, which\nappeared to be stopped up by a rock fitting the inner edge so neatly\nthat there was hardly a crevice except that through which trickled the\nsmall escape which had attracted my notice. I could hear the sound of\nwaves lapping against the rocks above me, and concluded that there was\na large body of water in some reservoir there.\n\nI immediately set to work to find a way up the sheer wall which, with\nthe great basin, enclosed the space where I stood, making a kind of\nrugged courtyard some ten or twelve yards square. The wall which ran\nround this space joined with the wall of the cavern on each side of\nthe aperture by which I had entered, and also with the basin on each\nside of the orifice which was stopped by the stone, leaving just\nenough of its curved contour to suggest the idea that it _was_ a\nbasin. It was quite twenty feet high, and at the top there appeared to\nrun a platform. It was this that I set myself to reach.\n\nA hasty search of the water-worn wall all round, by the light of a\nmatch, revealed, on the left hand as I faced the entrance, a series of\nholes in the rock, evidently designed as a ladder. Up these I made my\nway and scrambled on to the platform above. Here a strange and\nwonderful scene lay spread out before me in a dim, misty light--a\nscene whose details appeared indeed to be the handiwork of some giant\nrace. The vast cavern itself was apparently the work of some\ndisruptive agency, but it was simpler to believe that the objects\nwhich it contained had been fashioned with human purpose and design,\nthan that they were the slow work of natural forces during the lapse\nof ages. Before me, and occupying the whole of the cavern to my right,\nstretched a large lake, with its waters seething as if in a boiling\ncauldron. Flung up in a tumult from below, with huge bubbles bursting\non the surface, it rolled outwards to the almost circular margin, and\nlapped against the platform on which I was standing. Beyond the foam\nand turmoil of this lake was dimly visible the further bank, and above\nthat rose the craggy sides of the cavern, arching up far overhead into\nthe darkness. At a glance I saw how the place was lighted. Towards the\nleft, at the end of a gradually narrowing prolongation of the cavern,\nrunning off obliquely from some outstanding crags straight across the\nlake, I could see an opening, with huge perpendicular bars like the\nirons of a grating. Through this colossal window, which opened on the\nother side of the mountain wall, the rosy dawn was sending its first\nmessengers into the gloomy place, shedding a soft, diffused glow, in\nwhich everything found a spectral outline.\n\nThe topography of this vast cavern was so remarkable and awe-inspiring\nthat I must describe it here in detail, though briefly. The huge rock\nwhich I had seen from below I now made out to be a bowl-shaped\nreceptacle some thirty feet in diameter, filled with water from the\nlake by means of a narrow channel, so that the flat surface which led\nround the top of the basin was continuous with the rim of the lake. It\nseemed possible, by means of this continuous and level pathway, to\nwalk round the top of the basin and strike right across to the other\nside of the cavern, upon a narrow partition that separated the lake on\nthe right from a profound abyss on the left--an abyss which I saw\noccupied the whole of the remaining part of the place, including the\ngulf with the giants\u2019 window at its far end. It would have been\npossible to get across the cavern in this way, had it not been for a\ngap in the partition, through which the overflow of the lake rolled\ninto the depths below. Upon the further lip of the basin which faced\nthe abyss rested a gigantic spar of granite, the long tapering point\nof which sloped upwards for some fifty yards towards the further roof\nof the cavern, while its more compact and weighty end lay beneath the\nwater in the huge vessel. It was evidently the head of this long spar\nwhich now blocked the hole in the bottom and prevented the water from\nescaping.\n\nAs I was gazing in wonder at these extraordinary stones, I was aroused\nby the sound of a footstep crunching on the shingle at the entrance\nbelow. It was Ngaraki coming back. My first impulse was to plunge into\nthe water and hold on to the rim of the lake, and so conceal myself;\nbut, thinking there might be some recess near at hand I glanced along\nthe wall of the cavern to my right, and, seeing a spot nearly half-way\nround where the rock seemed to be a shade darker than the general\ngloom, I made towards it along the narrow margin of the lake. When I\nreached it I found that it was a little recess stocked with what\nappeared, by the feel of them, to be pieces of the resinous rimu-heart\nwhich the Maoris use for torches. I could not stay there, as no doubt\nNgaraki would want a torch, and would come to the recess to get one.\nGetting a trifle flurried, I continued my way round to the other side\nof the lake. There was less light here, owing to the buttress of crags\nround which the light from the grating came but faintly, and\nconsequently I ran less risk of being seen; but if I was to learn\nanything of the secrets of the place and of Miriam Grey, as well as\navoid an unnecessary conflict with Ngaraki, I must hide, and that\nquickly, for now I saw the dim form of the tohunga moving on the other\nside. He was carrying something, probably the kit full of provisions,\nalong the margin of the lake towards the recess where I knew the\ntorches were stored.\n\nAll this while I was groping among the rocks for some place of\nconcealment. At length I found a rock about three parts of the way\nround, which stood out a little way from the cavern side, offering a\nvery narrow passage between itself and the main rock. Slipping behind\nthis, I felt comparatively safe, and stood there awaiting events.\n\nA glance round my barrier showed the shadowy form of the tohunga busy\nwith something half-way round the lake. It appeared to me as if he was\nhanging the basket to a peg on the wall of the cavern, for when he\nstood away it remained there. Then he disappeared in the dark recess,\nand I conjectured he was going to light a torch. But no--he reappeared\nalmost immediately with his kaitaka, which he wrapped about him after\nthe fashion of a Roman toga, and sat down on the margin of the lake.\nApparently he was waiting for something.\n\nThe morning light now streamed brighter round the bend of the wall,\nand I could see more clearly the great spar sloping upwards to the\nroof above. A little beyond my place of concealment was a broad space\nof rock, where the partition that held the water up out of the abyss\nmet the rim of the lake on my side of the cavern. Keeping close in the\ndark shadow of the crags I ventured to approach this ledge. A feeling\nof awe crept over me as I peered into what seemed to be a vast\nbottomless pit--black, profound, and impenetrable. The overflow of the\nlake rushing through the gap in the partition made a faint swishing,\nhurtling sound as it poured down into the darkness, but no roar as of\nfalling water came up from below. This fact appalled me: was there,\nthen, no bottom to that awful abyss? Above the dark, forty feet or\nmore from where I crouched, hung the gigantic spar, tapering upwards\nuntil its point almost touched the top of the overhanging crags\nagainst the roof. It presented the appearance of a mighty lever, the\nfulcrum of which was the lip of the basin on the other side of the\nabyss.\n\nA faint glow now struck across past the craggy buttress which at\npresent concealed the gulf from my view. It hung above the pit and\nfell upon the wall of the cavern high on the other side of the lake.\nIt was the first red ray of the rising sun coming in through the\ngiants\u2019 window at the end of the gulf. It was this for which Ngaraki\nhad been waiting, for, with one eye always on him sitting there, I saw\nhim get up and replace his garment in the recess. Now he was coming\nround the lake towards me, and I hurried back to my hiding-place. He\npassed on the other side of the rock, which I carefully kept well\nbetween us, and proceeded to climb the crags of the buttress.\n\nWhile I stood wondering what he was going to do the red glow deepened,\nglinting on the long arm of the spar, and falling on the waters of the\nlake with a vivid emerald. The deep, high reaches of the cavern wall\nshowed up in russet light and dark shadow, but most strange and\nterrible of all was the lowest shaft, which cut sheer through the inky\nblackness of the abyss, and fell upon its steep, smooth wall some\nthirty feet below the basin, showing the down-pouring overflow of the\nlake like a flying greenstone arch. The light increased, and small\nclouds of mist rising out of the abyss threw fleeting rainbows upon\nthe sides of the basin, upon the under surface of the long spar, and\ninto the vaulted arches of the vast granite walls.\n\nIt was with a hasty glance round that I noted these strange effects,\nfor all the while I was intent upon Ngaraki\u2019s doings. He had climbed\nup the rocks, and was now standing erect upon a narrow ledge high up,\nalmost on a level with the point in space where the spar\u2019s jagged and\nflinty-looking sides tapered off to a fine point. Looking more\nclosely, I saw that to the extreme end of the spar was lashed a wooden\nsprit, which reached a point on a level with Ngaraki\u2019s shoulders, and\nabout six feet from him. I stood and gripped the rock with nervous\nhands, as it slowly dawned upon me what the Maori was going to do.\nSurely he was mad--none but a maniac would take such a leap as that!\n\nThe sunlight streamed past a corner of the cavern wall beyond, and\ntipped the end of the spar with light. The wooden sprit attached now\nshowed clear and well defined. This was evidently what he was waiting\nfor. Gathering himself together he took the daring leap without the\nslightest hesitation, and in another moment his long figure was\nsuspended above the dark abyss.\n\nIt was with difficulty that I suppressed a cry at witnessing this, but\nwhat followed took my breath away altogether. The long arm began\ngradually to swing downwards through space, descending towards the\nabyss. Slowly and ponderously the great spar moved until its point,\nwith the depending figure of the Maori, passed out of the line of\nsunlight into the gloom cast by the overhanging crags. Leaning\nforward, I strained my eyes towards the dark, moving mass. Surely he\nwas not going to descend into the abyss! No--he evidently knew what he\nwas doing. His feet touched a broad ledge of rock a few yards on this\nside the buttress, and his body straightened as if for an effort. The\nsprit descended upon his shoulder. It bent beneath the weight of the\nspar, which quivered at the shock; but the downward course of the\nlever was arrested; and, as he stood aside leaving it suspended there\nbalanced by its own weight, my eye ran along its whole length, and the\ncause of this strange equilibrium was at once apparent. A huge round\nstone of many tons in weight rested in a hollow of the spar just above\nthe basin\u2019s rim. The working of the thing was simple, and could be\nseen at a glance. The part of the lever in the basin contained a large\nhollow, into which the round stone rolled when the arm was raised,\nthus forcing the lower part of the head of the spar against the\naperture at the bottom of the basin, and stopping the flow of the\nwater. When, on the other hand, the arm was lowered, as had just been\neffected by the Maori, the stone rolled up from the hollow and settled\nin a groove immediately above the fulcrum, thus maintaining the whole\nspar in a state of equipoise. So neatly balanced it was that when\nNgaraki let go and stood away, it remained stationary, quivering\nthroughout its whole length, as the rolling stone oscillated for a few\nmoments in its socket. In the very centre of the arm that stretched\nacross the abyss was a narrow constriction. So thin was the rock at\nthis point that it offered an explanation of the artifice of the\nsupple sprit at the end, and also of the Maori\u2019s action in steadying\nthe spar before standing aside, for it was evident that if it were\nbrought to a standstill by a sudden impact against the rocky ledge,\nthere was danger of a breakage at the constricted point--in which case\nthe whole thing, rolling stone and all, would go hurtling down into\nthe abyss below. As my eye fell on the gap in the partition, I noticed\nthat there was a change in the overflowing torrent. It was reduced to\nhalf its bulk. This was the work of the stupendous lever; its head,\nrising out of the aperture in the basin, had liberated the water,\nwhich was now escaping through the hole in the mountain side, and,\nthus relieved of half its flood, the torrent which poured down into\nthe abyss was diminished accordingly.\n\nStrange thoughts flashed through my mind in the few seconds that had\npassed since the descent of the spar. Was this the work of some race\nof giants, long since dead and gone? Who had hewn that round stone out\nof the solid granite? What giant hand had shaped that colossal bowl\nand balanced the long spar so neatly on its lip? For answer I\nconsidered two things: first, the saying of Te Makawawa that the giant\nsorcerers of old had fashioned a false image of Hinauri as a long spar\nin the lower parts of the temple, and had bound it down with a great\nround stone, and, second, that science would call these things freaks\nof nature, formed by the age-long action of water.\n\nBetween these two things I was unable to choose, for they flashed\nthrough my mind just as Ngaraki was coming along the edge of the abyss\ntowards me. There was now considerable danger that I should be seen,\nfor it was fairly light, even in the shadow of the crags. However, the\nspot behind the rock was dark enough, and I crouched there thinking he\nwould pass, but what was my dismay to hear the sound of his footsteps\ncoming round my barrier. He stood still. Surely he had seen me. I was\npreparing for a struggle, to be concluded either beneath the water of\nthe lake or in the depths of the abyss, when I heard the Maori\nclimbing up the rock above me.\n\nThere was dead silence for nearly a minute. The water in the lake\nhissed and boiled, and the torrent of the abyss whiffled down into the\ndarkness; but, beyond that, there was no sound, for the roaring of the\nescape through the mountain side had ceased, by which I knew that the\nwaters had risen above the aperture, and the current was flowing\nsilently beneath.\n\nSuddenly I heard a forcible exclamation from the rock above me, and, a\nmoment later, the sound of a plunge. Darting from my hiding-place I\nsaw, by the commotion on the surface, where the Maori had gone down\ninto the bubbling depths. With one hand on my sheltering rock to help\nme back into the shadows when he rose to the surface, I stood on the\nrim of the lake and watched the unfolding waters. Something strange\nwas taking place beneath there, for the lake was now twisting and\nwhirling as if a gigantic fish was turning round at the bottom.\n\nI was prepared for almost anything now, after witnessing the\nextraordinary evolutions of the spar, but still I must confess I was\nstaggered at what took place. If anyone could have photographed me\nthen they would no doubt have secured a fine sample of a\nterror-stricken face, with gaping mouth and staring eyes. The boiling\nof the water ceased, and there, near the margin of the lake on the\nside opposite to the gap in the partition, a wave heaved up beneath\nthe movement of something rising to the surface. A dark object reared\nits head out of the depths. At the same moment there was a hollow,\nbooming sound overhead. Then, with a rush and a roar, from the side of\nthe cavern some forty feet above, issued a frothing cascade, which\nfell into the centre of the lake with a sound like thunder, dashing\nthe spray over my face and churning the water into tumultuous foam.\nThe lower part of the cascade and the whole of the lake now gleamed\nlike silver in the light of the rising sun. But the Maori had not\nrisen to the surface. Had he perished down there, or was this simply\nanother lever contrivance beneath the water?\n\nHalf a minute elapsed, during which I stood in utter astonishment\nwatching the torrent, whose roar and tumult seemed to drown all\nthought and feeling. While engaged in collecting my scattered ideas my\neye caught a movement of some object ascending the wall of the cavern\non the right of the cascade. I looked more closely: it was evidently\nthe kit of provisions which I had seen Ngaraki attach to something\nthere. That something I now knew to be a cord, but who could be\ndrawing it up from above? Utterly at a loss, I could only conjecture\nthat it was Ngaraki, who had passed by some more secret \u2018way of the\nfish\u2019 beneath the lake, and had now reached a part of the cavern high\nabove. Fearing that, if this was the case, he might see me, I withdrew\nfurther into the shadows. Well I knew that this \u2018way of the winged\nfish\u2019 was a passage which it would be worse than useless to attempt,\nfor I now saw the truth of Te Makawawa\u2019s words to the effect that none\ncould pass that way without being taught. I realised that my chances\nof reaching Miriam Grey without Te Makawawa\u2019s guidance were hopeless,\nand that I must turn my attention to the search for her daughter.\nNevertheless, before leaving that strange place I was resolved to\nexplore its accessible parts and see what hidden things of forgotten\ntime it might contain.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n THE VILE TOHUNGAS OF THE PIT.\n\nI must have sat there in the shadows nearly half an hour trying to\nunderstand by what possible means the Maori tohunga had passed from\nbeneath that lake to the higher part of the cave. I was tolerably sure\nthat the water which now thundered down into the lake was the\ndeflected current of that which had formerly welled up from below, no\nmore no less in bulk, for the overflow into the abyss was neither\nincreased nor diminished by the change. Moreover, having witnessed\nNgaraki\u2019s man\u0153uvre with the long lever above the abyss, I felt\nconvinced that he had performed the same feat with a similar lever\nunder the lake, and I was strengthened in this conviction by the fact\nthat the dark thing which had reared its head above the water, where\nit still remained at the back of the cascade, was obviously the end of\nsome rock which might serve that purpose.\n\nThe sunlight all this time had been slowly descending as the sun had\nrisen. Now its upper margin had disappeared over the margin of the\nlake, and all above was getting dark again. No longer fearful of being\nseen in the dim light, I crept round towards the cascade to inspect\nthe part of the rock which had appeared above the water. It was smooth\nand rounded, and covered with black slime, appearing to be a portion\nof a spar with hewn characteristics like the others. I was seized with\na wish to bring weight to bear upon this strange contrivance, and see\nif it was balanced in any way. Accordingly I passed through the\nbattery of spray behind the cascade and secured the longest piece of\nrimu I could find in the recess. Returning with this, I leaned forward\nover the margin and gave a strong, steady push to the rock, but failed\nto move it. It seemed as firm as the main rock on which I stood.\nEvidently the raising of this lever opened a way for the water to come\ndown from above, and removed the pressure from some aperture below the\nlake, thus leaving it free for the initiated to pass through.\n\nWhen I attempted to review my position, I came to the conclusion that\nuntil the water was shut off again by the great horizontal spar, I was\na prisoner in the cavern, unless I liked to take that plunge through\nthe opening in the side of the mountain. I went round the margin of\nthe lake and looked at it. The water was everywhere within six inches\nof the continuous pathway of rock. It meant a dive of nearly twenty\nfeet before striking the current, and then there was no end of skill\nrequired to avoid being bruised against the rocks in passing through.\nI resolved not to try it--not just yet at all events. I had yet to\nexplore the cavern round the buttress and along the narrowing gulf\nthat led to the huge grating, so I determined to spend the remaining\ntime of my detention in discovering if possible what the lower parts\nof the temple contained.\n\nWith great care I retraced my steps behind the cascade and round the\nlake until I regained the darker shadows of the buttress. I made my\nway on to the broad ledge, above which hung the wooden sprit of the\nspar, and here, as I stood and gazed down into the abyss, I noticed\nsomething which made my flesh creep. It was a simple thing perhaps,\nbut it touched me more nearly than anything I had as yet encountered\nin that gloomy place. There, on the wall of the abyss, some hundreds\nof feet below the basin, below the great spar hanging in space, I\ncould see all that was now left of the sunlight--a bright red patch\nglistening upon the granite. Making my way a little further along to\nthe angle of the buttress, I could trace this shaft of light from the\nabysmal depths up to the stupendous grating at the far end of the\ngulf. It was the most glorious, and at the same time the most\nawe-inspiring thing I have ever seen, this ray from the outer world\ncutting through the darkness like a golden bar, and falling, all red,\nupon the sheer wall far away below. It pointed to a depth at which my\nbrain reeled, but the dark which lay above it and the dark which\nstretched below suggested a depth beyond the depth which was\npositively awful to contemplate. I sat down upon the rocky lip of that\nvast mouth of Porawa and gazed stupidly at this clear channel of\ngolden light running through the solid dark. The patch upon the wall\nfar down crept lower and lower, but found no floor. Was the place\nindeed bottomless then?\n\nAs I asked myself this question the light faded away and all was gloom\nagain, save for a dull daylight that crept in for a little distance\nthrough the giants\u2019 window. A cloud had come before the sun. Now again\nthe ray came in like the thrust of a golden spear, then it was\nwithdrawn, and, though I waited for some time, it did not reappear.\n\nWith a great weight of awe and darkness upon me, I rose from the rock\nresolved to reach that grating at the end of the gulf and there\nrestore myself with the ungarnished daylight. It was not, however,\nwithout some recollection of what old Te Makawawa had said about the\nVile Tohungas of the Pit that I felt my way along the narrow ledge,\nwhich seemed to have been hewn with design as an approach to the\ngrating. I felt I was going the right way to be cooked and eaten by\nthese same Vile Tohungas, wherever they might be in the darkness, but,\nalthough naturally of a nervous disposition, I was always careless\nwhether I ran into unknown dangers with the right foot first or the\nleft, so I continued my way, holding on to the jagged points of the\nwall with my right hand, while choosing every footstep with the utmost\ncare, for I was hardly the fool to risk a fall into the abyss, and\nlook for its ground floor head first without a light.\n\nIt took me nearly half an hour to travel that two hundred yards, but\nonce within fifty paces of the huge grating I could see more\ndistinctly. Soon I reached a spot beneath those tremendous bars, and,\nlooking up at them against the clouded sky without, saw clearly that\nthey must have been fashioned by the hand of man at some remote period\nof the world\u2019s history, concerning which our bravest anthropologists\nare reticent, or speak only in whispers. Haeckel could show no\nphotographs of his speechless men of Lemuria, and many would have\nlaughed him down. Yet, if Haeckel had been with me on that\nnever-to-be-forgotten day when I explored that colossal place, he\nwould have wept for joy over those mighty stone bars, obviously hewn\nby the hand of man out of the everlasting granite. There were four of\nthem, each fully thirty feet high. In places the action of air and\nmoisture had worn them very thin, and, as I seated myself on a broad\nledge that reminded me of a window sill, I heard the rising wind\nmaking strange, weird chords as it swept these vibrating bars like the\nstrings of a gigantic harp.\n\nThe music of the wind playing through the bars of the giants\u2019 window\nreminded me of that ghostly hum of a phantom race which I had heard in\nmy dream. It rose and died away like a voice from the distant past,\ncalling up that peculiar feeling of \u201clong, long ago,\u201d until in my own\ncivilised way I became a veritable Tiki, and admitted that the ancient\ntemple was haunted by the wailing spirits of the giant sorcerers of\nold. The men who had bound that great spar down with that huge round\nstone--what else could have done it?--the men who had made the secret\nway by which Ngaraki had disappeared beneath the lake, who had carved\nthe pathway out of the side of the abyss and fashioned this stupendous\nwindow--the men of old who had done all this still haunted that\nprofound darkness down there, in which, perhaps, there were mysteries\nof a stranger kind. Perhaps! certainly, at least, there was a pathway\nleading down into the darkness on the opposite side to the one by\nwhich I had come. I could see that plainly.\n\nAt length I roused myself from my reverie, and passing through the\nstone bars, stood on a jagged platform without. Below was a great\nfissure, and, facing me about forty yards beyond, was the rock which\nformed the further boundary of this fissure. Its crest was just above\nthe horizon of the outer world. The depth of the fissure I could not\nsee, but it stretched some distance away to the left, where its\nexpansion was hidden by a bend in its course. On the left of the rock\non which I stood was nothing but a small crag, and beyond that the\nmountain wall, but on the right was a rugged pathway, shelving\nfearfully, but still a pathway, leading round the head of the fissure\nto the other side.\n\nI determined to see what came of this, and taking off my boots to get\na better foothold on the shelving rock, I followed it. I never fully\nrealised what a coward I was until I got to the other side and found\nthe cold perspiration rolling off my face. It was a blind pathway--at\nleast it seemed so, for it came to a sudden halt, as if the\npre-historic workmen had given it up. I went down on my chest and\nlooked over, but saw nothing but the gloomy bottom of the gulf far\nbelow. I even took my little pocket mirror and held it so that I could\nsee beneath the rock below, but could make out nothing except a ledge\nand a hole in the rock about twenty feet down. If it ever had been a\nsecret way it had long since been abandoned. No man could ascend from\nbelow, yet it was possible one might reach that hole by means of a\nrope. I retraced my steps and re-suffered my cold perspiration till I\nreached the stone bars again.\n\nA glance at my watch showed me it was now nearly twelve o\u2019clock. I had\nnothing to eat, so dinner was out of the question. The next best thing\nwas a smoke. There was no use in going back into the cavern, for I had\nexplored everything there except the lake, and candidly I did not feel\nequal to exploring under water in the pitchy darkness, with a cataract\noverhead and an outlet into an abyss below. Accordingly, I sought out\na little recess where the inner pathway joined the giants\u2019 window\nsill, and there put on my boots, after which I lighted my pipe and\nsmoked the smoke of the hungry.\n\nThe faint roar of the cataract within the cavern fell upon my ears\nwith a reassuring sound, for I knew that in all probability its\ncessation would mark the time when Ngaraki would come down from his\nunknown haunts above, perhaps to put up the spar again and leave the\nexit clear. The hours passed slowly, but there was no change. Six\no\u2019clock came, but still the cataract roared on with a dull, muffled\nsound.\n\nWhether it was the monotonous murmur of the falling water, or the\nwailing music of the wind in the great stone bars, I do not know, but\nI fell into a sleep, from which I was awakened some time later by the\nfull moon, which had just risen above the further boundary of the\nfissure, and was shining full upon me. Its pale, silver light flooded\ninto the far interior of the cavern, and fell upon the crags of the\nbuttress, the sides of the basin, part of the spar, and the lake\nbeyond in the distance.\n\nAs I looked at these things and collected my faculties, I suddenly\nrealised that the roar of the cataract had stopped. The wind had\nfallen; it no longer moaned in the stone bars. All was as silent as\nthe grave of things long dead.\n\nMy first thought was to see if the passage out of the mountain was\nclear. Accordingly I made my way along towards the buttress--part of\nthe pathway was in the moonlight--but when I reached it I found that\nthe great spar was still hanging horizontal above the abyss, while the\nmoon rays flooding on to the surface of the lake showed the water\nboiling up from below as when I had first seen it.\n\nFor a long half hour I crouched in the shadows there, thinking that\nthe fierce tohunga would again appear on the scene, but all was quiet:\nnothing moving except the overflow into the abyss, and the moonlight\nslowly creeping down after it.\n\nAt the end of this half hour a happy idea occurred to me. Perhaps the\nmoonlight would serve me to explore the abyss by the descending\npathway I had noticed on the other wall of the gulf. I retraced my\nsteps and stood again by the giants\u2019 window. The moon was in a\ncloudless sky, and one of the slanting beams fell upon a part of the\npath some ten yards down. Beyond that the way continued in darkness,\nbut from a brief calculation I concluded that in less than an hour the\nmoonlight would illumine the very depths of the abyss; and if I\nstarted at once on my hands and knees I might be able to keep up with\nit.\n\nIt was hard work going down that rough road on all fours, but it was\nthe easiest way in the long run, for a single false step in the\ndarkness would have been fatal. There were no loose stones, but for\nthe first fifty yards the way was very uneven; and, though not steep\nenough to reach the point where I had seen the patch of sunlight in\nthe morning, sufficiently downhill to make my progress slow and\nlaborious.\n\nFrom time to time I glanced at the moonlight, which streamed past me\non the left, and fell on the perpendicular wall some hundred feet\nbelow the basin. I saw more clearly now that as the night wore on and\nthe moon rose higher, its light would flood down into the profound\ndepths of the pit. Already it revealed the outstanding arm of some\ncrag projecting from the other side of the gulf.\n\nWhen I had proceeded nearly a hundred yards along the descending way,\nI found that by the help of a granite crag which stood out from the\nwall, the path turned back upon itself. In this new direction it was\nless uneven, and, after traversing its length for some fifty yards, I\ndiscovered that it turned back upon itself again, leading down in the\noriginal direction. It was strange work, crawling along an unknown way\nin total darkness, and it was in vain that I endeavoured to make light\nof it.\n\nBut the moonlight reassured me somewhat. It was now far below, resting\non the perpendicular granite, the bed rock of the world. But still it\ncrept down and down: where was the bottom of this fearful place?\nHigher and higher rose the moon into the sky; lower and lower her rays\nsank into the pit. The light was now striking down at an angle of\nforty-five degrees to the horizontal, and as I scanned its whole\nlength it seemed to me like a solid silver bar strong enough to bear\none\u2019s weight from the giants\u2019 window away into the depths below.\n\nThe path was now smooth and even, and I gained on the moonlight. When\nwithin sixty or seventy yards of its resting-place I was surprised to\nfind a blank precipice in front of me. At least, as I groped before me\nwith my hands, I felt that the rock took a sudden descent. Thinking\nthat this might be anything from a small precipice of three feet to a\nyawning gulf of a thousand yards, I took a small stone and dropped it\nover the edge. It fell on solid rock three or four feet below.\nScrambling down I found a level step, and, two paces further on,\nanother break leading down again to another step. It was not until I\nhad passed down over several of these that I came to the conclusion\nthat it was a regular staircase on a vast scale. Each step as I stood\non that below it reached nearly to my shoulder, and its breadth was\nquite five feet. Surely I was getting down into the region of the Vile\nTohungas, but I was not yet on a level with the moonlight. Another ten\nor twelve steps brought me to a spot where, thirty yards in front of\nme, I saw the lower margin of the moonbeams strike upon the grey\ngranite wall, which as yet gave no hint of where it might find a\nbasement in the yawning gulf below. I sat down to wait, knowing that\nbetween forty and fifty yards lower down the staircase must meet the\nwall and turn back again upon itself in order to continue the descent.\n\nNow that I had nothing to do but to await developments, I felt the\nsilence and the darkness resting like crushing weights upon my senses.\nNot far away on the left I could hear the faint swish of the torrent\nfrom the lake as it fell through the darkness, but no sound came up\nfrom below to tell that it had found a bottom in that profundity\nbeneath. With my physical eyes I could see little, but the scene as I\nviewed it in my mind\u2019s eye was one of stupendous grandeur. Behind, far\nabove, was the moonlight flooding through the giants\u2019 window, and\nstriking down through the dark until it fell upon the granite,\nglistening with a pale grey before me. High overhead I knew the long\nspar hung suspended, and below, shrouded in impenetrable gloom, was a\nworld of unknown things hidden in the blackness of darkness for ever.\n\nInto this gloom I peered and waited. The edge of the light cut the\ndark as sharp as a knife, leaving a surface like jet. By whatever\nagency--human, natural, or diabolic--this pit had been hewn out of the\nsolid rock in the remote past, it seemed that on clear nights the moon\nmust still hew it out again from the solid dark. Here then was the\nPit: where were the Vile Tohungas?\n\nI was aroused from my dreams of the \u201cgiants in those days\u201d--the Vile\nTohungas who, according to Te Makawawa, inhabited this lower part of\nthe temple--by the moonlight impinging upon something standing up out\nof the darkness towards my left. I fixed my eyes upon the object,\nthinking it was the\n\n\n [image: images/img107.jpg\n caption: \u201cTHE LIGHT SANK LOWER AND SHOWED MORE. THEN TO MY ASTONISHED\n EYES WAS UNVEILED, INCH BY INCH FROM THE DARKNESS, THE MASSIVE GRANITE\n BROWS OF A GIGANTIC HEAD.\u201d]\n\n\npinnacle of some outstanding crag. The light sank lower and showed\nmore. Then to my astonished eyes was unveiled, inch by inch from the\ndarkness, the massive granite brows of a gigantic head. Suddenly the\nlight flashed back from two bright red eyeballs, which shone like\npetrified blood. The nose and mouth and chin then came into view, and\nat length the whole head and neck stood out clear above the gloom.\n\nThe face of this image, which, if in due proportion, was evidently\nthirty feet high, was strong and terrible. The eyes looked up at the\nmoon from beneath a receding brow, the nose was long and flat, and the\nlower lip of the firm, evil mouth was curled as if in disdain. It was\na sinister face that thus greeted the Queen of the Night--sinister,\nproud, and contemptuous in its power. This was perhaps the lord of a\nfallen race--one of those\n\n\n \u201cMighty pre-Adamites who walked the earth\n Of which ours is the wreck.\u201d\n\n\nPerchance--who knew?--he might represent the mighty and terrible\nNephilim spoken of in the book of Enoch. Such thoughts as these\ncrowded through my brain as I watched.\n\nBut this giant image was not alone. Slowly, and one by one, other\nheads appeared above the darkness, until I counted eleven. Huge\nshoulders and chests now gleamed in the light of the moon. Eleven\npairs of red eyes flashed back her rays all bloodshot. The terrible\nimages seemed to be worshipping the great luminary, but it was the\nworship of scorn, for each one looked up and curled his lips with a\ncalm half smile of masterly disdain. They were set in a semicircle,\nand I saw that originally there might have been twelve, for there was\na gap in the line where one was missing. Thinking that this one might\nbe much smaller than the rest, I waited for the light to fall upon his\nhead, but the gap remained a gap, and I concluded that one of these\nVile Tohungas of the Pit had fallen from his place.\n\nBy this time the moonlight fell full thirty feet below the head of the\ntallest statue, and showed that the images were merely busts, carved\nonly to the waist, where in each case the hands were clasped over the\nabdomen. It showed also that the pedestals were each in one piece with\nthe statue. At last the light reached the floor of the abyss, and the\nVile Tohungas stood out in bold relief, casting great shadows upon the\ngranite wall behind. I saw their bases, and wondered to find that they\nwere of a piece with the bed rock. They had been fashioned bodily out\nof the very plutonic ground-floor of the earth. Vying with the moon\nherself in age, these figures had stood up from the floor of the abyss\nto greet her with that scornful sneer upon their faces for untold\nages. My imagination travelled back through vast stretches of time\nuntil I was weary and spent.\n\nSuddenly a voice from the darkness to the left below startled me. A\nvoice in that dread place! It sent the blood back on my heart as with\ncrooked fingers I gripped the rock. In another instant, however, I\nrecognised the chanting of Ngaraki, and remembered the mention Te\nMakawawa had made of cursing the Vile Ones of the Pit at the full of\nthe moon. By the alternations of his chanting with the strange silence\nof the place, I knew that he was passing up and down there in the\ndarkness before the colossal figures. By the increasing vehemence of\nhis wild song I knew also that he was working himself up into a fury\nof wrath. It was a chant more terrible and savage than that which I\nhad heard on the bank of the pool outside the mountain, more wild and\nfierce than the hollow murmurs which had reached me from far above\nwhile smoking at my camp fire. He may have been a savage then, but he\nwas something more, or something less, now. His words, ringing high\nwith growing rage, almost infernal in their intensity, struck a note\nof horror in my listening soul:\n\n\n \u201cHa! stand out; Lurkers in the Dark!\n Come out of your hiding places;\n Come out and stand up in the light of the moon.\n Bold Taranaki cleaves the sky:\n I call his ancient fire to eat your bones;\n And Tongariro spits his rage aloft--Ngha!\n \u2019Twill fall and boil your heads in pitch.\n The earth was young, the moon scowled from the sky\n With laden breasts of poisoned milk,\n And ye scowled up at her, vile sneering ones,\n And drank destruction to the world.\n The earth is old--your words are living still:\n I will make you eat your words--Ngha!\n I will make you eat the heads of the words you spoke to men!\n To what shall I place my cursing power?\n To your heads? They\u2019re fit for the feast of a chief.\n To what shall I place my cursing power?\n To your eyes? I will snatch and eat them raw.\n To what shall I place my cursing power?\n To your bones? Ngha! Hooks for the shark god!\n To what shall I place my cursing power?\n To _your_ cursing power? Yes, to your cursing power!\n Cursed in the light, writhe till the sun goes down, Ngha!\n Cursed in the dark, writhe till the sun comes up, Ngha!\u201d\n\n\nAt this point I caught sight of the fierce tohunga as he advanced each\ntime into the line of light to within a few paces of the granite\nfigures. His garment swayed about him as he rushed forward, his long\nhair was dishevelled, and in his hand was a greenstone _mer\u00e9_, which\nglinted in the moonrays as he whirled it high above his head in the\nrising fury of his cursing. Constantly advancing into the light like\nan infuriated savage, and retreating again into the shadows with his\nchin upon his breast, like a man in profound thought, he chanted\nlouder and more fiercely as his onward rushes became more terrible in\ngesture and his retreating movements more profound in their repose.\nThus with hurricane and calm, hurricane and calm, he approached the\nclimax when the hurricane should end in frenzy and the calm in trance:\n\n\n \u201cWhere is the pot shall hold your heads?\n Where is the fire shall boil the pot?\n I\u2019ll spend my life in making it--Ngha!\n Beyond Kaikoura\u2019s rugged crest,\n Beyond Raukawa\u2019s rolling tide,\n Are pots of pitch that seeth and hiss--\n Mountain pots that roar and rage--\n Lakes of fire whose billows roll and dance and leap into the air.\n I hear them calling for your heads.\n But fiercer fires have louder tongues:\n A fire of raging hate is here,\n Fed by deadly cursing--Ngha!\n Here! Vile Lurkers! Here!\u201d\n\n\nHe beat upon his breast to show them where the fire was hissing, and\nseething, and roaring for their heads--\n\n\n \u201c\u2019Ere Taranaki glowed with love\n For fair Pihanga\u2019s pure embrace,\n \u2019Ere thundering Tongariro burned\n With angry thought to call her his,[17]\n This fire was made with ancient hands.\n Tawhaki fanned it with his breath\n (His footsteps thunder in the sky\n I curse you with his mighty breath--Ngha!\n Now Taranaki\u2019s fires are low:\n He stands apart.\n His flame is fled, his voice is still,\n But mine will roar with countless tongues\n That shake the earth with Ruaimako.\n Nor storm, nor sea, nor Rangi\u2019s tears\n Can quench this raging fire of hate\n Which leaps with curses at your throats--Ngha!\n The time will come! the time will come!\n Hinauri sleeps aloft and waits--\n Lo! She starts, she moves, she wakes.\n Now she takes the stranded spar\n And hurls it down into the pit.\n The crash is heard through all the earth--\n See! I snatch your heads in triumph,\n And place them in the mighty pot.\n _Whaka ariki_[18]--your heads are mine\n To boil in everlasting pitch.\n Upokokohua--Ngha!\u201d\n\n\nGiving out the last few words in a voice of thunder that woke strange\nrumbling echoes far above, the Maori rushed forward more like a demon\nthan a human being. I saw his strong face twisted with rage. I saw the\n_mer\u00e9_ gleam in the moonlight. Then with a final curse--a savage yell\nwhich seemed to shake the granite statues of the dead--he hurled the\nweapon at the head of the tallest image. Like a flash of green light\nit darted through the moon rays. It struck upon the forehead of the\nVile Tohunga, and sparks came forth. With a crashing sound it struck\nand then glanced off and fell upon the rock at my feet.\n\nI picked up the _mer\u00e9_ and looked again at the image. The mark of the\nweapon showed clear and distinct above the left eyebrow. But the\nsudden silence was unearthly. What of Ngaraki? I looked below, where\nI had seen him halt in his last mad rush. He was lying prostrate on\nhis face upon the granite floor, motionless.\n\nFor some minutes I watched him, then, as he did not move, I climbed\ndown the remaining steps, and, keeping out of the moonlight as much as\npossible, reached a point near to the prostrate figure. His hands were\nstretched out before him, with fingers bent as if clawing at the rock,\nand his head rested on one side, so that the moonlight showed the\nglassy stare of one of his wide open eyes. I saw that he was either\ndead or in a trance, and, as the tohunga Maori of the old r\u00e9gime was\nnot unlike Balaam, I concluded that Ngaraki had induced a trance in\nthe regular way, and would now remain like one dead perhaps for hours.\n\nI lingered in the shadows watching him for some time; then my eyes\nwandered mechanically round the semicircle of figures that towered\nabove. Surely I had made a mistake! Where was the gap left by the\nTwelfth Tohunga?\n\nFalling back a few paces I counted them again. Surely I had been\ndeceived. There were twelve of them, and the one that now stood where\nthe gap had been, raised his gigantic head above all the rest. His\nface was not like those of the other images. There were traces of\nnobility upon the brow, and the lips were more sad than disdainful.\nBut what struck me most was the fact that it seemed less substantial\nthan the others. Could it be a phantom of the imagination--a thing\nconjured up before a mind unbalanced by the awful gloom of the place,\nby hunger, and thirst, and fatigue? As I glanced again at the features\nof the face, now more distinct than before, I passed my hand over my\nforehead and felt it was wet. And well it might be, for the\nunsubstantial image that stood before me had features and an\nexpression closely resembling, though in a gigantic way, those of\n_Ngaraki himself_! With an impulse that I could not restrain, I\nhurried across the open space, and, approaching the Twelfth Tohunga,\nput out my hand to touch it. My fingers closed on empty air, and lo!\nthere was the gap again unoccupied as before.\n\nAt that moment the prostrate figure of the Maori moved upon the\nground, and I darted again into the darkness. Looking back I saw him\nget up and shake himself, then move away into the shadows, whence he\npresently reappeared with a piece of smouldering punk and a crooked\nstick of wood. With these he sat down, and blowing the punk into a\nblaze, ignited the wood, which, by its combustible qualities, I knew\nto be a piece of the heart of the rimu. At length he held the torch\nhigh above his head and came towards me, but, as he passed by on one\nside of the figure near which I was standing, I crept round with the\nshadow on the other. Unconscious of my presence, he kept on his way\nuntil the light of his torch shone upon the body of water which fell\nthrough space with mysterious sighs, whipping the air and throwing off\nfine, floating spray as it went on its inexplicable course past the\nvery foundations of the mountain, for I now saw that it disappeared in\na circular opening in the ground floor--an abyss below the abyss.\n\nA few paces before the brink of this road to Porawa the tohunga\npaused, and, holding his torch high, shed its light upon the face of\nanother figure carved out of the granite, and standing apart with its\nback turned upon its fellows. Again the eerie feeling assailed me, for\nthat rugged face gazing upwards through the dark was the face of the\nTwelfth Tohunga, having the same strange resemblance to the Maori\nhimself. It was a noble countenance, and the contour of the lips\nexpressed, not disdain like the others, but humility and\nsadness--perhaps repentance. Unlike the others, too, his hands were\njoined over his heart. Perchance this was one of the Great Ones who,\nas Te Makawawa had told us, had fallen from his high magic to consort\nwith the vile to trick them, and, having completed his design, had\nturned his back upon their evil faces and set his image there apart to\ngaze up through the age-long night towards that distant point far\nabove where the radiant Hinauri stood and waited. But how could I know\nanything? I could only conjecture, for Ngaraki said no word, and I\ncould not read the strange characters engraven on the granite breast\nof this Twelfth Tohunga.\n\nFrom the chief\u2019s attitude it was evident that this image perplexed him\nsorely. Was it that he detected some resemblance of its face to his\nown, or was he communing in spirit with the ancient being who had set\nhis image there with such ideal meaning? I could not tell, for he was\nsilent, and when at last he turned, torch in hand, and, holding his\narms up towards some vision he seemed to see above the darkness,\nchanted some words that were full of tenderness and yearning, it was\nin the ancient priestly language which few even of the _ariki_ can\nunderstand. It was an unknown tongue to me, but I recognised it from\nits likeness to some of the more ancient karakias or mystic hymns I\nhad often heard repeated as charms by the lesser tohungas. But the\nmeaning of Ngaraki\u2019s gestures, and the soft inflections of his voice\nshowed plainly that he was addressing Hinauri as from the breast of\nthe Twelfth Tohunga standing in the darkness of the abyss. His cursing\nmood had fallen from him like a garment, and in my heart I felt drawn\ntowards this strange savage; yet I knew that any profane person found\ntrespassing within the precincts of his sacred temple would find small\nmercy at his hands, and therefore I took good care to keep out of his\nway. I knew that if my presence was discovered I should be taken for\none of those visitors mentioned by Te Makawawa as \u201ccertain men who had\nthe fire of the Vile Tohungas in their eyes.\u201d I should be accused of\nplanning the destruction of Hinauri, and then my head would be taken\nand hung up in the abyss.\n\nNgaraki now turned in his ancient chant with a sudden quickening of\nhis words, and, as most men do when a thing appeals to them in a new\nand surprising light, spoke in the tongue which came more fluent to\nhim:\n\n\u201cSee! the city is silent\u201d--he appeared to be interpreting the ancient\ncharacters on the breast of the Twelfth Tohunga--\u201cthe great queen\nsleeps above the darkness, my fellow seers have withdrawn into the\nsky, and I, Zun, with these vile Brethren of Huo, am all that is left\nof the people of the South. Mine is the task\u201d--yes, Ngaraki seemed to\nspeak these words, which had been graven on the breast of the image,\nas if they stated exactly his own case--\u201cmine is the task to watch\nover the tapu of the Bright One, and to this end I have cast myself\ndown to consort with the vile, to know them, to know their names, to\nunderstand that of which they are the embodiment. And I record that I\nknow what I do, and none shall say that I fell through weakness. It is\ndone. The city is silent. The great queen sleeps above the darkness,\nbut she sleeps in safety, for I have confounded the Vile Ones with\ntheir own magic. Lo, I have delivered a gross image into their hands\nto bind down and oppress, and now in scorn I turn my back upon them\nand gaze up towards the future of the world. They will return, and I\nshall return, and in the far future Hia will arise and hurl their\ngross image of Woman upon their heads. Then shall I conquer and\ntriumph over the Vile Ones and cast their lord into the pit that yawns\nbefore me. And through the everlasting night I wait for Hia, praying\nthat life shall be long and death short; praying that the Rival of the\nDawn will obtain for man a life that ever rises again from the\ndarkness.\u201d\n\nHe paused and seemed lost in thought; he had evidently read the words\nin a new light. Then, as if seeking more of this new light from a\nfamiliar thing, he passed to the back of the image and held his torch\nup again till the rays fell upon the strange characters therealso\nengraven. As one who reconsiders what has long puzzled him he read:\n\n\u201cWe, the Brotherhood of Huo, laugh in scorn at the windy words of Zun.\nHe sees a phantom up there in the darkness. Hia is swallowed up in\nHuo, whose body we have bound down to the rock for ever. Her spirit we\nhave bound also to the moon-face, that we may see to work our will. By\nher bondage we shall live, but the life of Hia\u2019s people shall be short\nand their death long. They shall die and become like soil, and those\nthey leave behind them shall weep and wail and lament. Therefore we\nlaugh in scorn at the windy words of Zun. We shall live and rule the\nworld while our images endure.\u201d\n\nNgaraki remained silent a space. Then the last I saw of him for many\nweeks was characteristic of the man. He slowly approached the brink of\nthe abyss below the abyss, and stood for a moment gazing down. In a\nsecond his sudden blood boiled over with a return of his former\nfierceness and, pointing downwards with outstretched arm, while he\nturned his head towards the chief of the Vile Ones, he yelled:\n\n\u201cNgha! Destroyers of the Woman! My enemies of the ancient night! That\nis the way by which your heads go down to the pot.\u201d\n\nA moment the torch was held aloft; then, with a fierce gesture, he\nflung it into the depths below, and all was dark again, save for the\npatch of moonlight, which had now retreated far along the level floor.\n\nI said this was the last I _saw_ of Ngaraki, and that is quite true,\nfor though I came into close contact with him that very night, and\nfelt more of his strength than I have any desire to feel again, it was\nall transacted in the darkness of that terrible place.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n NGARAKI THE FIERCE.\n\nWhen Ngaraki had thrown his torch down into the bottomless pit,\nthere seemed nothing left but the darkness and the silence. Presently\nI heard what I judged to be his footsteps hurrying towards me, and, in\nmy haste to get out of the way, lest by chance he should touch me, I\ntrod on a loose stone and fell. I was on my feet again in an instant,\nand was edging away from the spot, when the chief\u2019s voice, three paces\naway, cried, \u201cNgha! who comes?\u201d\n\nFeeling secure in the impenetrable darkness, I made no reply, but\nproceeded to creep silently away towards the foot of the staircase,\nlistening intently all the while for the tohunga\u2019s movements. But he\nwas evidently standing stock still. Presently he repeated his\nchallenge more fiercely, and, receiving no answer, hurried away\ntowards the end of the gulf.\n\nI felt somewhat relieved at this, as I felt sure I could find the foot\nof the staircase, and so get up the pathway; and, if the worst came to\nthe worst, try the plunge through the aperture in the mountain wall.\nBut I found it was no easy matter to find my bearings. I could see the\npatch of moonlight some distance up the ground floor of the abyss,\nand, facing it, knew that the giant statues were behind me. I\nproceeded to feel my way from statue to statue in what I fancied was\nthe right direction, but I had not gone far in this way when faint\nsounds of footsteps around me arrested my attention. I stood still,\nand all was silent. A minute passed, and, when I moved on, the fall of\nthese phantom footsteps on every side again brought me to a sudden\nhalt. Was this some dreadful nightmare, or was I surrounded and hemmed\nin by the minions of Ngaraki? The nervous tension of this would soon\nhave driven me into raving lunacy. I felt I could not stand it much\nlonger, and tried to steal away quietly on tiptoe, but the footsteps\nfollowed me and I stopped again.\n\nTo put an end to this nightmare I thought the best thing I could do\nwas to kill someone and make a rush. I took my revolver from my\npocket, but merely went through the motion of shooting men down on\nevery hand just to relieve my nervous tension. After reflection I did\nnot dare waste a shot in the darkness, for I might want the whole six\nlater on, and I had left my ammunition outside the mountain; so I\ntried to take things quietly. While in the midst of this, something,\nnot three paces away, collided with something else. \u201cKuk, kuk!\u201d said a\nthroat, and another throat answered with a guttural, purring noise,\nfollowed by a long-drawn sigh. After that there was a silence, in\nwhich I was sorely tempted to shoot in the direction of those sounds.\nPresently, however, under a further development of the situation, I\nthought it was my wisest course to spend at least one of my six\nbullets. Standing under cover of the darkness, but haunted by these\nghostly footsteps, I saw, twenty yards on my right, a dim glow. As\nsoon as this caught my eye I knew what was going to happen. Somebody\nwas blowing a piece of smouldering dry punk into a blaze; a torch, or\nseveral torches, would be lighted, and I would be hunted out like a\nrat. I was determined that this should not be if I could possibly help\nit. I much preferred the dark and the ghostly footsteps. Now the punk\nwas glowing red, and, just above it, the wizened face of someone\nblowing it appeared distinctly. I could not bring myself to the idea\nof potting at this man out of the dark; it seemed a little unfair; so,\nmoving about again, I listened for the footsteps and fired into the\nthick of them.\n\nThe effect was magical. The report rang up through the abyss and\nreverberated with a thousand echoes in the high galleries above. But\nthis was not the only effect. Immediately following the shot there\narose a guttural, inarticulate howl, and a strange clucking noise\nbegan all around. It suddenly dawned on me that these sounds came from\nmen who had lost their tongues: these were no doubt the speechless men\nTe Makawawa had spoken of. But I did not stop to find out any more\nabout them. Taking advantage of the general confusion, I felt my way\nto the last stone figure in the semicircle, and, with a guess at the\nposition of the foot of the staircase, struck out to find it.\n\nI could now hear no footsteps about me, and thought that if I could\nonly get up out of the abyss I should feel happier. After proceeding\nsome twelve or fifteen paces, I touched a rock and felt my way along\nit until I came to a corner. A sigh of relief escaped me at the\ndiscovery that it was the lowest step of the giants\u2019 staircase. I was\njust about to mount it when a peculiar guttural \u201cKuk, kuk!\u201d came like\na challenge out of the darkness five feet away on the left. My first\nimpulse was to spring towards the sound and get at the throat from\nwhich it proceeded. But suddenly I remembered having heard this sound\nanswered by a kind of guttural purring. It was evidently the\ntongueless challenge equivalent to \u201cWho goes there?\u201d Why should I not\ngive the answer? On the spur of the moment I did so, making the most\nguttural purr I could find in my throat, and following it up with a\nlong-drawn sigh. It was met with silence. My challenger evidently took\nme for a friend who, actuated by a cleverness equal to his own, had\nconceived the idea of guarding the only way out of the abyss.\n\nIt was with a conceited feeling that I was infinitely cleverer than\nall of them that I mounted the step and listened before groping my way\nupwards. There was still confusion in the abyss. To judge by the\nexcited noises I heard, someone had evidently been touched by my\nrevolver shot. There was no sign of the glowing punk, and I gathered\nfrom this that in the presence of firearms they felt safer in the\ndarkness. That they stood in fear of another shot was also evident\nfrom the fact that gradually the strange sounds ceased, and all was\nquiet.\n\nPresently I heard footsteps hurrying towards me. They were those of\nother clever mutes who wished to prevent my escaping that way. I was\nthe first to give the peculiar challenge, which was answered by a\npurring and a ghostly chorus of sighs from several throats. Then,\nfeeling that I had hoodwinked them, I ventured to creep away as\nsilently as possible, raising myself from step to step. Several times\nI stopped to listen, but all was quiet behind me and I went on and on,\nup towards the giants\u2019 window.\n\nIt must have been nearly an hour before I gained the approaches to the\nhuge grating. When I reached it I stood for a moment looking up at the\nmoon, then, turning, I followed the bright ray through the darkness\nuntil it fell upon the floor of the abyss, a patch of light\nconsiderably less in area than an hour ago. It had travelled nearly\nthe whole length of the gulf.\n\nWhile I was looking at it before passing on I heard a chorus of\nguttural sounds far down. I started and moved away, as it dawned upon\nme that my tell-tale shadow had been seen on that patch of light\nbelow. My cleverness now oozed out at the back of my head and ran down\ninto my heels. In a very short space of time I knew I should have\nthose phantom footsteps about me again.\n\nMy first idea was to stand in the dark and shoot them down as they\ncame past the window in the moonlight, but on second thoughts I saw\nthat I could only dispose of five in this way at the very most, and\nthere were certainly more than a dozen of them, besides Ngaraki\nhimself. Everything considered, I thought it the best plan to make for\nthe lake and try the opening.\n\nAnother ten minutes, then, found me nearing the buttress. My eyes were\ncontinually on the moonlit window, for my pursuers must pass there,\nand I was anxious to count them as they passed. But it was not until I\nreached the rocks of the buttress that I saw the first rush quickly\nacross the light. Another followed and another, until I counted ten.\nIt was an uncomfortable number, especially as they knew every inch of\nthe place and I did not. So well, indeed, did they know their way that\nI had scarcely reached the ledge beneath the spar when I heard them\ncoming round the corner of the buttress. I had my hand on the wooden\nsprit above my head when they were almost upon me. That they would\nsearch every nook and corner I knew well, and if I could not reach the\nother side of the lake first I should have to fire my remaining shots,\nand, plunging in, run the risk of being swept down by the overflow\ninto the abyss. Why should I not cross by the spar? They would never\nthink of that.\n\nNo sooner had I conceived this plan, which was as good as any other,\nthan I bore my weight on the sprit, and found that, although there was\na trembling motion, the balance of the spar was maintained. In another\nsecond I had raised myself by the \u201cone-legged-doctor\u201d trick everybody\nlearns at school, and was lying along it.\n\nScarcely had I accomplished this when I heard the sound of footsteps\nbelow, and someone touched the end of the sprit, for I felt it tremble\nbeneath me. At this I grasped the points of the granite to which it\nwas lashed, and drawing myself along, sat up astride of the thing. I\nwas now well over the brink of the abyss, and began to feel clever\nagain as the pattering of footsteps went by behind me. By their\nmovements to and fro I could hear that they were searching for me, and\nI did not dare move further lest I should attract attention. To make\nup for the absence of their tongues their ears were preternaturally\nacute, and the slightest movement might have betrayed me. Even when\nthe sound of footsteps ceased I remained motionless for a long time,\nfearing that there was someone listening near by in the darkness. If\nthe cascade had still been pouring down from above I should have stood\na better chance under cover of the sound. Everybody knows the peculiar\neffect that listening in the darkness has upon one. The muscles become\nrigid, the throat grows dry, an irresistible desire to swallow\nproduces in the act a peculiar noise, and a strange kind of hypnotism\nsuggests to the limbs that they cannot move. To this add a cold\nperspiration, born of the idea that there is a vast yawning pit\nbeneath one, and a score of ears listening for the slightest sound\nnear by, and you have my sensations within a little.\n\nHow long I sat there astride of that sprit I do not know, but at\nlength my feelings became unbearable. I determined to move, but it\ncost me all it costs one in a nightmare to make a start. With a harsh,\ninward laugh, that sounded almost hysterical in my mental ears, I at\nlast succeeded in throwing off this strange self-hypnotism, and,\nstretching my hands forward, grasped a point of rock on the spar\nitself. Once having pulled myself on to the granite I felt more\nconfidence, and, though the long lever quivered beneath me, I sat\nastride and worked my way along. I tried to shut out the terrible\nabyss beneath me, but the knowledge that it was there in the darkness\nwas perhaps worse than if it had been visible to physical eyes. It was\nlike dangling between life and death. But, as the Maori mystic saying\nruns,\n\n\u201c_Cling to Life in the light--cling to Life in the darkness!_\u201d And I\nclung.\n\nAfter what seemed several hours, although most probably it was\nsomething like fifteen minutes as clocks go, I reached the constricted\npart of the spar, and felt that it was not much thicker than a man\u2019s\nbody. As I rested on it for awhile I felt the drip of water from the\nroof of the cavern, falling now on my bush hat and now on my\nshoulders. I wondered how many thousand years it had taken that\ndripping water to wear the granite down to its present shape, and how\nmany more would elapse before the spar gave way at this point, and the\ntwo fragments, with the great round stone, go hurtling down through\nspace on to the heads of the Vile Tohungas far below. I feared that I\nwould get there first.\n\nA glance along the gulf towards the giants\u2019 window showed me that it\nmust be now midnight, if not more, for the moon was no longer shining\nin between the bars, and I could see her light reflected from the face\nof the wall beyond the fissure without. I found fresh courage in the\nthought that if I could reach the further lip of the basin and take\nthe plunge, the rays of the moon shining down into the pool on the\nwestern side of the mountain would serve to guide me towards the\nopening.\n\nBut my fresh courage soon gave out, for no sooner had I climbed from\nthe narrow part on to a broader surface of the spar, than the horror\nof my situation reacted upon me. Faint with what I had gone through\nsince my last meal in the early morning, I felt the darkness beginning\nto move around me. Concentric rings of light were converging to a\npoint in my brain. I had just sufficient sense to spread myself face\ndownwards on the rock before I swooned away.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen I awoke to consciousness the faint light of daybreak was\nstruggling in through the giants\u2019 window. The vast cavern was full of\ngreater and lesser darknesses, and, as I peered into these, I recalled\nthe events of the past night. A sickening horror swept through me as I\nrealised that I had been lying on a narrow bridge above the abyss for\nhours, and it was followed by a feeling of thankfulness that I had not\nturned in my deep sleep and rolled down into the depths. I felt as if\nangels had stood one on each side of me, and sat up, full of the\nconviction that I should see the outer world again.\n\nIt was strange that I had not been discovered. Evidently my pursuers\nhad not thought of my hiding place. But in order to get out safely it\nwould be necessary to make all haste, for no doubt they were still\nkeeping watch, and the grey, misty light of the far-off day was\ngrowing every minute. Very soon I should make an easy target for\nstones, and if Ngaraki could hit the Vile Tohunga\u2019s eyebrow at twenty\nyards with his jade _mer\u00e9_, what could he not do with me? To his way\nof looking at things there was no telling what secrets I might carry\naway with me if I escaped, therefore the sooner I was wiped off the\nface of the rock the better for that ancient temple and all it\ncontained.\n\nAs yet it was impossible to see more than a vague suggestion of one\u2019s\nhand before one\u2019s face, but in ten minutes\u2019 time there would be enough\nlight to shoot by. Crawling along the spar towards the basin, I made\nall possible haste. I had not gone far before I heard footsteps\nseveral paces in front of me. I stopped, and all was silent. I could\nhear my heart beating, and the ghostly whiffle of the descending\ntorrent immediately beneath, but no other sound.\n\nIt was no time for delay. A plan suggested itself to my mind in a\nflash, and I acted on it without a second thought. Drawing a match\nfrom my pocket with my left hand and raising my revolver with my\nright, I struck the match on the granite and threw it fizzing into the\ndarkness before me. The light lasted only a second, but in that brief\nspace I saw two figures crouching on the spar ahead, fired point blank\nat the foremost, and saw him roll over into the abyss. The next\ninstant something whizzed through the air two inches from my forehead,\nturning my hat half round upon my head. I knew that Ngaraki had also\ntaken advantage of the momentary light to hurl his _mer\u00e9_. The\ninvoluntary start backwards at this sudden surprise saved my head\nagain, for, immediately after the missile, came the crashing sound of\na heavy club on the rock a foot before me. This was the work of the\nother figure I had seen. Dropping my revolver, I leaned forward and\nseized the head of the club with both hands. A struggle ensued, and\neach tried to use the club as a means of pushing the other off the\nspar. The struggle did not last long. Giving the club a quick twist\nfrom my end, I at the same time pushed it violently against my\nantagonist, who made a sound in his throat and fell backwards, still\nholding his end of the club. But in doing this I swung and fell\nsideways. The next moment we were dangling one on each side of the\nspar, with nothing to hold by but the club lying like a cross-bar over\nthe narrow rock. All this took place in the space of a few seconds,\nand it was while I was swaying in the air that I heard from far below\nthe rattle of Ngaraki\u2019s _mer\u00e9_ on the floor of the abyss.\n\nThank Heaven, the mute held on. If he had let go I should have gone\ndown with him. Never was a man so anxious that his foe should keep his\nhead.\n\nIn moments of danger different people act in widely different ways,\nbut, in moments of extreme peril, when even fear itself seems\nparalysed, most men, I think, would do the right thing automatically.\nFrom what happened I am convinced that the man on the other side of\nthe rock was doing exactly as I was doing, looking for some point of\nrock by which to cling. At all events I felt, by my end of the club,\nwhich I was now holding in one hand, that he was not hanging quietly.\nNever were two living beings weighed on a more extraordinary balance\nto determine which should be found wanting. One more second determined\nit. Failing to find a purchase with one hand, I had grasped the club\nwith both again and drawn myself up with my chin over the end of it.\nThen, to find a good hold on the edge of the spar, I transferred my\nright hand while sustaining my weight with my chin and left arm.\nQuickly I slid my other hand along the club till it found the rock. It\nwas done. The club went up as soon as I released it; there was a\nguttural exclamation on the other side, and the sound of clawing\nfingers on the granite as the man went down into the pit, leaving me\nhanging over the side of the spar.\n\nI drew a long breath and proceeded to raise myself. With chin and one\nhand supporting my weight again, I reached forward and swept the\nsurface of the spar with the other. The first thing I felt was my\nrevolver, but it was little use to me just then. There was a rough\npoint near it which would help me, but no sooner had I grasped it than\nI had to withdraw my hand, for I could just distinguish a shadowy form\ncoming towards me from the basin end. I could hear him feeling his way\nalong, and knew that he was looking for me. I would let him pass and\nthen climb and shoot everything I met on the rest of my journey\ntowards the basin. With this end in view, I found the revolver again,\nand placing it with difficulty in my coat pocket, got my hand back on\nthe rock and remained hanging till the one who was looking for me had\npassed by.\n\nTo find the rough point of rock again was easy, but to draw myself up\nwith nothing to place my knees or feet against was more difficult. At\nlength I managed to get one foot up on the spar, and then gradually\ndragged my weight on to the upper surface. The light had grown\nconsiderably stronger in the last few minutes. I could now see the\ngrey surface of the rock before me. By the time I had crawled twenty\nfeet along the widening surface I could discern the vague outline of\nthe great round stone above the outer lip of the basin, and could hear\nthe gritting sound it made as it rolled and rocked slightly in its\nsocket with the motion of the spar, set up principally by the man who\nwas looking for me at the other end. I needed only a little more light\nin order to stand upright and make a rush.\n\nA full minute I waited, straining my eyes before me to see if there\nwas anyone barring the way. The spar was now quivering violently, and\nI knew the one who had passed me was near the further end. Another\nminute passed and the motion grew fainter; he was on his way back.\nPresently I heard him crawling along on his hands and knees not ten\nyards behind me.\n\nTrusting now to the light, I rose and proceeded carefully towards the\nround stone. When I reached it I found no one there, but on the lip of\nthe basin there were several shadows moving. The foremost, evidently\nthinking I was the man who had gone along the spar and was now\nreturning behind me, gave the guttural challenge. There was no time to\nwaste in purring, so I gave the countersign with my revolver. He\nstaggered back and disappeared.\n\nThen all was confused. Vague shadows flitted round the rim of the\nbasin. I pushed one off into the abyss, another I shot as he came at\nme, and he fell into the water. A well-aimed stone carried my hat from\nmy head back into the abyss, cutting the skin of my scalp to the bone\nas it passed. I heard feet pattering behind me and ran on round the\nlip of the basin. Now I was facing the place where I knew the opening\nin the mountain side lay concealed beneath twenty feet of water. I had\ntwo shots left; the one I fired at something I saw moving on my left,\nthe other I reserved for the one who was running quickly round the lip\nof the basin behind me. Turning, I fired at a distance of five yards.\nHe did not fall, but uttered a fierce \u201cNgha!\u201d and came on.\n\nWith a quick plunge I leapt from the rock and struck out downwards\ninto the dark with all my strength. Presently I felt the current\nrushing through my fingers. Another vigorous stroke would have sent me\ninto it, but as I drew up my legs something touched my foot. I kicked\nback and encountered what felt like solid flesh. I was now head and\nshoulders in the current, and could see a round light before me, but\nan arm slid along my leg, a hand closed round my ankle, and I was\ndragged forcibly out of it again.\n\nI turned in the water to face my antagonist, whom I now knew to be\nNgaraki himself, and, guiding my hands along his chest and shoulders,\ncaught him by a bronze pillar for all the impression I could make on\nthe throat. But I might as well have tried to throttle it. The next\nthing I knew was that his hand had closed over my own throat with a\ngrip like iron. He shook me in the water as if I were a mere rat, and\nwe rose to the surface.\n\nHe still retained his terrible grip as he groped along the bank for\nthe steps in the wall. By the time he had found them my senses were\nbeginning to go. I could get no breath until he released my throat,\nand it was now nearly half a minute since I drew my last. I was\ngetting confused, but I remember one thing which made a distinct\nimpression upon me. My hands, in attempting to get at his own throat\nagain encountered a small stream of something warm trickling from his\nchest, and, strange as it may seem, almost my last feeling was one of\nremorse that my final bullet had wounded this strange man, for whom,\nnotwithstanding all his attempts to kill me, I had conceived a kind of\nsavage admiration. In my dying condition, lying helpless in his grip,\nI seemed to lose my own selfish personality; and, in that brief\nmoment, looking at things from his standpoint, I admitted I was in the\nwrong, and found time to wish at least that I had not fired that last\nbullet.\n\nWe were now on the margin of the lake swaying about. Suddenly a low\nmoan escaped his lips. His fingers relaxed. He fell back against the\ncavern wall. Before he fell, however, he gave me a violent push which\nsent me reeling into the lake.\n\nIn the second that elapsed before I reached the water I may have taken\nin some air. I do not remember doing so, for I was almost gone; but I\nthink I must have got some oxygen into my lungs, for, to a certain\nextent, consciousness revived as I felt myself going down in the\ntumultuous depths. Aided considerably by the water welling up from the\nbottom I arrested my descent and darted upwards again, but on reaching\nthe surface and gasping for air, I found myself in a current. Oh!\nhorror of horrors! I felt I must be going down into the abyss. My\nmother\u2019s sweet, sad face rose in the darkness before me, and I called\non God as all men do in their last extremity. For some time--I could\nnot say how long--I struggled against that current with the strength\nof despair, but, wildly as I strained every nerve and sinew, I felt I\nwas being gradually sucked in. I reached out to catch some point of\nrock, but there was nothing. Then with a feeling of blackest horror I\nrealised all was over. But the horror gave way, and, as I swept down,\nI felt myself smiling up at my mother\u2019s face like a child dropping off\nto sleep. There was a stunning crash as my head struck against some\nrock in the descent, and then I fell down, down for ever and ever into\nthe black abyss of unconsciousness.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER X.\n KAHIKATEA AND HIS STRANGE BELIEF.\n\nWhen a man wakes suddenly in the night, he may imagine that the head\nof his bed is where the foot should be. When he wakes from a deep\nswoon he is willing to admit that he may be anywhere. But imagine the\nfeelings of a man, whose last recollection was that of being swept\nover the brink of an abyss, waking up and finding himself lying on his\nback on a mossy bank, with a well-known face bending over him.\n\nSuch was my case, and I thought the whole thing was so impossible that\nI gave it up, and, closing my eyes, continued my downward career\nthrough the blackness of darkness, wondering when the final crash\nwould come.\n\nAgain my eyes opened and encountered the face of a friend between me\nand the blue sky. A pair of dark brown eyes, anxious and kind, looked\ndown into mine, and I tried in vain to remember the name of that\nfriend with the mane of flowing hair and the brown-bearded face. I\nknew him so well, but could not place him. After an effort I gave it\nup and closed my eyes with a sigh. Really it did not matter very much,\nfor, just after being shattered on the granite floor at the far bottom\nof the abyss, it did not seem to signify what was the name that\nbelonged to that face. I lapsed again into darkness, and I can dimly\nrecollect having some such grim, absurd thought as this: that the fall\non the rocks below had scattered my ideas and injured my brain in some\nway.\n\nA third time I opened my eyes: the same position, the same face as\nbefore. I began to think there was something in it, and was prompted\nto put a question.\n\n\u201cWhere am I?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere are you?\u201d replied the deep voice of Kahikatea--I knew him\nnow--\u201cWhy, I hauled you out of the pool nearly half an hour ago. You\ncame up from the bottom like a piece of limp seaweed. I thought you\nwere dead at first.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo did I,\u201d I returned wearily. \u201cI thought I had gone down into the\nabyss, but it must have been the current through the basin that I was\nstruggling against in the dark.\u201d\n\nKahikatea looked down at me with a puzzled expression on his face, as\nif he thought I was wandering.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t talk now, old man,\u201d he said presently. \u201cYou\u2019ve a frightful\nbruise on the back of your head and a deep cut on the top; you\u2019d\nbetter keep quiet.\u201d\n\nThus admonished, I lay with my eyes half shut watching him, as he\nprepared a bandage to bind up my wounds--the one on the top and the\none on the back, from both of which I could feel the blood still\nflowing.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d he said, when at last I was bandaged with something like a\ntenfold turban round what appeared to me a tenfold skull, \u201cshall we\ncamp here?\u201d\n\n\u201cRather not,\u201d I returned; \u201cthey might see us from above and drop rocks\non us.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well, but you mustn\u2019t talk.\u201d\n\nWith this he placed his hands under me, and, lifting me up easily in\nhis powerful arms, strode away down the bank of the stream. I was too\nweak to protest, and said nothing. At length, coming to a sequestered\nspot enclosed in thick bushy foliage, he put me down gently and set\nabout preparing a soft bed of dry fern. This done, and myself placed\ncomfortably upon it, with some turfs of dry moss for a pillow, he\nlighted a fire and made this strange sick-room in the wilderness\ncomfortable. I dozed off into a troubled sleep, and when I awoke my\nnurse sat by me, and administered a pannikin of hot broth, the effect\nof which was invigorating.\n\nThe fear that I had killed the fierce but noble tohunga--the guardian\npriest of that ancient temple from which I had just escaped by a\nmiracle--was weighing heavily upon my mind. In a few brief sentences I\ntold Kahikatea what had occurred within the mountain, and we\nconsidered the question as to whether, if Miriam Grey were somewhere\nin that strange place,--and from what I had seen I firmly believed she\nwas,--she would starve without Ngaraki. We came to the conclusion that\nthis was improbable, for if anything happened to Ngaraki, the mutes\nwould no doubt know what to do, for, in an hereditary priesthood such\nas this claimed to be, it was not likely that the order of succession\nwould be dislocated by a sudden death. Considering these things we\nconcluded that Miriam Grey, if there, was as safe as ever she had\nbeen. But we knew that the way to her prison far overhead, impossible\nwithout a guide at ordinary times, was even more so now; a strict\nwatch would no doubt be kept; and \u2018the way of the fish\u2019 was a\ndifficulty, to say nothing of the \u2018way of the winged fish.\u2019\nAccordingly, after well considering the matter, I determined to follow\nthe aged chief\u2019s advice, and take up the search of the child, feeling\nconvinced that if she was living I could find her.\n\nFor two days and two nights I lay on my bed of dry fern, and was\nattended by Kahikatea. By all the laws of medical science, except\nperhaps one or two not yet thoroughly laid down, I ought to have had\nconcussion of the brain, or some such thing, but, strange to say, on\nthe morning of the third day I awoke perfectly clear in the head, and\nwith every sign of fever gone.\n\nI determined, however, to accept Kahikatea\u2019s advice and rest for the\nremainder of that day and night. We passed the time in telling each\nother our adventures and in drawing what conclusions we could from\nthem. My friend\u2019s search for the \u2018way of the spider\u2019 had not been as\nsuccessful as my exploration of the \u2018way of the fish.\u2019 He had found\nthe place where on the first occasion the rock had let him through\ninto a kind of tunnel, and had followed this for a considerable\ndistance, only to be stopped by a blank wall of rock which had all the\nappearance of a rude portcullis let down from the roof.\n\n\u201cFrom what you have told me of the strange contrivance in the interior\nof the mountain below,\u201d he concluded, in relating this part of his\nadventures, \u201cI can quite understand that this rock blocking up the\ntunnel might have been so contrived by the ancients that it could be\nlet down and made to close the entrance to the cave from above. I\ndon\u2019t know how thick it is, but I am going to find means to cut\nthrough it. By the time you have found the child I shall probably have\ngot through to Miriam Grey--by-the-bye, did you look for the grave\nwhich old Te Makawawa spoke about?\u201d\n\nI had quite forgotten it. \u201cNo,\u201d I replied; \u201cI was too busily employed\ninside the mountain looking for my own. But now\u2019s our time--let us\nmake use of it. There\u2019s only one rimu of any size in the ravine; it is\nunmistakable.\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2018Beneath the great rimu where the tui sings\u2019--those were the old\nchief\u2019s words,\u201d said Kahikatea, as we made our way along the bank of\nthe river and past the deep pool into the valley, which was shut in\nagainst the mountain wall by the descending spur. There was no stream\nrunning out of the ravine, and the place was carpeted with moss and\nkidney ferns, upon which the afternoon sun here and there got in a\nsmile through some crevice in the foliage overhead. At length we came\nto a fairly open moss-grown space around a mighty vine-laced trunk,\nwhich supported the dark green velvety foliage of a magnificent\nmonarch of the bush.\n\n\u201cSplendid tree,\u201d said Kahikatea, taking off his hat and gazing up at\nthe fantails and tuis chasing the gnats about its sunlit sides.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said I, the prosaic, \u201cbut where is the grave?\u201d\n\nFor the next five minutes we were searching in the open space around\nthe tree. At length I found an inequality beneath the moss, and with\nour sheath knives we removed the superficial growth of fifteen years.\n\n\u201cThere has evidently been something buried here,\u201d said Kahikatea, as\nwe looked at the grave-like ridge, about two feet in length; \u201cif we\nfind bones, or all that is left of them, old Te Makawawa\u2019s a fraud,\nand you and I together will bore and blast a passage through by the\n\u2018way of the spider;\u2019 but, if on the other hand we find a stone, the\nold chief is to be trusted, in which case you must set out to look for\nCrystal Grey, and I will bore and blast alone.\u201d\n\n\u201cUnless you will come with me,\u201d I said.\n\nHe did not speak for a little while, and I saw he was hesitating. Then\nthe dreamy look came into his eyes--the look which I knew meant his\nstrange, mad desire to look into the face of Hinauri, who, lifeless,\nbut full of meaning, stood praying up there in the forehead of the\nmountain.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d he made answer presently. \u201cCrystal Grey is your quest. You must\ngo alone.\u201d\n\nWe were digging into the soft ground with our sheath knives and\nscraping out the dirt with our hands. When we were nearly two feet\ndown my sheath knife grazed upon something hard, and another minute\ndisclosed the surface of a stone embedded there.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019d better get it right out to make sure,\u201d said Kahikatea, and so we\nworked away until we had cleared its whole surface. Then, with the aid\nof a log for a lever, we hoisted it and placed it upon the moss.\n\n\u201cWithout a doubt the old chief is to be trusted,\u201d said Kahikatea.\n\n\u201cWithout a doubt,\u201d I rejoined. \u201cThere were points that I had made up\nmy mind to disbelieve. This was one of them. But now I have verified\nso much of his story that I am inclined to accept the whole of it as\ntrue. I shall act on the assumption that Crystal Grey is still living,\nand I shall search for her.\u201d\n\nWe replaced the stone in its grave and covered it up to look as much\nas possible the same as before, then found our way back along the bank\nof the stream to the camp beneath the mountain wall, where we spent\nthe remainder of the day and part of the night in discussing our\ndifferent undertakings.\n\nAgain I put the question to Kahikatea--a question which in after years\nI have often pondered as being one which was asked more wisely than I\nknew--\u201cWill you not come with me and search for Crystal Grey?\u201d and\nagain he answered me with the madness of the poet who, in setting his\nmind on visionary things, forgets that flesh and blood is the working\nbasis of all.\n\n\u201cWarnock,\u201d he said, \u201cI have hitched my waggon to a star and I\u2019m not\ngoing to unhitch it now. I have made up my mind to look into the face\nof Hinauri, the Daughter of the Dawn, and you would have me turn aside\nto help you search for Crystal Grey, the daughter of a mortal woman.\nNo, my friend, the daughters of mortal women are not for madmen like\nme. Warnock!\u201d--he smiled good humouredly at me--\u201cthe mother who freed\nHinauri from her age-long prison must be the mother of a beautiful\ndaughter. I prophesy that, when you have found the maiden, you will\nmarry her and live happily ever afterwards.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd you?\u201d I asked, smiling back, \u201cyou will wed an abstraction and\nbeget great poems. Now look here, Kahikatea, face the thing squarely.\nSuppose, according to the tradition, which was probably hoary long\nbefore Pygmalion and Galatea were thought of--suppose that Hinauri\nshould become a living, breathing woman, what would you do?\u201d\n\nHe did not answer for some little time, but remained looking straight\nbefore him. At length he gave a sigh and said, \u201cGranting for the\nmoment that such a thing were possible, Hinauri would be more to me\nthan she is now. I should love her with my whole self.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is to say, from your present standpoint of the impersonal, she\nwould be less to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no; the greater includes the less as a part of its greatness.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is to say,\u201d I persisted, pressing him hard, but not against his\nwill, for two in a solitude speak as brothers; \u201cif she came to life\nyou would still retain your ideal love for her, but would also give\nher the love that a man gives to a woman.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I cannot imagine that it should be otherwise.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell now; I begin to think that you are not in love with an\nabstraction after all, but that your feelings stand on a basis\nessentially human--founded on the life-likeness of the image--on that,\nand on the further romantic tradition that she will return.\u201d\n\nAgain he was silent. Then he said slowly, half to himself and half to\nme, \u201cThe yearning desire upon the face was human, it was living; the\ntenderness, the compassion, and that something more--a kind of\nsorrow-joy which I could not fathom, filled me with the strange\nthought that the stone could feel. I thought--I believe I said it\naloud--\u2018if brightness would only leap into those eyes, if the raven\ngloss would only come upon those tresses, if the laced bosom would\nonly move with the wonderful emotion of the face, what a glorious\nwoman would be there.\u2019 As I saw her she seemed to be waiting for a\nbreath or a touch. One sandalled foot, showing beneath the robe, had\nbeen advanced with the outstretched arms and the other seemed to be in\nthe act of following, while as yet a little breath of wind had pressed\nher robe gently against her. Ah! Warnock, you are right; it was not\nthe cold stone I saw, but the living woman.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd it is that living woman you are in love with,\u201d I concluded.\n\n\u201cYes, and I am not so mad after all.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou would not be if only that woman had a real existence.\u201d\n\n\u201cA real existence?\u201d he said in surprise; \u201ca strong idea will realise\nitself somehow. My dear Warnock,\u201d--his voice fell almost to a whisper,\nand he spoke with a strange eagerness--\u201cyou think me mad as it is, but\nat what I am going to say you will think me too far gone for argument.\nThe idea which, according to tradition, has lived in the minds of an\nhereditary priesthood from remote ages, has taken possession of mine\nalso. I mean the strong belief that Hinauri, as she is in that stone,\nwill return.\u201d\n\nI looked at him aghast. \u201cCan you give a reason for your belief?\u201d\n\n\u201cNone whatever!\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you admit it is contrary to all reason, and yet you believe it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not admit it is contrary to all reason; it may be in accord with\nsome reason of which you and I are ignorant.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt seems to me, that there can be no reasonable foundation for the\nidea that a stone will suddenly turn into flesh and blood.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet the idea that was made stone might also be made flesh.\u201d\n\nKahikatea said these words in deep abstraction. I took small note of\nthem at the time, though afterwards, when everything was made clear to\nme, when my own mind had yielded to nothing less than ocular\ndemonstration, they were burnt deep into my brain as some of the\ntruest and sanest words ever uttered. So deep was my friend\u2019s\nabstraction that he was unconscious of having thought and spoken. This\nwas evident, for, starting as if recalled from a deep reverie, he\nproceeded to reply to my last remark.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d he said; \u201cit is absurd to believe that a stone can turn into\nflesh and blood; yet I believe that Hinauri, the Daughter of the Dawn,\nwill return. That is my madness, Warnock, and yet it seems so sane\nthat even now I regard her as a living woman--the only one in the\nworld for me.\u201d\n\nHe rose as he spoke, and knocked his pipe out against the mountain\nwall. Turning towards me with a smile, he added: \u201cIf your\ndetermination to find Crystal Grey is half as great as mine to reach\nthe cave where the pure white woman stands, you will find her, and\nthen--well, I have prophesied what I have prophesied: the woman who\nharboured the vision of Hinauri could not have borne an unlovely\nchild.\u201d\n\nEarly on the following morning we left the shadow of the mountain wall\nand passed out from the Table Land beneath the red birches crowned\nwith mistletoe. By Tiki\u2019s guidance we retraced our steps, and by\nnightfall again reached the pool beneath the high cliff where we had\nwitnessed the phenomenon which had so terrified the Maori.\n\nHere we prepared to camp, but when I went to draw water from the pool\nto boil the billy, I discovered something which not only threw an\nadditional light on the inner workings of that temple in the rock\nwhich we had left behind us, but also had the effect of preventing our\ncamping at that spot. As I was stooping to draw up the water,\nsomething floating on the surface near by attracted my attention.\nTaking a dry branch from the bank I fished the object towards me and\nheld it up.\n\nIt was a hat!\n\nI looked at it more closely in the uncertain light and recognised the\narticle. It was my own hat that had gone down into the abyss in that\nterrible fight with Ngaraki and his speechless men in the interior of\nthe mountain. With my body full of shudders at the thought of what\nelse had fallen into the abyss on the same occasion, and my head full\nof the only possible explanation of this remarkable find, I sought\nKahikatea, and we agreed to move on and camp on the bank of some\ntributary stream lower down; which we did.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XI.\n THE SEARCH FOR \u2018THE LITTLE MAIDEN.\u2019\n\nOn the following morning I parted with Kahikatea, who was going back\nto his hut among the mountains, and thence to the nearest civilised\npart to procure such things as he required for his exploration. Tiki\nand I continued our way south towards the cottage on the bank of the\nstream where his band had left the child in Grey\u2019s care fifteen years\nbefore; not that we expected to find Crystal Grey still there, but for\nall that it was the right point at which to begin our search. I may\nsay here that I no longer had any doubts as to whether the child left\nthere by the Maoris was Miriam Grey\u2019s daughter, and, as we journeyed\nalong towards the gap between two lines of snow mountains, I talked\nwith Tiki about her.\n\n\u201cWhat clothes had she on when you took her south?\u201d I asked.\n\n\u201cA _kaitaka_ of kiwi feathers,\u201d he replied, with a readiness that\nassured me he could recall it perfectly. \u201cShe also had _huia_ feathers\nin her hair, sandals on her feet, and a small _heitiki_[19] hung\nround her neck.\u201d\n\nI pictured the little mite as a kind of \u201cpakeha Maori\u201d chieftainess\ntravelling south in the arms of a band of cannibals, but as safe as,\nperhaps even safer than, a well-guarded child in a Christian family,\nfor was she not under the word of protection of the _ariki_ Te\nMakawawa? Under such conditions she might have journeyed through the\nUriwera, entering it in childhood and emerging at womanhood, without\nso much as a hair of her head being harmed.\n\n\u201cWhat was she like to look at?\u201d I asked again.\n\nTiki made an expressive gesture of admiration with his hands.\n\n\u201c_He Pakeha!_ She was like a rising star. The young wild swan was not\nmore beautiful. When it was my turn to carry the little maiden I had\nstrange feelings, and when she looked at me with her dark eyes a\n_waiariki_[20] sprang up in my heart--ah! she had the eyes of a\nwitch, _pakeha_, but her words were like the sweet hymns of our\nancestress Par\u00e9. My heart flies out of my breast, like a bird into\nthe south, to search for the little white maiden beyond the snowy\npeaks there in the distance.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut she is not a little maiden now,\u201d I said. \u201cIf she is alive she is\ngrown up--almost a woman. And quite possibly she may have left this\nland to cross the Ocean of Kiwa.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! wherever she is she will be like the graceful nikau palm among\nthe trees of the valley, and her laugh will be like running water. I\nremember her laugh, _pakeha_! and her lips! they were as red as the\n_titoki_ berry in its sheath, but they will be blue with the tatoo\nnow, if she is almost a woman!\u201d\n\n\u201cI should hope not,\u201d I said, laughing. \u201cThey will still be as red as\nthe cherry, or as the _titoki_ berry in its sheath, if you like that\nbetter.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut her black hair will fall upon her shoulders, and she will wear a\n_kaitaka_ like our maidens,\u201d he persisted.\n\nI did not wish to damp his ardour in the search for \u2018the little\nmaiden,\u2019 so I said, \u201cPerhaps--we shall see!\u201d\n\nDay after day, as we journeyed on, we talked of the object of our\nquest, and I saw from the Maori\u2019s words that he worshipped the memory\nof this little maiden as that of a divine thing. What had he seen in\nher eyes to produce this lasting impression upon him? I conjured\nbefore my mind the fresh, fair young face of a girl of seventeen or\neighteen, with laughing lips and coal-black eyes, harbouring, perhaps,\na look of the sorceress in them--a look made more emphatic by\nenshrouding masses of raven hair. This face glanced down at me between\nthe fleecy clouds of the far south, but I recall the vision now only\nto dismiss it, for it possessed not the dawnlike flush of radiant\nbeauty that heaven had cast on Crystal Grey.\n\nOn the evening of the fourth day we came to the river along the right\nbank of which Tiki remembered taking the child. He led the way and I\nfollowed, marvelling at his memory of cliffs and dark pools, and\noutstanding trees which he had not seen for fifteen years.\n\nTwilight fell over the bush and the roaring river. I suggested camping\nand continuing the journey next morning. But Tiki said we were now not\nfar from the hut, so we held on for another half mile. Tiki was right,\nas he always was in matters of locality, for there, between some trees\na little withdrawn from the bank, we saw a small cottage; but no smoke\ncame from the chimney, nor was there a light in the window.\n\n\u201cIs it the place?\u201d I asked.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d he replied, looking about him; \u201cit is the place. There is the\n_totara_ beneath which we waited while our chief carried the little\nmaiden up to the hut.\u201d\n\nAs we advanced towards the cottage we soon saw that it was deserted.\nThe little bridge that spanned a stream was lying with one end in the\nwater, the gate opening on the garden path was leaning sideways from\none hinge; and, as we passed on up to the door, the overgrown path,\nthe wilderness of tangles in the garden, and, finally, the broken\nwindows of the hut itself showed that it had long since been deserted.\n\nOpening the door on its creaking hinges, we went inside. The place was\nquite bare, except for a bed of fern in one corner, where some\ntraveller had camped. There was no evidence of its having been\nregularly occupied for, I thought, at least ten years. However, I\nresolved to sleep there that night, and in the morning push on to the\nnearest sheep run, accommodation house, or digging township, as the\ncase might be, and make inquiries. Accordingly we swept the floor,\nbrought in more fern, boiled our billy on the hearth, and slept in\nmore comfortable quarters than those to which we were accustomed.\n\nA strange thing happened in the night--a thing which was the first in\nan extended series of inexplicable occurrences, in the progress of\nwhich I almost began to imagine I was being haunted. I awoke suddenly,\nand saw the bright moonlight flooding in through one of the empty\ncasements, and there, looking in, was what I accepted as a mean trick\nof my imagination. It was a face--the most vile and wizard-looking\nface I have ever seen. The features were those of a negro, wizened,\nwithered, evil-looking to a degree. I started up into a sitting\nposture, and rubbed my eyes, but when I stared at the open square of\nmoonlight again the face was gone. I sprang to my feet, went over to\nthe casement and looked out, but saw nothing. Yet what I heard chilled\nmy blood. From very far away in the bush came a wild, hideous laugh,\nlike that of a triumphant devil. Bah! was the place haunted, or was I\nridden by some nightmare which had grown out of my fearful experiences\nin the mountain cavern? I could make nothing of it, so I went back to\nbed, and when I awoke in the morning I laughed it away as a grotesque\nnightmare.\n\nWhen day came I had a good look round the place to see if I could find\nanything that would give me some sort of clue to the whereabouts of\nGrey, but nothing that I saw afforded me anything to the purpose.\nThere was an overgrown and almost obliterated bullock-dray road,\nhowever, which I knew must lead to some run or settlement, and this I\nproposed to follow, as it led away to the south-west, and would in all\nprobability bring us to the West Coast Goldfields, or, at all events,\nto the sea; so that, at least, we could find our way to Hokitika.\n\nA last look round the interior of the hut before setting out afforded\na peculiar piece of evidence to the effect that some child, six or\nseven years old, had left that hut in, or shortly after, the year\n18--. I arrived at this conclusion in the following way. While I was\nmaking a careful survey of ceiling, floor, and walls, my eye fell upon\nsome horizontal scratches on the bare wall near the fireplace. At\nfirst glance they appeared like markings made by a carpenter, but a\ncloser scrutiny showed me in a flash what they really\nwere--measurements of the growth of some child. There were eight or\nnine. The first, dated June, 18--, was about three feet six inches\nfrom the floor. The next stood an inch above, and so they ran up, some\nwith dates and others without, to the height of four feet and a little\nover. There at a certain date the measurements stopped, from which I\nconcluded that the child, whose growth had been registered in this\nway, may have left at that time. There were no markings anywhere else\nto give the idea that any other children had lived in the hut, so the\nonly conclusion I could draw was that these referred to the child who\nhad been left there with Grey some fifteen years since.\n\nBut a sudden thought arrested my mind. I was getting along a little\ntoo hastily. There might be another explanation of the sudden\ntermination of this systematic scale of measurements at the height of\nfour feet something. That last measurement might have had a black edge\nto it, in which case it occurred to me with a shade of sadness that\nits date might be found again burnt into some little wooden slab at\nthe head of a grave four feet something in length, in a sheltered spot\nin the garden about the hut.\n\nTo exhaust this alternative I explained my discovery to Tiki, and\ntogether we went out and made a thorough search all over the tangled\nwilderness of a garden, but, to my great relief, found no such grave\nor wooden slab. It was more probable, I thought, judging from the\ndeserted state of the place, and the growth of the quick-hedges since\nthey had last been cut, that Grey and the child had left the hut\nsomewhere about the year specified in the last measurement, nine years\nbefore the time of which I am writing.\n\n\u201cThe little maiden is not dead,\u201d said Tiki anxiously, when we had\nconcluded our search; \u201cno, she is not dead. We should have counted\nanother star in the sky, if the little maiden had passed over Wai Ora\nTane.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe is not buried here at all events,\u201d I replied with dry logic,\nwhich I fear compared but poorly with the poetical thought of the\nMaori. Then we found the bullock-dray road and set out on our tramp.\n\nOvergrown, bestrewn with _d\u00e9bris_ from the thick bush, and in parts\nalmost impassable, it led straight down into the south-west, and when\nwe had followed it for two or three miles it opened out into another\ndray road which was in good repair. Here we found fresh bullock\ntracks, with the ruts of dray wheels, and after travelling some five\nmiles in our right direction with the rising sun behind us, we heard a\nsound of \u2018language\u2019 ahead. It was the bullock-puncher talking in his\nmost persuasive tone to his long-suffering team.\n\nPresently, turning a slight bend in the road, we came up with him--a\nraw Irishman of the lankiest, boniest type imaginable, with fiery hair\nand a nose that had been blunted in Heke\u2019s war in the \u2019forties. His\ntrousers were not what they used to be; his boots were eighteen by\nfour; his shirt should have been at the binder\u2019s in several places,\nexcept where it was fashionably fastened at the collar with a tie of\nundressed flax clean that day from Nature\u2019s laundry; his socks, which\none looked for in vain between the bottoms of his trousers and the\ntops of his boots, were at the wash; and his clay pipe, stuck like a\ndagger in his belt of raw bullock\u2019s hide, looked as if it wanted\nrenewing; but--his language was divine, I mean profane, and his whip,\nas it curled in air and dusted last year\u2019s hair from the leader\u2019s\nflank, was eloquent with the sublimity of perfect punctuation.\n\nI was drawing out this bullock-puncher, when the off leader stopped,\nand, turning his lowered head to the right, gave a violent snort that\nscattered the dust and dry leaves from the ground. In a trice the\ngreat whip was unfolding itself in the air, and, as it came down on\nthe startled bullock\u2019s flank, the well of Irish much defiled\noverflowed its banks; but, in the confusion, I heard distinctly from\nfar away the same wild, mocking laugh of my nightmare. Again I asked\nmyself if I was haunted, and if so what earthly or unearthly thing had\nscared the bullock at that moment. Again I could make nothing of it,\nand dismissed the matter from my mind.\n\nWe walked by the side of this son of Erin for a mile, and I learned in\nthe course of conversation that there was a small digging township ten\nmiles further on. Seeing that he could not talk to his bullocks\nproperly with anyone else constantly interrupting the thread of his\nargument, and that he neither knew anything about Grey nor could tell\nme who had last lived in the hut on the river bank, we soon left him\nbehind, coming along slowly to the tune of \u201cWoo comother\nbyke--Skipper! byke--Skipper!! ye (crack) byke! Skipper!!!\u201d which tune\nhad no \u201cgrand Amen\u201d in it, but went on and on until, as we drew ahead,\nit died away further and further in the distance.\n\nTowards evening we reached the digging township--a quaint, mushroom\ngrowth of tents and rough wooden buildings. Here I began my inquiries,\nbut no one could give me any information. The floating population of\nthe gold diggings was not an easy field in which to find traces of a\nman who had probably left the district ten years before. The Hindu\nsaying, \u201cA piece of wood and a piece of wood may meet in the ocean,\nand having touched, float away again--like this is the meeting of\nmortals,\u201d is especially true in a gold-seeking world, where men come\nfrom everywhere, and drift about between California, Bendigo, and New\nZealand. But late that night chance favoured me. I dropped into the\ntap-room of an accommodation house a little way out of the township,\nand put my inquiries to the landlord. He shook his head, then turning\nto the ten or twelve occupants of the room who were playing euchre at\na large table, he addressed them collectively.\n\n\u201cSay, do any of you chaps know anything of a man named Grey, who lived\nin these parts about ten years ago?\u201d\n\nThe diggers paused in their play and looked up. One honest-looking\nruffian--a Scot, with sandy whiskers and quick grey eyes, paused with\nhis arm upraised in the excited attitude a man assumes when he is\nabout to plank down the right bower. I saw his eyes pass over me in a\nquick scrutiny; then, when the others had answered the landlord\u2019s\nquestion with negatives of various kinds, he spun the winning card on\nto the table instead of banging it down with a noisy thud in the usual\nway among diggers, and, pushing his chair back, asked another man to\ntake his place, and sauntered out of the room.\n\nI did not think this had any bearing on the matter in hand until\nafterwards, when, on leaving the place and proceeding along the road\nthat led back to the township, I was surprised to see this rough Scot\nstep out of the shadows by the roadside and come towards me.\n\n\u201cI heard ye askin\u2019 for Grey up yonder,\u201d he said, \u201cand I thocht maybe\nit\u2019s Dreamer Grey ye want.\u201d\n\n\u201cDreamer Grey?\u201d I repeated, laying stress upon the strange Christian\nname as I rolled it over in my mind. \u201cI don\u2019t know him by that\nname--in fact, all I know about him is that he disappeared from\nHokitika seventeen years ago, and lived for some time in a small hut\non the bank of the river about twenty-five miles down. He was a tall,\nsoldierly man, with curly black hair, brown eyes, and a short\nmoustache----\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, that\u2019s Dreamer Grey,\u201d he interrupted; \u201cbut tell me noo, what are\nye wantin\u2019 him for?\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you mistaking me for a detective on his track?\u201d I asked laughing.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m no so sure,\u201d he said gravely as his keen grey eyes met mine in\nthe starlight. \u201cI\u2019m no so sure, and until I weel ken what ye\u2019re\nwantin\u2019 him for I canna tell ye.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d I replied. \u201cGrey\u2019s wife has been left a large estate at\nhome and a lot of money, and I\u2019m searching for her--if living--or,\nfailing that, for evidence of her death.\u201d\n\n\u201cGrey\u2019s wife? eh, man, but Grey had nae wife. It canna be the same\nman?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes it is,\u201d I persisted. \u201cHe had a little girl named Crystal with\nhim, had he not?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, he had then, a bonny wee lassie.\u201d\n\n\u201cWith black hair and black eyes.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, I mind the wee lassie weel. Ah! man, but she was bonnie.\u201d His\nrough voice softened as he said the words.\n\n\u201cThat little girl was his own child,\u201d I went on.\n\n\u201cEh! What\u2019s that? what\u2019s that? his ain child? Weel noo; he telt me\nthat the bairn was left at his hut one night when he was asleep by the\nfire. Hoo d\u2019ye ken it was his ain bairn? Dreamer Grey wasna the man to\ntell his mate a dam lee, an\u2019 I\u2019m no the man to stand by and----\u201d\n\nHe was getting excited, and I hastened to explain.\n\n\u201cNow, you listen,\u201d I said, \u201cand I\u2019ll tell you how I know what I know;\nand, at the same time, you\u2019ll see that what Grey told you was\nperfectly true. I have gleaned from the Maoris that they took Grey and\nhis wife prisoners when they had only been married a few weeks. They\nkept the woman, but set Grey free, having first inoculated him with\nsome strange poison which clouded his mind, and, as they gave me to\nunderstand, entirely dislocated his memory. In due time the little\ngirl, his daughter, was born, and when she was two years old one of\nthe chiefs, not wishing to kill her, but wanting to be rid of her,\nsent her with a party of Maoris southwards, with orders that she\nshould be left with the first pakeha they encountered. They came\nacross the hut where Grey was living and left her there while he was\nasleep. Of course, he adopted the child not knowing it was his own.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, ay,\u201d said the Scot slowly. \u201cMan, that\u2019s a strange tale ye\u2019re\ntellin\u2019 me. But I mind weel that Dreamer Grey telt me he had forgotten\nhis past life, and he was sae mysterious aboot it that I thocht he had\ndone something that he didna wish to mind, and that\u2019s why I heid ma\ntongue when I heard ye speerin\u2019 aboot him up yonder at the hoose.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d I said. \u201cAnd how did he come by his strange name?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m comin\u2019 to that. He said that when the wee lassie was left wi\u2019 him\nshe telt him her name was \u2018Crystal Grey\u2019 as near as a bairn could say\nit; and so he ca\u2019d himsel\u2019 Grey, an\u2019 we ca\u2019d him Dreamer, because\nevery now and again he would stop in his work and look straight ahead\nin an oncanny way, as if he was tryin\u2019 to reca\u2019 somethin\u2019 he had\ndreamt. Ay, he was a queer body, and what ye say aboot his mem\u2019ry\nexplains many and many a thing that I couldna mak\u2019 oot.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell now,\u201d I said, anxious to come to the point, \u201cthe Maori tohunga\nwho doctored him with the poison knows where Grey\u2019s wife is and will\nreveal her hiding-place to me on one condition--that I find and bring\nback the child. Whether his conscience is troubling him, or whether\nsome strange superstition is at the bottom of it, I cannot say; but I\nhave reason to trust him, and, if I return with the child, I have no\ndoubt I shall find her mother. So if you know where Grey and the child\nare and have quite given up the idea that I\u2019m on Grey\u2019s track for\nsomething he doesn\u2019t want to remember, perhaps you can give me some\ninformation.\u201d\n\nAt this the honest Scot opened his heart, and told me how he and\nDreamer Grey had worked together on the goldfields; how, some ten\nyears before, Grey had made his pile, and had bought a large tract of\nland at the head of one of the sounds on the south-west coast, where\nhe settled down with one aim in life, to care for the well-being of\nthe wee bit lassie; and, finally, how, if I were to go there and say\nthat old Jim Crichton directed me, I should be welcomed with open\narms.\n\n\u201cAnd noo ma bonnie lad,\u201d he concluded, when he had told me this much\nand more, \u201cit\u2019s a dry tale that doesna end in a drink. Come on!\u201d\n\nAs he put his arm through mine and drew me away towards the\naccommodation house, a stone rolled from the top of a bank twelve or\nfifteen feet high on one side of the road.\n\n\u201cDid that fall of its own accord?\u201d I asked myself, and as if in answer\nto my question there came again that wild, unearthly laugh from far\naway back in the bush.\n\n\u201cDid you hear that?\u201d I asked excitedly, catching my friend by the arm.\n\n\u201cYes; someone laughing in the bush--sounds oncanny.\u201d\n\n\u201cI heard it once before,\u201d I replied, \u201cbut thought it was fancy--some\nmad hatter, I suppose.\u201d\n\nAnd we continued our way to the house.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n THE MAN-WHO-HAD-FORGOTTEN.\n\nOur journey to the coast, first through the dense bush and\nafterwards by goldseekers\u2019 tracks, was not marked by any adventure\nworth mentioning. Arrived at a village on the coast line near\nHokitika, we booked our passage by a whaler bound southward, and in\nless than a week we reached the Sounds.\n\nGrand, solitary, majestic are the bold features of this coast line\nwhich faces the westerly breezes of the Pacific. Gentle arms of the\nsea caress and almost entwine great mountain rocks that stand waist\ndeep in ninety fathoms.\n\nFollowing the Scot\u2019s directions accurately, I arranged with the\ncaptain of the whaler to put us ashore in a boat as soon as we came\nopposite the required Sound, which I recognised at once from\nCrichton\u2019s description. The opening was almost hidden by the\nperpendicular rocks which stood about the entrance, but, when we\npassed between these in the small boat pulled by two sturdy sailors,\nwe found a broad arm of smooth water within stretching for several\nmiles between rugged mountains, which grew gradually rounded and\nverdant as they sloped away inland.\n\nAs we passed over the glassy surface of this still water among still\nsurroundings, it seemed that we were entering a world where we should\nencounter no living thing but penguins and wild fowl.\n\nThe steady sound of our oars echoed from the rugged and precipitous\nshore; some ducks wheeled by overhead and disappeared round an elbow\nsome hundred yards beyond, and high up above the towering rocks, the\ndistant fleecy clouds shone in the rays of the setting sun. It was a\nsplendid solitude, whose substance and shadow were clearly defined and\ndivided by the millpond surface of the water.\n\nBut immediately on rounding the elbow beyond which the ducks had\ndisappeared, we came in view of something which jarred upon our sense\nof solitude. There, riding at anchor in a little wooded cove before\nus, was a large yacht.\n\n\u201cWhose is that?\u201d I asked one of the seamen who had come with us.\n\n\u201cI couldn\u2019t tell you, sir,\u201d was his response; \u201cbut there\u2019s a bit of\nthe Yankee about her. See them there spars\u201d--he broke off suddenly in\nhis speech to me and addressed the continuation of his remark\nexcitedly to his fellow seaman--\u201cwhy, blow me, Bill, if that ain\u2019t the\ncraft as we seen in Astrolabe Roads nigh on a month ago. What was the\nbig chap\u2019s name, him as was the owner?\u201d\n\n\u201cSe\u00f1or Cazotl,\u201d returned the other, regarding the yacht intently. \u201cI\nheard the skipper tellin\u2019 the doctor that he was a Mexican with whips\nof money and a nasty look in his eye; and what\u2019s more, if a man could\nbe judged by his crew, he was more like Old Nick himself out for a\nholiday than anyone else.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat was the matter with his crew?\u201d I asked.\n\n\u201cThe matter! why, the skipper said he\u2019d never seed a more hang-dog\nlookin\u2019 lot; a man with a crew like that ought to be hanged on general\nprinciples, he ought. Some was half-castes; there was two Spaniards\nwith murder scribbled all over \u2019em, and a Portuguese hunchback with a\nface like a wild gorilla; but the worst and curst of the whole swag\nwas a grey-headed, skinny wisp of a nigger what gave our skipper\nfantods, and made him think of Thugs and Areois, and them sort of\nuncanny sarpints.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe skipper evidently didn\u2019t care for Se\u00f1or Cazotl and his crew,\u201d I\nsaid.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re right there, sir. He ups anchor an\u2019 gets away the very next\nmornin\u2019 before the Mexican had a chance of returning his visit.\u201d\n\nBy this time we were abreast of the yacht, but we could not discern\nanyone on board; and, after weighing the remarks of the sailors, I did\nnot feel greatly inclined to have anything to do with the strangers.\nBut it fell out contrary to our inclinations, for, having avoided the\nyacht, we had no sooner reached the next bend than we nearly ran into\nits owner and two of his crew in a small boat coming down from the\nupper part of the sound. We were within twenty yards, when the man who\nwas steering, evidently Cazotl himself, called upon his two rowers to\ncease pulling, and waved his hand to us, evidently wishing to speak.\nThe sailors reluctantly obeyed the intimation, and, as we drew up\nwithin two oars\u2019 lengths of each other I observed the huge, ungainly\nproportions of Cazotl sitting in the stern, and his evil face, whose\nlow forehead, square protruding jaw, and leering lips were half\nconcealed by a wealth of glossy black hair. His long, flat nose lent a\npeculiar interpretation to his face, and filled me with the strange\nfancy that if one of his first parents may have been a fiend, the\nother might certainly have been a giant ape. Moreover, there was a\npeculiar suggestion of red fire in his eyes which riveted my\nattention. As he drew nearer and was about to speak, I found myself\nwondering where I had seen that face before. The general cast and\nexpression were familiar to me, but I could not recall where or when I\nhad seen it.\n\n\u201cGood day to you,\u201d he said. \u201cDo you live in these parts, or are you a\nwandering star like myself?\u201d\n\n\u201cGoing to the head of the Sound for a time,\u201d I replied shortly; \u201cgot a\nfriend living there. Just come off a small sailing craft outside.\nThat\u2019s your yacht down there, isn\u2019t it? You, I presume, are Se\u00f1or\nCazotl?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, at your service. I should be very pleased if you and your friend\nat the head of the Sound would do me the honour of looking me up some\nevening.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you,\u201d I said. \u201cI will mention your kind invitation to my\nfriend, but his house is some miles up the Sound. We must push on if\nwe hope to reach it before dark.\u201d\n\nThe two sailors were not slow to ply their oars, and, as we began to\nmove off, Se\u00f1or Cazotl said: \u201cI shall be very pleased to see you, if\nyou care to come.\u201d\n\nBut I did not reply, for my glance had fallen for the first time on\nthe two who were handling the oars in his boat--and what I saw\ndeprived me of speech for the moment. The one was a Spaniard with\n\u201cmurder scribbled all over him,\u201d and the other was the white-haired,\nskinny, Thug-like wisp of a negro. I stared in amazement, for I\nrecognised his wizened face as that which I had seen in the moonlight\nat the window of the hut on the bank of the river. In another moment\nI jerked out some reply--I cannot remember what--and we passed on\ntowards the head of the Sound, while Cazotl\u2019s boat continued its way\ntowards the yacht.\n\nThe sailors, as they rowed on, talked to each other in a manner not\nflattering either to Cazotl or his crew, but I sat silent. Two things\ntroubled me. Had that lithe negro tracked me through the bush, and, if\nso, why? And where had I set eyes on Cazotl\u2019s face before? His yacht\nhad been seen some weeks since in l\u2019Astrolabe Roads, which locality\nwas not far either from Te Makawawa\u2019s _pa_ or from the place where I\nfirst landed from Wakatu. A shudder ran through me as I asked myself\nif it was possible that the Thug-like creature I had just seen had\ntracked me from the moment when I landed until now. In answer to my\nquestion there came into my mind that far-away laugh which I could not\nunderstand, as in each case it had followed some false step or\nsemi-exposure of someone near at hand. The more I thought the more I\nwas convinced that I had been tracked by this thing with the evil\nface; and, as it dawned upon me that, if it was so, there must be some\nconnection between that fact and the appearance of the yacht down\nthere near our destination, I felt forebodings which I could not\ndispel. I was aroused from these dark thoughts only to be plunged into\ndarker by Tiki, who, gazing steadily after Cazotl\u2019s boat, remarked:\n\u201cWanaki! if that _taepo_[21] catches the little maiden he will roast\nher in the oven. _Oa!_ I have heard the _ariki_ say, \u2018Beware of the\nchildren of the Great Woman of Death and Darkness; and by this you\nshall know them: they have the gleam of the red fire in their eyes.\u2019\u201d\n\nIt was dark when the two sailors landed us at the head of the Sound,\nand made their way back to their ship. As far as one could see by the\nuncertain light of the stars, the rugged characteristics of the place\nhere sloped off into rounded hills enclosing a broad, fertile valley,\nwhich widened out considerably before being lost among the hills\ninland. There were banks of trees not more than a quarter of a mile up\nthe valley, and there I concluded we should find Grey\u2019s house.\n\nIt was not very long before we struck a path leading up from the\nwater. This, as we followed it, took us through green fields, where\nsheep and horses were grazing. Then before us we saw the great banks\nof trees. Coming at last to some slip bars beneath high blue-gums, we\ngained a square enclosure some acres in extent, in the midst of which,\nembowered in trees, we discerned vaguely the gables of a house. In the\nupstairs window of the gable facing us a light was showing through the\nclose-drawn blind. Someone was going to bed.\n\nOur path led us round an umbrageous orchard and brought us out on to a\nwell-kept lawn, where, passing beneath some cedars which stood apart,\ntheir boughs moving gently between us and the stars as they whispered\nin the night wind, we approached the picturesque old country house.\n\n\u201cYou stay here beneath the trees,\u201d I said to Tiki, thinking his\nappearance might frighten the inmates; \u201cand I will come for you\npresently.\u201d\n\nThen, finding my way round the verandah, I sought out the front door\nand knocked. Presently, through the glass panel at the side of the\ndoor, I saw a light approaching along the hall, and a moment later the\ndoor was opened by a tall man with a candle in his hand.\n\n\u201cAre you Mr. Grey?\u201d I asked, recognising him from Te Makawawa\u2019s\ndescription--a soldierly man with curling hair, brown eyes, and short,\nblack moustache.\n\n\u201cThat is my name,\u201d he replied, holding the candle up and scanning my\nface.\n\nI said, \u201cI am a stranger to you, but I come from Jim Crichton, whom I\nmet in the Karamea; and I have something important to tell you.\u201d\n\n\u201cFrom Jim Crichton!\u201d he said, with pleased surprise. \u201cYou are welcome,\nthen, if your news is good or bad. Come in.\u201d\n\nHe led me into a room that looked like a library, and proceeded to\nlight the lamp.\n\n\u201cEverybody\u2019s gone to bed,\u201d he said, as he turned the wick up, \u201cand I\nwas just going myself. We\u2019re early to bed and early to rise here. Take\na seat, Mr.--let me see, you did not tell me your name.\u201d He smiled at\nme kindly. In the smile and the expression of his face anyone could\nsee that he was a man with a large heart.\n\n\u201cWarnock--Dick Warnock.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! sit here, Mr. Warnock, and before you tell me your news let me\nget you something to eat; I daresay you\u2019re hungry.\u201d\n\nHe went out of the room, and I glanced around at the pictures on the\nwall, the books in the shelves, and the delicately arranged flowers on\nthe table. It was the room of a successful man with refined tastes,\nand in many places there were gentle evidences of a feminine hand.\n\nIn a few minutes he returned, bearing a tray with various things to\neat and drink, and while I was partaking of these he talked about his\nold friend Crichton, recalling incidents of the goldfields.\n\nWhen I had finished my meal, and had tuned my pipe to his cigar, I\nleaned back in my chair and said: \u201cNow to my news.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll in good time,\u201d he replied with a pleasant smile; \u201cis it good or\nbad?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is good, but I have no doubt it will startle you, even to the\nextent of leading you to doubt my sanity, or at least my story.\u201d\n\nHe raised his eyebrows and looked steadily at me for a while; then,\nblowing forth a cloud of smoke, he remarked quietly: \u201cAll right. I\u2019m\nnot easily startled. Proceed.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn order to find the exact point at which I must begin,\u201d I said, \u201cI\nshall have to ask you a few questions. In the first place, do you\nremember the hut on the bank of the river where you lived?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, perfectly well.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood. Do you remember your first coming to that hut through the\nKaramea bush?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I remember that.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell now, one question more; can you remember the place you set out\nfrom on that occasion?\u201d\n\nGrey took his cigar from his lips and fixed his eyes on the lamp,\nwhile a dreamy, puzzled expression came on his face. At last, drawing\nhis hand over his brow, he turned to me and said: \u201cPerhaps it will be\nyour turn now to doubt either my sanity or my story; but,\nnevertheless, what I am about to tell you is the sober truth. Four or\nfive days before reaching that hut something happened to me, I don\u2019t\nknow what, but at all events I have never been able to recall anything\nthat transpired previously. The last I can remember, and it is a very\ndim memory, is that I found my way down from a high place among the\nmountains. All beyond that is a blank in my mind--a blank containing\nnothing but the consciousness of something forgotten.\u201d\n\n\u201cI doubt neither your sanity nor your story,\u201d I hastened to reply.\n\u201cBesides, I have ample evidence of the truth of what you say; and not\nonly that, but I can set before you various important details of your\npast life which, as I said, will startle you.\u201d\n\nHe scanned my face again more eagerly than before. \u201cAre you an old\nfriend whose face and name I have forgotten?\u201d he asked wistfully.\n\n\u201cNo, not that,\u201d I replied. \u201cI have my information from the Maoris. Do\nyou know that you have a wife and daughter, Mr. Grey?\u201d\n\nHe started. Then leaning forward over the table and looking earnestly\nin my face, he asked, hoarsely:\n\n\u201cStill living?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have every reason to believe that your wife Miriam is still\nalive----\u201d I paused, wondering if in his oblivion he had married\nagain, and if, perhaps--it was a painful thought--the woman of his\nchoice was at present the head of his household. His face, wrought\nwith nervous emotion, told me nothing of this kind; and if I had not\npaused he would have interrupted me in his excitement.\n\n\u201cThank Heaven!\u201d he said, striking the table with his fist, and rising\nfrom his seat to pace the carpeted floor; \u201cthank Heaven I have never\nmarried again. And my daughter--speak, sir--my daughter?\u201d\n\n\u201cWas left at your hut fifteen years ago while you were asleep by the\nfire.\u201d\n\nHe stopped in his pacing to and fro on the other side of the table and\nfaced me with a countenance from which all traces of excitement had\nfled. Slowly a fine light began to burn in his brown eyes. Like a man\nwalking in his sleep, he felt his way round the table, and, seating\nhimself again in his chair, said in a deep, hushed voice, which had a\nstrange ring of sweetness in it: \u201cCrystal Grey my own child--the\nmother whom she has led me to love above all other\nwomen--my--own--wife. I, I, Warnock!\u201d--he started from his chair\nagain--\u201ccan you prove this? Quick! or I shall go mad; man, it is more\nthan I ever dared to dream.\u201d\n\nThen, as clearly as I could, I laid before him the facts which the\nreader already knows, telling the story of Te Makawawa, but, in\naccordance with our understanding with the old chief, omitting all\nmention of the legend of Hinauri and the statue in the marble cave. As\nI proceeded I strengthened point by point with evidence derived from\nmy own adventures in the mountain, with the carved piece of wood,\nwhich I handed him across the table, and with that part of Kahikatea\u2019s\nadventure which involved no mention of the sacred stone.\n\n\u201cIt is strange,\u201d he said, when I had finished; \u201cbut for the last\nseventeen years, which is the only part of my life that I know, there\nhas passed scarcely a day without some flitting reminiscence of giant\nrocks, with an additional dream-glimpse of something which has always\neluded me. In the midst of my work, or perhaps when I am in\nconversation with someone, I will suddenly see in my mind\u2019s eye a\nwoman\u2019s face--ah! very often that woman\u2019s tender face--then a patch of\ngrey rock, a smooth white stone, or a gigantic crag against the blue\nsky; but, beyond that, nothing, except a vague consciousness of some\nlong chain of events which will not disclose themselves.\u201d\n\nWhen I continued my tale, and concluded with the statement of Te\nMakawawa\u2019s express condition that when I returned with the child he\nwould inquire of his ancestors concerning the whereabouts of Miriam\nGrey, but not before, Dreamer Grey\u2019s eyes sparkled with purpose and\nresolve.\n\n\u201cWe will go, Warnock,\u201d he said, \u201cwe will go, the three of us together,\nand find my wife, if she is still alive.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe three of us?\u201d I said. \u201cYou, I, and----?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, Crystal of course; she went to bed before you came. But, by\nHeaven! I must go and wake her and tell her this news.\u201d\n\nBefore he had finished speaking he was out of the room and half way up\nthe stairs. Suddenly remembering Tiki waiting beneath the cedars, I\nwent softly out of the house with half a loaf of bread in one hand and\na large piece of cold pork in the other, with which, having found him,\nI advised him to regale himself. But, hungry as he was, he did not\nbegin until he had asked the question which probably he had asked\nhimself a hundred times since I had left him: \u201cIs the little maiden in\nthere?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d I replied, \u201cshe\u2019s in there; you\u2019ll see her to-morrow, perhaps.\nStay here and I\u2019ll come out again soon with Pakeha Kerei, and he\u2019ll\nfind you some place where you can pass the night.\u201d\n\n\u201c_He Wanaki_,\u201d was all he said, but it meant a great deal. It meant\nthat eating and sleeping were matters of no moment now that he knew\n\u2018the little maiden\u2019 was alive.\n\nLeaving him, I returned to the house and waited for Grey. When he came\nback some time later his face was full of a gentle happiness. The\ndiscovery that Crystal Grey was not an adopted child, but his own\ndaughter, had touched the very depths of his soul.\n\n\u201cWarnock,\u201d he said, grasping my hand, \u201chow can I ever repay you for\nthis?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am already a paid servant,\u201d I faltered, \u201cdrawing my salary from\ncertain trustees of a large estate at home.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! yes,\u201d he replied, \u201cmoney might repay you for your trouble, but\nhow can I discharge the debt of gratitude I owe to you, who have\nbrought me this great happiness?\u201d\n\n\u201cI give it up,\u201d I said laughing; \u201cand I advise you to do the same. In\nthe meantime, I have a Maori waiting outside, and I took the liberty\nof taking him some food while you were away. He\u2019s a bit of a savage,\nand perhaps it would be best for him to sleep in the barn--he would be\nmore comfortable.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, yes; where is he?\u201d he asked. Then, as I led the way, he added\nwith a merry laugh: \u201cI suppose he\u2019d never forgive us if we put him\nbetween sheets in a feather bed--he\u2019d think his days were numbered,\neh?\u201d\n\nI laughed in reply. I was becoming infected with my host\u2019s happiness.\n\n\u201cDo you talk Maori?\u201d I asked, as we found Tiki finishing his meal\nbeneath the cedars; \u201cthis fellow can\u2019t speak a word of English.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I can\u2019t,\u201d he replied, \u201cbut Crystal can. She\u2019ll put him through\nhis facings in the morning. Where shall we bed him down, in the barn\nor in the hay loft?\u201d\n\n\u201cI think a bundle of straw in the corner of the verandah would be a\nluxury to him.\u201d\n\n\u201cRight! you wait here. I\u2019ll soon fix him up.\u201d And he disappeared, to\nreturn presently with a lantern and a large bundle of straw which he\ndeposited in the most sheltered part of the verandah, where, following\nmy instructions, Tiki made his bed and turned in. We then went inside\nthe house; and when, after a long, earnest talk, my host had shown me\ninto the best bedroom, he said \u201cGood-night,\u201d and retired to rest.\n\nUntil long after everything was quiet I leaned upon the window-sill\ngazing at the stars, and basking in the atmosphere of happiness which\nhad fallen upon that house. The cloth of gold roses that clustered\nround the window gave a faint odour, which stole softly out upon the\nquiet air, for the night wind had died away in the blue-gums, and the\ngarden below was very still. The sound of a breaking twig, the sighing\nof the guilty aspen as its leaves turned restlessly in their sleep,\nthe chirping of a cricket on the lawn, the munching of the horses in\nthe stable, the hooting of an owl in the plantation, and the baying of\na shepherd\u2019s dog on the hills--these were the sounds that emphasised\nthe stillness of the night. But suddenly, from far away, came the\nfaint refrain of a wild, heathenish chant, rising and falling on the\nstill night air in weird, barbaric changes. As I listened it chilled\nmy blood, breaking through the sweet, happy silence of the place like\na note of horror. I knew it came from the direction of Cazotl\u2019s yacht.\nWith a shudder I closed the window to shut it out.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIII.\n CRYSTAL GREY.\n\nSo long accustomed to rise at the first signs of day, I was unable\nto break myself of the habit suddenly. Consequently, according to long\ncustom, I awoke next morning just as the faint grey of dawn was\nappearing above the eastern hills. To wake and to get up were the same\nthing to a man of my abandoned restlessness. In less than twenty\nminutes, therefore, I was dressed. Picking a dew-covered rose-bud from\nthe clusters about the window, I went downstairs fastening it in my\nbuttonhole, passed out at the front door, and on to the verandah.\n\nTaking the opposite direction from that in which Tiki had retired for\nthe night, I found my way round the verandah to the back corner of the\nhouse, where, beneath heavy festoons of flowering vines, some wooden\nsteps led down into a well-planned wilderness of a garden. There I\nroamed beneath the trees in the dim light and strange hush of early\ndawn. The faint twittering of a thousand birds came from the tall\nnative trees that walled the place in from the outer world. It was a\nwonderful garden, and had evidently been laid out by some early\nsettler with English ideas, long before Dreamer Grey came to the\nplace. There were well-worn paths between umbrageous native _matapo_,\n_titoki_, and _ngaio_; and leaf-strewn sward beneath isolated fruit\ntrees, which were quite forty years old.\n\nWandering about in this old-world garden, with now a glimpse of the\nrosy sky between the wall of native trees, and now the taste of a plum\nor cherry that hung low on the dewy branch, I came at length upon a\ncurious grove of hazels planted in short rows, at right angles to a\nhawthorn hedge in such a way as to form a suite of five or six rustic\nrooms, roofed above by the arching boughs of the nut trees, walled in\nbehind by the hedge, and screened from the rest of the garden in front\nby the drooping foliage of some branches trained for the purpose.\n\nI saw all this in a first glance through the leafy screen of one of\nthem, for the now crimson sky beyond, showing through a gap in the\ntall native trees and flooding in over the hedge, suffused the\ninterior with a dreamy light. When I had pushed my way in I found that\nthis garden retreat showed signs of occupation. There was a hammock\nslung across it from the stoutest stems of the hazels. A small table\nstood against one wall of stems, a rough seat against the other. An\neasel and palette reclined against the hedge, which was almost covered\nwith the profuse pink bloom of geraniums; and, on the floor, carpeted\nwith last year\u2019s leaves and nuts, stood a cushioned wicker chair.\n\nThe dry nuts cracked beneath my heavy boots as I walked towards the\nhammock and picked up a book that lay there on a cushion. It was a\nwell-worn volume of Shelley\u2019s poems, and on the flyleaf was written,\n\u201cCrystal Grey, her book.\u201d I put it down and glanced round the quaint\nplace again, murmuring to myself, \u201cCrystal Grey, her studio.\u201d\n\nIt seemed a place of dreams, and it suited my mood, so I placed the\nwicker chair against the hedge, and sat down to watch the delicate\nhues which were beginning to glorify the screen of leaves that shut me\noff from the garden. As the sun showed signs of his rising behind me\nthese leaves, catching the flush, stood out against the shadows\nbeyond. They changed from dark green to light, then glistened into a\npale yellow. Finally, as the sun\u2019s first ray struck through the pink\ngeraniums on the hedge, they were glorified with delicate rosy hues,\nand all the place was suffused with the fresh dewy pink of early dawn.\nHow beautiful it was, that glorious sunlight glistening on the silk\npattern of the cushion in the hammock, touching the stems of the\nhazels with light and shadow, and striking the leaf-strewn ground with\na deep russet as it fell even to the foot of the leafy screen, all\nfresh and dewy through the sparkling air.\n\nI awoke from my dream at some sound that reached my ears. It was a\nfootfall on the grass outside. It drew near. I heard the rustle of a\nskirt. In another moment the sunlit leaves about the entrance were\ndrawn aside, and a girl entered. The boughs swung to behind her, and\nshe stood in the sun ray, still holding one branch with her hand,\nwhile she regarded me for a moment with hesitation. I said a girl, but\nmy first impression of Crystal Grey was that she was something between\na proud goddess and a sweet angel: the former aspect slumbering in her\ncoal-black eyes and wavy black hair, the latter wide awake upon her\nlovely face and perfect form, clad, as all angels are, in white. The\nmysterious eyes of deep night, and the hair of deeper night contrasted\nstrangely with the innocent wistfulness of the rest of the face. If\nthe eyes were those of some severe sage, made young again by a draught\nof his wondrous elixir, the sweet girlish lips looked as if they had\nkissed the early morning dew from a ripe peach and carried away the\nfreshness of it. I rose from my wicker chair and stood facing her,\nwith the hammock between us. I was too dazzled by this sudden\napparition of girlish beauty, beyond my power to describe, to stammer\nout a single word; and, while I was trying to begin an apology for my\nrough appearance in her garden sanctum, she spoke first.\n\n\u201cAre you the stranger that brought the good news?\u201d she asked, as she\nlet go the branch and advanced a step towards me.\n\n\u201cI am,\u201d I replied; \u201cbut that hardly excuses my trespassing here\nperhaps.\u201d\n\n\n [image: images/img165.jpg\n caption: \u201cSHE SEATED HERSELF SIDEWAYS ON THE HAMMOCK, WHILE I RESUMED\n MY WICKER CHAIR, AND TOLD AGAIN THE STORY WHICH I HAD NARRATED TO HER\n FATHER.\u201d]\n\n\nShe extended her fair, white hand, and, as I took it in my rough brown\none, looking into her eyes the while, a combination of feelings took\npossession of me. I can only liken it to the laying of the\nfoundation-stone of a love which would mount upwards for ever and\never, like a crystal staircase leading to the far-off heaven of her\nsoul.\n\nHer sweet lips moved, then trembled, but no words came. Only her eyes\nspoke unfathomable things, as they burned with feelings, tender and\nmysterious; only a sigh escaped her as she turned her head away.\n\n\u201cWhat is it affects you so in the news I bring?\u201d I asked.\n\n\u201cMy mother,\u201d she replied; \u201cis she still living? Do you think we can\nfind her? Oh! tell me the story of your adventures again; perhaps\nthere was something my father left out.\u201d\n\nShe seated herself sideways on the hammock, while I resumed my wicker\nchair, and told again the story which I had narrated to her father the\nnight before.\n\nWhen I had finished, she said, \u201cMay Heaven reward you for all you went\nthrough.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am rewarded already,\u201d I replied.\n\n\u201cYou mean that Heaven has rewarded you in advance by giving you a\ndisposition that gets its happiness from making other people happy.\u201d\n\nI was ashamed of my poor attempt at a compliment and said, \u201cYes, that\nis what I meant\u201d--though it was nothing of the kind--\u201conly I am not\nclever at expressing myself.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you think that last shot of yours killed Ngaraki?\u201d she asked, with\na gentle concern in her voice, for I had told her more about the chief\nthan I had to Grey the previous evening.\n\n\u201cI hope not,\u201d I replied; \u201che was a noble fellow, and had a fine hatred\nof the Vile Tohungas, because, as he said, they were the Destroyers of\nWomen.\u201d\n\nA slight change of expression passed over her face, and with a quick\nintuition she said:\n\n\u201cThere is something you have kept back. Almost my only memory besides\nthat of my mother\u2019s face is what I think must have been an image\ncarved out of marble, all white and beautiful. Did you see any such\nthing?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I did not see what you speak of, but I saw Ngaraki hold up his\narms and gaze--like the Twelfth Tohunga I have told you about--up\nthrough the darkness to something which he knew was far above, and I\njudged from the chief\u2019s manner that the object he was addressing was\nsublime and beautiful.\u201d\n\nThere was a silence, during which Crystal was evidently engaged in\ntrying to recall more of this earliest memory, while I was considering\nwhether, if I spoke of Kahikatea\u2019s experience, I should be breaking my\npromise to Te Makawawa. At length, proceeding on the argument that his\ndiscovery was independent of the old chief\u2019s revelations, I concluded\nthat I was on safe ground.\n\nI said, \u201cNow that you have mentioned the matter, I might tell you that\nI have a friend who says he has seen that beautiful image in a high\ncave in the mountain. How he got there I hardly know, and how he got\nout again he does not know himself, but he says he saw the marble\nstatue of a lovely woman, young--almost a girl. She was standing near\nthe mouth of the cave with her arms outstretched, as if to some vision\nin the western sky, and on her face was stamped a divine and radiant\nbeauty, while her form, still and cold, yet full of motion, seemed\nready to spring to life at a touch. The prayers of all women who lift\ntheir eyes unto the hills were upon her lips. The sightless eyes\nderived their love-light from the longing expressed by the whole\nfigure yearning forward to some glorious future of our race when----\u201d\n\nI paused, for while I had been speaking Crystal\u2019s hands had clasped\nthemselves together in her lap, a rapt look had come to her eyes, and\nmy thoughts wandered from the statue. However beautiful, however\ndazzling it might be, it could not be more so than this girl before\nme. Therefore, as I said, my thoughts wandered from the statue; I\npaused and she, with a start, turned her eyes upon me with looks of\nserious wonder.\n\n\u201cWhat a symbol of the ideal woman!\u201d she said. \u201cAll white--standing far\nabove the world--waiting, with a prayer upon her lips, for the dawn of\na brighter day. She is the higher self of all women who wait and pray,\nand try to be white. What did your friend think?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe thought just what you think. Indeed, he even went so far as to\nfall madly in love with that ideal woman in his own strange, poetical\nstyle, and he now swears he will find his way to that cave to look\nupon her face again. Pygmalion and Galatea make a very pretty story\nbetween them, but don\u2019t you think it\u2019s rather a wild kind of poetry\nfor a man of the nineteenth century to love a stone?\u201d\n\nShe smiled a sweet, sad smile at one of the little leaves overhead, as\nit opened and shut its tiny door against the blue. \u201cSurely it is not\nthe stone your poetical friend has fallen in love with,\u201d she said\npresently; \u201cit is the beauty and meaning depicted on that stone--how,\nand by whom, is a mystery.\u201d\n\nThe breakfast bell rang vigorously from the verandah, and covered the\nsilence with which I greeted her last remark. It was not because I saw\nany reason for secrecy that I kept this part of Te Makawawa\u2019s secret,\nbut simply because it had been tacitly understood between him and me\nthat it was not a matter for repetition.\n\nCrystal rose from the hammock, and saying that her father would be\nwaiting for us, led the way towards the house.\n\nAs she hastened before me among the trees of the garden, and, later,\nwhen she stood and waited for me on the verandah steps, looking down\nbetween the clustering vines, I thought that any man, no matter how\npoetical, was a fool to fall in love with the beauty depicted on a\nstone, when the world of living things contained such loveliness in\nthe flesh. Truly it was as Kahikatea had said: the woman who had\nconceived the image of Hinauri and reproduced it upon the stone could\nnot have borne an unlovely child. Yet to say that Crystal Grey was\n\u201cnot unlovely\u201d would be a very inadequate description. More positive\nstatements than that would have fallen from lips more matter-of-fact\nthan mine. If eyes were made for seeing, then Crystal Grey had her own\nexcuse for being, as someone somewhere sings, but if words were made\nfor description, the subtle charm of this child of dreams could find\nno vehicle but music.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIV.\n THE CHIEF OF THE VILE TOHUNGAS.\n\nHaving made up his mind to accompany me with his daughter on our\nsearch expedition, Dreamer Grey began setting his sheep-run and his\nhousehold matters in order, in view of an absence which might prove\nprolonged. It was necessary to engage a competent manager to look\nafter things, and this meant a delay of at least a week, which,\nhowever, would afford ample time to prepare for the journey. During\nthe first two or three days of this week I saw much of Grey, helping\nhim with his sheep and various other things that had to be seen to. As\na consequence we got to know and trust each other well.\n\nTiki, who worshipped \u2018the little maiden\u2019 as if she were a divine\nbeing, and, when she spoke to him in his own tongue, replied\ninvariably with a mixture of acquired politeness and native poetry,\nhalf comical, half grand to listen to, had made himself and me\nthoroughly uneasy about that _taepo_ he had seen in Cazotl\u2019s boat.\nWith the wisdom of a savage, who, long accustomed to intertribal wars,\nknows almost intuitively _when_ he is being tracked, if not _why_,\nTiki had it firmly fastened in his mind that the people on the yacht\nought to be watched. As I had not informed Tiki of my suspicion that\nwe had been tracked along the whole course of our journey, I regarded\nhis independent view more seriously than if he had known and\nexaggerated my own weird feeling in regard to that wizened negro.\n\n\u201cVery well, Tiki,\u201d I said, the day after our arrival, when he spoke\nabout it, \u201cif you think \u2018the little maiden\u2019 is in danger from those\npeople you might keep your eye on them.\u201d\n\nHe needed no second permission. From that time I saw very little of\nhim for several days, but I knew he was keeping a strict eye on the\nmovements of Cazotl and his crew. It was not until the evening of the\nfourth day after our arrival that my suspicions received verification,\nand his watchfulness nearly cost him his life.\n\nIn the evening of that day, when Grey was busy with some\ncorrespondence in his library, I strolled down into the garden, where\nI knew I should find Crystal, for I had seen her go out some time\nbefore with her sketching book. I had dreams of a heaven on\nearth--indeed, I should have been less than human if more than three\ndays had passed over my heart without bringing my \u2018love at first\nsight\u2019 to a stage in which I felt that the garden where Crystal moved\nand had her being was a sacred place. Sweetness lingered in the air.\nThe dreamy trees, as they rolled in the summer zephyrs, made music\nwhich could not be written down; the rustic retreat beneath the hazels\nwas full of an influence which I can only describe as the presence of\nangels lingering in an atmosphere which has been purified for them.\nSitting here alone late at night, I had been able to cast aside the\nlittleness of my life and feel that by right of an ennobling love I\nmight remain there awhile on sufferance. I was aware that a great\nchange had taken place in me. A new world had sprung into being, and\nthe splendour of its sun, moon, and stars was centred in Crystal.\n\nIt was with a feeling that all this must soon come to an avowal of\nlove, as surely as water boils at a given temperature, that I sought\nher that evening in the garden; and, I reflected, it would in all\nprobability reach a sudden end just as surely as the same water under\ndifferent conditions freezes at a given degree, for in all sober\nreason, who or what was I to deserve the love of such a girl? But I\nwent to find her all the same, and making my way to the retreat\nbeneath the nut-trees, held aside the leaves about the entrance and\nlooked in.\n\nCrystal was sitting in the wicker chair with an open book on her\nknees. Her hat was laid aside, and a wisp of her raven hair, fanned\nloose from the good-natured mass, half screened her cheek.\n\n\u201cMay I come in?\u201d I asked.\n\n\u201cYes, of course you may,\u201d she laughed, looking up and brushing the\nwayward wisp back into its place again. \u201cCome and read me some of\nKawana Kerei\u2019s legends in the original Maori.\u201d She held up the book as\nshe spoke.\n\n\u201cIn the original Maori?\u201d I said, seating myself on the rough bench\nagainst the hazel stems. \u201cThat reminds me. I saw a picture in an\nout-of-the-way corner of the drawing-room to-day with something in\nMaori written beneath it: \u2018Degrade the pure one! Whose is the task?\nMine! Mine!\u2019 Did you paint that picture?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she replied simply; \u201cI painted it quite lately.\u201d\n\nSeeing by her manner that she was a little confused, I asked: \u201cIs it\nfounded on some Maori legend?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo; it is--it is----\u201d She hesitated, with her eyes cast down; then,\nafter a pause, looked up with a shy smile and asked: \u201cHave you ever\nhad a very vivid dream, of which you can remember every detail so\naccurately that it seems like a real experience?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d I said; \u201cmy imagination is not strong enough for that; but if\nyou are going to say that picture was painted from a dream of your own\nI shall believe you.\u201d\n\nShe leaned forward in her chair and half whispered: \u201cYes, it was; I\nsaw it as plainly as I see you now, Wanaki,\u201d--she had caught my Maori\nname from Tiki--\u201ceven more distinctly, if that is possible.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me your dream,\u201d I said. \u201cI could not see the faces of the men in\nthe picture, as the light was not good, but I judge from the legend\nthat they were evil. It is strange that you should see unlovely things\nin your dreams. Will you tell it me?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is rather a terrible subject,\u201d she said, \u201cand I don\u2019t think I\nquite understood it even when I had painted the picture. Perhaps you\nwill tell me what it means. I dreamed that I went away over the sea\nfor thousands of miles. The silver-tipped waves shone beneath in the\nbright moonlight, and the little islands, fringed with palms and\nbelted with coral, were studded everywhere on the ocean. At last I\ncame to a vast country, where, in the interior, there were great hills\nand mountain lakes, impassable swamps and deep wildernesses. I saw\nancient ruins and long lines of what looked like giant cactus----\u201d\n\n\u201cMexico,\u201d I said, thinking aloud.\n\n\u201cIt may have been; it was vast and it was tropical. In my dream I\nfound myself standing among the ruined pillars of what must once have\nbeen a colossal temple. Now, it usually happens in a dream that one\nsees things vaguely, but in my dream it was different. I saw every\ndetail. The scale-like feathers on the huge stone snakes that were\ncoiled up the pillars, the glittering eyes of the vampire bats that\nclung about them, the huge green lizard that basked in a patch of\nmoonlight on the stone floor--all these were clear and distinct, and\non the heavy, broken stonework overhead, supported by the pillars,\nwere shadowy masses of creeping plants, with here and there a\nglistening aloe or clump of white flowers catching the moonlight\nthrough the crevices.\n\n\u201cAs I was looking at these things in my dream a murmur of voices came\nfrom within. I advanced between the treble row of pillars and saw a\nlarge inner space where there were a number of figures moving about a\ntall column. They were men of different nationalities, and they\nchanted a strange song while they looked up at the full moon which\npoured its rays down into the open space. These men had strong, evil\nfaces, with eyes that flashed red in the moonlight; I can remember\neach one perfectly, and have drawn them as I saw them.\u201d\n\nShe paused as if she were recalling the vivid scene, and, in the few\nmoments\u2019 silence, my mind flew back to the Vile Tohungas of the Pit\ngazing up at the full moon, nursing their stomachs and curling their\ngranite lips disdainfully as they worshipped. Ngaraki, no doubt, would\nhave read in this dream a word from his Great Tohungas of the Earth to\nthe effect that the Vile Brotherhood of Huo still existed, striving to\nwork out the age-long degradation of Woman, and, above all, to destroy\nhis ancient goddess, when, as the Daughter of the Dawn, she should\nreturn. Just as the sacred fire of Hinauri had been nursed in the\nbreasts of her guardians through pre-Maori races up to the present, so\nthe baleful red fire of the Vile Tohungas, taken into the north by\ntheir servant fleeing from the wrath of Zun, may have been kept\nburning through pre-Toltec civilisations even unto this day. In spite\nof myself, this idea was growing upon my mind, when Crystal continued.\n\n\u201cWhile I watched, their chant to the moon ended; and, as the last\nnotes fell, I fancied I could hear them rolling back into the distance\nlike the close of a song sung by a great multitude in the open air.\nThen a large black mirror was brought out of the darkness and fixed in\nposition so that the moonray was reflected high up on to a dark part\nof the smooth stone wall of the ruin. They began a wild orgy round the\npillar. It came to a sudden silence, and all stood still, gazing at\nthe moonlight on the wall. I looked also and saw, not on the rock, but\nin the distance through the rock, what looked like the central\nthoroughfare of some great city. By the glare of many lamps, high and\nlow, I saw carriages crossing and re-crossing, while omnibuses for\never stopped and moved on again. I saw people moving to and fro upon\nthe broad pavements; all about were women--many of them proud-looking\nand beautiful--who appeared to be waiting for someone. I did not\nunderstand what they were doing there, but when the men in the open\nspace of the temple cried \u2018It is well! It is well!\u2019 I knew that the\nvision had shown them the working out of some great wrong.\n\n\u201cThe picture vanished, and they returned to their orgy, which grew\nmore terrible and furious, then stopped suddenly as before, while they\nremained gazing fixedly at the moonlight on the wall. A second time\nthere came a scene--not the same place, though the people acted in\njust the same way--and this also was greeted with the cry, \u2018It is\nwell! It is well!\u2019\n\n\u201cIt vanished, and a third time the wild orgy was carried on. It\nreached a pitch of fury which horrified me, and, when it stopped\nsuddenly, and they stood gazing at the wall, the vision came again.\nBut this time it was the white figure of a woman standing among the\ntrees of a garden far away. The place was bathed in peaceful sunlight.\nIt was a sun-picture reflected by the moon from a distant spot. I\ncould not see the features of the woman, but her arms were raised to\nthe sky, and she seemed to be praying. Then, as if in answer to her\nprayer, there came, out of the blue, beings that seemed more like gods\nand goddesses than men and women. They came thronging down towards the\nworld--men with noble looks and perfect forms, and women with serene,\nheavenly faces full of all the tender goodness that should belong to a\nwoman. They appeared to separate to the four quarters of space, and I\nthought that here was a race of more perfect beings coming to people\nthis earth in answer to the cry of the woman.\n\n\u201cAt a sound of murmuring and confusion, I turned to the other watchers\nin the open space, and, as I did so, one among them, who seemed to be\nchief, stood out from the rest and held up a threatening hand towards\nthe far-off vision. He laughed, and his voice was more animal than\nhuman. Then he roared out the words you saw beneath my picture:\n\u2018Degrade the pure one! Whose is the task? Mine! Mine!\u2019 and with these\nwords ringing in my ears I woke. That was the dream; was it not\nstrange?\u201d\n\n\u201cVery strange,\u201d I said; \u201cbut your father called me as I was glancing\nat the picture, and I had not time to examine it very clearly. I\nshould like to have a good look at it if I may.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I\u2019ll run and get it now.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet me go,\u201d I volunteered. But she was before me, and ran up to the\nhouse. While she was gone I cast my memory over the extraordinary\ndream she had related. Matter of fact as I was, I could not but see\nthat if ever there was a meaning in a dream there was a meaning in\nthis. The Destroyers of Woman exulting at the slow undermining of\nmankind in the mass, their threat hurled at Woman as the Mother of a\nnobler and more godlike race, their resolve to degrade her as such, so\nthat this world should be peopled with dull, coarse forms, informed by\nvile minds, such as their own evil faces portrayed--all this, I\nreflected with astonishment, was indeed the tale of Ngaraki the\nsavage, retold from the heart of an innocent girl.\n\nMy reflections were cut short by the reappearance of Crystal with the\npicture.\n\n\u201cSee!\u201d she said, holding it up to the full light; \u201cthat is the man who\nroared out the words. Why--what is--oh! Mr. Warnock, what is the\nmatter?\u201d\n\nI had turned from the picture with a gasp, and had sat down on the\nwooden bench with my face buried in my hands. I looked up as she\nrepeated her words and saw mingled bewilderment and concern on her\nlovely face.\n\n\u201cIt is the face of a fiend,\u201d I said, \u201cnot of a man.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut why are you so strange? And why do you clench your teeth like\nthat? You\u2019re as pale as death--surely, Wanaki, the face of a fiend on\ncanvas cannot be so terrible to look at!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is the face of a fiend,\u201d I repeated fiercely, half beside myself\nwith maddening fears, \u201cnot of a man.\u201d\n\n_It was the face of Cazotl._ And, in those evil features, I traced a\nresemblance which had eluded me on my first sight of the Mexican in\nthe flesh--a resemblance to the bold granite features of the chief of\nthe Vile Tohungas of the Pit, so fiercely cursed by Ngaraki.\n\nVery weird to me was this strange, circumstantial suggestion that the\nlegendary chief of the Vile Tohungas had returned to be the actual\nhead of a brotherhood whose aims and objects were identical with those\nof ancient time. Yet forcible and valid seemed the conception that as\nthe guardians of Hinauri had brought their protecting curses down from\nthe remotest past, so her enemies, who, although driven far into the\nnorth as the aged chief had said, had preserved their continuity as a\nVile Brotherhood through the ages, had handed on even into the present\ntheir hatred of the Pure One, always with the aim of destroying her or\ncausing her to forget her Sign of Power. For awhile my shrewd,\npractical scepticism struggled against a strong unity of evidence\nderived independently from different sources. The aged chief\u2019s belief\nthat the Vile Ones would return, Crystal\u2019s dream picture of the\nDestroyers of Women, the undeniable resemblance of their chief to\nCazotl and to the granite image in the abyss--these things pointed my\nmind to strange conclusions; but when I reviewed the conflicting\npurposes of the Good and the Vile of ancient time and identified them\nwith the conflicting purposes of Ngaraki and Cazotl, I was for a\nmoment almost tempted to throw my common-sense to the winds and say\nthat the ancient giants of the two priesthoods had returned again and\nagain to the earth to continue the fierce struggle begun at the very\nfoundations of the world. But if Cazotl were the arch enemy of Ngaraki\nand the would-be destroyer of Hinauri, why should he have appeared to\nCrystal Grey in a dream? And why, again, should he seem to be in\npursuit of her? A vague apprehensive shuddering within me was the only\nanswer to these questions.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XV.\n THE DARKNESS PUTS FORTH A TENTACLE.\n\nThat night, long after the house was quiet, I remained leaning on\nthe sill of my bedroom window, looking down on the peaceful garden\nbelow and turning matters over in my mind. The night wind sighed and\ndied away in faint puffs upon the trees. A midnight hush was falling\nupon everything--a midnight hush and something more: great black\nclouds were banking up seaward, and the roses round my window were\nsending out heavy odours, such as flowers do before a thunderstorm.\nThe air became sultry as the inky clouds banked higher and higher.\nThen the land wind fell altogether and dead silence ensued, in which I\ncould hear the titoki-berries opening on their little hinges, and a\nstrange sound of a going in the high tops of the native trees in the\nplantation, while always the leaves of the aspens tossed and turned in\nsad unrest.\n\nIt may have been the oppressiveness of the air that weighed me down\nwith a vague presentiment of evil, though now I look back upon it I am\ninclined to think my feelings were owing to a strong antipathy to an\nevil thing. This antipathy must have been aroused and strengthened by\nthe discovery recorded in the last chapter. Crystal\u2019s dream had filled\nme with feelings even keener, I thought, than those which had taken\npossession of Ngaraki, for he, so I reasoned in my ignorance, had to\ndo merely with inert stones, one sacred, others cursed; whereas I had\nto do with flesh and blood. I had little doubt that Crystal\u2019s dream\nwas one of those strange instances of second sight which sometimes\ncome to people who live pure lives in quiet places, where they are in\nclose touch with the nature they can see, and in closer touch with the\nnature which they cannot see. The likeness of the face in the picture\nto the face of Cazotl was no mere fancied resemblance. It was\nstriking. It was real. The details of the picture, too, were true to\nlife, and such as no amount of study from books could produce. This I\ncoupled with the knowledge that Crystal had never been away from home\nexcept for seven successive years spent at school in Dunedin. I was\ndriven to the conclusion that there was something in this dream, and,\nif something, why not everything? As I leaned over the window-sill I\npondered many things deeply. Whatever might have been the reason of\ntracking us all the way from the Table Land the Mexican\u2019s presence in\nthe Sound appeared to me to be the speedy carrying out of the threat\nhe had delivered in the dream. I could well understand that Crystal,\nwith her high ideals and living energy, was of those women whose very\nexistence is a nail in the coffin of the fiend in human shape whose\nglance first strikes the lily from your hand, and then the truth from\nbeneath your feet. Consequently, on the one side deepened my love for\nthis perfect woman with the eyes of night, and on the other blazed a\nterrible hate for her would-be destroyer.\n\nWith these feelings I entered into the spirit of the brooding\nthunderstorm, and, knowing that sleep was impossible, I resolved to go\nout of the house, and take my thunder and lightning in the garden. I\nhad always been fond of a thunderstorm--for in a land where there are\nfew isolated trees and many bold mountain tops, the danger from\nlightning is very small--but on this occasion I welcomed it with a\nkind of vivid pleasure, as it was in strict accordance with my mood.\n\nGoing downstairs, I found a mackintosh on the hat-stand in the hall\nand put it on. Then, making my way quietly out of the house, I went\nround the verandah to see if Tiki was asleep. I was not surprised to\nfind his mattress of straw unoccupied. He was on the war track.\nProbably he had slept by day, and was not watching the yacht in the\ninterests of \u2018the little maiden.\u2019\n\nAs I found my way on to the lawn I heard the first rumble of the\nthunder over the hills in the distance. The fan-like branches of the\ncedars were moving restlessly, as if the terrified air did not know\nwhich way to turn. I could just see their vague outlines against the\nblacker sky.\n\nWhile I stood listening to the ominous whispers of the cedar-branches,\na blinding flash lighted up the place, throwing the wall of pines\nabove the plantation into clear relief. Then, some miles away, the\nthunder crashed and rattled among the hills. In the silence between\nthe lightning and the thunder, however, I heard what I took to be a\ndog or a cat running softly on its four feet across the lawn from the\nplantation. My mood of dark hate blinded my usual wariness, and it\nnever occurred to me that it might be something else. After the\nthunder came silence, and then another flash scribbled down the indigo\nsky into the hills, and, while it lighted my surroundings as clear as\nnoonday, my glance happened to fall upon some gnarled, twisted, and\ncharred remains of a patch of scrub which had lately been burnt, about\ntwenty yards distant, and just midway between the plantation and the\ntrees beneath which I stood. One of the grotesque fragments, a trifle\nthicker than the others, was twisted in such a peculiar way that its\nweirdness caught my attention, and when the flash had passed I\nsauntered carelessly towards it and waited. The peal of thunder was\nscarcely over when the vivid lightning streamed down again, and when I\nlooked for the weird effect of the charred patch, it seemed to me that\nthe grotesque-looking twist was gone. At the same instant something\nstruck my hat behind--something which I mistook for the first large\ndrop of the thunder-shower--and, dismissing the apparent change in the\nburnt-out patch of scrub with the passing explanation that it was\nowing to my change of position, I sauntered on towards the path that\nled out beneath the wall of trees into the fields of the valley. As I\nwent I certainly thought it strange that one drop of rain should fall\nalone, and wondered vaguely what it was that had struck my hat during\nthe vivid flash.\n\nPassing through the plantation and the wall of pines, whose leaves\nthrew out a resinous odour in the sultry air, I turned and walked back\nalong the outside of the plantation, intending to re-enter the\nenclosure by a small gap which led directly on to the lawn. As I drew\nnear this, and flash after flash lighted up the place, I saw from time\nto time something, which at first I took for a post, standing in an\nopen space some thirty paces away from the plantation. When I came\nnearer to it, however, the lightning\u2019s glare brought out the object in\nbold relief, and it looked more like a man standing bolt upright in\nthe open field. The thunder now followed sharp on the heels of the\nlightning with a deafening crash right overhead, and the heavy rain\ncame down without warning. Buttoning the mackintosh close up under my\nchin, I struck out into the field towards the spot where I had seen\nthe object that had aroused my curiosity.\n\nWhen I calculated that I was fairly near it, I stood still and waited\nfor the flash, for in the darkness I could see nothing. The flash\ncame, and there, a few steps before me, with the rain dancing from his\nhair and glistening shoulders, stood Tiki like a statue, gazing\nfixedly at that part of the plantation where the gap led through on to\nthe lawn.\n\nIn the brief interval between the lightning and the thunder I called\nhis name:\n\n\u201cTiki!\u201d\n\nThe words left my lips as the darkness clapped down like the door of a\nvault, and in the two seconds that ensued I listened and called again,\nbut there was only the ready reply of the thunder breaking like an\navalanche overhead.\n\nThe next moment I reached the Maori\u2019s side in the darkness, touched\nhim, shook him, called him, but he made no answer. I could hear the\nrain pattering on his bare shoulders; I could hear my own voice\nagainst the final echo of the thunder; then, as the rain held up a\nmoment and a weird shuddering afterthought of the elements ricochetted\nacross the sky, I stood still, wondering what strange state the Maori\nhad fallen into that he stood there like a dead tree-trunk in the\nfield.\n\nThe next flash startled me. It showed Tiki with his teeth set and his\neyes fixed. He appeared like one in that strange cataleptic state in\nwhich the mind and senses are more or less alive, but all volition is\ngone. As my eyes rested upon him I detected on his shoulder a slight\nstain of blood, which slowly trickled from a wound in which a small\nreed dart of two or three inches in length was still sticking. All\nthis was imprinted upon my eye while the light lasted, but it was not\nuntil darkness supervened that the picture was developed. I found the\ndart and pulled it out. Then, as the heavy tread of Tawhaki again\nshook the rafters on the House of Tane overhead, I came to the\nhorrible conclusion that this was the work of that wizard negro--that\nthe thing which had struck my hat by the cedars was a poisoned dart of\nthe same kind--that the gnarled and twisted fragment was the negro\nhimself, that----\n\nA shudder ended my train of reasoning. The door of the house was\nunbarred!\n\nThat wizard devil must have been on his way to the house when he\ndischarged that dart at me!\n\nWith terrible thoughts surging through my brain, with the phantom cry\nof Cazotl, \u201cDegrade the Pure One!\u201d ringing in my inner ears, and the\npassing conjecture that he was now waiting with a boat on the beach\nfor the return of his wizard minion with Crystal, bereft of all\nvolition like Tiki, I dashed across the space that separated me from\nthe gap which led towards the house. No helping flash favoured me on\nthe way, and when I reached the trees I had to grope about for the\nopening. At last I found it and proceeded to make my way through, but,\njust as I reached the centre of the plantation, the lightning forked\ndown right on to the lawn and ran along the ground. For quite five\nseconds a dazzling light revealed the way on to the lawn, and in that\nbrief space of time things happened which five seconds will not\nsuffice to tell.\n\nStraight before me on a narrow path between two pine trunks, was the\nlithe figure of the hideous negro in the act of groping his way\nthrough from the house as the lightning fell. In one hand he held a\nreed tube several feet long, and with the other he was feeling for the\ntree trunk on his right. Behind him I had a dim idea of a white-robed\nfigure; but I did not shift my eyes from the negro, for he saw me as\nsoon as I saw him, and the tube was moving towards his wizened lips.\nWith a spring I was on to him, and, catching the tube with one hand\njust as he set it to his lips, I turned it aside, gave him a violent\nthrust in the mouth with it, wrenched it away, and flung it on the\nground. Then I gripped him by the throat, and it was just as we rolled\nback together into the bushes that the bright light went out, and our\nbrief struggle went on in the darkness.\n\nIt was brief, for I defy any man to hold a creature of that kind\nunless his hand, like Kahikatea\u2019s, could meet right round his neck. He\ntwisted and turned like an eely fiend, wrenched his throat out of my\ngrasp, and wriggled away, leaving me snatching at air and tree trunks.\n\nThe thunder rolled off in an angry growl. As it ceased the same wild\nlaugh that I had heard before came from somewhere far away.\nMistrusting that laugh, and thinking that the negro was in hiding near\nby, waiting to make a dash to snatch up his deadly weapon, I quickly\nscrambled towards the place where I had thrown it, and soon found it\namong the leaves in the darkness.\n\nThen I remembered the figure in white that I had seen following the\nnegro, and stood peering before me, listening and waiting for the next\nflash. I would have called, \u201cWho\u2019s there?\u201d but I knew it was best to\npreserve perfect silence with that wizard thing, for there was no\ntelling what he might do with his infernal poisoned darts, even\nwithout a tube. However, I could not resist throwing out a gentle hint\nthat I was prepared for him, and that his safest plan was to beat a\nretreat. Taking my revolver from my hip pocket, where I always carried\none, I fired a shot up into the trees. It was answered by the hideous\nlaugh from far away down the Sound, but it followed so quickly on the\nreport that I knew the author of that laugh, now a confessed\nventriloquist, was near at hand. He was evidently waiting for the next\nflash to recover his tube which I held in my hand.\n\nThe flash came, and the sight it revealed I shall never forget. There\nstood Crystal in the path before me, draped in her night garments\nsoaked through and through. Her long black hair, in which flashed\ncountless diamonds of rain, fell loose about her like a veil. Her\nmysterious eyes, now like polished obsidian, were fixed in a glassy\nstare. Her face was set and pale, like a piece of beautiful marble.\nShe was in the same state as Tiki, conscious of much that was passing,\nas I learned afterwards, but obedient only to impressions that had\nbeen set upon her by the will of another, who had taken control of her\nown. On her shoulder, showing through a rift of her hair, was a stain\nof blood upon the white linen, but the dart had been withdrawn.\n\nNo sooner had the flash of light passed than that controlling will was\nexpressed by a voice, harsh and hollow, coming from a little distance\noutside the plantation, and pronouncing a strange word in a\n\n\n [image: images/img184.jpg\n caption: \u201cTHE FLASH CAME, AND THE SIGHT IT REVEALED I SHALL NEVER\n FORGET. THERE STOOD CRYSTAL IN THE PATH BEFORE ME, DRAPED IN HER NIGHT\n GARMENTS.\u201d]\n\n\nlanguage unknown to me. At the sound Crystal attempted to move past me\nin the darkness, evidently impelled by the suggestion that she must\nfollow. But with one arm I caught her round the waist and held her\nback. She struggled violently with all her strength to follow the\nvoice as it repeated the strange word from further in the field, and\nit dawned upon me, from what little I knew of this old and new world\nblack magic of control by suggestion, that if I restrained her by\nforce the result might be some strange twist of the brain or\naberration of the nervous centres. So I let her move on, retaining one\nof her hands and walking by her side for a short distance into the\nfield. A flash revealed a figure gliding ahead of us, and in order to\nmake him glide a little quicker, I fired four revolver shots in\nsuccession after him. Then, acting upon an idea which had occurred to\nme, I tried to imitate the voice and the strange word he had used.\nAfter two or three attempts beneath my breath, I made the peculiar\nsound, coming to a halt at the same time.\n\nIt was effective: Crystal stopped also and turned towards me.\n\nRepeating the word I drew her gently back towards the plantation, and\nshe followed obediently. It was with the idea that her sense of sight\nmight contradict her sense of hearing that I pressed her eyelids down\nand bound my handkerchief over her eyes, lest, when the lightning\nflashed, she should see me and become aware of this deception within a\ndeception.\n\nThus reiterating the guiding sound which, by the bond of suggestion\nplaced upon her by the infernal negro wizard, represented his will, I\nwrapped the mackintosh about her and led her through the plantation,\nover the lawn, and into the house. There, obedient to my instructions,\ngiven to her in the harsh voice of the negro, she remained in the care\nof Grey and the servants, with whom I succeeded in placing her in\ntouch, while I, having hidden the reed tube in a safe place, hurried\nout to look for Tiki.\n\nThe storm had passed over, and was grumbling itself out in the\ndistance. A bright star shone down through a break in the clouds, but\nit was still too dark to see clearly, and it was with difficulty I\nmade my way to the place where Tiki had been standing.\n\nAfter searching about for a long time and finding nothing, I was\nfavoured by the moon in its last quarter rising over the hills inland\nand showing through the heavy cloud drift. By this pale light I\ncorrected my position and searched again. But there was no sign of\nTiki. Had he recovered and gone after the negro to kill him, or had he\nfollowed obediently under the influence of the poison and the voice?\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVI.\n WHICH REVEALS THE WAY OF THE SORCERER.\n\nAfter a restless night, gladdened somewhat by the thought that I had\nsaved Crystal from a terrible fate, but for the most part troubled by\nfears of further danger, I rose early, and, passing through the gap in\nthe plantation where I had encountered the wizard negro, walked over\nthe field and down the valley towards the beach, thinking that perhaps\nI might learn something of Tiki\u2019s fate.\n\nFinding nothing to guide me, I climbed a high hill seaward, which\noverlooked the lower part of the Sound. From that vantage ground I\ncould see nearly the whole of the slender arm of the sea which reached\ninland, the failing breath of the land breeze ruffling its waters. A\nglance at the sheltered cove where the yacht had been anchored told me\nthat Cazotl had either shifted his position or put out to sea. I\nscanned the whole length of the Sound, and at last discerned the yacht\npassing into the shadows of the high cliffs which opened on to the\nPacific. Her sails were swelling out to the breeze, and it was with a\nfeeling of great relief that I watched her disappear between the high\nrocks. But my relief did not outlive reflection, for I soon saw that\nit was not at all probable that Cazotl would relinquish his object\nafter one failure.\n\nThe sun had risen high in the sky by the time I had returned to the\nhouse, and while waiting for the breakfast-bell I strolled round the\nverandah. When I came to the corner dedicated to Tiki, I was surprised\nto find that faithful Maori coiled up on his bed of straw, wrapped in\nhis mat, and fast asleep. He must have returned in my absence.\n\nWith an inconsiderate impatience to know what had befallen him I\nstooped down and touched him on the shoulder, knowing from experience\nthat the slightest thing would wake him But he did not stir. I then\nshook him soundly, but he made no sign. With a sudden apprehension I\nbent over him and listened for his breathing. It was regular and deep;\nhe was evidently sleeping off the effects of that strange poison, and,\nas far as I could judge, he was best left alone.\n\nOn going inside I encountered Grey coming downstairs.\n\n\u201cGood morning, Warnock,\u201d he said, as he grasped my hand. \u201cThat was an\nextraordinary affair last night--can\u2019t think what possessed the girl:\nshe\u2019s never done anything of that kind before. Good job you saw her,\nor there\u2019s no telling what might have happened.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, it was lucky I happened to be abroad,\u201d I replied; \u201cI went out to\nenjoy the thunderstorm.\u201d Then I explained briefly how it had occurred,\nbut omitted all mention of the negro and his infernal arts, as I\nthought it was better to keep that mysterious and alarming part of the\nmatter to myself.\n\n\u201cIs she up yet?\u201d I asked in conclusion.\n\n\u201cNo; I\u2019ve just been in to see her. She\u2019s fast asleep and seems\nperfectly all right.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! yes,\u201d I said with assumed carelessness; \u201cthat\u2019s the way out of\nthose peculiar fits: to let them sleep as long as ever they will.\u201d\n\nWith that we went to breakfast, and discussed at length the details of\nour proposed journey north, which was now finally fixed for the\nfollowing day. Grey\u2019s manager was to arrive on the morrow, and, the\nday after, we were to proceed overland to a seaport some thirty miles\nto the north, and there take our passage in a sailing ship which Grey\nhad ascertained was bound for Golden Bay, the coast line of which was\nsituated not fifty miles from the Table Land.\n\nFrom time to time during the day I learned by repeated inquiries that\nCrystal was still sleeping peacefully, but my mental state was one of\nextreme tension; for, being ignorant of the after effects of the\nstrange poison, I was tormented with a thousand apprehensions. Every\nhalf-hour I paid visits to Tiki, for in his condition I felt I had\nsomething to go by. It calmed my fears a little to find that his pulse\nwas uniformly regular, that his breathing was normal, and that there\nwere no signs of anything more alarming than a very deep sleep which,\nas far as I could judge, was perfectly natural. In this way, taking\nTiki\u2019s state to represent hers, I watched over Crystal in my\nimagination the whole day long, now tortured with fears for the issue,\nand now relieved by the healthy symptoms.\n\nIn my wanderings in and out and about the house I remembered the\nwizard\u2019s reed tube, and found it again in the place where I had hidden\nit. It was a strange-looking reed, seven knotted, and marked with\npeculiar characters and signs. The darts were arranged in little\nreceptacles round the mouthpiece. Three were left. I extracted one and\ninspected it. There was a blood-red tip to it, and this crimson dye I\nknew was the poison. The safest course would be to burn the accursed\nthings, lest they should do damage by accident. Accordingly, I took\nthem to the kitchen grate and burnt them. What the poison was I have\nno idea, but, as I threw them in one by one, each emitted a jet of\nsome gas, which burned many colours in succession, giving a peculiar\nwail, like the cry of a tortured dumb animal. So horrible, and yet so\nplaintive and pathetic was this faint sound, that I was inclined to\nconfess there was more than poison in those accursed messengers of\nevil. Then I burned the tube and returned to my restlessness.\n\nAt length, late in the afternoon, I was standing beneath the\nnut-trees, whither I had wandered in my anxiety, when, hearing a\nrustle of a dress outside, I looked up and encountered Crystal as she\nparted the screen of leaves and came towards me. My fears bounded off\nin an instant, for her face was the picture of buoyant health, and the\nflush of confusion on her cheeks made her look radiant.\n\nShe extended her hand to me and said, \u201cIt\u2019s very absurd for people to\nwalk in their sleep, but I am very grateful to you all the same.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are you grateful for?\u201d I asked, wondering how much of the affair\nshe remembered.\n\n\u201cWhy, father told me you found me walking in the garden and brought me\nin,\u201d she replied, looking hard at me with unwavering eyes, though her\ncheeks were crimson.\n\n\u201cOh! he told you that, did he?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, but not until I made him. He wouldn\u2019t tell me anything about it\nat first.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou remembered something of what happened, then, and questioned him\nfor the rest?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I remembered a little and insisted on being told the whole\nstory.\u201d\n\n\u201cWill you tell me what you remember?\u201d I urged.\n\nShe passed beneath the head of the hammock, and walking up to the\nhedge, plucked a piece of the pink geranium-bloom. Turning to me with\na shy smile she held it out towards me.\n\n\u201cI will give you this pretty flower,\u201d she said lightly, \u201cif you will\nnever speak about it again--it was all so absurd.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m not joking, Miss Grey,\u201d I said half angrily; \u201cI must know--I\n_will_ know.\u201d I had a horrible fear that could only be dispelled by\nthe knowledge that she could account for all the acts of that infernal\nwizard.\n\nThe smile faded from her lips. She drew herself up and anger darted\nfrom her black eyes.\n\n\u201cYou dare to ask me what I do not choose to tell?\u201d she said, and never\nwas a man so withered in spirit by a look from a woman\u2019s eyes as I was\nthen. What was the mystery in them? They seemed to belong not to this\nage, but to be looking at me from the beginning of the world. For a\nmoment I could hardly understand that they should be set in the lovely\nface before me.\n\nBut the flash of anger passed, and, before I could falter a\ncrestfallen apology, she said, \u201cForgive me; I was forgetting all I owe\nto you. My temper was too hasty.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think I was too hasty in demanding to know what did not concern\nme,\u201d I ventured. \u201cPerhaps I have been too hasty all along in meddling\nwith affairs that----\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! don\u2019t say that,\u201d she broke in, with a sharp pain in her voice;\n\u201cyou have found me a father, you will give me back my mother, and I--I\nhave spoken angrily to you.\u201d A tear glistened on her lashes; her bosom\nheaved beneath the white folds of her dress, and in her eyes was a\ntender light of love.\n\nA wild thrill passed through me. In another moment I should have done\na rash thing--indeed, in after years I often wished I had done that\nrash thing, that I had clasped that lovely one in my arms for a brief\nsecond and then been struck dead. But the lapse of half that time\nshowed that the love-light was not for me. She raised her eyes, but\nnot to mine, and said with sweet repetition, \u201cMy mother! My mother!\u201d\n\nWith a slight start she recalled herself and turned to me.\n\n\u201cDo you know, I feel there is hardly anything I could not tell to\nyou,\u201d she said. \u201cThat was why I told you my dream, which I have never\ntold to another living soul, not even to my father. And now, if, after\nwhat I said a minute ago, you would care to hear what I remember of\nlast night I will tell you--but it is all very stupid.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf I think it is stupid I will say so,\u201d I said.\n\nCrystal seated herself upon the hammock, and, taking off her hat,\nplaced it in her lap, where she proceeded to fasten the geranium-bloom\namong the other fresh flowers therein, as an excuse for keeping her\neyes cast down in shyness at what she considered the stupidity of her\nstory. I remained standing, for my suspense was keen, and I felt that\nI should understand it better than she did.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d she said, \u201cI dreamed that I was sitting on a bank, when a\nblack snake suddenly hissed and darted at my shoulder. The pain of the\nbite and the horror of the thing woke me, or I suppose I dreamed that\nit woke me, for what followed was exactly as if I had been awake,\nthough of course it was nothing more than a vivid dream. Is it\npossible to dream that you are sitting up in bed, wide awake? It was\nvery strange, but I thought that I was awake, and that I had lost all\npower to move. For a moment I listened to the thunder. Then I heard a\nvoice--a peculiar, harsh, hollow voice, telling me that I must follow\nits directions, and be oblivious of all other things--for this, the\nvoice, was the only thing. It may seem strange, but I did as it\ndirected without the slightest hesitation. It seemed the most natural\nthing in the world to get up and walk downstairs in obedience to this\nugly voice. Out of the house and across the lawn I followed it, until\nI came to the way that leads through the plantation. There for a\nmoment I seemed to be at a loss. Then something--I cannot tell what,\nexcept that it was not the voice--must have stood in my way and held\nme, for, when I could again hear the only thing there was in the\nworld, I was unable to follow, although I struggled to do so. At last\nthe obstacle let me pass, and soon afterwards I caught up with the\nvoice, which guided me back again into the house, where it told me\nthat it had no further authority over me, and that other voices should\ncommand me for awhile. After that I heard it no more, and I have\nconfused memories of taking a hot bath, with Jane and Mary fussing\nabout me. Then I must have gone to bed, but I can remember nothing\nmore till I awoke an hour ago. Was it not absurd? But some of it must\nhave been real, for I did walk out into the garden.\u201d\n\nI reflected a moment before I spoke. Her memory evidently covered\nevery inch of the ground. The pain in the shoulder, which must have\nbeen the prick of the negro\u2019s dart discharged during the first flash\nof lightning after he gained her room; the falling under the influence\nof the poison a moment later; the hearing of the voice in the\ndarkness, and the ready obedience to its suggestions; the struggling\nwith an obstacle which was not the voice, but myself, and subsequently\nthe finding of what she mistook for the voice and followed back to the\nhouse--these were the points of a story, the details of which must\nhave taken place in the few minutes which elapsed between my missing\nthe grotesque fragment in the burnt patch of scrub, and walking round\nthe plantation to re-enter the grounds again through the opening where\nI had encountered the embodied \u201cvoice\u201d and its would-be victim.\n\nI glanced up from my rapid reflection, and, encountering Crystal\u2019s\nsmile at what she supposed was the absurdity of her story, said: \u201cYour\ndreams affect me just as if you were recounting an adventure that had\nreally taken place. Why do you make them so vivid?\u201d\n\nThen we both laughed the matter away.\n\nLater in the evening I visited Tiki again, and found him sitting up\nwith a puzzled expression on his face.\n\n\u201cIs the little maiden safe?\u201d he asked on seeing me.\n\n\u201cQuite safe,\u201d I replied, and narrated briefly what had happened.\n\u201cWhere were you all last night?\u201d I inquired when I had finished.\n\n\u201c_He_ Wanaki,\u201d he replied, shaking his head slowly, \u201cI have it\nsomewhere in my mind where I was, but it slips away from my grasp like\nan eel from the hand. I have the head of the lizard, but the tail is\ncut off, and, though I can hear it rustling among the leaves, I cannot\nfind it. This is the head of the lizard, O Wanaki. I watched the great\ncanoe from sunset on into the night, and, when it was very dark, I\nheard a small canoe leave it and take its way towards the end of the\nwater. I followed it along the shore, and when it came to the beach\ndown there I stood near by in the darkness and heard some voices. Then\nsomeone made his way up the beach, and I followed the sound of his\nfootsteps. He must have heard me, for he stopped and made a noise like\nthe word of the _weka_[22] when it is hiding. _E Tama!_ I was mad to\ntake his head, for I knew he was going to steal the little maiden. I\nrushed towards the \u2018word\u2019 and laid about me with my stick. Again and\nagain I did this, rushing at the \u2018word\u2019 in the dark to take the head\nof it and lay it at the feet of the little maiden. But every time I\nbeat the air and nothing more, and every time I heard someone laugh\nfar away in Reinga. _Eta!_ my only fear was for the little maiden, so\nI followed the footsteps again up the valley until we came to the\nfield out there. The footsteps stopped. Tawhaki was beginning to move\noverhead. The light of his eyes would soon show me where to strike.\nThe light came. I saw the _taepo_ near at hand and rushed at him. He\nraised a long stick to his mouth, and some stinging thing struck me in\nthe shoulder. Then, O Wanaki, I rushed on and on over all the earth,\nand the darkness of Porawa closed on me as I went.\n\n\u201cThat is the head of the lizard, O Wanaki, but the tail of it is cut\noff and wriggles away when I stretch out my hand to grasp it. What has\nhappened to me between that and this is gone--gone like last year\u2019s\n_kohu_ leaves.\u201d\n\nFor a space neither of us spoke, but my thoughts were busy. At length,\njumping to a conclusion I said:\n\n\u201cTiki! did you know that we are to leave here the day after\nto-morrow?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes; the little maiden told me so.\u201d\n\n\u201cDid you know that we are going to land in Golden Bay?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, and go overland to the Great Tapu.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! all right--very well--now you\u2019d better go and get something to\neat.\u201d\n\nI rose and walked round the verandah, sick at heart. It was as I had\nfeared. That infernal wizard had, without a doubt, gleaned all our\nplans from Tiki while in the obedient condition, and then sent him\nhome to sleep, with the assurance that on waking he would remember\nnothing of what had taken place from the moment he fell under his\ninfluence up to the time he came out of it. There was but one\nconclusion to all this. Cazotl had sailed for Golden Bay to await our\narrival.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVII.\n LOVE AT SECOND SIGHT.\n\nIt was the last day at the home of Crystal, and it was the last day,\ntoo, of my fool\u2019s paradise, from which I was driven by a fact as\nstartling as a flaming sword. Love at first sight was a thing I well\nunderstood, but love at \u2018second sight\u2019 was a matter which before that\nday I should have rejected as a wild impossibility--a thing to be\nsworn to only by a class of visionaries who will swear to anything,\neven on hearsay, provided it be sufficiently marvellous. The tale of\nmy love at first sight, its beginning, its hopes, its fears, and its\nfate--not its ending--may be inferred from the brief attention I have\ncalled to it here and there in this history of adventure; but Crystal\nGrey\u2019s love at \u2018second sight\u2019 for another, whom she had never seen in\nthe flesh, but who stood none the less surely between her and me, must\nbe told in detail.\n\nIt was scarcely surprising that a deep love which sprang up in full\ntide in the brief space that it requires for the senses to transmit an\nimage to the brain and impress its meaning on the heart, should not\nflow silently for very long. Up to the day of which I write it had not\nentered Crystal\u2019s mind that she was as a goddess in my eyes; it had\nnot occurred to her that when, filled with thoughts of the great\nhappiness which I, as a mere instrument in the hands of a loving\nProvidence, had brought her, she let her dark eyes meet mine with the\nwarm regard of a pure soul in them, I should be blinded by love into\nthe fatal conclusion that she could return my love. But something\noccurred to Grey. That very morning, as we stood alone on the verandah\nafter breakfast, he had said to me: \u201cWarnock, my friend, I like you--I\nseem to have known you a long, long time. Listen to me. I have found\nmy daughter; Heaven may will it that I shall find my wife; and then,\nwhen times are more settled, it may chance that, in the man who will\nhave been instrumental in restoring these two greatest blessings, I\nmay find a son.\u201d He placed his hand on my arm, as he added with a\nsmile, \u201cMy dear boy, I know what I am talking about. I may have\nforgotten nearly half of my life, but I can see what I can see. Speak\nto her, Warnock. Speak to her, my dear boy. Nothing would please me\nmore than to call you my son.\u201d With a final hearty clap on my shoulder\nhe left me wondering how on earth he could have found out what I had\nrevealed only to the stars and the setting sun. It is strange how\npeople in love fancy that no one can know the fact until they are\ntold.\n\nSo I spoke to Crystal, and in accordance with the matter-of-fact\nbed-rock of my nature, I did not waste many words in doing it. After\nspending most of the day in reviewing mazes of words which might\npossibly hold my feelings and convey them, I scattered everything to\nthe winds, emptied my brain, and, with a full heart, strode down to\nthe nut-trees, where I stood before her with my hat in my hand and\nsaid, \u201cCrystal! I want to tell you something.\u201d\n\nShe looked a little surprised at my first use of her Christian name,\nbut, looking up, said sweetly, \u201cWhat is it, Wanaki?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is this,\u201d I said. \u201cI love you more than anything else in the\nworld: so much that--that----\u201d\n\nI paused, for a look of pain flitted across her brow and the colour\nleft her cheeks. She rose from her seat and stood facing me, with a\nsoft, despairing sorrow in her eyes, while to her lovely face was\nadded a sadness that made it more lovely still; for even in that\nmoment, while I seemed plunged for ever into outer darkness, the sweet\nsoul of tender pity and pain suffusing the face of the woman I loved\nwas like balm to my crushed spirit.\n\n\u201cWanaki, oh, Wanaki!\u201d she said, \u201cI am more sorry than I can say. I owe\nyou everything, but I cannot return your love. Oh! I could take my\nheart out and crush it for what it tells me--that I cannot turn it to\nyou: that I cannot love you, Wanaki.\u201d\n\nHer words sounded in my ears like a plaintive lament sung over my dead\nhopes, over the ashes of my heart. I knew not what to say; for awhile\nI stood dumb, trying to conceal my pain. But she, watching me with\nanxious eyes, searched it out, and turned away with a low moan. Her\nbosom heaved beneath her white dress--I knew it was with sorrow for\nme--but she said no more.\n\n\u201cWhy?--tell me why!\u201d I said at length, with a vague feeling that this\nterrible state of things required some explanation; \u201cdo you love\nsomeone else?\u201d\n\nShe looked at me for a moment without answering. Then she said: \u201cYes,\nbut--but he--I have never seen him.\u201d\n\nShe averted her eyes and hung her head in a manner which showed me\nthat she considered I had a kind of right to question her as to the\ncause of my misery.\n\n\u201cYou love a man you have never seen?\u201d I said quickly, feeling there\nwas a ray of hope.\n\n\u201cYou hated a man you had never seen,\u201d she replied just as quickly;\n\u201cthe man in the picture whom you called a fiend--you hated him because\nhis face revolted you. Then why should I not love a man I have never\nseen?\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I saw the face depicted, and I hated the meaning of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I too have seen a face, and I love the meaning of it.\u201d She\nspoke still sadly, but like a woman who means to hold her own.\n\n\u201cIn the same way as you saw the other?\u201d I asked with a gleam of\nintelligence.\n\n\u201cYes; in dreams--in many dreams. For years my heart has been given to\nthe heart of the man whose face I see in dreams.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut do you believe that man exists in the flesh?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes; I believe I shall meet him some day.\u201d A light chased the sadness\nfrom her eyes--a light like that of a star when night is darkest.\n\n\u201cBut you rejected the idea that the vile one, whose face you have\npictured, had any original on earth--why deny to the one what you\ngrant to the other?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not fear the vile one enough to believe in him, but my love for\nthe other compels belief.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is a phantom of the brain,\u201d I urged on hearing this. \u201cWhat proof\nhave you that it is the presentment of a living man?\u201d\n\n\u201cNone, except a strange feeling I have in regard to it.\u201d\n\nI was silent for a little. I felt an uncompromising belief in her\nstrange feelings.\n\n\u201cListen, Wanaki,\u201d she said after a pause. \u201cYou told me of a man who\nsaw his heart\u2019s desire depicted in a sculptured stone, and when you\nspoke of his love I said I quite understood it. I meant that his love\nwas similar to mine: he loved the ideal woman--I love the ideal man.\u201d\n\nI bent my brows and tacitly admitted the similarity.\n\n\u201cTell me what he is like,\u201d I said presently, \u201cso that I may try to\nunderstand.\u201d\n\nShe placed her hand within the bosom of her dress and drew forth a\ncameo attached to a golden chain.\n\n\u201cHonestly,\u201d I said as I drew near to examine it, \u201cI do not see why a\nmere face should carry such conviction with it. And why,\u201d I added to\nmyself, as she unfastened the chain and placed the cameo in my hand,\n\u201cwhy should a mere dream face, an unsubstantial vision of the brain\nstand between me and----\u201d\n\nThere I paused, for my glance had fallen upon the face which I had\njust assured Crystal was a phantom of the brain.\n\nHeavens! It was the face of my friend Kahikatea! The lofty, massive\nforehead, surrounded by his orderly-disorderly mane, his brows\nslightly bent with thought, his nostrils dilated in the way I knew so\nwell, his lips set firm with purpose, and his eyes, full of his\ninexplicable love, gazing into space and slightly raised, as if to\nsome distant mountain top--this was the picture of my friend, even\ndown to his short brown beard and moustache--this was the man whom\nCrystal loved, yet had never seen in the flesh. His look recalled the\nmoment, when, by the false grave beneath the great rimu, I asked him\nto come with me to search for Crystal, and he replied that he had\nhitched his waggon to a star, that he had made up his mind to search\nfor Hinauri, the Daughter of the Dawn, and would not turn aside to\nlook for the daughter of a mortal woman.\n\nAs I gazed in silence at the face of my friend, a wicked lie rose up\nout of the ashes of my heart, and threatened to gain the mastery. Then\nI looked up and met Crystal\u2019s eyes burning into mine, and felt my love\nleap up again and light the way through the dark. Thoughts crowded\ntumultuously through my brain, and clearest of all was the thought\nthat Kahikatea, worshipping his ideal as depicted in the image of\nHinauri, had renounced all other women, Crystal among them. Therefore\nit would be cruel to tell her that she was in exactly the same\nposition as I was.\n\nI said, \u201cI have the same feeling about it as you have, I will regard\nit as the face of a living man. It is my love tells you this from the\ncentre of my heart, for my love for you is the grandest thing I have\never known. But what should you do if, when you meet him in the flesh,\nyou find that his love is given to another?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not know,\u201d she replied slowly, \u201cbut my heart tells me I should\nbe plunged into the dark.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what if you found, as I have found with you, that he loves an\nabstraction--something less real than yourself----\u201d\n\nShe looked up quickly. \u201cYou mean if he was like your friend, who loves\nthe ideal woman in marble?\u201d\n\nBefore I could reply, and while she regarded me attentively, I felt my\neyelids flutter together as if the light were too strong. Then I said,\n\u201cYes, supposing he were like that friend of mine--would you despair?\u201d\n\n\u201cI should not attempt to stand between him and his ideal,\u201d she replied\ndecisively.\n\nI handed her back the cameo, saying, \u201cNeither will I attempt to stand\nbetween you and yours, while you love it as you do.\u201d\n\nThere was a pause, in which Crystal remained looking straight before\nher as if she had not heard my last words. Presently she turned to me\nwith a perplexed expression and asked quickly:\n\n\u201cWhy did you compare him to your friend? Why did you start when you\nsaw his face? Why did you--Wanaki! there is something you are hiding\nfrom me.\u201d\n\nShe stood before me, her bosom heaving with emotions that showed upon\nher face as pain and joy struggling together. I saw that it was\nuseless for me to attempt to conceal what her quick intuition had\nalready grasped.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d I admitted. \u201cI would have concealed it from you, because you\nwould be happier not to know it. But my tongue carried me too far. The\nface you have shown me is the face of my friend Kahikatea, who has\nrenounced the love of woman for love of a symbol of pure womanhood--an\nideal beauty wrought upon a piece of cold marble which he has seen,\nand you have seen, in the mountain cave where you were born.\u201d\n\nThe struggle between joy and pain upon her face came to an end, and\njoy sat there triumphant in her eyes.\n\n\u201cOh! you have explained the meaning of his face. His love is far above\nthe world. I see in his eyes the prayers of all great men for\nsomething more divine in woman--the demand for some higher strength\nand beauty of being than has hitherto been required of us. Ah! Wanaki,\nif one woman can do anything in this great world, I will see that the\nprayer of the man I love shall be answered to some extent in the\nhearts of women.\u201d\n\nOn the plane of this high love she was safe, but I knew that there\nwould be times when her more direct and personal love for Kahikatea\nwould rebel against the fact that she herself was to him merely as one\nin a great multitude. She did not know, neither did I tell her, that\nalthough Kahikatea never lost sight of the symbolic meaning he had\nattached to Hinauri, yet he, in his turn, had a direct and personal\nlove for Hinauri herself. Once, when we had been discussing that part\nof the legend which told of her return in the future he had said, \u201cYou\ncall my fascination a piece of extravagant poetry, a love for a mere\nabstraction, but I tell you, Warnock, that if the marble Hinauri were\nsuddenly transformed into a living woman, she would still be my ideal,\nbut at the same time as real to me as any woman can be to the man who\nloves her.\u201d Had I told Crystal flatly that the man whom she loved\nloved another, I could not have put more accurately what I knew; but\nnot wishing to lessen the power of her resolve to work her love out in\nthe world, I merely said: \u201cYour nature is good and strong: you will\ncarry out your resolve in the way that your star directs, but for\nmyself, you must forgive me if during our journey north I am a sadder,\nif a better, man for this great love of mine.\u201d\n\nShe looked at me sorrowfully, while a tear came from the black depths\nof those eyes of night and glistened in her lashes. It trembled and\nfell. She turned in silence and passed out through the screen of\nleaves. That tear was more to me than any words could have conveyed.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVIII.\n TE MAKAWAWA IS STARTLED.\n\nIt was a fortnight later, when after various stoppages on the way\nnorth, we sailed down across Golden Bay towards Wakatu. Mindful of my\nconclusion that Tiki had unknowingly divulged our plans to Cazotl, I\nkept it to myself, but argued with Grey that it would be better to\nland on the western side of Tasman Bay, proceed to Te Makawawa\u2019s _pa_,\nand thence to the Table Land. Grey fell in with this proposal, and\naccordingly we passed down the coast, round Separation Point, and were\nlanded at the mouth of the river above which the _pa_ stood.\n\nIt was a clear, quiet morning when the boat took us in from the ship.\nDreamer Grey, the brim of his buff bush hat drawn over his eyes to\nkeep off the glare of the early sun, sat in the stern dreaming, not of\na forgotten past, but of the possibilities of the near future. He\nflicked the ash quietly from his cigar; it fell with a hiss into the\nsmooth water and drifted astern.\n\n\u201cThere is the _pa_, look,\u201d said Crystal, touching his arm with one\nhand, while with the other she pointed to the ridge of the cliff a\nmile away on the coast.\n\nI followed the direction of her finger and saw, standing against a\nthin fleecy white cloud with a strip of summer blue beneath it, the\npalisading of Te Makawawa\u2019s _pa_.\n\n\u201cIt is a good omen,\u201d I said merrily, turning towards them; \u201cthere is\nthe _pa_; there is the fleecy cloud beyond it, and there in the\nfurther distance is the clear blue sky.\u201d\n\nGrey turned up the brim of his hat and let the sun shine on his happy\nface as he gazed up at the _pa_.\n\n\u201cAnd what is it you see in the clear blue sky, Miss Grey?\u201d I asked,\ncatching the now well-known look of longing in Crystal\u2019s eyes beneath\nthe shadow of her sun bonnet.\n\nShe looked across to me and smiled, while her hand slid down her\nfather\u2019s coat sleeve and pressed his own on the gunwale of the boat.\nThen her lips moved, and, though she said nothing, the movement could\nhave been only the two words, \u201cMy mother!\u201d\n\n\u201cA good omen let it be,\u201d said Grey, and threw his cigar away.\n\n\u201cWith all my heart!\u201d I replied, knocking the dottle from my pipe and\nstanding up, for the nose of the boat was running on to the sandy\nshore in a convenient place to land.\n\nWith what buoyant steps we followed Tiki along the way he knew beneath\nthe fern palms and overhanging trees that skirted the beach! It was\none of those clear, bright mornings which, on a shelving shore between\nthe glistening bush and the sparkling sea, are only to be interpreted\nby the liquid song of the korimako, sipping dew and honey as he sings\nin the flowering trees, or by the merry fantail\u2019s laugh, as with tail\noutspread she chases the gnat, which twists and turns in the sunlight.\n\n\u201cTiki,\u201d I said presently, \u201cyou go on ahead and tell Te Makawawa we are\ncoming. We can find the way all right.\u201d\n\nOn board the ship the sailors had fitted the Maori out with a\ncivilised costume, and he looked supremely ridiculous, for neither had\nhe been made for the clothes nor the clothes for him. As he vanished\nahead of us I smiled, wondering what sort of a reception he would get\nfrom the old chief, whose ideas were of a most conservative nature.\n\n\u201cI should like to be present when Tiki stands before Te Makawawa in\nthose clothes,\u201d I said. \u201cThe old chief\u2019s a gentleman of the old\nschool: he will be scandalised.\u201d\n\nHardly were the words out of my mouth when sounds of someone talking\nfell upon our ears, and presently we turned a bend of the path and\ncame full upon Tiki face to face with the old chief. The latter had so\nwarmed up to his subject that he did not see us, and partly shielded\nby the trees we stood and watched them in the open space before us. Te\nMakawawa\u2019s attitude and picturesque garb, from the feathers in his\nwhite hair to the flowing fringe of his kaitaka, were in themselves a\nrebuke to Tiki; but his words added a sting to the rebuke, which made\nmy poor faithful Maori look even more ridiculous than I had thought\npossible.\n\n\u201cEta! you have not the dignity that belongs to our race. What have you\ndone with it? Exchanged it for that pair of trousers, and they are put\non wrong way now. What have you done with the _mana_ of your\nancestors? Given it away for that old coat, and it\u2019s splitting under\nthe arm. What have you done with the bravery and prowess of your\ntribe? Traded it for that shirt without any buttons, that collar\nfastened with a piece of flax, that hat which makes you look so\nbeautiful. What have you done with the blood of the Rangitane which\nruns in your veins--of Toi our ancestor, and of Kupakupa, who made us\nMaori? I expect you have bartered it all for a bottle of _waipiro_.\nEta! did our ancestors make scarecrows of themselves like this? Did\nthey go to such foolishness to frighten the birds? Tiki, you\u2019re a big\nfool. You\u2019re like the stupid ones, trying to bring about the time when\nthe Maori cannot hold up his head at all. You\u2019re weak in the knees,\nand you put those trousers on to hide it. I think your whole backbone\nwould scarcely make one good fishhook.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat a contrast,\u201d whispered Crystal, who had understood the chief\u2019s\nwords perfectly. \u201cI like the old fellow, even if he did steal my\nfather and mother and myself. But don\u2019t you think Tiki has had\nenough?\u201d The poor Maori was trembling beneath the scorn of the aged\none.\n\n\u201cI think so, yes,\u201d I replied. \u201cYou stay here till I call you.\u201d And I\nstepped out into the open space.\n\n\u201cTe Makawawa!\u201d\n\nHe turned on the instant and came towards me. \u201c_He Pakeha!_\u201d he said,\n\u201cthe Friend of the Forest Tree. I saw the canoe coming in and came\ndown to meet it. You have found the little maiden, Keritahi\nKerei--good! Where is she?\u201d\n\n\u201cO Chief! I have found the little maiden, and I have also brought the\nman who has forgotten the faces that he knew.\u201d\n\nI called to them, and they came from behind the trees.\n\nCrystal stood before him looking like a mountain lily in her white\ndress. As soon as Te Makawawa\u2019s bright eyes rested upon her he\nstarted, and, drawing back the step he was taking, remained in an\nattitude of astonishment. His eyes wandered from her face and form to\nme, and there was a question, a perplexity, almost a doubt written on\nthe lines of his rugged visage.\n\n\u201cFriend of the Forest Tree! is this wild white swan, such as a man\nsees once in a lifetime, the little maiden?--or have you deceived me?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Friend of the Forest Tree does not deceive,\u201d said Crystal, before\nI could speak. \u201cIf you are Te Makawawa I am the little maiden of many\nmoons ago whom you carried on your shoulder. Do you not remember the\n_heitiki_ round my neck, and the little _kaitaka_ of kiwi feathers I\nwore? See! my black eyes and hair! do you not remember them?\u201d\n\nShe threw off her sun bonnet as she spoke, and stood facing him, as if\nhalf conscious of her sculpturesque loveliness.\n\nThe question, the perplexity, the almost-doubt deepened upon his face.\n\n\u201c_Eta!_\u201d he said, turning to Grey; \u201cis this your daughter with the\neyes and hair of ancient night? Speak, O Man-who-has-forgotten; does\nTe Makawawa dream in the daytime?\u201d\n\nGrey, knowing nothing of the language, turned to me and we spoke\ntogether, while the chief gazed long at Crystal.\n\n\u201cO Chief,\u201d I said at length, \u201cthe Man-who-has-forgotten says this is\nthe little maiden left by Tiki in his hut while he slept. But why do\nyou doubt my word, O Tohunga? Do you think the little white Children\nof the Mist have changed the child? Kahikatea and his friend have ever\nspoken the truth to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not doubt,\u201d he replied quietly, showing me his palm. \u201cThese last\ndays are full of dreams to me. My eyes are growing dim, and I see\nstrange things against the setting sun. O people of the Great Tribe,\ntake no heed of an old man\u2019s dreams. Tiki!\u201d--he turned to the\nbe-trousered one with a return of his indignation--\u201chasten to the _pa_\nand bid them prepare a feast, and tell my maidens that a mountain lily\nwill take root among them. Go, O Tiki, and tell them not to waste\ntheir time in laughing at a man who was once a warrior, with the blood\nof the Tane-nui-a-Rangi in his veins, but is now a thing that has been\nhatched from an egg like a bird.\u201d\n\nTiki did not wait for the point of this piece of satire. He and his\ntrousers vanished in all haste, and Te Makawawa, bidding us follow,\nstrode before in silence.\n\n\u201cWhat a lordly savage,\u201d said Grey, as we followed on; \u201cbut why did he\nseem so startled at the sight of my daughter?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe seemed to doubt my identity,\u201d said Crystal.\n\n\u201cPerhaps it was his way of demanding proof,\u201d I suggested, but I could\nnot conceal from myself that there was something to be cleared up in\nhis strange behaviour.\n\nWhen we reached the _pa_ on the high cliff Grey and I were allotted a\nhouse to ourselves, while Crystal was handed over by Te Makawawa to\nthe charge of the maidens of highest rank, who were forcible in their\nexpressions of joy when they found she could speak their own tongue. I\ncaught sight of her standing among a little group, like a fair white\nqueen among her dusky maidens. I saw by the gestures of the Maori\ngirls that they were asking her to let down her hair. She hesitated a\nmoment, then, withdrawing the pins, let it fall and shook the long,\nheavy masses out over her shoulders, till they rippled down almost to\nher knees. Loud cries of admiration came from the girls as they took\nup the loosened tresses in their hands and stroked and patted them\ntenderly, likening them to the undulating seaweed called _rimu rehia_,\nlong, shining, glistening; and again to the darkness of the furthest\ncaves, where the winds were bound by Maui. Thus they lifted it up and\nstroked and talked to it, while it awoke their simple hearts to\npoetry. Then, as Crystal gathered it all together again and fastened\nit up, they stood wide-eyed, with many expressions of wonder that\npakeha women should do this strange thing.\n\nAs a result of a private talk with the old chief, I learnt that\nNgaraki had paid him a visit some days before, and had told him\nstrange things. The Great Tohungas of the Earth had spoken to him,\nsaying that the return of Hinauri was near, and that he must lay the\nfoundations of a new priesthood in the temple, and gather the tribes\nupon the Table Land. Messages had been sent to many tribes, and some\nhad already settled upon the high plain under the rule of Ngaraki. Te\nMakawawa assured me they were gathered for peace, and not for war.\nWithin the space of a few days his own tribe would journey on to the\nGreat Tapu.\n\n\u201cAnd what is your plan for restoring Keritahi Kerei to her mother?\u201d I\nasked.\n\n\u201cListen, Pakeha!\u201d he replied, lowering his voice. \u201cThe Great Tohungas\ndo not speak to Ngaraki only. I too have heard their words--when all\nthe world was dark and still. I will guide you and the maiden, and the\nMan-who-has-forgotten to the white cave where the woman still lives.\nBut I would not meet the eye of Ngaraki, for he is fierce and\nterrible, and I could not explain this thing to him. Because of these\nthings, friend, we must wait until Ngaraki goes into the islands of\nthe south to gather together the men to whom he will teach the ancient\nwisdom. That will be on the morning after the full moon, for you must\nknow, O son, that an ancient rite of the temple requires the presence\nof the priest on the night when the moon is full. We shall set out\nthen on the third day from this, so that we shall reach the Table Land\nas Ngaraki leaves it.\u201d\n\nI agreed to this plan, and it was settled. In the meantime it occurred\nto me that, unknown to Crystal, I might take a journey to the hut of\nKahikatea. Accordingly, early on the following day, I set out and\narrived at the hut just as my friend was preparing for a journey.\n\n\u201cHave you found her?\u201d were his first words as he came down the slope\nin front of his hut to meet me.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d I replied; \u201cshe is at the _pa_, and I want you to come and see\nher. Then we could all journey together to the mountain--with Te\nMakawawa as a guide.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen are you going to start?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cThe day after to-morrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s too late,\u201d he said; \u201cI\u2019m going to start now, as soon as I can.\nI\u2019ve almost worked my way through the rock, but ran out of powder, and\nhad to go across the bay for more.\u201d The look in his eyes was far away\nand abstracted as he added: \u201cIt\u2019s a strange undertaking, Warnock, and\nit is a strange madness that has laid hold of me; but there\u2019s method\nin it, and I mean to see that perfect face and form again.\u201d\n\nI saw that the desire of the poet for the symbol of his dreams was\nstill strong within him, but nevertheless, I fulfilled the object of\nmy visit.\n\n\u201cIf you wish to see a perfect face and form,\u201d I said, \u201ccome back to\nthe _pa_ with me. I cannot imagine anyone more perfect than Crystal\nGrey. Come back and let us all go together. The \u2018way of the fish\u2019 is\neasier than the \u2018way of the spider.\u2019 My dear Kahikatea, long solitude\nhas made dreams and visions too real to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know it, Warnock, I know it,\u201d he said fiercely. \u201cI am as mad as a\nmystic in this one thing--and yet there\u2019s a meaning in it--a grand\nmeaning!\u201d\n\nHe paused in a contemplative way, then, recalling himself, continued,\n\u201cNo; there is no woman of flesh and blood for me--only Hinauri, the\nDaughter of the Dawn, and she is not flesh and blood--at least, not\nyet.\u201d\n\nHe was tying up a great coil of rope as he spoke. Now he raised it on\nhis shoulders, and I saw that he was ready to start.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll excuse my being in a hurry,\u201d he said, and added with a smile,\n\u201csuch old friends as we are need not stand upon ceremony, need we? I\nseem to have known you for years, Warnock. Let me see--I come your way\nfor a little and then branch off. Come along, I want to reach a\ncertain camping-ground before dark.\u201d\n\nWe parted where a fallen tree spanned a branch of the river. With one\nfoot on this bridge he extended his hand to me.\n\n\u201cGood-bye, Warnock,\u201d he said, wringing my hand and giving me a\nlingering farewell look. \u201cIf I succeed by the \u2018way of the spider\u2019 and\nyou by the \u2018way of the fish,\u2019 we shall meet up there\u201d--he pointed\ntowards the mountains--\u201cif not, then up there!\u201d And with a movement of\nhis head he indicated the clear blue sky.\n\nI stood and watched him as he entered the bush on the other side of\nthe stream, and then turned with a sigh to make my way back to the\n_pa_.\n\n\u201cMy perfect man and my perfect woman may never even meet, much less\nmingle,\u201d I said to myself. \u201cPerhaps he will find the marble Hinauri,\nand then come down to earth again wedded for ever to this ideal and\nclothe its sublime meaning in a poem which will raise the level of the\nworld.\u2026 and perhaps I--who can tell?----\u201d\n\nI dared not conclude my sentence, for beside my perfect man I felt too\npoor a thing to deserve the love of my perfect woman.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIX.\n THE DREAD MAKUTU.[23]\n\nOn the morning of the third day after our arrival at the _pa_ we set\nout for the Table Land. Te Makawawa proposed that \u2018the little maiden,\u2019\nwhom he treated with a consideration and a quiet, dignified respect\nthat almost amounted to worship and awe, should be carried in a kind\nof litter by slaves, but Crystal would not hear of it. She assured the\nchief she could travel twenty miles a day on foot, and Grey himself\nlaughed at the idea of her being carried on a litter. Accordingly, as\nwe had ample time to travel by easy stages, she walked on equal terms\nwith the rest of us. Our party consisted of seven--we three pakehas,\nthe chief, Tiki, and two slaves, who carried blankets and provisions.\nGrey and I insisted on bearing our own swags.\n\nThe aged chief went before us with a swinging stride, and very soon we\nstruck a path which he knew: it was the very one he had often\ntravelled between the _pa_ and the Great Tapu in the early days when\nhe had been guardian priest of the ancient temple. This path\nsimplified our journey, and there was no such thing as battling with\nsupple-jacks or struggling through fern breast high.\n\nThey held happy hours for me, those three days in the bush. To be near\nCrystal was all I could expect, and the little incidents of the\njourney are written in my memory--if not here. It is sufficient to say\nthat day by day she was always in sight, and, by night, when we\ncamped, we three formed a party round one fire, while, at the instance\nof the chief, the four Maoris had two to themselves at a little\ndistance. When bedtime came we rolled ourselves each in a blanket in\nbush style, with our feet to the fire, and slept in triangular\nfashion. It was sweet to lie awake, looking up at the moonlit sky\nbetween the trees, to hear Crystal\u2019s breathing as she and Grey fell\noff to sleep before me. Once I heard her murmur \u201cMother\u201d in her sleep,\nand once again she moved with a sigh and said the name of the one she\nloved--\u201cKahikatea.\u201d\n\nI must not dwell upon those days and nights beneath the summer sky and\nthe growing moon. They passed--as all fair days and nights must\npass--and at length we pitched our camp upon the edge of the Table\nLand, hiding our fires behind a clump of high bush, lest they should\nbe seen from the mountain wall on the other side. It was the open\nspace of a little gully running down from the rounded hills that\nskirted the west of the plain.\n\nWhen we had finished our evening meal, Te Makawawa took me aside round\nthe clump of trees, and pointing to the mountain wall looming gigantic\nin the twilight, said: \u201cThe full moon is rising behind the brow of\nRuatapu, as it has ever risen since that sunset long ago, when Hinauri\nsaid, \u2018Here will I wait!\u2019 Ngaraki will curse the Vile Tohungas of the\nPit to-night, as they have ever been cursed since the day when the\nmighty city stood upon this rolling plain. When he has done that, I\nknow not how soon he will leave the mountain. Therefore Tiki and I\nwill go forward and watch for his going.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood, O Chief,\u201d I replied; \u201cbut tell me again why does he curse the\nVile Tohungas of the Pit to-night?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe tradition says they will return in the flesh to destroy Hinauri;\nthat is why from the beginning they have been cursed when the moon is\nfull, for at that time their power is strongest.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what will the curses do?\u201d I asked, trying to penetrate into the\ndepths of his belief.\n\n\u201cThey will destroy those who would destroy Hinauri,\u201d he answered\nsimply, \u201ceven as the _karakia_ sung before her in the stone will\nprotect her when she moves to life. Our ancestors have taught us that\na curse heaped upon a man\u2019s image will find that man in the flesh.\nMany of these Vile Tohungas have returned, but they have never\nsucceeded in their object. _He Pakeha!_ Their heads are hung up in\nyonder mountain. Others will return, but when they do they will find\nthe curse ready for them if they should stretch forth so much as a\nhand against the sacred person of Hinauri.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is the result of the curse?\u201d I asked again.\n\n\u201c_Eta!_ O Pakeha! The result is _makutu_--not of the modern kind,\nwhich requires the belief and fear of the person bewitched, but the\nhidden magic of the ancients, which finds its mark like the weapon of\na warrior crying \u2018_Utu! Utu!_\u2019[24] When it strikes it seethes like\nmolten pitch in the vitals till sunrise or sunset. Then the cursed one\ndies. He leaves no star in the sky among those of the watching chiefs,\nbut goes down, down to Porawa, with the curses of all time upon his\nhead.\u201d\n\nHe called to Tiki, and together they went into the night across the\nshadowy plain. If there was any doubt in my mind regarding this\nstrange _makutu_ the chief had spoken about, it was entirely dispelled\nbefore I saw him again.\n\nGrey, Crystal, and myself remained by the camp fire, and a little\ndistance away up the gully the two slaves cowered very close over a\nsmall heap of embers, such as the Maoris delight in. Grey, whose\nsupply of cigars had not yet given out, sat smoking on the opposite\nside of the fire, smoking, dreaming much, and saying little, as was\nhis wont. He was looking into the fire, and, as the glow lighted up\nhis gentle face, I forecast the happy hour when his long-lost wife,\nthe bride of two short weeks so long ago, and the mother of his only\nchild, would tell him all the sweet things he had forgotten. Then my\neyes wandered to the white figure of Crystal standing some little\ndistance away in the darkness. She was looking at the mountain wall,\nwhere her mother was a prisoner. With the old chief\u2019s consent, I had\ntold her the legend of Hinauri that very day, and many other things as\nwell, and she was no doubt building that city of long ago again upon\nthe plain, or thinking of Kahikatea\u2019s quest of the pure white woman\nwho stood in the forehead of the mountain wall holding out her arms in\nher age-long petition to the sky.\n\nI rose from my log near the camp fire, and walked round the clump of\nhigh trees. There I thought long thoughts of the many issues that\ncrowded about the unknown cave in the great rock on the other side of\nthe plain. I wondered where Kahikatea was. I thought of Cazotl and his\nwizard minion with a creep of horror. Then, by association of ideas,\nmy thoughts ran down to the Vile Tohungas in the abyss. As the rising\nmoon threw his light up into the sky above the mountain wall I stood a\nsecond time, in imagination, on those giant steps in the Pit, and\nwatched the head of the tallest image hewn out again from the dark by\nthe descending ray of the moon flooding down through the giants\u2019\nwindow. How like the vile granite face was that of the fiend of\nCrystal\u2019s pictured dream! How very like the receding brow, the long\nflat nose, and the leering lips were those of Cazotl himself! Ngaraki\nwas waiting there, in the darkness, ready to add his awful curses to\nthose which extended back into the past--how far the aged moon\nherself, who had looked in upon it from the beginning of the human\nworld, alone knew.\n\nWith an inward shudder at these thoughts I turned and retraced my\nsteps to the camp fire, where I found Grey and Crystal sitting side by\nside, and hand in hand. I seated myself on the other side of the fire\nand said nothing. The moon, concealed by the trees behind me, had\nrisen above the mountain wall, for I could see the silver light on the\ntip of a pine that towered above the gloom of the gully. It crept down\ninto the rolling foliage of the lower trees, and touched a crag that\nstood out from the hillside. Just below this crag I could see the two\nslaves crouching over their fire, the glow of the embers on their\nfaces and bare shoulders. Suddenly one of them uttered a sharp\nexclamation and made a movement. A moment afterwards the other clapped\nhis hand to his chest and said something I could not catch. Then they\nremained looking into the fire as before.\n\nWhile I was idly wondering what had startled them I heard a twig snap\nin the darkness on my right, just beyond the light of the fire. Almost\nat the same moment there was a faint hiss, and Grey started, moved his\nhand to his shoulder, withdrew it, and inspected a small object, which\nfinally, with an expression of surprise, he threw into the fire, where\nit burned rapidly with changing colours, emitting with its escaping\ngas a weird little moan that I remembered too well. Another hiss\nfollowed, and Crystal gave a little cry, raised both hands to her\nright breast, sprang up and staggered some paces away, where she\nremained standing motionless like one in a trance. The firelight\nshowed her face as I had seen it by the lightning\u2019s glare on that\nother terrible night with the wizard.\n\nIn an instant I leapt to my feet, snatched my revolver from my hip\npocket and fired three shots into the darkness where I had heard the\ntwig snap. In reply came the hissing sound again, and something struck\nme in the chest. Then the wild laugh of the wizard negro sounded in my\nears from far away among the hills.\n\nQuick as thought I plucked at the dart in my chest and drew it out.\nThen, raising my hand I was about to fire again, when a deep voice\nfrom the darkness said, \u201cYou cannot fire! My voice is the only\nthing--you cannot fire!\u201d\n\nQuick thrills passed up and down my spine. The back of my head seemed\nas if it had been removed. In vain I strove to pull the trigger, but\ncould not. In an instant I realised I was helpless. Then I saw the\npowerful figure of Cazotl advance into the light of the fire. His\nshining eyes, his long flat nose, his leering lips, on which rested a\nsneer that seemed to flow down his glossy beard, were revealed by the\nleaping flames. Yes, he was a fiend of ungainly but tremendous frame.\nAs he towered there by the side of the fire the sight of him conveyed\na horror to my soul. I tried to gnash my teeth, but could not.\n\n\u201cYou can cover me with that revolver,\u201d he said in a careless tone,\nwhich nevertheless carried conviction with it; \u201cbut you cannot fire.\nYou can watch me, but you can neither move from where you stand nor\ncry out. Don\u2019t you believe me? It is quite true--see here!\u201d\n\nHe came towards me, and placing his great chest against the muzzle of\nmy revolver, said: \u201cYour finger is on the trigger, and if you were\nable, a touch would send a bullet through my heart; but you can\u2019t do\nit, not even to save that pure and lovely girl.\u201d He pointed to the\nwhite figure of Crystal, standing motionless at a little distance.\n\nHeaven knows how I tried to pull that trigger and send the ball\nthrough his heart, but my powers of volition were gone--I was helpless\nunder the powerful influence of the drug and the voice which was \u2018the\nonly thing.\u2019\n\nHe moved away, and, as he had said, I found I could keep him covered\nwith my revolver and watch his movements, but that was all. He turned\nand said something in a harsh, foreign tongue to someone in the\ndarkness, and presently, in answer to his order, the wizard negro came\nwithin the light, and, putting an armful of sticks on the fire,\nhurried away for more. Cazotl bent over Grey, and, smoothing his\neyelids down, said \u201cSleep!\u201d Grey sank back immediately and lay still.\nHe also was under the power of the drug.\n\nWith my finger on the trigger of my revolver I covered Cazotl as he\nwalked round to the other side of the fire, and I prayed that just one\nlittle nervous twitch of my forefinger might do the deed. But if there\nwas any one thing in the world of which I was absolutely certain at\nthat moment, it was that I could not shoot.\n\nI saw him approach Crystal, and their two figures were clearly lined\nagainst the background of shadow--the one like a slender lily, the\nother like a giant--powerful, majestic, but vile.\n\nWith a bow and a polished grace that marked him a man of cities, he\nbent his head and spoke to her words which revolted my very soul; for,\nsweet, musical, and poetical as they seemed, I knew them for the\nworld-wide lie by which the basest passion gains its end. The tones of\nhis voice were rich and deep, as he spoke slowly and distinctly.\n\n\u201cI am the one you love; the one you have longed for. You called me and\nI came. This is the garden where love meets love. The scent of roses\nis wafted about. Sweet music fills the air. Honeysuckle climbs over\nthe bowers, and the soft beds of moss are full of violets. You hear\nthe birds sing in the dreamy trees; they are saying, \u2018I love you! I\nlove you!\u2019 and your bosom throbs with delight, for those are the words\nof your own pure heart.\u201d\n\nHe paused, and by the growing light of the fire I saw her face. It was\nhalf raised to his with a wistful expression, and her bosom rose and\nfell as a sigh escaped her parted lips. Heaven forbid! but, by the\ncunning suggestion of his words, following the strange effect of the\ndrug, she thought herself standing with Kahikatea in ideal\nsurroundings, listening to his confession of love. The rich voice went\non.\n\n\u201cYou hear the cascade pour into the shaded pool, leaping and dancing\nin the sunlight: so rushes your quick blood with strong desire--a wild\ncascade of love\u2019s delight. Listen! the wind murmurs through the trees:\nit is your own sweet voice whispering \u2018yes\u2019 a thousand times, \u2018yes,\nyes!\u2019 You are all a-tremble with love. Your passion thrills within you\nlike honey and fire. It darts into your eyes like love lightning. All\nyour desires and aspirations, your deep inward purity, your joy of\nlaughter and speech, your power of song, and every intense longing for\nwhat is good and beautiful--all are thronging in your bosom to swell\nthe tide of love. Now your eyes are on fire with the intensity of your\nbeing. You give yourself to me body and soul--come!\u201d\n\nWith horror I saw the truth of his words. Crystal\u2019s hands were clasped\nover her bosom. She turned to him, and all he had spoken was in her\neyes. Her purest prayers were there, the essence of all her music and\npoetry and rippling laughter, the splendour of her world of dreams and\nthe beauty of her love of beauty--all were there combined in a moment\nof supreme love and within reach of a devil in angel\u2019s guise. A great\nwave of horror surged through me as I looked on at this terrible\nthing, and, if ever I came near to pressing the trigger and sending a\nbullet through that vile heart it was then. But the words, \u201cYou cannot\nfire!\u201d seemed to have me in a vice, and the torment of an age in hell\ncrowded into my consciousness while I watched.\n\nThe vile one looked down at the love he had wrought in his victim.\nTriumph appeared on his evil face and he gave a low, coarse laugh. He\ndrew nearer to her. His leering lips approached hers; they bore a calm\nhalf smile of masterly disdain--a satisfied sneer for all that is\ngood, and pure, and true, and beautiful. His hand touched her waist to\ndraw her towards him. Then, suddenly, even as I gazed with unspeakable\nagony in my helplessness, a weird thing happened. With a bellow like\nthat of a wild beast in pain, Cazotl sprang erect and threw up his\ngreat arms, as if a dart of horror had pierced his vitals. A hideous,\nawful cry it was that rang out over the plain, as he staggered and\nfell heavily to the ground, where he writhed and twisted and fought\nagainst some master hand which held him down.\n\nHad I fired? No! I was sure of that. Then what had struck him. In a\nflash it came into my mind that this was the dread _makutu_, the\nfierce ancient magic which Ngaraki, the terrible guardian of the\ntemple, was even now hurling at the granite images in the abyss. A\nprofound awe took possession of me as I realised that the ancient\ncurse had found its mark.\n\nMy eyes and revolver were still fixed on Cazotl, as his huge form\nrolled about, his bloodshot eyes starting from his head and his body\ndoubled up as if there were seething pitch within his vitals. His\nhissings and groanings were terrible. Now and again hoarse cries, like\nthose of a soul in torment, rang out--deep curses in some hellish\ntongue unknown on earth. And through it all I had a vague side picture\nof Crystal standing in the same attitude as that in which I had last\nseen her, and I pictured on her face the entranced longing of pure\nlove, undesecrated by this fiend of lust.\n\nAn hour passed, and the gigantic form still rolled and writhed in\nagony upon the open space about the fire. Once my eyes came on a level\nwith the two slaves sitting over their fire some paces beyond the\n_makutued_ man. They were fixed like statues in the position in which\nI had last seen them. When next he tossed and rolled past Grey on the\nother side of the fire I saw that the latter was fast asleep.\n\n\n [image: images/img221.jpg\n caption: \u201cANOTHER TWIST AND HE ROLLED RIGHT ACROSS IT, HIS HAIR AND\n BEARD FRIZZLING IN THE FLAME.\u201d]\n\n\nAs time passed, my brain began to wander. I saw places that I had seen\nlong ago; I heard the voices of those long since dead. Clear visions\nheld my attention for a moment, then vanished. At length one vision\ncame and displaced all the rest. It was the wall of the abyss, on\nwhich glistened the clear light of the moon, which, flooding through\nthe giants\u2019 window, seemed to illumine the whole of the interior of\nthe mountain. I saw, as if behind me, the granite statues smiling up\nwith disdain at the great luminary; I saw Ngaraki lying face downwards\nupon the floor of the world; but what absorbed all my attention was\nthe wall of the abyss before me. There--oh horror! who or what were\nthose gigantic shadows contending in a deathly struggle? I looked up\nat the great window to see what cast them. There was nothing there;\nthe bright moonlight flooded in uninterrupted, and yet, upon the wall\nbefore me, the two giant figures rocked to and fro in a grim,\ntremendous battle. The air grew thick and heavy, as if surcharged with\nsome dread power. An awful silence settled down, broken only by a\nroaring sound as of a mighty wind through the great stone bars. The\nfury of the combat rose to a pitch of terror. Then from the stifling\nair went forth a flash of light between the shadowy combatants. A\ndistant cry came out of the gloomy reaches of the abyss--a ghostly\nvoice, like an echo from a bygone age, and one of the shadows reeled\nand staggered for a moment. Then the fight went on again, and I awoke\nto find myself following the form of Cazotl with eyes and hand round\nthe edge of the fire.\n\nThe moon was now overhead, and I saw the Vile One\u2019s face as he still\nwrithed in agony, unable to rise. His brow was twisted with torment,\nand great drops rolled from it, but nothing could distort the leering,\nbloodstained lips from their original expression: they still sneered\nat all that was good and pure and beautiful. As I watched, his head\nnearly touched the fire. Another twist and he rolled right across it,\nhis hair and beard frizzling in the flame. When he emerged on the\nother side his face appeared more than ever like the grey, granite\nface of the Vile Tohunga.\n\nI cannot quite account for the hours that passed between that and the\nfirst light of dawn, but I know that the whole of that time I must\nhave followed the writhing form of the doomed man with my eyes and\nrevolver--the full tether of my muscular ability--for when my mind\nagain cast off its visions I found myself still acting in obedience to\nhis words. Cazotl\u2019s cries were now growing faint, but his quick,\nhoarse breath, and his still desperate struggles, told that he was\nwrestling in the throes of a long and agonising death. The full moon,\ngrowing pale against the approach of dawn, was just sinking behind the\nhills. Crystal had sunk upon the ground, where she lay still--a vague\noutline of white upon the moss to the left of me. These things I saw\nindirectly, for my eyes were fastened upon Cazotl.\n\nThe moon passed down and daylight came, revealing to my horrified gaze\na face with eyes that glared and rolled in unspeakable agony, teeth\nthat gnashed in unremitting pain, while the limbs, their force now\nalmost spent, still quivered in merciless torture. The rising sun\ntipped the hills above. I was aware the light was creeping down\ntowards us. And now there was a brief respite, almost silence, made\nstill more clear by the harsh, monotonous cry of a _kiwi_ in the gloom\nof the gully behind. The Vile One raised himself upon his hands and\nknees, and his glaring eyes were fixed upon the form of Crystal\nsleeping on the moss five paces from him. He seemed to be able to\nthink and act. Struggling to his feet, he stood for a moment, his\nfingers crooked nervously; his teeth made a grinding sound, and there\nwas hate, revenge, and murder in his eyes. I saw his purpose. He would\nspring upon that fair form and strangle the life out of it. He\nstaggered towards her, and I felt that even now my bullet would save\nher--but alas! my body was like dry wood, and all my nerves were\nnon-conductors. I could not press the trigger.\n\nCazotl stood still as if to steady himself for a spring. But only for\na moment. The pallor of death overspread his now hideous face. He\nraised his hand to his brow as if struck, then reeled, and with a last\ngrating shriek of pain and rage, fell heavily backwards, where he lay\nextended and motionless. At that moment, even as he was falling, my\nfinger pressed the trigger, and the bullet sped. At that moment, too,\nas the sunlight flooded down over glistening birch and pine, my body\nrelaxed, and I fell unconscious to the ground.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XX.\n CRYSTAL LOVES KAHIKATEA, WHO LOVES HINAURI.\n\nIt was early dawn when I awoke. By the light of the fire, which had\nevidently been freshly made up, I cast my eyes round the camp scene.\nEverything was as it should have been. Grey was asleep on the other\nside of the fire; Crystal was sitting up against a fallen tree trunk,\nnot far from me, in the attitude of one who had dropped asleep while\nwatching, for her cheek was resting on her arm, which was laid along\nthe rough support. Near the other fire I could discern the forms of Te\nMakawawa and Tiki, while at a little distance the slaves lay huddled\nup. Was it possible that nothing unusual had happened--that I had\nmerely dreamed a frightful dream? The chief and Tiki had evidently\nreturned in the night, but why was not Crystal rolled in her blanket?\nI swept my eyes round the open space of the camp, and asked myself\nwhat had become of the body of Cazotl, which, in my mind\u2019s eye, I\ncould see so distinctly lying face upwards on the other side of the\nfire.\n\nI got up and shook myself; then felt for my revolver. It was not in\nits usual place. I clapped my hand to my chest and found a painful\nspot where the dart had struck me. Then I knew it was no dream.\nStepping quickly to where Crystal was sleeping, I bent down and\ntouched her on the shoulder.\n\nShe raised her head, wide awake on the instant.\n\n\u201cWhat has happened, Miss Grey?\u201d I asked hurriedly.\n\n\u201cA strange thing,\u201d she replied, standing up and facing me; \u201cyesterday\nmorning----\u201d\n\n\u201cYesterday morning?\u201d I said in surprise; \u201cthen I\u2019ve been asleep for\nnearly twenty-four hours?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, and we have been taking it in turns to watch you. It was my\nturn, but I must have dropped off--forgive me.\u201d\n\nBut I was busy wondering how much of the awful occurrence of the night\nshe knew. I said: \u201cYes, well; yesterday morning----\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! just at sunrise father and I were awakened by a pistol shot, and\nI saw you fall to the ground. We both ran to you and found your\nrevolver still smoking in your hand. But we could not rouse you--you\nseemed to be fast asleep, at least father said that you were, and that\nthere was nothing whatever the matter with you. While he was feeling\nyou all over I looked to see what you had fired at, and oh! Wanaki, I\nsaw a horrible thing. On the other side of the fire a huge man with\nhis clothes all torn, his hair and beard burnt, and his hideous face\nupturned, lay on the ground. When father had finished examining you,\nhe searched the body of the horrible thing, said it was dead, and that\nthere was a bullet wound right over the heart.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank God!\u201d I said, for, as she seemed to know nothing of his\nterrible throes, I would not shock her mind with them.\n\n\u201cWanaki!\u201d she said, looking earnestly at me, \u201cwhy did he come, and why\ndid you kill him?\u201d\n\n\u201cDo not ask me why he came?\u201d I answered; \u201cand I shot him for reasons\nbest known to myself.\u201d I turned my head away to say that.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t be angry with me,\u201d she pleaded. \u201cI have told you many things. I\nheard Tiki say that he came to steal \u2018the little maiden\u2019--he meant me,\nof course. Is that why you shot him?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! Tiki said that, did he?\u201d I asked quickly, and waited for an\nanswer.\n\n\u201cYes, but Te Makawawa, when he first arrived and saw the huge body,\nlooked at the face a long while, shook his head at what Tiki said, and\nmuttered to himself something about the ancient magic of Ngaraki. Then\nhe walked up and down, gesticulating wildly and singing a chant about\nNgaraki the Terrible. He stopped in the middle of it abruptly, walked\nto where I was standing, scanned my face as if it puzzled him, and,\nshaking his head, slowly walked away. Now what do you make of it?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t make anything of it,\u201d I said shiftily, for I saw that if I\nwas not careful she would drag the whole story from me. \u201cI know the\nman came and threatened you and I shot him. What have they done with\nhim?\u201d\n\n\u201cTe Makawawa and Tiki and the slaves took him to a mud swamp over\nthere and sank him in it. Then the old chief sang another long, wild\nchant about Ngaraki, Hinauri, and the Vile Tohungas.\u201d\n\nI saw she was thinking of something at the back of her words as she\nsaid this. After a pause she resumed, speaking very slowly: \u201cDo you\nknow that when I looked at the dead man\u2019s face I had a feeling that he\nwas like the man in my dream who cried \u2018Degrade the pure one! Whose is\nthe task? Mine! Mine!\u2019 There is something strange in it all, Wanaki.\u201d\n\nMy eyes met hers, and we stood looking at each other until at last I\nsaid: \u201cMiss Grey; there is something _very_ strange in it; but if I\nwere to attempt to explain it in any way, I should only make it more\nmysterious. In the meantime we have much to think of. You will\nprobably see your mother to-day.\u201d\n\nAt this moment Grey awoke and staggered to his feet yawning.\n\n\u201cAh! Warnock,\u201d he said, coming towards me; \u201cyou\u2019re awake at last. None\nthe worse, eh? By Jove, that was a good shot of yours--right through\nhis heart. What did the fellow want?\u201d\n\nI moved my head towards Crystal and raised my eyebrows.\n\n\u201cEh? Eh?\u201d he whispered, drawing me aside; \u201cwould have drugged her and\ncarried her off, eh?\u201d\n\nI nodded.\n\n\u201cThe deuce,\u201d he said, wringing my hand, while he regarded me with an\nexpression of horror on his gentle face. \u201cThank God you saw him in\ntime. Warnock, my friend! I\u2019m beginning to look upon you as a special\nProvidence.\u201d\n\nThe events of that night had so horrified and perplexed me that I\ncould enter on no explanation of them. I preferred to let things\nexplain themselves as they would--as they had, in fact--yet I knew\nvery well that I had not killed Cazotl with my poor bullet; it was his\ndeath from another cause that had unbound the spell from my will, and\nreleased my trigger finger from obedience to the controlling voice.\nThere was some mysterious power, more unerring than that, which had\nstruck him like the wrath of Heaven. Remembering a part of Ngaraki\u2019s\nawful cursing chant in the abyss, I moved aside with some excuse to\nGrey and muttered to myself:\n\n\n \u201cCursed in the light, writhe till the sun goes down;\n Cursed in the dark, writhe till the sun comes up.\u201d\n\n\n * * * * *\n\nImpatient at the delay caused by my long sleep, Te Makawawa insisted\non an early start, and after a hurried breakfast we set out for the\nmountain wall on the other side of the plain. The old chief informed\nme briefly that Ngaraki had left the mountain the morning before at\nsunrise, and would probably be away for another day. I tried to draw\nhim out upon the mysterious affair of the _makutu_, but he stopped all\nfurther efforts of mine in that direction by the remark: \u201cThe flax\nthat ties the tongue of the _ariki_ is not loosened even by the sun\u201d;\nby which, taken together with an expression of perplexity I had seen\nseveral times upon his face, I gathered that something troubled him.\n\nAs we passed along I noticed many rough buildings placed by twos and\nthrees near the streams that crossed the plain and sheltered by the\nvarious clumps of stunted bush. I overtook the chief and spoke to him\nagain.\n\n\u201cO Chief, whose hair is the snow of Ruahine, these are not the abodes\nof the \u2018children of the mist\u2019 who come hither to snare the _kakariki_.\nWhat then are these houses that strew the plain?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is as I said,\u201d he replied absently. \u201cThe tribes are gathering from\nfar and near; Ngaraki has spread a rumour that Hinauri will return\nshortly, and they are here to do her bidding when she comes.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs there not danger in this?\u201d I asked, for I saw that so warlike a\npeople, led by violent chiefs, would be apt to differ among\nthemselves; or, if not, some false prophet would surely arise and work\nthem up to frenzy with the idea that they were now to drive the\npakehas into the sea.\n\n\u201cThere is small danger,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are gathered for peace; but,\nif any should stir up among them, my warriors, who are now on the way\nto this place, will take their heads and restore peace.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut some violent chief,\u201d I persisted; \u201csome false prophet will\ncertainly arise, saying he has been commanded by Hinauri in a dream to\nrouse the people to fight, and they will do it, Te Makawawa--I know\nthe hearts of your people.\u201d\n\n\u201cO Friend of the Forest Tree,\u201d replied the old chief, \u201cyour words are\nnot the dry leaves of foolishness scattered by the wind; yet, if it be\neven as you say, who can stand against Te Makawawa? And, if they\nshould rise as the sands of the sea and cover the whole earth, could\nthey escape the wrath of Ngaraki the Terrible?\u201d\n\nHis eyes flashed and I felt answered, for though I smelt war very\nstrongly I could not imagine the aged chief and the fierce Ngaraki on\nthe losing side.\n\nWhen we reached the Lion Rock that terminated the descending spur, the\nsecluded valley and the stupendous outer wall of the temple were still\nin deep shadow. Dreamer Grey looked down at the stream welling out of\nthe mountain\u2019s side, then up at the everlasting granite, and finally\nturned to me.\n\n\u201cYou know,\u201d he said, \u201cyou know how sometimes you have a kind of vivid\nimpression that you have seen some given thing before--well, that is\nexactly the feeling I have when I look at these rocks. I wonder if I\nshall remember as much of my wife\u2019s face.\u201d\n\nI smiled at him as he gazed up at the rocks. \u201cYou will have one memory\nbetween you,\u201d I said, \u201cor perhaps her face will appeal to you \u2018like\nglimpses of forgotten dreams,\u2019 as Tennyson says.\u201d\n\nHe did not answer: he was forecasting his happiness with his eyes\nfixed upon the mountain wall as if he could see through it. As I\nturned away to where Crystal was standing, she moved towards me and\npointed to the aged chief sitting upon the mossy bank near the rock,\nburied in deep thought.\n\n\u201cHe says that he will soon take us by the \u2018way of the fish,\u2019\u201d she\nsaid; \u201cbut that for the present he has long thoughts to think--that\nthe sun will set \u2019ere long, and that these last moments are for him.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe expects to die for revealing the secrets of this mountain to us,\u201d\nI said. \u201cDo you know, he seems to me like a man who is following some\ncommanding voice, which draws him on and on, even to what he believes\nto be his death.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, he seems to have altered strangely. Even to me he is different.\nOften he looks at me with those piercing black eyes of his as if there\nwas something he did not understand. At times I think that he doubts\nif I am the same person that he stole away from my mother in his zeal\nfor Hinauri. Perhaps he still thinks I am a witch.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! that reminds me,\u201d I said. \u201cWhile he is thinking his long\nthoughts--and I think that perhaps they are stranger than you or I can\nguess--while he is setting his face to the dying sun I will show you\nthe place where you were not buried fifteen years ago.\u201d\n\nLeaving Grey with an unlighted cigar between his lips, still looking\nup at the great wall, and the aged chief, sitting motionless on the\nbank, we turned into the forest glade that led up into the valley and\nthe ravine. When we gained the open space beneath the great rimu, and\nI showed her the spot where the tohunga had buried the stone, Crystal\nturned to me with a sudden thought in her face.\n\n\u201cAh! Wanaki!\u201d she said, touching me on the arm, \u201cmay all in us that is\nbase as that coarse stone you have told me about remain buried here in\nthe shadows.\u201d\n\nI was about to reply, but at that moment a dull roar, like the sound\nof a distant explosion, fell upon my ears.\n\n\u201cWhat was that?\u201d she asked.\n\nWell I knew what it was. Should I tell her? Why not? She had a right\nto know.\n\n\u201cIt is Kahikatea,\u201d I replied; \u201che is blasting the rocks high above the\nmountain wall. He hopes to clear a passage through the rocks to the\ncave where----\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere my mother is,\u201d she broke in eagerly.\n\n\u201cWhere Hinauri stands,\u201d I said slowly. \u201cHinauri, the Daughter of the\nDawn, the Bright One who holds her arms out to the future of the\nworld--Hinauri, whom he loves.\u201d\n\nCrystal moved her eyes slightly from mine. Was it a flash of jealousy\nor only pain that I saw in them as she steadfastly regarded a clump of\ndaisies in the moss?\n\n\u201cHe is mine!\u201d she said suddenly, with a fierce blaze of passion that\nlighted her face as if with fire; \u201cno one can take him from me--oh!\nwhat am I saying to you?--you, to whom I owe everything in the world:\nyou, whom I would spare any pain--oh! forgive me, Wanaki!\u201d The sudden\nfire, which in the depths of her eyes was like a threatening light\nflashed out of ancient darkness, concealed itself, leaving her face\nfull of tenderness beyond my poor power of words.\n\nI did not speak.\n\n\u201cTell me,\u201d she said again, swept on by the tide of her feelings, \u201ctell\nme--if he believed this marble statue would return to life, according\nto the legend, would he love it in the same way as--as----\u201d\n\n\u201cAs I love you?\u201d I suggested.\n\n\u201cYes--as you--love--me.\u201d She cast her eyes down, halting between the\nwords as if she were measuring their exact meaning and influence upon\nher.\n\nThere was a brief pause, in which I felt like a man who, in some\nunderground prison, can see daylight through a far small opening, and\nstumbles towards it. But it was no time for any but a fool to stand\nand think.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d I said; \u201cthere is a personal element in his love for this\nlegendary woman. Her face is the only face in the world for him, and\nhe longs to look upon the fair form of the Bright One. When at last he\ndoes so, and touches the cold marble lips with his----\u201d\n\nI paused there with my eyes searching her face. My words had roused\nthe natural woman in her. Between her parted lips I saw the pearly\nteeth set, as the colour fled from her cheeks. Clenching her hands,\nshe turned to me with flashing eyes that had robbed her face of life,\nbut not of a beauty that now was terrible in its anger.\n\n\u201cDo not tell me any more,\u201d she said. \u201cOh! if my love should come to a\nblind end!\u201d She drooped her head and was silent, mightily troubled in\nher bosom.\n\n\u201cWhat would you do?\u201d I asked quietly.\n\nShe looked up and faced me calmly, but did not speak.\n\n\u201cCrystal,\u201d I cried, seizing her hand and pressing it passionately to\nmy lips, \u201cmay I hope that if--if----\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! Wanaki,\u201d she said slowly and sadly, \u201cI owe you everything in the\nworld. I do not know what a woman will do. I never knew till now that\nit was possible I should feel as I have felt. Oh! tell me--is Hinauri\nso _very_ beautiful?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey call her the Rival of the Dawn,\u201d I said, releasing her hand as\nshe drew it away.\n\n\u201cThe Rival of the Dawn,\u201d she echoed with a pathetic ring in her voice;\n\u201cKahikatea loves the Rival of the Dawn; I, who am nothing in his eyes,\nlove Kahikatea; and you----\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I, who am nothing in your eyes, love you.\u201d\n\nThere was a pause, in which the west wind pressed gently against the\nbosom of the rimu, and the tui sang on in the high solitude of the\nravine.\n\n\u201cThat you are nothing in my eyes is not quite true, Wanaki,\u201d she said\nsoftly; \u201cbut at present I cannot say how false it is. Let us go back\nand see if Te Makawawa has finished his long thoughts.\u201d\n\nWe retraced our steps for the most part in silence, and as we went I\nfelt that perhaps--who knew?--there would be a daybreak to my\ndarkness. I read into her words the possibility that she might give me\nsome of the love that Kahikatea would most certainly thrust aside\nwithout ever dreaming of its existence.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXI.\n CRYSTAL AND HINAURI MEET.\n\nWhen we reached the open space about the stream Te Makawawa was\nstill sitting there on the bank with his head bowed. Dreamer Grey, on\ncatching sight of us, threw away his unlighted cigar and came to meet\nus.\n\n\u201cI am the most patient of men,\u201d he said, \u201cbut--I suppose the old chief\nthere knows what he\u2019s about.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe can do nothing but wait,\u201d I said, and we all sat down on the mossy\nsward to do so.\n\nBut we had not to wait long, for presently the chief started to his\nfeet and began striding rapidly up and down the bank. His head was\nerect, his step was firm, and but for his grey hair and aged face one\nwould have said he had not grown old. His pace quickened to a run. He\nstopped and performed an imaginary fight with the empty air, thrusting\nwith his spear and shouting battle cries as he had done in his early\nyears. Then he dashed down his spear with the air of a man whose mind\nis made up, threw off his outer robe, and, with a short run, plunged\nfrom the bank.\n\nWe rose from the ground and ran forward to see if the ancient one was\nreally equal to this daring feat. Two, three, four minutes we stood\nlooking at the dark pool, and then Grey said:\n\n\u201cIf he hasn\u2019t got through he certainly won\u2019t come up alive now.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe must be through,\u201d I said, \u201che must be through.\u201d But I was getting\nanxious.\n\n\u201cLook! Look!\u201d cried Crystal; \u201cthe water\u2019s growing less; see! it\u2019s\nsinking--it\u2019s drying up.\u201d\n\nI gave a sigh of relief, for I saw the water was rapidly diminishing,\nand knew that the old chief had gained the ledge inside, passed round\nthe lake, and pushed the great lever up to stop the flow of the water.\n\nGradually the surface of the pool sank below the aperture in the\nmountain wall and, finally, left the way perfectly clear. Grey made a\nmovement as if to climb down and go in through the black opening, but\nI restrained him.\n\n\u201cWe must wait till he returns,\u201d I said. \u201cWe can do nothing without\nhim.\u201d\n\nAccordingly we waited with our eyes fixed upon the dark round opening,\nlevel with the bed of the channel as to its lower margin, while its\nupper part was considerably higher than a man\u2019s head. Presently there\nwas a glimmer of light approaching through the darkness of the\ninterior, and then a figure appeared in the aperture, standing erect\nwith a blazing torch in his hand. The sight startled me, for the\nfigure was enveloped in a large war cloak made of dog\u2019s fur, and the\nwhole solemn bearing of the wearer, as he held his torch aloft and\nstood looking at us, was that of the guardian priest of the ancient\ntemple.\n\nIn another moment, however, I recognised Te Makawawa as he might have\nbeen eighteen years before, when he first brought Grey and his wife to\nthis strange place. He beckoned to us, and we climbed down the bank as\nquickly as possible, and hurried along the shingly bed of the channel\ntowards him.\n\n\u201cSpeak few words, O pakeha people,\u201d he said solemnly; \u201cbut follow in\nmy footsteps.\u201d\n\nHe turned and led the way. Grey went first in his wake, Crystal\nfollowed, and I came last. When we had gained the level rock above, by\nmeans of the rough, but not difficult, niches in the wall, the\ntorchlight shed a fitful glare upon the nearer rim of the great basin,\nand upon part of the lake. The water, flung up tumultuously in the\ncentre, boiled and effervesced and lapped against the rocky rim on\nwhich we stood. Far away at the end of the narrowing gulf could be\nseen the giants\u2019 window, through which the sunlight streamed like\nsilver, but grew golden as it fell obliquely into the denser darkness\nof the abyss. The wall of the cavern beyond the lake was lost in\ngloom, into which I knew the great spar was tapering off to its wooden\nsprit near the overhanging crags of the vaulted roof.\n\nBut we saw these things in a glance, for Te Makawawa passed on along\nthe margin of the lake, bearing his torch, and we followed. He halted\nat the part of the cavern wall by the lake side, where I had seen\nNgaraki\u2019s kit of kumaras ascend by a cord.\n\n\u201cO Friend of the Forest Tree,\u201d he said, drawing me a little aside,\n\u201cthe mysteries of this ancient temple are great and wonderful. I am\ngoing by the \u2018way of the fish,\u2019 which no man can find without a guide,\nnor, if he found it, could he pass that way without being taught. Now\nstand there close to the wall, and hold the mountain lily by the hand,\nlest she fall in the darkness. I go. And, when you hear the roaring of\nthe sea overhead, and the great god Tangaroa lets loose the flood,\nthen you will know that Te Makawawa has passed in safety, that his end\nis not yet.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what then, O chief? Do we follow, or will you return?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will let a rope down from above by the wall where you stand. Climb\nup the rope, O Friend. Then the Man-who-has-forgotten will tie the\nmountain lily to it, and together we shall draw her up, and let the\nrope down again for the Man-who-has-forgotten to ascend. Is my word\nclear?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, O Chief,\u201d I replied; \u201cbut if you fail, what then?\u201d\n\n\u201cThen my end will have come,\u201d he said, \u201cand the ancient spell I cast\nover the Man-who-has-forgotten will return to me, his memory of all\nthese years will be blotted out, and his new thought will link on to\nthe old as if it were but yesterday. He will remember all--even the\nsecret of the \u2018way of the winged fish,\u2019 for he has passed through it\nfrom above. Most clearly he will remember the \u2018way of the lizard\u2019\nbeyond the giants\u2019 window, for by that path did he leave before\nforgetting the things he knew. Thus, if I perish, you shall escape\nthrough him.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is good, O Tohunga,\u201d I said, wondering at his strange words.\n\nHe turned and, torch in hand, passed round the lake to the rock behind\nwhich, on a former occasion, I had hidden while Ngaraki had plunged\nfrom it into the depths. I went back to the spot where Crystal and\nGrey were standing, close to the wall.\n\n\u201cLet me hold your hand,\u201d I said to Crystal, and explained briefly to\nthem both what strange thing would happen. I found her hand in the\ndarkness, and as I held it in mine even the thought of Kahikatea did\nnot intrude. Thus in silence we watched the movements of the tohunga\nacross the lake. He removed his war-cloak and hung it somewhere in the\nshadows of the wall. Then he approached the edge of the lake and\ndipped the end of the torch in the water. The faint hiss reached us\nover the seething tide, and then there was darkness, in which, as I\nheld Crystal\u2019s warm hand, it seemed to me that we two were alone in\nspace.\n\nA sudden plunge in the lake aroused me; then all was still, except for\nthe ghostly movements of the welling flood. Half a minute went by, in\nwhich my thoughts were with the chief who had undertaken I knew not\nwhat dangerous task in the depths. Would he fail?\n\nAs I asked myself the question my ears detected a change in the sound\nof the water. The boiling, seething motion ceased gradually, and there\nwas a commotion in the depths of the lake--a commotion conveyed\nsuggestively by a wave rolling round the margin, flapping over as it\nwent, and again by the peculiar sucking sounds of whirling eddies\nwhich seemed to close together with little claps of the water here and\nthere.\n\nAh! there was a sound I could interpret in the darkness. It was made\nby the water rolling off the sides of some object which had risen\nabove the surface not four yards from us. It was, I knew, the head of\nthe great stone lever in the depths. Then the profound silence which\nfollowed was broken by a hollow roar like that of some wild beast pent\nin a cave within the roof. Louder and louder it grew until, with a\nbooming sound like thunder, the waters gushed from an opening above,\nand, their forefoam showing vaguely in the darkness, fell with a\ndeafening tumult into the lake. The spray dashed up in our faces and I\ndrew a long breath, for I knew that Te Makawawa had passed by the \u2018way\nof the winged fish.\u2019\n\nAgainst the din of the cascade I heard Crystal trying to make herself\nheard.\n\nI raised the hand I was clasping, and, placing her finger and thumb on\nthe lobe of my ear, bent my head towards her.\n\n\u201cHe is safe!\u201d she cried, and I felt her warm breath on my cheek. Then\nshe guided my hand to her own ear, and I cried back: \u201cYes; he will\nsoon let down the rope.\u201d\n\nMy hand still retained hers, and as I spoke in her ear a wisp of her\nhair strayed across my lips. I forgot everything. The roar of the\ncataract seemed to drown all except my passion, and that overwhelmed\nme. Suddenly I enclosed her in my arms and, drawing her to me, kissed\nher wildly on the brow and cheek and lips. For a moment she lay still\nin my arms, then she pushed herself gently away from me as if she were\nsaying, \u201cI do not know what a woman will do.\u2026 I owe you everything,\nbut not this--at least not yet.\u201d\n\nAt length, after waiting several minutes, I felt something swing\nagainst my shoulder. I stretched out my hand and caught it. It was the\nrope. When I had shouted the old chief\u2019s directions again in the ears\nof my companions--that Crystal was to come second and Grey last--I\ntried my weight on the rope, and, finding it firm, climbed up. It\nseemed a long way in the darkness, and I was nearly exhausted when at\nlength a hand slid down over the rope and touched me. Another hand\nfound my other wrist and, as I climbed a little further, both gripped\nme beneath the armpits, raised me over a barrier of rock, and set me\non my feet on a level foothold.\n\n\u201c_He Pakeha!_\u201d said the deep voice of the chief; \u201cis the mountain lily\nsafe?\u201d\n\n\u201cQuite safe,\u201d I replied.\n\nMy first thought was to strike a match to see what space there was to\nmove about in. I did so, and found that the old chief and myself were\nstanding on a level platform let into the wall of the cavern. He went\ninto the shadows and returned with a torch, which I lighted from the\nmatch, and set in an upright position in a crevice. He then unwound\nthe rope from a rounded knob of rock on the inside of the barrier, and\nlet down a few more yards for Grey to make a kind of swing for\nCrystal. A rough flax mat protected the rope from the irregularities\nof the rock, and the barrier itself projected far enough from the wall\nto enable her to keep clear of it in the ascent.\n\nIt was not until, by our united efforts, she was drawn up and stood\nsafely beside us, that I breathed freely. The rope was let down, and\nGrey came up soon afterwards like an acrobat. Te Makawawa then made a\nsign to me to draw the rope up again, and, as I was doing so, it\nresisted my efforts for a moment, as if someone was holding it;\nhowever, it came loose, and I thought that perhaps a knot on the end\nmust have caught on some projecting piece of rock. Yet the matter\npuzzled me a little, especially when I felt the end of the rope soon\nafterwards and found there was no knot there.\n\nBut it was no time for fancies. Te Makawawa took the torch from\nCrystal, and showed the way into a high tunnel which, as we followed\nhim, led us right into the backbone of the rock, and gradually took\nthe form of a spiral ascent, though I could only guess at this from\nthe somewhat steep grade, and the continual curve to the left. We soon\nlost the roar of the cataract as we circled up higher and higher into\nthe silent heart of the mountain.\n\nAfter toiling up in this way for some time we came to a hollow place\nof many chambers. Here also was a lever-like structure similar to the\ngreat spar in the lower part of the cavern, though very much smaller\nand more delicately fashioned. Upon the arm of the lever I saw, by the\nlight of the torch, some peculiar figures. I drew Te Makawawa\u2019s\nattention to them and asked him what they signified.\n\n\u201cThere is an ancient tradition,\u201d he said doubtfully, \u201cthat this stone\nwill be raised when Hinauri returns, and that when it is done all the\nways of the temple will be closed; but its secret has been lost. See!\nthe end hangs over an abyss--the secret is hidden in the depths.\u201d\n\nIt was balanced on a breast-high ridge of rock, and beyond was a gulf\nwhich the light of the torch could not span.\n\n\u201cRemain here, O white people,\u201d said the chief, after we had wondered\nat this strange contrivance; \u201cwait here in the Place-of-Many-Chambers,\nand I will go and speak with Miriami, and bring her to you. But,\u201d he\nadded, drawing me aside, \u201cI will say nothing of the little maiden. I\ncannot face the stars in her eyes.\u201d\n\nLeaving us the torch, he vanished through another tunnel, and left us\nin this Place-of-Many-Chambers to await his return with the lost\nMiriam Grey. Crystal stood with her hand on the tapering end of the\nstone lever, which stretched its arm horizontally into the centre of\nthe chamber in which we stood.\n\n\u201cIt would be easy to raise this,\u201d she said. \u201cI wonder that no one of\nthe long line of priests, which you say has guarded the secrets of\nthis place for ages, has had enough curiosity to try it.\u201d\n\n\u201cAccording to Te Makawawa,\u201d I said, \u201cit seems to be a means of hiding\nthe temple and its secrets for ever when the ancient queen returns,\nthe reason being perhaps that there is immense wealth hidden somewhere\nhere. Let us see what the other end of the lever is like.\u201d\n\nI held the torch over the barrier, and we peered into the gloom.\nResting in the hollow of the head of the lever, some little distance\nout, we discerned a large round stone of many tons in weight, its\noutline dimly defined against the blackness beyond. Below this yawned\na pit, in which the rays of the torch were lost.\n\n\u201cIt seems to me like a system of rolling stones,\u201d I said. \u201cIf this\nlever were raised and that stone launched into the gulf below, there\nis no telling in what way it might carry out some design originated by\nthe founders of this strange place. No doubt there are levers below,\nbalanced in such a way that this stone would move them and liberate\nother rolling stones, which would run in grooves prepared for them to\nexecute some errand connected with the various openings into the\nmountain. Why not? Could anything be more gigantic and wonderful in\ndesign than the great levers in the cavern below?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere were giants in those days,\u201d said Grey, joining us and glancing\nround as he spoke. \u201cThis must all have been hewn out with design.\nThere are six little caves, I have counted them by matchlight, all\nopening into this larger one, and some of them contain the openings of\nother tunnels leading goodness knows where.\u201d\n\nLittle by little Crystal and her father gravitated towards the opening\nthrough which the old chief had disappeared, and by which he was soon\nto return with the one for whom we had undertaken our journey. Hand in\nhand they stood together with their eyes fixed on that opening. I\nplaced the torch so that its fitful glare fell upon their now pale\nfaces, and retired into the shadows, where I stood leaning upon the\narm of the lever to watch this reunion between husband and wife,\nbetween mother and daughter.\n\nThe two stood silent and motionless. I saw, by the uncertain light\nwhich revealed their faces, that their feelings were too deep for\nspeech; I saw by the nervous clasp of their hands that their suspense\nwas great.\n\nBut it came to an end. Grey made a sudden movement and bent his head\nforward. I knew his ear had caught the sound of approaching footsteps.\nIn another moment Te Makawawa issued from the darkness, and, standing\naside, folded his arms and remained with his chin on his breast. By\nthe brief glance I caught of his features I saw that his expression\nwas even more troubled and perplexed than before.\n\nPresently in the opening of the tunnel appeared one whom at first\nglance I took to be a Maori woman of high rank. She was clothed in a\nrich silky kaitaka, her feet were sandalled, her bare left arm and\nbreast glistened through the masses of dark hair which fell loose\nabout her. As she stood there a moment between the dim light and the\ndarkness, like a tall Maori chieftainess, a leaping flame of the torch\nshowed her face more clearly. It was like the pale face of a madonna,\nsweet, tender, and good. The high brow, the magnetic-looking eyes,\nwith delicately pencilled eyebrows, gave a look of tremendous artistic\nand concentrative power to the face; and this power seemed only\nequalled by the pervading tenderness of her expression. I saw at a\nglance that this \u201cwoman with the stars in her eyes\u201d must without doubt\nbe the remarkable creator of that remarkable work in the marble cave\nabove.\n\nBut Dreamer Grey had taken a step towards her and stood gazing at the\nwoman who, it was slowly dawning on him, must be his wife. She drew\nnear to him, at first hesitatingly; then, without passion, but with a\nring of great tenderness in her voice, she cried: \u201cMy husband!\u201d and,\nplacing her arms about his neck, laid her cheek upon his. Held in each\nother\u2019s arms, they remained silent for a moment, while, in the shadow\nnear by, Crystal stood watching them with I know not what emotions in\nher heart, what dawn of joy upon her face.\n\nAt last a little cry escaped her: \u201cMother!\u201d\n\nIt came like a note of pathetic music, like the last beat of a\nlong-sustained chord before it is resolved, and all is plain to the\nlistener. Te Makawawa raised his head. A tremor shook some depth of my\nmatter-of-fact being, which had never been touched before. Husband and\nwife who had found each other lifted their faces at the word, and\ntheir eyes met. Grey disengaged one arm, and, stretching it out\ntowards Crystal, said in a voice unsteady with emotion:\n\n\u201cIt is our daughter!\u201d\n\nSlowly, and as if she did not understand, the mother turned her face\ntowards the white figure standing near by. In the half light she\nscanned Crystal\u2019s features. Then she started, giving a quick\ninterjection in the Maori tongue. The hand which had rested on Grey\u2019s\nneck slid down and clutched his arm. \u201cMy daughter? hush! our daughter\nis dead, dear. Te Makawawa!\u201d she gasped hoarsely, speaking again in\nhis own tongue, \u201cthe light! the light! quick!\u201d\n\nWhy was she so eager? She knew, or thought she knew, that her child\nwas dead, and yet she was gazing at Crystal\u2019s face like one struck\ndumb with astonishment.\n\nThe chief drew near with the torch and held it up so that its light\nclearly showed the faces of all. Crystal was holding her arms out to\nher mother with a yearning look upon her face.\n\n\u201cI live,\u201d she said sweetly; \u201cI live, dear mother--why do you not take\nme in your arms?\u201d\n\nAs the light fell upon the lovely face and form, all white and\nsculpturesque, Miriam Grey drew a quick breath--I heard it as I stood\nin the shadows--a gasp of unutterable astonishment. Her free hand\nclutched at the air, then swept quickly across her brow, while I\nwondered, for how could there be anything in that face for her to\nrecognise after so many years? Yet it seemed there was something.\n\n\u201cAh! God in heaven!\u201d she cried. \u201cAm I mad--or is this thing true? Te\nMakawawa, Chief and Tohunga! are you blind?\u201d\n\nI walked from the shadows round to where Crystal and Grey were\nstanding, and together we watched this strange scene. I motioned\nsilence to them, whispering that the chief would explain.\n\n\u201cI am not blind, O Miriami,\u201d he said quietly; \u201cbut what my eyes see my\nthoughts put aside. My two eyes and your two eyes may speak false\nwords in this dim light. The Light of Tane is in the cave above, and\nhere are many eyes that may see and judge.\u201d\n\nHe waved his hand towards us as he spoke. I was perplexed by his\nwords, for as I understood the matter it was not a question of seeing\nclearly, but of simple confession on the part of the old chief.\n\n\u201cYour words are wise, O Friend of the Great Tohungas,\u201d she said\nthoughtfully, with an almost terrified look at Crystal. \u201cGive me the\ntorch.\u201d\n\nHe handed it to her and she moved towards the tunnel, holding it\nbefore her, and motioning us to follow.\n\n\u201cWhat did the chief mean?\u201d asked Crystal, when I had translated his\nwords to Grey; \u201che did not explain. My mother still thinks that I died\nwhen I was three years old. I do not understand.\u201d\n\n\u201cNor I,\u201d said Grey. \u201cWhy was my wife so startled? I can understand her\nrefusing to accept my statement when she had such good evidence that\nCrystal was dead, but why did she look so amazed? Surely she could not\nhave imagined that Crystal had risen from the dead!\u201d\n\n\u201cYet she seemed to recognise me in some way,\u201d said Crystal again.\n\n\u201cThat is impossible,\u201d I exclaimed. \u201cThe colour of your eyes would be\nthe only thing that would not have altered, and in torchlight all dark\neyes would look black. No! there is something to be explained. Do you\nknow where we are going?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo the white cave you told us about?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, the marble cave where Hinauri stands--Hinauri, the Daughter of\nthe Dawn.\u201d\n\nCrystal was silent. Presently she said: \u201cI don\u2019t see how she can help\nus.\u201d\n\nThe tone of her voice told me that the bitterness of her heart had\ncome uppermost again. But I did not reply, for at that moment we came\nto some smooth white steps cut in the rock. Te Makawawa stood aside\nupon these steps, and as we passed him I saw, by the light of the\ntorch moving into a dim but growing daylight before us, that he fixed\nhis piercing eyes upon Crystal\u2019s face in a long, bewildering scrutiny.\n\nThe steps led round to the right, and finally we stood upon the\nthreshold of a pure white marble cave, lofty and spacious. Beyond the\nfacts that the level floor was covered with snow-white dust, and that\nthere was a large opening communicating with the outer air, I took\nsmall note of the details of the place, for there, standing where the\nfine, clear morning light flooded in, was the marble image of Hinauri,\nher arms held out in longing towards some vision she could see in the\nwestern sky through the opening of the cave. Her face was concealed\nfrom the side view by some of the waves of sculptured hair that fell\nover her left shoulder, but the lifelike pose of the figure showed the\nperfect body and lovely soul of one who had seen a vision of joy long\nsought, and, in yearning towards it, had for the moment \u201cforgot\nherself to marble.\u201d\n\nMiriam Grey had now thrown down her torch, and was standing beyond the\nimage with her hands clasped together, waiting. I was the first to\nmove into the daylight and gaze into the face of Hinauri. What I saw\nthere dashed to the ground my hopes of a heaven on earth. For one\nbrief moment I looked upon that lovely face, startled, bewildered,\ndazed--but not at its loveliness. Then I staggered back into the\nshadow of the rocks and leaned against them, looking on at the scene\nin a helpless fashion. Grey, too, after one quick glance, started back\nand passed his hand over his brow, as if he doubted his senses. Then\nCrystal, who followed him, paused before the image. With a little cry\nshe took a step towards it and stood in mute wonder. For a time they\nremained facing each other, the girl of to-day and the goddess of\nancient night, for whom the giants of old had fought their grim\nbattles--the pure woman whom the vile Cazotl had sought to degrade by\nhis magic, and Hinauri who, from the time of Zun the Terrible, had\nbeen fiercely guarded from the Vile Ones of all time by a greater\nmagic--Crystal Grey, who loved my perfect man, and the cold white\nbeing, which, set in the high solitudes of the world, my perfect man\nhad loved. Crystal raised her arms to the radiant Daughter of the\nDawn, and a single word fell upon the silence of the place:\n\u201c_Myself!_\u201d\n\nLike a note of heavenly music the word fell from Crystal\u2019s lips; like\na discord of the tuneless earth it rankled through my brain. Then for\na moment--so paramount is self--life and love forsook my heart,\nleaving it cold, like the stone on which I leant despairingly.\n\nFor some seconds no one stirred, and during that time I, grasping at\nthe matter-of-fact, cast about for an explanation of this strange\nthing. Instantly there rolled through my mind that time when, before\nCrystal was born, Miriam Grey worked at the stone, absorbed in the\ncontemplation of the vision she had seen--the vision of Hinauri. Was\nit possible that her work had been twofold? that, while her whole\nbeing, with all the concentrative power one might read in her eyes,\nwas absorbed in contemplation of the beautiful image of her\nimagination, she had \u201cfound\u201d that image at once actually in the marble\nand potentially in her unborn child? Kahikatea was right, but only\nhalf right, for the mother who had conceived the beauty of Hinauri in\nthe stone had also conceived her wondrous image in the flesh.\n\nThen came the same dull roar that we had heard from beneath the rimu\nin the valley, thundering down from the roof of the mountain above us.\nCrystal heard it, and as she raised her face I saw the love-light leap\ninto her eyes and a radiant smile spread over her face. I saw her lips\nmove, and the unspoken word seemed to fall like lead upon my heart:\n\u201cKahikatea!\u201d\n\nI turned my face away and laid my cheek against the marble wall. There\nwas nothing between them now.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXII.\n THE TALISMAN.\n\nMiriam Grey moved out of the shadows into the daylight that flooded\nin through the opening of the cave and paused by Grey\u2019s side, while\nthey both gazed and marvelled at the wondrous thing that was now made\nclear.\n\n\u201cIt is Crystal herself,\u201d said Grey, when he had partly recovered from\nhis astonishment.\n\n\u201cCrystal!\u201d cried his wife quickly; \u201cthat was our daughter\u2019s name, but\nI tell you, dear, she died; she was drowned, and Te Makawawa himself\nburied her. I will call him and he will tell you the same.\u201d\n\nShe went to the top of the marble steps and called, but there was no\nanswer. The aged chief who would face warriors, even if they covered\nthe whole earth, had now clearly fled to avoid either facing the woman\nwith the stars in her eyes, or confronting a matter through which he\ndid not see his way clear.\n\nAs he had obviously left me to tell the tale of his deception,\nperchance of his sin against the Bright One, I gathered my thoughts\ntogether and went forward.\n\n\u201cMiriam Grey,\u201d I said, \u201cwhen first I undertook the search for you, Te\nMakawawa told me the story of the child, which, of course, you know up\nto the point where he took the little body away to bury it beneath the\n_rimu_. The part of the story he kept from you is this. Your child\nCrystal revived in his arms; he did not bury her but sent her away\nwith a band of Maoris, whose instructions were to leave her with the\nfirst pakeha they met. The first white man they found was your\nhusband, who, nevertheless, up to a month ago did not know she was his\nown daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot until Warnock here----\u201d began Grey, but he stopped as he turned\ntowards his wife, for, as was natural, my words had moved her greatly.\nShe now stood looking at Crystal with a tender light of motherhood on\nher gentle face.\n\n\u201cMy darling child!\u201d she said slowly and hesitatingly, as if still\nunable to comprehend it.\n\n\u201cMy own mother!\u201d cried Crystal quickly--she had no hesitation in the\nmatter--and, like a bird, she flew to, and nestled in, her mother\u2019s\narms. And they stood for a moment in a close embrace.\n\nCrystal held back her head, and, smoothing her mother\u2019s glossy locks\naway from her brow, looked at her lovingly, saying with a sweet\nrepetition:\n\n\u201cMother! Mother! Mother! My own mother!\u201d\n\nAs Miriam Grey looked again on the lovely face so near to hers, and\nsaw the dark eyes gazing into her own, there came once more the\nexpression of bewilderment and awe which I had seen at their first\nmeeting in the Place-of-Many-Chambers. Could she not account for this\nperfect likeness to the stone, as I had done? Surely she did not think\nthat Hinauri\u2019s ancient spirit had come back in the flesh?\n\nNo sooner were these questions asked in my mind than they were\nanswered in a way that mystified me. As the look of awe deepened on\nthe mother\u2019s face she spoke in hushed tones:\n\n\u201cI saw your image in the stone before I was a mother. \u2018Out of the\ndistant past I will come to you,\u2019 you said, as you held out your arms\nto me from the stone. Is it possible that the ancient prophecy is\nfulfilled in this way?--that you are Hinauri, the Daughter of the\nDawn, who has returned according to her promise, out of the distant\npast? O dear and lovely one, your eyes gaze down on me from the\nbeginning of the world.\u201d\n\nCrystal seemed to be attaching her mother\u2019s words to the feelings of\nwhich she had once spoken to me--the feelings of a \u201clong, long ago,\u201d\nhidden in some inmost tomb of memory. She was silent; but I, not\nwilling to admit this thing by my silence, and moreover, having\nanother explanation, spoke my thoughts.\n\nI said: \u201cThat Crystal is your daughter is beyond doubt; but it seems\nto me that in the matter of the perfect likeness there is an\nexplanation other than the one of which you speak. Of two marvels we\nmust choose the less. My explanation is this: you yourself created an\nimage which, in moments of deep concentration, you saw as if within\nthe stone. Then, as day by day you visualised it more clearly,\nstriving to give it visible shape in the marble, your desire was\nrealised not only on the lifeless stone, but also on the face and form\nof your unborn child. Your idea was made stone, why not flesh?\u201d\n\n\u201cWarnock is right, my dear,\u201d said Grey, \u201cno one believes in previous\nexistences nowadays.\u201d\n\nMiriam Grey turned to me, leaving Crystal listening to her father, as\nhe attempted to uphold and justify his view.\n\n\u201cMr. Warnock!\u201d she said gently, touching my arm; \u201cwhat you say\nexplains only the means employed. I recognise the law that we become,\nmore especially in our offspring, what we contemplate; yet would I say\nthat this was merely the means by which Hinauri\u2019s spirit clothed\nitself in flesh.\u201d She had lowered her voice almost to a whisper, and\nnow she drew me further aside. A breath of the rising wind wailed\nabout the ancient crags as it swept the side of the mountain without.\nIt awoke strange feelings in me, as I stood in that high cave where\nHinauri had waited through the ages. \u201cThere are strange things in this\nancient temple,\u201d she resumed, \u201cthings which point to the possibility\nof beings, who lived when the temple was founded, returning to earth\nagain.\u201d\n\nI remembered the Vile Tohungas and replied: \u201cYes, I have seen a\ngranite image and its living replica--do you mean that?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe one who stands apart I mean,\u201d she said. \u201cHis face is that of\nNgaraki, and what is more, the meaning of that granite statue that\ngazes ever upwards through the dark is the meaning of Ngaraki\u2019s life.\u201d\n\nI was silent, wondering if this could be. I recalled the other thing\nin favour of her belief--the resemblance that Cazotl had borne to the\nchief of the Vile Tohungas, not only in face, but in purpose. I did\nnot speak of it, but I began to detect a deep underlying connection\nbetween things that seemed formerly to be isolated. The ancient\ntraditions, the happenings of the past month, the more immediate\nrevelations of that very day--all seemed to be woven together in a\ndefinite pattern, real and visible to my inner eyes. I realised that,\ngiven this belief of Miriam Grey\u2019s, the whole matter was a unity such\nas is made by independent witnesses who speak the truth. I could now\nunderstand, too, Te Makawawa\u2019s bewilderment and hopeless confusion in\nfinding what he regarded as a discrepancy in this unity, viz.: that\nHinauri seemed to have moved to life, while yet the image remained\nimmovable. These thoughts, which take so long to write, passed through\nmy mind while the woman before me was dwelling on her last words.\n\n\u201cCome here!\u201d she said again, leading me into the darkness round a\nbuttress which divided the cave into two apartments; \u201cyou have\nmatches. I will show you one of the strange things this place\ncontains--a thing which will prove, if anything can, whether my child\nis that ancient one reclothed in flesh.\u201d\n\nI struck a match, and she lighted a torch that stood upright in a\ncrevice in a ledge of rock. By the glow of the clear-burning pineheart\nI glanced quickly round the place. The jagged stone walls were not of\nmarble, but of fine granite, and the furthest ray of the torch\nrevealed no closing in of the rocks overhead. Dim reaches and shadows\nI could see, but no roof--indeed, by the freshness and purity of the\nair alone it was evident that there was an outlet above. That was\nsurely the way by which Kahikatea had first entered the cave. As I\nswept my eyes round the lower walls and floor of this inner apartment\nI saw that in former times it must have been the abode of some of the\nsavage priesthood who had in turn guarded the sacred stone. Thick\nMaori mats were laid about the level floor. Maori spears occupied the\nrecesses of the rocks, and _mer\u00e9s_ of jade rested on the ledges. Rich\ngarments of dog\u2019s-hair or woven flax hung from points upon the walls,\nand ranged around the place were the grotesquely carved wooden gods of\nthe Maori, lolling their tongues and caressing their bodies with\nthree-fingered hands, while their eyes of _paua_ shell glistened in\nthe torchlight.\n\nWhile I had been engaged in looking at these things Miriam Grey had\nwithdrawn a little stone box from a part of the wall. With this in\nboth hands she approached, and, saying it was heavy, bade me place it\non the ledge where the torch blazed. I did so, and the light of the\npineheart revealed the frosty glitter of gold dust. She plunged her\nhands into this and withdrew a curiously wrought circlet of gold, set\nwith a large diamond at one part and with a brilliant sapphire at\nanother.\n\n\u201cThis,\u201d she said in a whisper, \u201cso legend tells, is Hinauri\u2019s crown.\nThe very ancient giant priests took it from the city which stood on\nthe plain below, and, when they brought the queen to this cave, it was\nplaced in this receptacle, where it has remained until now.\u201d\n\nI took it in my hands. This actual tangible relic of a bygone\ncivilisation helped me to understand those emotions of \u201clong, long\nago,\u201d about which Crystal had spoken. I looked at the circlet and then\nat the walls of granite, and a feeling of extreme age possessed me.\nHad I, too, perchance lived in that far time when Hinauri, the Bright\nOne, had attempted to rule a violent people by the law of love? Had I\nbeen among her counsellors in that long ago--a man of humble aspect,\nnursing an unrequited love for his dark-eyed queen?\n\nI cast out the thought, for my unrequited love for Crystal was a thing\nof which I could not yet think calmly,\n\n\u201cThis,\u201d I said, \u201cconveys to my mind no proof except that it once had a\nwearer.\u201d\n\n\u201cWait,\u201d she replied. \u201cTradition says it is a talisman whose virtue is\nrestricted to the one for whom it was made. See! there are some\ncharacters engraven inside which are supposed to relate to this\ntradition. In times long since it pressed the brows of the ancient\nqueen, and the legend runs that, on her return, it will not be until\nit is placed upon her head that she will recall the memory of her\nancient life.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us place it on Crystal\u2019s head now,\u201d I said quickly, making a\nmovement towards the outer cave.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d she returned, detaining me by the arm; \u201cnot now. At sunset\nto-night Ngaraki returns to sing his karakias before the statue. It is\nthe time of the year when for a few days the sun-ray strikes in\nthrough a rift in the outstanding crags. We will remove and conceal\nthe statue, and when he comes he will find Crystal posed in its place;\nthen, while I place this circlet upon her head, he and the event shall\ndecide if she be Hinauri or only my child.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf the talisman should have lost its power!\u201d I objected.\n\n\u201cThen the tradition will not be of a piece with the general body of\ntradition which has been handed down within the ancient walls of this\ntemple,\u201d she said. \u201cI have learned step by step, by proofs which I\ncannot show you now, that there is truth in these priestly traditions.\nI will tell you one thing briefly: in a circular recess in the side of\nthe wall of the great abyss are the preserved heads of men who at\nvarious times have found their way into this mountain to destroy the\nsacred stone which was supposed to contain the form of the Pure One.\nThe faces of these I have recognised by their resemblances to the\nfaces of the Vile Tohungas of the Pit--the Destroyers of Women--and I\nbelieve firmly that the ancient brotherhood of sorcerers exists to\nthis day, their initiates returning again and again in the flesh to\nwork out their destiny. Even quite lately one found his way into the\nlower part of the mountain, but he escaped after nearly killing\nNgaraki, whom I nursed for many days, thinking he would die.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf they had caught him what would they have done with him?\u201d I asked.\n\n\u201cHis head would now be hanging among the others, where it ought to\nbe.\u201d\n\nI felt very thankful that I had not killed Ngaraki with that last\nbullet of mine, and still more thankful that my head was still on my\nshoulders. But I did not waste time in correcting her mistake. She\nconcluded:\n\n\u201cThat chamber of preserved heads, with many other things over which I\nhave had ample time to think, has led me to believe in the traditions\nof this place, strange as they may appear to you of the outer world.\u201d\n\nI was silent, but in my silence I wished that I had kept the head of\nCazotl to place among that gruesome collection.\n\nAt that moment Crystal, followed by Grey, came round the buttress.\n\n\u201cI want to kiss you again,\u201d said she; \u201cI have lived nearly sixteen\nyears without a mother, and now I have found you I am so happy that I\nthink I must cry.\u201d She placed her arms round her mother\u2019s neck, and\ndrawing her down to a low ledge of rock near by, seated herself at her\nfeet and buried her head on her lap and sobbed for very joy. Her\nmother placed one hand on Crystal\u2019s hair, while Grey, seating himself\nbeside her, took the other between both of his, and, leaving them\nthus, I walked back into the marble cave.\n\nAgain I stood before the statue of Hinauri and lingered over Crystal\u2019s\nloveliness in stone. I felt a wild desire to kiss the beautiful cold\nlips, but I remembered that look of hers when she realised that\nKahikatea loved her, and I held back. If ever a woman was pledged to a\nman Crystal was pledged to my friend. It was different now. I\nwithdrew, and turned towards the opening.\n\nThis mouth of the marble cave was a little more than two yards in\nwidth, and nearly ten feet high. It admitted the lights of heaven on\nto the face of Hinauri. The outer surfaces of granite were worn by the\nage-long action of air and water, but the inner edges, of pure white\nmarble, were accurately hewn with two parallel grooves, one on each\nside, similar to those down which a window might slide. Calling up the\npicture of the huge stone grating in the lower part of the temple, I\nremembered that the same grooves on a gigantic scale were there also.\nFor a moment I wondered if these apertures were really so constructed\nin the first place that they could be barred with massive granite\nshutters. But it was useless to wonder, and I turned my attention to\nwhat was passing on the plain below, which was clearly visible to me\nas I advanced and stood in the opening.\n\nOn the left some outstanding crags shut out the view, but towards the\nright I could see, far below, the secluded valley, hemmed in against\nthe mountain wall by the spur and the Lion Rock. On the further flank\nof the Lion was a small plateau of some forty yards square. On the one\nside of this was a precipice overlooking the plain, and, on the other,\nthe open space was separated by a deep fissure from the thick bush\nthat clothed the bases of the less precipitous mountains sloping off\nround the Table Land on the right. To this small plateau there led up\na narrow path--a path which, as it ascended, became at one point so\nconstricted by the steep precipice on its right and the yawning\nfissure on its left, that there was scarcely room for three men to\nstand abreast. The natural advantages of this position had been seen\nby the Maoris at a glance, and they had already set a high palisading\nround it, thus marking it for a stronghold. Scattered about on the\nyellow plain were small collections of rough dwellings--as many as\nmight account for the presence of several hundred natives. And they\nseemed to be still flocking in, for, coming down off the spur of one\nof the rolling hills on the other side of the plain I saw a line of\nwarriors.\n\nIn the _marae_[25] of the fortified _pa_ on the Lion\u2019s flank was a\nchief striding up and down haranguing a crowd of savages. By his wild\ngesticulations and the fury of his words, whose connected meaning I\ncould not catch, he was evidently a violent savage with a violent\nidea. As I asked myself what that idea could be my eyes fell on\nanother figure in the open space near him. I sprang up and ran to the\npart of the cave where I had seen Grey set down his field glasses.\nReturning with these I looked long and steadily at the other figure.\nYes, it was the wizard negro. Another of his infernal reed tubes was\nin his hand, and it at once occurred to me that he had this turbulent\nMaori under his influence, hoping, through him, to use the whole\nsavage force for his own purposes.\n\nWhile this was going on a tall chief, white-headed, and clothed in a\ndog\u2019s-hair war-cloak, strode out of the _pa_ and across the plain to\nmeet the warriors, who were now banding themselves together on the\nlevel. He stopped them and then led them past the _pa_ to the strip of\nbush that skirted the mountains to the right. As far as I could judge,\nthe chief was Te Makawawa and the warriors were of his own tribe. I\nwatched the scene on the plain for more than an hour, and the\nconclusion I came to was that the Maoris were gradually dividing\nthemselves into two camps--the one under Te Makawawa and the other\nunder the turbulent chief, who was evidently ruled by the negro\nwizard. From a few words that I had caught of the chief\u2019s harangue in\nthe _pa_ I guessed that the wizard had depicted Ngaraki\u2019s goddess as a\npakeha, and had urged that the Maoris should rise in arms against such\nan imposture. In addition to this I saw clearly how the subtle wizard\nwould erect another and a dark-skinned goddess on the pedestal and\nenlist their sympathies with her. Very gravely I noted how my fears\nhad been only too well founded.\n\nAt length I rose and sought out Miriam Grey in the inner cave. The\nthree were still sitting talking together in low tones, and I\nhesitated before disturbing them. But I felt that the matter was\nurgent.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m afraid there will be a battle among the Maoris before long,\u201d I\nsaid, standing before them. \u201cThey have arranged themselves into two\nhostile camps, and look as if they mean fighting.\u201d\n\nMiriam Grey rose to her feet.\n\n\u201cI knew it,\u201d she said; \u201cI knew there would be trouble, but Ngaraki\nwould bring the tribes together. He has told them too much, and now\nthey have the idea that they are to win their land back and drive the\nEnglish into the sea. But Te Makawawa knows better. Is he there?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d I said. \u201cHe controls one camp, and another warlike chief who\noccupies the stronghold commands the other.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere may still be time when Ngaraki returns at sunset,\u201d she said.\n\u201cHe will know nothing of it, for he will come by the secret entrance\nat the back of the mountain--the \u2018way of the lizard\u2019; but he will\nquiet them if Te Makawawa cannot. When he comes and sees what he shall\nsee he will be like a thousand men, and at ordinary times he is\nterrible enough, for I have watched his face while he has chanted his\nkarakias in this cave.\u201d\n\nUnder Miriam\u2019s direction Grey and I removed the statue from its place\nand concealed it among the wooden gods in the darkness of the inner\ncave. It appeared that this removal was only rendered possible by the\nfact that, some years before, Ngaraki, impatient at Hinauri\u2019s delay,\nhad, with great toil and by means of an old sword--apparently the gift\nof an early explorer to some ancestor of the Rangitane--found among\nthe weapons in the inner cave, achieved the difficult task of sawing\nthrough the base of the statue, where it was in one piece with the\nmarble floor. This was to loosen one more of the fetters of Hinauri,\nfor, as he said, \u201cHow could she move to life when her feet were fast\nbound to the rock?\u201d Thus the place where Hinauri had stood through the\nages was now left vacant, so that her living image might stand there\nwith her arms outstretched to the western sky, with the same\nloveliness of old upon her face, and the same age-long prayer upon her\nparted lips. This, Miriam maintained, was not a trick, but a test, for\nnone knew as well as Ngaraki the form and features of his ancient\ngoddess! None could say with him, \u201cThis is she for whom I waited, for\nwhom I prayed and toiled my whole life long.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIII.\n THE DAUGHTER OF THE DAWN.\n\nTowards sunset I stood at the opening of the cave and looked down\nupon the rolling plain below, with the Lion Rock enclosing the little\nvalley against the mountain wall. About the banks of the stream the\nafternoon sun, obscured from me by some crags that stood out upon my\nleft, slumbered upon beds of moss, and all was hushed. Thistle-down\nfloated along the slow currents of the air; gnats and bright-coloured\nbeetles winged their way above the tops of the dreamy trees, while\nhere and there a tui flashed out from the foliage to chase them in the\nsunlight. And in the bosom of the quiet was felt at intervals the\nsingle bell-like note of the korimako--a drop of liquid sound falling\ninto the deep well of silence--the ping of some little heart of air\nbursting in a single throb of pure delight. These sights and sounds\nbelow were to me the points of a great hush which reigned beneath the\ncloudless sky, as if Nature, like a fair quietist, had fallen into a\ntrance, yet having her blue eyes wide open.\n\nAs I leaned against the side of the cave\u2019s mouth and gazed down upon\nthe dreamy scene, the melancholy of it all laid hold upon me--that\nmelancholy, I mean, which is at once the matrix of joy and sadness,\nand which, like beauty, is far within the eyes that see it, deep\nwithin the heart that feels it. In its atmosphere our souls may almost\nbridge vast gulfs of time and enclose far-sundered points in space.\n\nIt was so with me. I wished that those feelings which seemed to come\nto me out of the long-lost past might abide with me for ever, or I\nwith them. Knowing them as the enemies of littleness, I loved them,\nnot because they were mine, but because they were not. In this still\nair of melancholy the things of ancient night breathed at my side, and\nthe things of to-day were set far back in the dim recesses of eld. The\npre-Adamite city of the plain which Time had trodden in the dust was a\npresent reality, but the murmur of my friends\u2019 voices from the inner\ncave was a ghostly echo from a bygone age.\n\nThe silence deepened on my soul, the melancholy mood forgot itself,\nand the mellow poetry of \u201clong ago\u201d vanished like the glamour of a\ndream. \u201cAll things happen here and now,\u201d I said, and the sound of my\nown voice disturbed the stillness. Time rolled itself out into ages.\nSpace unfolded into vast stretches. The melancholy brooding of my\ndream returned, but with something added: a thread of fleeting memory\nconnected with some old-world life. I tried to assure myself that it\nwas a mere freak of the brain, which may be able to dress a present\nthought in the past tense in such a way as to deceive even its own\nfather.\n\nBut it was in vain. I shall never forget the deep impression made upon\nme by my instantaneous dream that all things happen here and now. When\nit had passed I regarded it as the true waking state, and this other\nthe dream into which I had slipped once more. An eternal dreamer\ndreaming non-eternal dreams had been aroused for a moment, and then\nhad slept again with less reverence for the clumsy, sprawling\nconsciousness of his dream. I had laid hold of some evidences of a\nlife buried beneath the strata of memory: a monstrous tooth of an\nold-world passion, a blunted flint-head of some dart of high desire, a\ntablet inscribed with a deed of darkness, a clouded stone in labour\nwith a gem for a sometime crown--these were unearthed at random as if\nfrom some pre-tertiary strata of recollection; and so I dreamed on and\non into the past until, turning my head at a slight sound within, I\nsaw a white figure advance from the shadows of the inner cave into the\ndaylight, and pause on the spot where, with her giant priests around\nher, Hinauri, the Queen of the City of the Southern Cross, had set her\nfeet. I passed my hand quickly across my brow and said to my senses,\n\u201cFools! it is merely a girl of to-day draped in the style of the queen\nof ancient night to cheat a Maori chief.\u201d But these words did not\nmultiply, for I saw at a glance that Crystal\u2019s lovely face was full of\nthose wistful dreams of long ago which had come to me. Her form was\nburdened as if with a sweet, but heavy sadness, and her head drooped,\nso that her long, black, rippling masses of hair enveloped her arms\nand shoulders like a shroud of darkness, in the depths of which was\nthe veiled light of her eyes. She was abstracted and did not observe\nme as I passed before her gaze and found my way into the shadows of\nthe inner cave, where Miriam and Grey were standing watching her.\n\n\u201cIs this to trick Ngaraki?\u201d I asked of the former, with a return of my\nformer scepticism.\n\n\u201cHush!\u201d she replied, \u201cit is no trick. She is like one walking in her\nsleep. Within the unhewn marble I saw the queen of old stand like that\nin deep abstraction before she held out her arms to me and the future.\nIt is no trick. In ten minutes Ngaraki will be here, and he shall\njudge if this is the one he has toiled and prayed for all his life.\u201d\n\nHer hand trembled on my arm, and I was silenced. I looked into her\nsweet face in the vague light, and saw there again my own strange\ndreams of \u201clong ago.\u201d At that moment the thunder of Kahikatea\nreverberated far away overhead. He was blasting the rocks to force a\npassage through the tunnels. Crystal heard the sound as if it had been\na chord of music in her dream, for she raised her head, crossed her\nhands upon her bosom and stood there, rapt, serene, expectant. The\ndaylight, now falling full upon her upturned face, revealed a pallor\nand a look of endless waiting which did not pass away, but remained\nunaltered, as if her spirit had flitted from her body and left them\nthere. Minutes passed and she did not move. I called her name, but she\ndid not hear. I stepped from the inner cave and stood before her. She\ndid not see me. Her deep black eyes of night, wide open and full of\nmystery, seemed sad and tired of waiting through the ages, and upon\nher cheek, pale as the moon-face in the light of day, her long lashes\ncast heavy shadows of weariness. It was the beauty of the marble\nHinauri, touched with the conscious stress of her long and lonely\nvigil. Awed and silent, I returned to the gloom of the inner cave to\nwatch and wait.\n\nSunset was drawing near. The exact moment when the sun ray would\nstrike in was known to the woman who had spent the best part of her\nlife in this cave. \u201cA few minutes more,\u201d she whispered to me; \u201cbut it\nwill not come before Ngaraki. He must be already approaching through\nthe tunnels.\u201d\n\nI heard a slight movement in the darkness among the Maori gods, and\nwas about to ask who was there, when Miriam clutched my arm and\npointed towards the head of the marble stairs which led up into the\ncave. There, framed in the rugged archway, stood the tall figure of\nNgaraki the Terrible, clad in his flowing robe--a magnificent Maori,\nwhose flashing eye was hard to meet, whose proud, fierce, but noble\nbearing marked him out as a ruler of men. His eyes were fixed upon the\nwhite figure in the centre of the cave, standing where Hinauri had for\never stood. The thick tresses of hair that fell about the graceful\nform of his goddess were now jet black. He passed his hand across his\neyes and hit his breast a sounding blow.\n\nNo, he was not dreaming. But was it a trick? Had Miriami blackened the\nstatue\u2019s hair?\n\nHe took quick strides and stood before the form in white. Ngha! the\neyes were no longer dull, white stone, the parted lips were faintly\nred, and the cheeks, though white as death, were those of a living\nsoul.\n\nHe stepped back with a stately gesture of heroic feeling, chanting in\nan awed and subdued voice:\n\n\n \u201cIt is not Hingarae I see,\n Not Ihungarupaea,\n \u2019Tis Hinetuahoanga\n Standing there!\n The axe is sharpened,\n The axe unloosened by the sun,\n And now the tree which stifles Tane\n Shall be laid low.\u201d\n\n\nHe ceased with the poetry of his fierce heart unspoken in his eyes,\nfor at that moment Miriam Grey advanced from the shadows with the\ncirclet of gold in her hands. Motioning Ngaraki to stand aside and be\nsilent, she drew near and placed the talisman with its sparkling gems\nupon the head of the living image. As she did so the pallor and\nabstraction, the weariness and sadness, fell from the face and form of\nCrystal. She no longer drooped. The warm blood mounted to her cheeks\nand sparkled in her eyes. Power and stateliness came into her pose.\nShe awoke. And at that instant the expected sun ray burst in, and the\ndazzling beauty of the Daughter of the Dawn was revealed.\n\nIn all my dreamings I had never dreamt of beauty as divine as that. My\npoor words fall on their faces in helpless confusion. Miriam Grey\ncaught her breath and stepped back, the limit of human wonder upon her\ngentle face. The Maori chief stood erect, his eyes shining like stars,\nbut his countenance motionless with a control that seemed more than\nhuman. Grey moved a sudden step forward, and, as I turned my head, I\nsaw in the shadows beyond him the vague outline of a giant figure I\nknew. It was Kahikatea, standing with one hand on the buttress, his\nhead bent forward to view the form of Hinauri in the sun ray. He had\ncome\n\n\n [image: images/img262.jpg\n caption: \u201cAT THAT INSTANT THE EXPECTED SUN RAY BURST IN, AND THE\n DAZZLING BEAUTY OF THE DAUGHTER OF THE DAWN WAS REVEALED.\u201d]\n\n\nby the \u2018way of the spider,\u2019 and had arrived at a moment when he well\nmight stand there speechless with amazement, shaken with the sudden\nrealisation of desires which seemed impossible of fulfilment.\n\nAs the sunlight wrapped Crystal about with splendour, sparkling in the\ngems of the golden talisman, glistening on her raven tresses and\nclose-girt raiment of white, a mysterious change came over her. She\ndropped her arms to her side and shivered slightly. Then the sweet\nlonging deepened upon her form. The lovelight leapt into her glorious\neyes as she gazed into the western sky. Yearning forward, she held out\nher arms to some vision which seemed to call her pure soul out of the\ndepths to array itself in light upon her radiant face.\n\nSurely this was no acting! None could imitate so faithfully the pose\nof longing and expectancy which had been so startling in the marble.\nNo; as I gazed with all my soul, wonder forced the settled conviction\ninto my mind that it was in reality Hinauri, the Daughter of the Dawn,\nwaking from her age-long trance. Reclothed in flesh, it was the\nancient spirit of the pure one who, in a far-off period of the world\u2019s\nunwritten history, had come down from the skies to rule the people by\nthe Law of Love. A storm of deep feeling swept doubt from my mind and\ngave me clear-seeing eyes to view this thing. Hinauri had returned.\nThe Daughter of the Dawn had taken up the thread of memory where she\nhad dropped it in the ages that Time has buried in the Eternal Sea.\n\nStill bathed in the glowing light she stood motionless, her arms\noutstretched to her vision. A little breath of wind sighed without,\nthen came in at the opening of the cave and swayed the edge of her\nskirt till it revealed one sandalled foot. It rippled her raven\ntresses and caressed and pressed them gently about her form. Then her\nbeauty became unearthly in its splendour. Her bosom heaved, her eyes\nsparkled with a holy light, and her parted lips uttered a cry of joy\nin an unknown tongue--strange, and wild, and sweet, like an echo of\nforgotten song. It thrilled the place with music for a moment; then\nthe sun ray fled and bore it on its bosom away, through all the happy\nfields of space.\n\nHinauri\u2019s arms fell to her side, and she turned to the chief, who\nstood silent. With a swift glance she scanned his stately form, and,\nwhen her eyes met his, a look of recognition came upon her face. In\nthe half-bewildered way of one who is linking the memory of a dead\npast on to the living present, she said in even, solemn tones,\nspeaking in the Maori tongue:\n\n\u201cI know thee. I know thy name. I know that of which thou art the\nmeaning. Zun! my counsellor in an age gone by; the one who stood by me\nin the darkest hour of danger; but stooped from the high magic that I\ntaught my priests--stooped, and sinned, and fell, to save me when all\nseemed lost. Lo! the gross image of myself--the stranded spar bound\ndown with a stone!--whose was the splendid lie that gave that image to\nthe Vile Ones to oppress, saying \u2018This is Hia\u2019s real self\u2019? The lie\nwas thine, O Zun! the substitution of the false for the true to save\nthe sacred stone from their polluting hands. Misguided friend of long\nago! thou hast suffered for love of me and still must suffer----\u201d\n\nShe broke off suddenly, and my thoughts, which were recalling\nNgaraki\u2019s interpretation of the characters on the breast of the\nTwelfth Tohunga, found a sudden ending; for, at that instant, there\ncame from the plain below a sound that shook the air. A sudden tramp\nof many feet as one, then silence and a short sharp yell, harsh and\nterrible, rending the silence like a savage spear thrust--these were\nthe signs that told the first terrific movements of the Maori\nwar-dance on the plain.\n\nNgaraki\u2019s hand closed tightly on his _mer\u00e9_, and he advanced one\nfoot; but Hinauri\u2019s eyes were sad, and her face sorrowful, as she\nmutely questioned him, while we all stood silently by in the shadows,\nfeeling it was not for us to speak or act.\n\nAt length the fierce chief spoke:\n\n\u201cHinauri has returned, and her people are ready to fight for her.\nNgha! they will fight the whole world and drive them into the sea.\u201d\n\nThe sound of the war-dance--evidently a sudden surprise to him--had\nhalf aroused his fierce nature, and for the moment his great joy could\nplan no higher tribute to his goddess than to fight for her. But in\nanother moment he was recalled from his wild impulse, for Hinauri\u2019s\nface grew sad beyond words as she answered:\n\n\u201cZun--Ngaraki--my word is peace, not war; my rule by love, not\nviolence. Ah! I have awaked too soon from my long sleep. Thou wert\never fierce and too ready to fight for me. Well did they call thee\nTerrible. But hear me, Zun--they may heed my words. If they would be\nmy people they must live by the law of love and not by that of war. Go\nto them. Tell them that my message is peace, and stay their violence.\nThey make war, not for me, but against me. Go with all speed, lest it\nbe too late, _and thou return to look for me in vain_.\u201d\n\nThe chief\u2019s fierceness fell from him at these words, and there\nappeared upon his face a look of wondering worship, softening his\naspect with the high poetry which lingers long in the heart of his\nrace. He bowed his head in submission and moved to go. But Hinauri\ncalled him back.\n\n\u201cNgaraki! Depart in peace: leave war and knife behind you!\u201d She\npointed to his weapons as she spoke, and there was a command in her\nvoice and eyes.\n\nThe chief turned and laid his spear and _mer\u00e9_ on the white dust\nbefore her, saying: \u201cNot only his spear and _mer\u00e9_ will the Maori lay\nat the feet of the Daughter of the Dawn, but his heart and life also.\nHe was startled by the sound of war, and thought only of fighting for\nhis queen. He will go to his people and tell them that the word of the\nBright One is peace and love.\u201d\n\nHe turned, and was about to descend the marble steps when his\ncontrolled emotions broke loose. Facing round he held forth his arms\nto her, while the answer to his lifelong prayers shone out upon his\nrugged face.\n\n\u201cThe world is glad!\u201d he cried; \u201cno more shall Papanui\u2019s daughters\nweep. Ihi-Ihi has come from the west. Hinauri has burst from her\nancient tomb. By the magic of a woman has she burst her bonds. And now\nthe long-sealed fountains of the Maori\u2019s breast leap and dance and\nsparkle in the sun with music sweeter than the korimako\u2019s joy. Ngha! I\nwill hasten to my people: my heart is breaking with a mighty song.\u201d\n\nHe hurried away, and his stately form was soon lost in the shadows\nbelow the stairway.\n\nThen Hinauri, the daughter of Miriam Grey, turned to her mother with a\nstrange blending of emotions upon her face. The dazzling glory of the\nancient queen was now softened by the pure and tender light of a\ndaughter\u2019s love. She drew near to Miriam, and, placing her arms about\nher neck, folded her close, saying in a soft, low voice: \u201cMother! my\nmother! It is all clear to me now. I know myself; I know my name--it\nis written on the rocks that are buried beneath the dust of ages on\nthe plain below, and upon the walls of this everlasting temple. Now I\nknow the meaning of all my vague yearnings for some forgotten glory,\nsome mellow splendour of the past, some memory of my ancient self. Now\nI know why the thought of \u2018long, long ago\u2019 brought tears to my eyes\nand yearning to my soul; and why I longed to fill the hearts of women\nwith great thoughts and prayers, for it is by the high magic of Woman\nthat my giants will come back. Look at me!\u201d She stood away and held\nher arms aside, while there rested upon her face a perfect certainty\nthat none could find a defect in her person. \u201cAm I not as I came to\nyou at the very first, perfect as the image that was reflected in the\ndepths of your pure soul? Am I not the one who came to you and touched\nyour highest thoughts with fire, who led your soul to the father of my\nchoice? Yes, it was I that fanned that double flame with the breath of\nmy desire. I gave my life to you and you preserved it by your constant\nprayers. Nay, more--I came to you because you were the only one in\nwhom I could find myself. In your great love for what is pure and\nbeautiful you held out all that belonged to me, and I came and took\nit, for it was mine to take as well as yours to give. And yet there\nare some who would say that I was not; that the full extent of this\nsign of power is that you fashioned me according to the model of your\nmind; that I was one with formless substance, and you moulded me to\nthis form by the power of your imagination.\u201d\n\nShe smiled and placed her arms again about her mother\u2019s neck. Miriam\nGrey\u2019s lifelong prayer for what is pure and beautiful was answered.\nShe drew her child to her, and the beating of her heart against her\ndaughter\u2019s bosom spoke first. Then she said:\n\n\u201cYou were the love that came to me out of the distant past--a ray of\nlight from the golden skies of long ago. You are Hinauri, the Bright\nOne, and yet--and yet you are my child.\u201d\n\nHer goddess stepped back, and again the dazzling regal beauty flashed\nout, but with a softened splendour, as she cried: \u201cAh! pure mother,\nwhom I chose to be my guide! The stars in your eyes foretold my\nbirth.\u201d Her beauty changed to loveliness, and, as she drew nearer and\ncontinued, we in the shadows bent forward to catch her words, they\nwere so low and tender: \u201cMother, sweet mother!\u201d--she was nestling to\nMiriam\u2019s bosom now--\u201cif every woman mounted to the gates of heaven to\nfind her child, and bore it from the skies sheltering it all the way,\nas you have done, there would be no more sorrow, no more death--only\na coming and going of gods descending and ascending, from heaven to\nearth, and from earth to heaven. For long ages men have been only\nhalf-born. Earthward-bound souls have striven with their mothers for\nwhole and perfect expression in flesh, but Motherhood has fallen from\nits grandeur, and they have striven in vain. The Bright Ones ever come\nto earth, but when their witless mothers misconceive their power and\nbeauty, what godlike likeness can they bear? Alas! that women should\nhave forgotten that their ideals may rule the world. Alas! too, that\nthey should caricature the gods. It is to restore Motherhood to its\nfirst sublimity and power that I have come, and the mystery of my\ncoming is the ground-plan of a mighty race.\u201d\n\nHinauri paused and placed her hand to her forehead, as if she feared\nher memory was flitting.\n\n\u201cThough I can recall the past,\u201d she said sadly, \u201cI have no knowledge\nof what my future is to be; yet I feel that this clear memory will not\nbe mine for long. Before the world\u2019s oblivion closes in upon me again\nI would search out and look upon certain things in this ancient\nplace--symbols of constant love for the higher things of beauty, and\nsymbols, too, of the downward progress of those Vile Ones who have\nmade stepping stones of their dead selves to grosser and to grosser\nworship. And when we go down to work and pray in the world, should we\nnot leave the pure white image here as a symbol of our higher selves,\nfor ever holding out its arms to the glory of the future?\u201d\n\nI glanced at the shadowy figure of Kahikatea, half expecting that he\nwould make some sign, but he stood motionless, straining forward, with\none hand clutching a projection of the buttress. Obviously he was too\nthunderstruck by this fulfilment of his dreams to act, to move, to\nspeak. I went to him, and grasping his hand, said:\n\n\u201cYour dream is fulfilled. Wait a little longer and you will\nunderstand.\u201d\n\nHe answered by a silent pressure of my fingers. Then Grey and I, in\nanswer to the wish we had heard expressed, brought forth the marble\nstatue from the recesses of the inner cave and placed it in its former\nposition. I remember noting that, as we stood away leaving it there,\nthe sounds of the war-dance on the plain sounded louder and more\nfurious; but all thoughts, all sounds were for the time set aside by\nwhat followed.\n\nAs Hinauri stood before the stone gazing for a moment upon the finest,\nloftiest expression of herself, I heard a deep breath taken in the\nshadows near me. Then a hand trembling with a bodyfull of excitement\ngripped my arm, and a voice whispered hoarsely, \u201cGod, Warnock--I\nunderstand!\u201d\n\nThen Hinauri spoke, and her words seemed to gather to themselves all\nthe loving prayers that have risen from the lips of women since the\nhuman world began. The thrilling music of her voice struck some\ninvisible but responsive harp-strings in the air of the silent cave,\nand the song of it went singing on and on, coalescing with the sweet\ntones that underlie the universe of women\u2019s hearts--on and on until\nthe Great Tohungas of the Earth quieted the music of their deeds to\nhear the strain, and, listening, to whisper: \u201cHush! we toil in vain. A\nwoman prays and all is done. Gentle hands knock at the door of heaven,\nand the Sons of God come forth to walk among us\u201d--on and on, a voice\nmade universal, welling from the heart of every woman and falling on\nthe ear of That-which-Listens in the throbbing heart of all. Her black\neyes--dark with excess of light--were fired with all the intensity of\na woman\u2019s love, as she raised her arms and voice to the image that was\nto remain in the high solitudes of the mountain:\n\n\u201cMy pure white Higher Self! I go down to the world, but thou must\nstand for ever gazing out into the future, thy very look a prayer for\nall that Heaven holds back. Pray on, pure self, and may thy prayer be\nours. When we weak women of a darkened world lose heart, and almost\nfall into forgetfulness, then may we look up to the everlasting hills\nand see the age-long hope upon thy face, the vision of the Golden Age\nwithin thine eyes, and crystal purity upon thy brow. Symbol of ideal\nwoman! In every deed may we live always in the silence of the age with\nthee, for thou art in the stillness, and the stillness is with beauty,\nand beauty is with God. Thine arms are raised in constant longing;\nthine eyes look forth into a further and a further sky. So may our\narms be raised for ever; so may we look beyond the level of the earth\nand pray that we may always know that, far above the world\u2019s loud\nroar, our pure white Higher Self stands ever as we might stand--clear\nseers of a pristine beauty, seekers of a further God and, like thee,\ncrowned with precious gems of womanhood.\u201d\n\nShe removed the circlet from her head, and, approaching the image,\npaused before it with the talisman in her hands.\n\n\u201cThis will link thee and me together in one life, so that there shall\nbe one spirit between us. For long ages have we been spoken of as one:\nlet us so remain, and I, below upon the earth, will never stain thy\nglistening white, for all the holy blessings that have fallen on thee\nsince the world began will fall on me and hold me up. So I remain\nwhile thou remainest, breathing this same pure air. Lo! in token that\nwe are one life and one spirit, I place my crown upon thy brow.\u201d\n\nShe raised it, but her eyes fell upon the characters engraven upon the\ninner surface, and, with hands arrested, she read aloud:\n\n\u201c_Thou, Hia, shalt return at the dawn of a new age, but ere the sun\nhas shone twice upon this, thy crown, thou shalt withdraw into the\nsky._\u201d\n\nShe paused, while this strange prophecy wrought a sadness very human\non her face. Then she placed the circlet upon the head of the image.\n\nSomething now prompted me to lead the woman I loved to the man whose\nface she had seen in her dreams. Acting on this sudden impulse, I\nemerged from the shadows and said to the one so far above me, \u201cHe is\nthere in the inner cave. He is there--my perfect man!\u201d\n\nAs I pointed towards the buttress she turned her dark eyes on mine;\nher lips trembled, and her eyes burned with a light that was not for\nme. Then with a troubled and sorrowful sigh--yes, that sigh was for\nme--she said, \u201cWanaki! he was always mine.\u201d\n\nShe moved slowly in the direction of my outstretched hand. She seemed\nto pause and flutter a moment on the verge of the shadows, then, with\nthe same joyous cry in an unknown tongue that she had uttered in her\nvision, she flew to him, and, from the darkness, I heard her murmur\nhis name, dwelling upon it as lovingly as her head now dwelt upon his\nbreast.\n\n\u201cKahikatea! Kahikatea!\u201d\n\nI turned and hastened down the marble steps, leaving Grey and his wife\nto make what they could of it. I would go out and kill someone--that\nnegro wizard by choice--or be killed by someone, it mattered little.\nBut at the thought of the Destroyer of Women--the Poisoner--I pulled\nup short in my chaos. Yes, everything mattered. From that evil source\ndanger might still threaten the woman I loved. What meant the prophecy\nengraven on the talisman, that before the sun shone twice upon it she\nmust withdraw into the sky? The other prophecies had been fulfilled,\nwhy not this? It was not fate. It could not be fate. It was a warning.\nFilled with a dread presentiment as dark as the utter darkness I\npassed through, I went down through the tunnels and reached the place\nto which we had climbed from the margin of the lake. The rope was\nstill there, drawn up as I had left it, and the cataract was no longer\nthundering down from above. By this I knew that the hidden contrivance\nbeneath the water had again been set in motion, and that both Te\nMakawawa and Ngaraki had passed out by the \u2018way of the winged fish.\u2019\nFor me there was no way but to descend by the rope, and when I stood\non the margin of the lake below, I feared to leave the rope hanging\nthere. Accordingly, I swung it over a projection near the recess where\nthe torches were kept, so that no one could find it in the darkness.\n\nWhen, a minute later, I passed out at the opening in the side of the\nmountain, the hideous yells of the savages beyond the Lion Rock told\nme that fierce battle was near, if it had not already begun.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIV.\n ZUN THE TERRIBLE.\n\nTo reconnoitre the position of the two camps I determined to mount\nthe back of the Lion from the valley side. I ran across the open space\nand climbed half-way up the flank of the great rock, but, finding it\nwas impossible to reach the summit, I selected the tallest pine that\ngrew on the side of the spur and went up it in all haste. When I\nreached the feathery top I found myself above the level of the Lion\u2019s\nback, swayed by the wind to and from the topmost ledge. Here I had a\nclear view of the plain, where the savages of both camps were drawn up\nin two long lines facing each other. The war-dance was over, and the\ntime had arrived for single warriors of each side to rush out, and,\nwith wild gestures illustrative of the coming slaughter, to hurl\ntaunts at the other.\n\nBut my attention was directed more particularly to a scene that was\nbeing enacted in the open space of the enclosure on the plateau not\ntwenty yards from me. Ngaraki, who had evidently been unable to quiet\nthe savages on the plain, had found his way into the hostile _pa_,\nwhere he now stood confronting a small band of chiefs, who, by their\nviolent manner and occasional bursts of savage laughter, looked as if\nthey had been drinking _waipiro_ to rouse their utmost ferocity for\nthe coming conflict.\n\nThe violent chief whom I had seen haranguing them was there, seated\nupon the ground, while the others stood behind him. His aspect was one\nof treacherous hatred as Ngaraki, calm and careless, yet a savage of\nterrible presence, stood before him. Then, before a word was exchanged\nthe tohunga of the temple burst forth into his message, delivering it\nin a half song, half speech, while he paced to and fro with dignified\nmien in the open space. He told them that Hinauri had returned, and\nthat he was her messenger. He told them that her word was peace and\nlove, that she had sent him to stop the approaching battle, that, if\nthey fought, they would fight, not for her, but against her. While the\nyells of mutual defiance came up from the plain like the manifold\nvoice of Tu--that god of war who ate his own brothers--Ngaraki\u2019s tones\nresounded within the _pa_, impassioned and eloquent. But his words\nwould find a heart of peace in the rocks themselves sooner than in the\nbreasts of the savages before him.\n\nHe ceased, and the violent, blustering chief, whom he had addressed as\nAmukaria, sprang to his feet.\n\n\u201cHe says Hinauri has come,\u201d he yelled, brandishing his axe. \u201cCan he\nshow her to us? No; he says she is white as the mountain lily: then we\ndon\u2019t want to see her. Hinauri is no _wahine pakeha_; she is Maori\nlike ourselves. I have seen her spirit: she is no pakeha. She bade me\ncollect a thousand canoes. I have done so, and they will land at\nWakatu to-night. Curse the pakeha! A pot for his head. This is my word\nto him.\u201d\n\nHe turned and, rushing towards an effigy of the white man, which stood\nat one end of the enclosure, its head already half severed from its\nbody, he struck a furious blow with his axe. The blow completely\nsevered the head, which fell and rolled upon the ground. At this a\nshout arose from the other chiefs; then Amukaria took the effigy\u2019s\nhead in his hand, and holding it up cried, \u201cA pot for the pakeha\u2019s\nhead!\u201d\n\nNgaraki stood looking on in silence. Would his fierce blood stand this\ntest? When the chiefs were quiet again he said calmly:\n\n\u201cO Amukaria, your words are wild. Your plans will come to nothing.\nThose who were to come in the thousand canoes are on my side. I have\nspoken to them and they have listened to my words. They come, but they\nleave war and knife behind them.\u201d\n\nA savage yell from Amukaria announced his baffled rage on hearing\nthis. Maddened by drink and lust of blood, he appeared like a demon,\nwith tongue protruded in deadly insult. He danced with rage before\nNgaraki, who stood silent, regarding him with his stern black eyes.\nVerily the spirit of Zun the Terrible slumbered within him. A smile of\ncontempt curled his lip, and Amukaria saw it. Unable to contain his\nfury any longer he rushed at Ngaraki with axe uplifted, saying, \u201cI\nwill cleave your head as well, and heat the oven for you.\u201d\n\nThe wary chief did not move. He was unarmed, but he had left his outer\nrobe within the mountain, and his limbs were free. For a moment only\nthe axe was poised in the air, but that moment was the last of\nNgaraki\u2019s most unnatural forbearance with such a foe. His face\nchanged. He would have said \u201cNgha!\u201d but there was not time--so sudden\nwas his spring. He caught the axe by its handle and wrenched it with a\nsudden twist from Amukaria\u2019s hand; then, bounding off a pace, he\nwhirled it far away beyond the palisades of the _pa_. Before his\nantagonist could grasp another weapon he had sprung upon him, and in a\nmoment they were locked in a terrible struggle, in which I marked down\nAmukaria as already a dead man.\n\nBut as they rocked and swayed in the open space, one of the watching\nchiefs took a long-bladed knife and threw it carelessly upon the\nground a few paces from the combatants. It would have been fair enough\nif it had been done openly, but the moment chosen was when Amukaria\u2019s\nquick eye alone could notice the act. He had Ngaraki by the hair, but\nthe _ariki_ had his antagonist by the throat with one hand, and by the\nwrist with the other. Fully aware that no man could live many minutes\nwith his throat in such a hand as his, he was content to keep his grip\nand wait. But all the while they were swaying to and fro nearer and\nnearer to the knife which he had not seen.\n\nThe other chiefs stood by in silence. They saw their leader\u2019s face\ngrow livid, but they knew that he would get the knife. His eyes were\nstarting from his head, and his tongue was lolling, still in insult,\nfrom his mouth; but they saw, as I did, that he would reach the knife,\nand they did not interfere. I drew my revolver, determined to risk a\nshot at twenty yards if a good chance presented, but I held my hand,\nthinking that Ngaraki was not the kind of man to need my assistance in\na single combat. I would only fire at the last possible moment; but I\ncould warn him, and I thought to do so by shouting at the top of my\nvoice. But my words were lost in the general uproar of savage yells on\nthe plain, and were unheeded.\n\nAmukaria was near the knife now. His rolling eyes had marked its\nposition. His fingers slackened from Ngaraki\u2019s hair, and mine sought\nthe trigger, while I steadied myself. His body drooped as if he were\nfalling. At that instant, judging by what followed, Ngaraki must have\nseen the hand which had held him reach out and grasp the haft of the\nknife. A yell of triumph came from the watching chiefs, but it was\nquickly silenced. As the knife was grasped firmly in the murderous\nhand, Ngaraki suddenly let go his fatal grip; then, as the lolling\ntongue was protruding still further in triumphant insult, his knee\ncame up with a terrific crash against his antagonist\u2019s chin. I heard\nAmukaria\u2019s jaws clap together like a trap. It was a death-blow. His\nneck was broken. He fell back like a log and lay there with the lower\nhalf of his tongue bitten off by his own teeth.\n\n\u201cNgha!\u201d said Ngaraki at last, as he picked up his half of the tongue\nthat had insulted him and tossed it to some dogs that were in the\nenclosure. As he did so the chiefs sprang upon him unawares, and after\na prolonged struggle he was overpowered, and was soon lying bound hand\nand foot with flaxen thongs. Among these chiefs there was one who\nurged the others not to kill Ngaraki, but to bind him to the stake on\nwhich the headless effigy stood, so that when they returned with the\npakehas\u2019 heads they might hold a triumph over him before preparing him\nfor the oven.\n\n\u201cNow let us hear you call on Hinauri to come and set you free,\u201d said\none of them, when the deed was done. Their tongues were protruded at\nhim, and they taunted him in a manner that is hard for a Maori chief\nto bear. But Ngaraki stood in silent contempt, yet his black eyes\nblazed with wrath, and his flesh quivered with the indignity of his\nposition. He tugged and strained at his bonds, and I saw that if he\ncould but free himself it would be a bad day for his foes.\n\nAt this time the battle broke with a rattle of musketry and a rising\nbabel of yells on the plain, and the chiefs that were still in the\n_pa_ hurried down for the fray. The two lines which had been sending\nout single combatants for some time now fused in one mass, the muskets\nwere cast aside after the first few shots, and the fighting was\ncarried on hand to hand in the grim savage style. In the midst of the\nthrong I could see the grey-haired Te Makawawa fighting fiercely. Even\nas I singled him out he killed his man, and, whirling his club round\nhis head, raised the savage war-cry, \u201c_Whaka ariki!_\u201d He and his\nwarriors were now driving the opposing force back against the\nstronghold. As soon as I saw this an inspiration struck me to liberate\nNgaraki, or they would certainly kill him when they were driven back\ninto the _pa_. In a very few minutes I was down the tree and rushing\nround the great rock. The fighting was close upon me as I reached the\npath that led up from the plain, and when I gained the narrow strip of\nrock in front of the _pa_ I looked back and saw that some of them had\nturned and were retreating rapidly up the path by which I had come.\nThere was no time to lose. I darted in through the opening left\nbetween the palisades and rushed across the open space towards\nNgaraki, who seemed to be trying to tear the flesh off his bones in\nhis efforts to free himself and get at the foe.\n\nIn less than ten seconds, and just as the foremost Maori entered the\n_pa_, the thongs were cut. The chief turned his fiery eyes upon me,\nsaid \u201c_He Pakeha!_\u201d and bounded off to strangle the only foe he could\nsee--the savage who had just entered the _pa_. Stepping quickly aside\nfrom a fierce blow, he seized the unfortunate man by the throat with\nboth hands, lifted him off his feet and shook him like a rat in the\nair, after which he broke his skull against one of the palisades.\nThen, picking up the weapon of his foe, a large greenstone _mer\u00e9_, he\nturned to the opening of the _pa_ to meet two who were rushing in.\nBoth of them continued their rush into Reinga, the abode of spirits,\nwith a clear understanding that they were to leave the door open, for\nmore were coming that way.\n\nNgaraki now stood in the opening and fought grimly against the savages\nthat Te Makawawa and his warriors were driving in. To help him I shot\none here and there as occasion demanded, and at last he stood on the\nnarrow strip of rock--an object that struck terror to the hearts of\nhis enemies, for they only faced him as they were compelled by the\nfierce onslaught of Te Makawawa and his warriors behind. For the most\npart they were demoralised, and were pushed headlong into the fissure\nby the press of the throng. Some of the bolder chiefs rushed yelling\non to the narrow way, but Ngaraki\u2019s terrible club whirled and flashed\nlike green lightning all about him, and they went down. At last one\nbrave fellow sprang forward and closed with Ngaraki, and I had to hold\nthe narrow way myself; but not for long, for, before I had emptied my\nrevolver, I saw bare legs whirling in the air near by, and in another\nmoment a Maori was hurled into the fissure. It was not Ngaraki, for\nthat fierce _ariki_ was again standing on the rock--a majestic figure,\ndealing death. In the side-glance that I caught of his flashing eyes\nand commanding front, I understood what it meant to a Maori to have\nthe blood of the Great River of Heaven running in his veins. Verily\nthe spirit of Zun the Terrible was awake within him.\n\nIn the midst of this I saw moving round to the left at the base of the\nLion Rock a large band of savages who had not retreated up the path to\nthe _pa_, but were evidently bent on some other object. They were led\nby a tall fierce fellow, and I thought I saw the negro wizard darting\nto and fro among them. Could they be heading for the opening of the\nmountain? I fired at a foe who seemed one too many on the narrow strip\nand looked again. The leader pointed his club towards the mountain,\nand with a yell pressed forward. At the same instant a rifle shot\nechoed from high up in the mountain wall, and the savage fell forward\non his face. Thank Heaven! Kahikatea was on the alert, but if that\nband got into the mountain, what could two men and two women do\nagainst them? It was with a sickening sensation that I had remembered\nI had descended by the rope and left it there. Would anyone think to\ndraw it up? Again, I shuddered as I reflected that in all probability\nthe negro wizard had been into the mountain while we were in the\nmarble cave. Could it have been he that tried to hold the rope when I\npulled it up?\n\nFilled with apprehension, I noted with one eye that Ngaraki and Te\nMakawawa\u2019s warriors were nearly through their terrible work, and with\nthe other that the band heading round the Lion Rock were in some\nconfusion and hesitation. There was yet time to gain the mountain\nbefore the negro wizard could urge them into the precincts of what\nmany of them regarded as the stronghold of the _taniwha_.\n\nI knew that in every _pa_ there must be a way of escape by the back,\nbut, failing to find it, I made for the back of the Lion, and\npresently stood on the steep rock near the top of the pine from which\nI had watched the curtailing of Amukaria\u2019s offending tongue. The\ntree-top was six feet from me, and a glance to right and left showed\nme there was no other way down. Every moment was precious if I were to\nhave a hand in guarding the woman I loved from that most subtle tool\nof the Vile Ones--the Poisoner. Gathering myself together, I sprang as\nthe tree-top swayed towards me, and, passing through the feathery pine\nfoliage, found myself clasping the slender top of the stem with arms\nand legs. For the moment I thought it would break, and there would be\nan end, but it held good, and I made my way rapidly down the trunk,\nbruising and scratching myself in my haste. Once on the ground, I sped\nacross the mouth of the valley as fast as my legs would carry me, but\nI had scarcely gained the bank of the channel when I was overtaken by\na Maori running at full speed, with a musket in each hand and a kitful\nof something heavy round his neck. At first I thought he was an enemy,\nand I prepared to meet him as such, but when we came face to face on\nthe bank I found to my surprise that it was Tiki.\n\n\u201cThat _Taepo_ is coming to take \u2018the little maiden,\u2019\u201d he said\nfiercely. \u201cHere, Wanaki--lead the way.\u201d He handed me one of the\nmuskets and motioned me to proceed. In a very short space of time we\nwere standing inside the opening, and then Tiki disburdened himself of\nthe kit which I found contained a goodly supply of cartridges.\n\nWhile I was filling my coat pockets I heard footsteps coming down the\nrock from the ledge above, and soon afterwards Kahikatea strode\nforward into the light, with the sword of the early explorer between\nhis teeth and Grey\u2019s rifle in his hand.\n\n\u201cAre they coming?\u201d he asked coolly.\n\n\u201cYes, fifty or sixty of them,\u201d I said. \u201cWhere is she?\u201d\n\n\u201cWaiting on the ledge above. But I don\u2019t know where Grey and his wife\nare. I don\u2019t think they know anything about this.\u201d\n\n\n [image: img281.jpg\n caption: \u201cTHE SECOND MAORI THAT ENTERED WITH AXE UPRAISED HAD HIS HEAD\n CUT CLEAN OFF BY THE FIRST SWEEPING BACK STROKE.\u201d]\n\n\nI looked up through the darkness, and saw the vague, white form of\nHinauri standing on the ledge above.\n\n\u201cWe can do better up there,\u201d I said; \u201cwe can see without being\nseen--come!\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right, you go first.\u201d\n\nFeeling it was foolish to waste time I complied, and made my way up\nthe rock, thinking Kahikatea was close on my heels. But he made Tiki\nfollow me with the kit of cartridges, and before he himself set his\nfoot in the first niche there was a chorus of yells immediately\nwithout.\n\nIn the dim light I darted on to the rim of the basin just in time to\nsee the first savage fall to Kahikatea\u2019s rifle. Then, as they crowded\nin with wild yells that echoed strangely in the great cavern, I saw my\ngiant friend, who now stood before the opening, throw his rifle aside\nand set to work with the sword. The second Maori that entered with axe\nupraised had his head cut clean off by the first sweeping back stroke:\nit rolled on the ground at Kahikatea\u2019s feet. The third was run through\nthe body, and the fourth I picked off to give Kahikatea a chance to\nsettle down to it. Then it grew grim as death, for they crowded in two\nand three at a time; but Tiki had now got to work also, and, between\nthe three of us, we kept them at bay until there was a ghastly pile\nbefore Kahikatea. But they crowded in, urged on from behind, and\nKahikatea was beginning to let out with his left hand, in addition to\ndoing fiercely with his right. It was getting serious now, for I\nforesaw that if anyone got past him into the shadows he would be\nstruck down from behind. I shouted as much to him, and he answered as\nhis sword swished through the air: \u201cAll right! as soon as one gets\npast I\u2019ll come up.\u201d\n\nIn less than half a minute, at a moment when Tiki and I both killed\nthe same man, two of them did get past, and Kahikatea, true to his\nword, drew back and ascended the rock. I had reserved my revolver for\nthis, and until he was out of their reach, four out of six Maoris\nfailed to follow him. Then they flocked in over the fallen bodies, and\nI began to fear that if once they found the way up the wall and gained\na footing, we should have to beat a retreat. Even now I heard them\nclimbing the rock, but Kahikatea was on the ledge with his sword, and\nthe foremost fell with a thud on to the floor below. Tiki and I still\ndirected our attention to the opening, as those already inside were\nmostly in the darkness. Presently I heard sounds as of men climbing on\ntheir fellows\u2019 backs to mount the wall near me, and realised that very\nsoon it would be a hand to hand fight in the dark on narrow and\nslippery places.\n\nWhile destroying several of these formations by mere guess work, I was\nsuddenly startled by a light on the other side of the lake. I turned\nmy head and saw Hinauri walking round the margin bearing a torch in\neach hand. From time to time I glanced at her and wondered greatly\nwhat she was about to do. Presently I saw her leave one torch on the\nledge below and hurriedly ascend the rocks of the buttress, beyond the\nabyss, which led up to the point high on the cavern wall where the\ntapering spar reached towards the overhanging crags. She had now\nnearly gained the narrow standing place from which I had seen Ngaraki\nleap out to catch the sprit of the spar. Surely she was not going to\ntake that awful leap! In a flash I saw her purpose and cursed myself\nthat I had not forestalled her. I stood on the rim of the basin, and\nwith a hoarse cry called to her, but she did not heed. She had placed\nher remaining torch upright in a crevice of the rock, and now stood\nerect in the narrow niche high up on the cavern wall--a frail, white\nfigure outlined against the darkness by the light of the torch. I held\nmy breath, rooted to the spot. There came the quick panting of the\nMaoris below as they struggled to gain the level on which we stood;\nthere came the steady swish of Kahikatea\u2019s sword, and I felt that I\nshould be doing my part in that grim defence; there came, too, a cry\nof \u201cNgha!\u201d outside the opening, and I knew that Ngaraki the Terrible\nwas splitting skulls outside. But all these things seemed like the\npoints of an instantaneous dream, the one reality being that the woman\nI loved was about to take that daring leap above the abyss.\n\nWhile I watched she crouched for the spring, and my heart stood still.\nI recalled the prophecy engraven on the golden circlet, and a choking\nhorror entered my soul as she sprang out above the abysmal gulf. My\nhead grew dizzy and my sight blurred. For the moment I reeled and\nclutched at the air, but steadied myself and looked again. The long\nspar, a dark heavy mass, was moving slowly downwards through space.\nThe rock beneath my feet trembled as, with a mighty roar, the sluice\ngates were opened, and the water, now released by the action of the\nlever, gushed through the opening in the basin below. At that moment,\nand while the dim daylight from the opening served, I glanced round me\nat a sharp cry of \u201cWanaki!\u201d and saw the last of my faithful Tiki. A\nMaori had just gained the ledge. His club was descending on my head\nwhen Tiki, who must have sprung through the air to do it, jerked him\nback by the neck. The club whizzed down past my face, and both of\nthem, friend and foe, fell back into the sweeping torrent as the\ndaylight from the opening was flooded out. Tiki the Maori had given\nhis life for me, but his end was peace, with his hand on his enemy\u2019s\nthroat.\n\nThere was wild confusion in the darkness then. From the savages came\ngurgling cries of dismay as they were carried away by the sudden\nflood. But the swift happenings of that moment, when the rushing water\ngave us the victory, came to me through the back of my head, for my\neyes were again fixed on the moving spar, whose track through space\nwas lighted by the two torches, one above and the other below. The\nwhite form clinging to the end of the sprit swept down out of the\nintervening gloom into the light of the torch left burning on the\nmargin of the abyss. Quick feet found the level rock, and Hinauri\nsprang aside. The great round stone rolled into its groove above the\nbasin\u2019s rim with more than its wonted impetus, for the end of the spar\nin its unchecked downward career ground violently against the rock\nwhere Hinauri stood. Sparks flew from that end as the round stone,\nlooming near me against the light, rose on the outer lip of the groove\nand remained in momentary balance. But the long arm of the lever\nsnapped at its thinnest part. The stone hesitated no longer. It rolled\nfrom its poise and overbalanced. Then those three colossal\nfragments--the two parts of the broken spar and the great round\nstone--fell down, down into the darkness, while the white figure\nbeyond the abyss bent over the brink and listened. A dull, crashing\nsound of thunder came up from the depths and reverberated through the\nwhole gloomy place, echoing from the stupendous crags overhead and\nrolling away into the vast reaches of the cavern. The false image of\nthe woman, with the heavy stone which oppressed it, had at last been\nhurled down, and now lay among the ruins of old-world things on the\ngranite floor of the earth.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXV.\n THE SERVANT OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF HUO.\n\nHinauri took up her torch and came round the lake towards us, but\nKahikatea met her half-way, his dripping sword still in his hand. I\nheard the sword clink as he cast it on the rocks--he had no further\nuse for it as they stood facing each other in the torchlight. At this\nmoment my attention was diverted by something brushing against my\nsleeve. I put out my hand and clutched what seemed to be a stick\npointed towards the spot where the two stood. A quick horror shot\nthrough me, for at the instant I touched it I heard a peculiar hiss\nthat I knew only too well. It was the reed tube of the negro wizard.\nBut I had spoilt his aim, and before he knew what had happened I had\nthrust him backwards and wrenched the tube from his hand as he fell\ninto the water, which had now risen above the aperture and was rapidly\nfinding its level. My first impulse was to fling the accursed weapon\nof the Poisoner into the abyss; my second to keep it and use it\nagainst him, for I remembered how the darts had been arranged around\nthe one I had taken from him at our first encounter. But, in case of\naccidents, Hinauri must be placed out of danger. With all my lungs I\nroared across the lake.\n\n\u201cKahikatea! for God\u2019s sake, and for her sake, get out of this infernal\nplace as soon as you can.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it urgent?\u201d he called back.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d I yelled excitedly, \u201cdo as I say; go up the rope, quick!\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d he returned, and I knew he would not go alone.\n\nThen I struck a match and directed my attention to the wizard, whom I\ncould see struggling in the water below, surrounded by ghastly\ncorpses. Not without an inward misgiving, even a feeling of dread, at\nwhat I was about to do, I turned away, and, detaching one of the\npoisoned darts from its receptacle, placed it in the tube. By the\ndying light of the match I saw the glistening of his skinny black back\nas he pushed his way between the floating bodies and made for the\nfurther wall. I raised the tube, took careful aim, and puffed the\ndart. The match, which was burning my fingers, fell into the water\nwith a hiss, and all was dark. The wizard pushed on a little before he\nspoke, and then it was in a hollow guttural voice that rattled in his\nthroat: \u201cHe got me!\u201d he said, and this was followed by a harsh grating\nshriek which sounded like the final curse of an incarnate fiend who\nknew his time had come. Yet it seemed a trifle strange to me that he\nshould not have cried out directly he was struck. Such an accurate aim\nwith an untried weapon was a matter for self-congratulation, and\nhaving succeeded so far I went on to use his own black art against\nhimself.\n\n\u201cYou are powerless,\u201d I said; \u201cpowerless to act except in obedience to\nmy voice. Keep on swimming--you hear me?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I hear--and obey,\u201d came from the wizard in meek, obedient tones.\n\nI struck another match, and walked along the rim of the basin to the\nledge of rock which Kahikatea had held against the Maoris. There I\nheld the light so that he could see to ascend, and presently we were\nstanding face to face. By still another match I examined his\ncountenance. Hideous, repulsive it was, hate and malice written on\nevery line, and in the piercing eyes was a suppressed alertness which\ndid not seem natural in one in the passive state.\n\n\n[image: img286.jpg\ncaption: \u201cI RAISED THE TUBE, TOOK CAREFUL AIM, AND PUFFED THE DART.\u201d]\n\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d I asked, fixing my eyes on his; \u201cand why are you here?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am the servant of Cazotl,\u201d he replied in fairly good English; \u201cand\nI have come here to look for gold hidden in this mountain.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy did you attempt to carry off the white maiden?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe has the power of spirit-sight,\u201d he said again. \u201cA witch described\nher to us, and I have been looking for her for years among the Maoris.\nWhen I had found her my master came from Mexico, for she could tell us\nwhere the gold is hidden--many, many tons of gold--and sparkling\nstones.\u201d\n\nI was nonplussed. Was it merely a matter of gold after all? I paused\nand, while I paused, the match went out. As I drew another from my\nwaistcoat pocket I heard a faint movement before me; it was very\nfaint, but I heard it and stepped back. Then as the lucifer fizzed--I\nremember it was a double-headed one--I saw the negro in the act of\nspringing towards me with arm uplifted and a small pointed thing in\nhis hand. In a flash I saw that he had been shamming so as to take me\nunawares, that my dart had never struck him at all, that he had a\nspare one in his hand, that--but the end of this lightning grasp of\nthe situation was finished in the air, and the whole was checked point\nby point beneath the water, for I had sprung aside into the lake to\navoid the possibility of a prick with that poisonous thing. That\nspring saved me so far, and when I reached the surface, still grasping\nthe reed tube, I realised it was now a level fight in the dark--a\nweird, subtle, creepy contest to be determined by a mere prick of the\nskin.\n\nThe hissing of the water as it welled up from below, laden with\nbubbles that burst all about me, made a cover of sound sufficient to\nconceal my movements from the listening ear of my enemy. Still I made\nno more noise than was necessary in reaching the margin. But in\ngrasping the rock, which was scarcely a foot above the water, the tube\nin my hand came in contact with it and made a slight click. Instantly\nI pushed it back in my armpit, and made my way a yard or two further\nalong, knowing that he must have heard the sound. My next move was to\npush off a little again and extract two darts from their places. With\none I loaded the tube, and the other I retained in my left hand ready\nfor use at close quarters. Then I held the rock with one finger and\nstrained my ears to catch the faintest sound. The ceaseless seething\nof the water disturbed the silence as little as it lightened the utter\ndarkness, and here in this terrible suspense I recalled a moment, not\nlong since, when my arms had enclosed the form of Crystal not many\nyards away on the rock. At that time I had felt with a wild thrill of\ndelight that the whole heaven of a world contained only us two, but\nnow the same thing came over me with shudderings, and it was again as\nif the whole hell of a world held only the thing of evil and myself,\nboth watching in the dark.\n\nSuddenly something touched my finger on the rock. Instantly I threw\nmyself back on the water and, raising the tube to my mouth, puffed a\ndart at a venture. No sound followed, and I cautiously approached the\nbank again at a different spot, loading the tube with my spare dart as\nI went. But a better idea occurred to me. A light would give me a\ngreat advantage, for, having the tube, I could fire from a short\ndistance, while my antagonist could only strike at close quarters. I\nremembered that the smouldering punk was kept near the heap of\npinehearts in the recess in the wall; perhaps with care I should be\nable to get a light before I was seen. Accordingly I struck out across\nthe lake, guessing the direction as nearly as I was able, and finally\ngrasped the rock at a distance which conveyed to me the idea that I\nhad cut off a considerable arc of the lake\u2019s circumference. With great\ncare, and a horrible feeling that at any moment I might feel the prick\nof the skin which would place me and everything else in the power of\nthe wizard, I raised myself on to the ledge and groped along the wall\nto find the recess. The vividness with which I could see my\nsurroundings--all except the position of my enemy--in my mental eye,\nsurprised me: yes, the recess should be just here; no, it was not\nthere, and for a moment I grew giddy and lost my bearings. I recalled\nmyself with an effort, and continued my way. Suddenly I stopped, and\nselecting another dart from the tube, held it at arm\u2019s length before\nme with one hand, while I felt the wall with the other, and suspended\nthe tube from between my teeth. It seemed hours before I found the\nrecess, and hours more before I crouched, with the punk in one hand\nand a torch in the other, gently blowing to get a flame; and all that\ntime I endured the most frightful suspense lest the light, carefully\nas I sheltered it in the furthest corner of the recess, should be seen\ntoo soon.\n\nAt last the pineheart ignited, and the resinous wood began to hiss and\nblaze. I held it aloft, and placing the tube ready to my lips,\nadvanced on to the side of the lake. The light fell on the swelling\nbosom of the water, on the rocky wall above, and on the narrow margin\nat my feet, but I could not see any enemy at first. Yet I knew I had\nnow the best of the situation, and proceeded boldly round towards the\nbasin. When I had gone some dozen paces I stopped suddenly, for there\nwas the figure of the wizard crouching down on the ledge, with his\neyes fixed on the water and his arm upraised as if about to strike. He\nseemed unconscious of the light, and, as I advanced nearer, remained\nfixed in the same position. Had the dart I fired before striking\nacross the lake reached its mark, or was this another piece of\ncunning? I drew still nearer, covering him with the tube, and saw that\nhis frame was rigid, while on his set face there rested a look of the\nmost diabolical hatred.\n\nI was not in a mood to trust to appearances, however, and, to make\ncertain, I puffed another of his own poisoned darts at him. It pierced\nhis shoulder, but he did not move. Then I realised that at last he was\nat my mercy.\n\nI passed behind him, told him to stand up and follow me, for my voice\nwas the only thing, and he would obey it. He prepared to follow me\nlike a dog.\n\n\u201cThrow away that dart,\u201d I said, pointing to the small thing he still\nheld in his hand.\n\nHe did so without any hesitation.\n\n\u201cNow follow.\u201d\n\nI went before him with the torch, past the landing-place, and on to\nthe rim of the basin, where I made him proceed first to the outer lip.\n\n\u201cStand there on the very brink and do not move from it,\u201d I said, and\nheld the torch so that he could see.\n\nHe obeyed. Now I would have the truth, for I was convinced the\ninformation he had volunteered before was false. I drew near him and\nstood at his side.\n\nI said, \u201cAgain, who are you? Speak, and speak the truth, and nothing\nbut the truth.\u201d\n\nNo sooner had I spoken than I heard the most extraordinary scheme of\nechoes imaginable. My last word--truth, multiplied from crag to crag\nabout the vaulted roof, ended in strange gurgling sounds, in which the\nmeaning was wholly lost. I had not heard this echo from any other spot\nof the cavern, and I wondered if this, too, was a mysterious device of\nthe ancient giants, or whether it was one of Nature\u2019s more accurate\ncalculations, with mighty pebbles, in acoustics. When the wailing\nsounds had almost died away the wizard answered:\n\n\u201cI am one of the Brotherhood of Huo,\u201d he spoke in deep, hollow tones,\n\u201cand I have come here at their command to carry out their will--to\ndegrade and destroy one who threatens their power in the world.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is their power? Answer from your own knowledge and\nintelligence.\u201d\n\nThe terms in which he answered astonished me; they were those of a man\nwell versed in occult things.\n\n\u201cThe power of the Brotherhood of Huo is the power of the Single Eye\nlooking downwards. They strive for what men call Evil--Pure Evil; and\nwhen they attain it, they become one with all Evil on the earth, with\nincreased powers to further it.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd why,\u201d I asked, \u201cwhy was it worth your while to come half-way\nround the world to do this particular piece of evil?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was revealed to us in the great mirror of the Daughter of\nDarkness, whom we worship, that the ancient spirit of Hia would return\nto this temple with a magic sign of motherhood which would undo our\nwork in the world. Cazotl, our chief, and I, his servant, then came to\ndegrade and darken the maiden Hia, so that she might forget, as other\nwomen have forgotten, this sign which threatens our power. But the\nmagic of this place is stronger than ours: Cazotl was overpowered by\nhis own evil flung back on him by one stronger than our strongest--one\nwho must have mastered our own magic to do it. Many of our number have\nset out to find the magic which controls our own in this place, but\nnone of them has ever returned. I, too, was struck and crawled away to\ndie, but recovered, and came here to find Hia and destroy her.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe sign is already given,\u201d I said. \u201cHear me and understand: the sign\nof motherhood, of birth and remembering, is already given. What does\nthat mean to you?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt means that our power is doomed. Our ancient enemies, the giants in\nwhat men call Good, will be born again upon the earth. These strong\nones can only come back by means of the pure white magic of the woman.\nIt has been the aim of our Brotherhood from earliest times to bind\nwoman down in darkness, to narrow her mind, to degrade and blind her\nlest she should recall this magic. But now the sign is given, and we\nare doomed.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what is your punishment?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have no punishment,\u201d he said. \u201cPunishment exists only for those\nwho have a spark of good left in them. We have severed all connection\nwith that. Remorse, the hell of those who vacillate between good and\nevil, has no existence for us.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut you can suffer physical pain?\u201d I exclaimed.\n\n\u201cYes; pain and pleasure are in our bodies,\u201d he replied.\n\n\u201cThen before you go out into darkness\u201d--my words hissed out in a voice\nthat sounded strange to my own ears--\u201cyou must suffer. You cannot act\nexcept in obedience to my voice; but you are conscious, acutely\nconscious in all your body, to feel what my words will work in you.\nYou cannot stir from this spot, neither can you move a limb nor yet\ncry out. Servant of the Vile Brotherhood of Huo, hear your punishment.\nYou have a raging fire in your vitals, so that your blood seethes and\nhisses through your veins. For one hour as we count time, this fire\nwill rage through your being with the most horrible pain. In the\ndarkness before you, you will see the face of a great timepiece, and\nevery second as marked there shall seem to you like the time that\npasses between sunset and sunset, fully stretched out and crammed with\nagony. Yet you will neither faint nor fall, but endure the whole.\u201d\n\nMy voice was the voice of cursing, and, as the last words echoed round\nthe cavern walls and finally died away on shapeless granite lips in\nthe high vaults overhead, I recoiled at the awful nature of the thing\nI had uttered. The torch fell from my fingers; then, in the darkness\nthat ensued, I staggered and fell backwards into the water in the\ngreat basin.\n\nI struck out for the rim, but no sooner had I drawn myself up than I\nwas startled by another voice than my own in the darkness near by.\n\n\u201cNgha! the lizard looks in vain into Ngaraki\u2019s eyes,\u201d it said\nfiercely.\n\nAt the sound, I knew that the terrible chief, having, in consideration\nof the indignity heaped upon him, accepted _utu_[26] from Tu, the\nwar-god; and, having, moreover, left a full receipt and acknowledgment\nthereof on the cracked and battered heads of his foes outside, had now\njust come in by the \u2018way of the fish.\u2019 I heard him shake the water\nfrom his hair and climb on to the ledge. The drops dripped, pattering\non the rock as he stood up, and then his quick footfalls passed away\nround the margin of the lake. Presently I saw a faint glow in the\nrecess, and in another minute he came out holding a blazing torch\nabove his head, and stood looking across the lake towards the abyss.\nBut the light of the torch did not carry far enough, and he passed\nwith rapid strides round the further side.\n\nWhen he reached the ledge by the partition between the lake and the\nabyss, and held his flaring torch out and gazed forward at the empty\nair where the spar had been, a wild yell of triumph came from his\ngreat chest, ringing like a clarion through the spaces of the cavern\nabove and below. Hinauri had hurled the long spar and the rolling\nstone down upon the heads of his granite enemies of old time in the\npit. His _mer\u00e9_, still in his hand, was whirled again and again round\nhis head. Then his furious outburst was checked and, with a sudden\nfierce pant of the breath like an escaping throb of energy at bursting\npressure, he stood still. He would take it more methodically. A high\ntriumph over the broken heads of the Vile Tohungas of the Pit was now\nfor him, and he would hold that triumph in due form. This was in his\nmanner as the _mer\u00e9_ shook fiercely in his grasp, and he turned and\nstrode, with head held high, along the path that led down into the\nabyss.\n\nI knelt on the rock and watched him go, while my heart went out to him\nacross the gulf. More than ever, the heroic bearing, the grand, fierce\nspirit, the noble and graceful dignity of this savage had my\nadmiration. I would go and witness his triumph and hear the words he\nwould speak to the Vile Tohungas.\n\nCarefully I made my way round the lake, lighted another torch in the\nrecess, and proceeded after Ngaraki; but when I came to the ledge\nwhere he had stood I began to wonder if the wizard negro on the other\nside of the abyss was suffering all the torture I had suggested. I\nstopped and pondered my doubt awhile. At last I determined to speak to\nhim across the darkness, for the light of the torch fell short, and I\ncould not see him standing there on the basin\u2019s rim.\n\n\u201cServant of the Brotherhood of Huo,\u201d I called, \u201clisten! my voice is\nthe only thing. You cannot move from where you stand nor can you fall\nforward into the darkness, but your tongue is loosened for me to hear\nwhat you suffer and----\u201d\n\nBut I proceeded no further, for as the words left my lips there came\nout of the darkness on the further side a sudden harsh roar, rising to\na shriek, that seemed to strike and grate against the rocks of the\ngloomy place, wringing harsh echoes of an indescribable agony from\ntheir time-worn sides, and calling hollow murmurs of woe out of the\nabysmal abode of the Vile Tohungas. Weirder and more terrible came the\ncries of the tortured wizard, mingled with articulate gnashing of\nwords that sounded like curses in a barbarous tongue. From the echoes\nof his cries the whole place seemed filled with the shrieking and\nmoaning and dismal wailing of the vile ones of far time come back to\nbe torn by fiends in the darkness. Had every granite facet of every\ncrag on the walls and roof of that terrible place been a rack on which\nwas stretched a living, shrieking victim, the effect could not have\nbeen more awful. My God! What had I done! Who was I to judge this man?\nThe voice of mercy rose up in my soul, and I thought to retrace my\nsteps in the hope of undoing this horrible curse, but before I could\nturn to carry out my purpose a strange thing happened. A chill blast\nof air came from across the abyss and struck my face. A thrill shot\ndown my spine. My flesh crept and my hair rose. Then, far within my\nbrain--it seemed to come from an immeasurable distance--a voice spoke,\n\u201cLet him alone! it is our will, the will of the One above us. Who are\nyou to show mercy when we, the Lords of Compassion, have set our seal\nto this man\u2019s doom?\u201d\n\nI passed my hand across my forehead: it was cold and wet. Awed and\nfull of tremblings, I turned and walked swiftly towards the giants\u2019\nwindow, hurrying away from those awful sounds which were still ringing\nin my ears like the imagined cries of hell. In the twilight that\npushed the thick darkness back from the huge grating, I partly\nrecovered myself and stood for a moment on the sill, looking out. I\nwanted a breath of air--some tonic sign of human life from the outside\nworld, and chance gave it me in a small sweetened draught, for which I\nwas thankful.\n\nIt came in this way. While I was looking out into the blue sky and\nlistening to the faint music of the wind across the great stone bars,\nI heard a murmur of voices without, speaking in low tones. I set down\nmy torch and stepped outside to listen. The sounds came from behind\nthe rock on my left. It was the sweet, plaintive, happy-sad voice of a\nwoman that spoke:\n\n\u201cAnd through all these long years you have forgotten me. I have had no\nexistence to you, no part in your life, no place in your heart. I know\nthe reason of it only too well, dear--Te Makawawa offered me the same\nforgetfulness, but I would not.\u201d The owner of this voice evidently\nknew nothing of the terrible things which had just taken place in the\ninterior of the cavern.\n\n\u201cI had no option,\u201d replied a man\u2019s voice, which I knew to be Grey\u2019s;\n\u201cbut I did not wholly forget. Many times in the day and night a\nstrange reminiscence of a tender face flitted across my memory like\nthe face of an angel I might have seen long ago in dreams. They called\nme \u2018Dreamer Grey,\u2019 because at odd times I would stop in what I was\nsaying or doing, and look into the air, trying to follow this fleeting\nglimpse which was all I knew of some forgotten heaven. But, as I told\nyou just now, the memory of these intervening years is fading away,\nand I recall these things but dimly. It is beginning to seem but\nyesterday when I came with you a prisoner to this place. Strange--but\nI almost think that soon those eighteen years without you will be\ncrowded out, and I shall take up my life again where I left it off--my\nold life and my old love for you, dear.\u201d\n\nThe voice ceased and a happy sigh, breathed all about the one word\n\u201cHusband!\u201d fell upon my ears. It dismissed the faint, far-off wailings\nthat came from the interior of the mountain; it swept away even the\nconsciousness that I was playing the part of a paltry listener. When\nthis did occur to me some time later the lump that had risen in my\nthroat, and the mist that had gathered in my eyes seemed to take away\nthe paltriness of my part.\n\nAgain the sigh, again the tender word as the happy wife replied: \u201cWhen\nyou saw my face it was when I, too, paused in what I was doing or woke\nfrom sleep and stretched out my arms to you. Oh! how I have loved you\nnight and day through all these long years of my imprisonment, and now\nwe are together again, never to be sep----\u201d\n\nThe voice stopped, arrested perhaps by some sudden doubt.\n\n\u201cWhat is it, dearest?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou told me just now\u201d--her words had a ring of pain in them--\u201cthat\nyour old memory was coming back and the intervening years were\nslipping away.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, they are almost gone. It seems as if some powerful hand is\nslackening its hold on my brain, and long-forgotten memories are\nflooding in and taking up their old places. Even now the eighteen\nyears is a mere blank covered with flitting dreams.\u201d\n\nAs I listened I remembered the aged chief\u2019s words concerning the spell\nhe had cast over Grey, and a strange thought came to me. I said within\nmy breath, \u201cTe Makawawa is dying. His aged face is turned to the\ngolden west. Soon the lights of heaven will come out in the depths of\nthe sky; soon the eyes of the great chiefs gazing down to see what\nnoble needs are done among mortals will be opened, and Te Makawawa\u2019s\neye will shine there--a new star.\u201d\n\nBut Miriam Grey spoke again, and her voice was like a moan of pain.\n\n\u201cDear husband, tell me--I did not think of it before--and forgive me\nfor thinking of it now--but when you forgot me--forgot that--that you\never had a wife, dear--did you--was there anyone----\u201d\n\n\u201cGood God!\u201d said Grey suddenly, \u201cit\u2019s too late; it\u2019s all a blank--I\nremember nothing--nothing!\u201d\n\nAnd then I knew that the aged chief Te Makawawa was dead.\n\n\u201cNo, it can\u2019t be,\u201d she cried, in answer to his words. \u201cI should have\nseen it in your face before. I am certain it can\u2019t be; I should have\nfelt it. Dear husband! take me in your arms again and call me wife. No\none has ever come between us.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd no one ever shall,\u201d he replied.\n\nIn the silence that followed I withdrew, and when the manifold sound\nof agony and wailing, coming out of the far darkness of the interior,\nagain fell upon my ears, I felt toned up to endure it. But another\nvoice, rising up out of the abyss, high and jubilant, told me that\nNgaraki was there holding his grim triumph. I picked up my torch and\nmade my way down.\n\nWhen at last my feet found the great granite steps at the bottom of\nthe vast place, I saw lights flickering below. The chief was preparing\nmany torches and placing them all about, chanting in measured tones\nthe while. I put out my own light and crept down almost to the lowest\nstep, where I stood and witnessed a scene of a savage drama so wild\nand strange that I must lay down my pen awhile before attempting to\ndescribe it.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVI.\n NGARAKI\u2019S HOUR OF TRIUMPH.\n\nOn the floor of the abyss was a mighty wreck. The falling spar had\nsnapped the heads from the shoulders of the vile brood, and here and\nthere a granite torso, topping the ruins, indicated the semicircle\nwhere they had once stood looking up at the moon, each nursing his\nstomach and curling his lips in that everlasting smile of calm\ndisdain. One image alone was spared--and he stood apart facing the\nwhite gleam of the cataract and looking up through the dark with his\nback turned upon the colossal d\u00e9bris: the Twelfth Tohunga remained\nuntouched, and, at his feet, not far from the abyss below the abyss,\nwas the great round stone, still unbroken.\n\nAbout the more open spaces of the floor between the shattered ruins\nand the sheer wall of the abyss moved Ngaraki--a tall figure clad only\nin his undergarment of tasselated flax, girded fast about his waist\nwith a warrior\u2019s belt. As he paced to and fro he chanted. Then,\nwhirling his _mer\u00e9_ round his head, he danced and yelled like a very\nsavage. His voice rose high with jubilant rage; it was his hour of\ntriumph, and the fury of it was appalling. The blazing torch in one\nhand, the green flashing _mer\u00e9_ in the other, and his wild,\nillustrative gestures from the war-dance invested him with all the\nterrors of savagery. But always there was the dignity and masterly\nmovement of the chief. To me, who loved this great Tohunga, it was a\ngrand spectacle; to me, who feared him, it was awe-inspiring,\nterrible. And through it all, yet heard only in the pauses of the\nchant, there came the wailing shrieks and gnashing cries of the wizard\nstanding far up there in the darkness on the basin\u2019s rim.\n\nIn the midst of his wild vehemence the chief espied one of the heads\nlying face uppermost on the floor. Its glaring red eyes and the sneer\nupon its lips infuriated him on a sudden. In one spring he was upon\nit, and, with two mighty blows, each accompanied by a terrific yell,\nhe brought red sparks from that Vile Tohunga\u2019s eyes, and then broke\nforth in a wilder strain than ever. To my wrought mind the whole thing\nsuggested a symphonic music scored by some Grand Devil of a Master,\nwhose gamut ran from hell to heaven, whose instruments went raving mad\nin the rendering, whose world was earthquake and eclipse, with the\nlightning flashing through the dark, and the thunder of the storm gods\nroaring round him. Built on a bass of gloom, the triumphant strain of\nNgaraki, the ghoul-motive of the shrieking wizard, the sad murmur of\nthe rising wind in the giants\u2019 window, and, above all, the unheard\npart called up here and there in the chief\u2019s chanting: his love-strain\nof Hinauri--these were running through my prosaic soul in a way which\nhinted that perhaps the fate in store for me was to go forth from that\nawful place madder than that \u201csome Grand Devil of a Master\u201d himself.\n\nAfter a full half-hour at this initial outburst, the fierce tohunga\nbecame more coherent. He calmed his wild gesticulations and paced to\nand fro striving to reduce his feelings to poetry--the poetry of a\nlife\u2019s labour and final triumph. There was a clear ring in his voice\nas he began his more ordered chant. His soul swelled with his voice,\nand I knew he felt like a whole victorious army marching steadily in\ncolumn. His words came \u201cstraight from his breast\u201d with that fluency so\nwonderful in the Maori tongue:\n\n\n \u201cNgha! none can stand.\n Headlong have they fallen.\n The Vile _Tohunga_ eat the dust\n Their cursing power is gone.\n They thought to bind the Bright One--\n With a Stone they thought to bind her,\n But she arose in all her beauty:\n Hinauri, Rival of the Dawn,\n Lovely as the mountain lily.\n See! she leaps above the darkness.\n Lo! the stone rolls from its place.\n Down it falls, in anger roaring\n Like the voice of Tongariro,\n Like the waves that crash in thunder\n On the cliffs of Waitariki.\n Now it strikes the Vile _Tohunga_;\n Snaps their heads from off their bodies--\n Grinds them into many pieces.\n Ngha! the magic of Hinauri!\n Ngha! the cursing of Ngaraki!\u201d\n\n\nAnd so he went on, until he had fashioned their teeth into fish-hooks\nand their bones into darts to shoot rats; until he had plucked out\ntheir eyes and boiled their heads and eaten them in the course of a\nchant in which he summoned all his Maori ancestors by name to come and\npartake of the feast. Then he sought out each available head and\ntriumphed over it separately, smiting with his _mer\u00e9_ until the\nsparks came again. After that he seemed searching for a head that was\nmissing. For a long time he wandered about with his _mer\u00e9_ ready. At\nlast he found what he was looking for--a head that had rolled away to\nthe brink of the abyss below the abyss--the head of his most hated\nfoe, the chief of the Vile Tohungas. He looked at it with high\ncontempt; then crash! and crash! and the red eyes flashed for the last\ntime. Crash! again, and the leering lips spat blood of fire.\n\nHe paused. An idea had occurred to him. He glanced at the awful pit\nthat yawned hard by, then at his enemy\u2019s head, and then at the great\nround stone\n\n\n [image: images/img301.jpg\n caption: \u201cHE ROCKED IT BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS UNTIL AT LAST HE RAISED\n IT ON ITS SIDE, AND THERE, WITH A FIRM HAND, HE HELD IT POISED UPON\n THE VERY BRINK.\u201d]\n\n\nsome little distance behind. I saw plainly that he would hurl the Vile\nOne\u2019s head into the bottomless pit, to be boiled and eaten in Porawa,\nand, when he had done that, he would roll the great stone on top of it\nto keep it down for ever and ever and ever. Having thrown aside his\n_mer\u00e9_, and set his torch against the base of the Twelfth Tohunga, he\nplaced his shoulder to the gigantic head, and put forth all his\nstrength. Slowly it moved; for some time he rocked it backwards and\nforwards until at last he raised it on its side, and there, with a\nfirm hand, he held it poised upon the very brink.\n\nIt was a great day for Ngaraki. It was not a day for beating his\n_mer\u00e9_ on the ground, but for plucking the very eyes and boiling the\nvery heads of the gaunt images which were his hated foes. And now in a\nsupreme moment he stood on the brink of Porawa with his arch enemy\u2019s\nhead in his hand. He looked into the awful depths, and would have\nchanted his crowning triumph. But words would not come. How could he\nchant on such a theme without striding up and down? All he could do\nwas to express his utmost and fiercest contempt for the head of the\nDegrader of Women and all his brood.\n\n\u201cNgha! Upokokohua!\u201d and with his foot he spurned the head from him.\nDown, down it went into the silent darkness, and the chief, always\nwilling to give his enemy the right of reply, leaned over the brink\nand listened. A minute passed, but there was no answer. All was as\nsilent as the everlasting grave of things forgotten, save for the\nunfolding of the falling water, save for the wailing shrieks, now\ngrowing fainter, of the wizard far away above. I could see from\nNgaraki\u2019s listening attitude that no sound came up from the\nunfathomable gloom.\n\n\u201c_Upokokohua!_\u201d[27] This is the final word of Maori invective--an\ninsult invocative of the utmost depths of everlasting shame. And it\nwas in a terrible voice of cursing that Ngaraki hurled it down a\nsecond time after his fallen enemy. Then he turned to the round stone.\nA glance showed that it would be a tremendous task, but his face and\nmanner told plainly that he would roll that stone upon his enemy\u2019s\nhead if it took till sunrise to do it. The floor was level; if\nanything it sloped a little in the desired direction, and if once he\ncould start the stone he would probably accomplish his object.\n\nHe went down into the shadows of the gulf, and soon returned with a\nlong jade-tipped spear in his hand. With this he made two rough places\nin the granite in which to place his heels for a better purchase.\nThen, setting his back against the stone, he put forth the strength of\na giant, but the stone did not move. He sprang up with a shout,\nsnatched up his spear, and paced swiftly to and fro, chanting a\nkarakia, naming the Samsons of his race, and telling of their mighty\nexploits.\n\nAgain he returned to the task and bent himself against the stone. By\nthe light of the flaring torches I saw his face distinctly, the veins\nstanding out upon his forehead, his nostrils distended. For a full\nminute he put forth his utmost strength, adding the power of will to\nthat of sinew. The great stone began to move. It rolled slightly and\nstopped. Ngaraki straightened himself again, panting, and paced the\nfloor to chant for the strength of a thousand men.\n\nBut the strength of a thousand is nothing compared to the power of one\nwho knows the way. It might have been this idea that struck him, for\nhe dropped his pacing and walked round the huge mass taking thought.\nThere was a space of six or seven yards between the stone and the\nbrink of the gulf, and this space, like all the rest, was strewn with\nthe dust and grit of ages. Eagerly he set to work, and, with one tool\nand another, he scraped and polished the granite floor. At last the\nway was fairly smooth, and he seemed satisfied, but, instead of\nplacing his back to the stone as before, he went off to search for\nsomething he had seen among the _d\u00e9bris_ of the spar. It was the\nsprit that had snapped on the rocky ledge far above, and was now lying\non the top of the ruins. It was still long enough for Ngaraki\u2019s\npurpose. His ideas were enlarged. The sprit and the spar, with which\nhe had controlled the round stone in its movements above the abyss,\nwere still to his hand for a lever. And, to his mind--and mine--it was\na fit and mystic thing that such symbols of his conquest and\nadaptation of the giants\u2019 handiwork should now be used to roll the\nstone--their image of the ancient world--upon the already parboiled\nhead of their mighty one.\n\nSo with a fragment of spar for fulcrum, he used the remains of the\nsprit as a lever against the stone, toiling at it steadfastly, until\nat last the great round mass rolled over the brink and disappeared for\never in the awful depths. Standing on the brink, the Maori hurled the\nfragment of the spar after it, and the sprit also; then, not satisfied\nwith that, he took his spear and _mer\u00e9_ and sent them hurtling down\nwith a cry of farewell--almost of lament--to each.\n\nIt was over, and he turned to take his torch. As his hand closed over\nit he gave a sudden start. There, on a ledge of the pedestal of the\nTwelfth Tohunga, something was looking at him. By the horror-struck\nface of the chief I guessed it was something of a terrible nature that\nhe saw there. Then, by an exclamation of his, I knew that it was one\nof the little green lizards that run upon the rocks. The chief and the\nlizard remained motionless, face to face, and their eyes met. That was\na death summons according to the Maori lore--a call to Reinga distinct\nand clear. I knew how it filled him with serious thoughts, which the\nexcitement of triumph had banished from his mind, how Hinauri\u2019s words\nrecurred to him, and, finally, how a nameless foreboding took\npossession of him as he recalled his own part in the fight--a\nforeboding lest the vague alternative mentioned by the Bright One\nshould have been realised, and he should be doomed to look for her in\nvain. Alas! he had not stayed the violence. He had left war and knife\nbehind him at her feet, and had snatched them up again in the _pa_.\nWith one gesture of despair the whole tide of his thought and feeling\nturned from his late triumph to the person of his goddess. He would go\nand search for her. It was at that moment the shrieking of the wizard\nsuddenly died away. His hour of punishment was over. Ngaraki\u2019s had\njust begun.\n\nDriven by a vague fear, the fierce _ariki_ hastened up out of the\nabyss, and I, going before, remained in the shadow of one of the\ncrags, where the path turned back upon itself, until he had passed me.\nOn, past the giants\u2019 window, along the level path, and by the place\nwhere the spar had stood, he went with long strides, his movements\nquickening with a growing anxiety. When he came to the lake he mounted\nthe stone near the rim, flung his torch away behind him, and plunged\ninto the depths. I reached the spot and took up the torch and waited.\nAgain the lake heaved and twisted with the movement of great things\nbelow, and again the black head of the stone under water rose above\nthe surface. Then the hollow thunder reverberated above, and the\ncascade came roaring down from the darkness overhead. He had gone by\nthe \u2018way of the winged fish,\u2019 and I would follow by the rope.\n\nI found it without trouble, and unhitched it from the rock, but the\ntube which I still held in my hand was a difficulty in the way of\nclimbing. What should I do with it? From that my thoughts wandered to\nthe wizard; what should I do with _him_? I passed round the lake to\nsee if he was still there, thinking as I went that it would simplify\nmatters if he had fallen forward over the brink. But when I gained the\nbasin\u2019s rim he was still standing as I had left him.\n\nI stopped. It was enough. He might be dead, he might be living--I\nwould leave it at that. If dead, his wickedness was over; if living,\nit was not safe to free him from the poisonous spell which held his\nwill in an iron grip. Besides, after my eerie experience of the voice\nin my brain, I was disinclined to have anything more to do with him.\nWhen the poison had lost its power, no doubt he could fall forward\ninto the abyss and add one item to the lumber of ages on the granite\nfloor below.\n\nWith these thoughts I left him and hurried after Ngaraki. When I had\nsucceeded in throwing my torch up on to the vantage ground above, I\nclimbed the rope, and then drew it up after me, for where that wizard\nthing was concerned I was certain of nothing. I was anxious to\novertake Ngaraki, and ran on and on through the lofty tunnels, until\nat length I came to the Place-of-Many-Chambers.\n\nJust as I was passing through into the tunnel beyond, I stopped, for I\nsaw, through the opening of one of the side chambers, two figures\nstanding together. They were Kahikatea and Hinauri. Her hands were\nclasped in his, and she was looking up at him, while he, with drooped\nhead, was speaking to her. They were both oblivious of all else but\neach other. Even my flickering torchlight did not rouse them.\n\n\u201cTill death do us part?\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cNay, Kahikatea,\u201d she returned, \u201cfor ever and ever. Here, in this very\nplace, in an age gone by did I plight my troth to you, and here\nagain----\u201d\n\nI dashed on, the light of my torch blurred before my eyes, up through\nthe tunnel towards the marble cave, whither I knew the chief had gone.\nWhen I came to the hewn steps I saw him striding before me; I flung\naside my torch and followed, gaining the uncertain border of daylight\nand darkness, whence I could see into the cave, just as he reached the\nentrance.\n\nThere before him stood the statue of Hinauri, immovable, silent, all\nwhite, with arms outstretched. With a quick step he stood before her\nand looked into her eyes. There was no colour there. The living hues\nhad fled. The tohunga\u2019s lips quivered. He stretched forth a hand and\ntouched her reverently upon the arm. It was cold stone.\n\nThen despair crowded in upon his heart, and a terrible sorrow came\nupon his face. Anguish drew deep lines beneath his eyes, and the power\nof his presence dropped from him. His great chest shook convulsively,\nand he gave way to a grief as awful to behold as his savage triumph in\nthe abyss. He prostrated himself at her feet and mingled the tears of\nhis agony with the white dust of the floor. Raising himself upon his\nknees, he held up his arms and implored her to come back. With\nbitterness he reproached himself as the cause of this sad end to all\nhis hopes. His words grew fierce against himself. He raved wildly, and\naddressed heart-broken appeals to the statue; but Hinauri answered\nnot, nor pitied the Maori in his grief.\n\nAt last it was driven home into his tortured soul that the end had\ncome. He had failed to do her bidding, and she was changed again to\nstone for ever. He stayed his wild woe and stood motionless, his face\ncalm, his form erect, and in his eyes the splendid sadness of a god in\npain. As he stood there the aspect of Zun the Terrible deepened on\nhim. The sorrowful longing on the face of the Twelfth Tohunga was his\nagain.\n\nI could not stand there and look calmly on when a word of mine might\nexplain the trick that had been unwittingly played upon him. My foot\nwas on the step before me, and I was about to rush forward, when again\na cold blast of air struck me in the face, again the thrill darted\ndown my spine; my flesh crept and my hair rose. I was rooted to the\nspot. Then, far within my brain, the Great Tohungas of the Earth spoke\na second time: \u201cLet him alone! It is our will--the will of the One\nabove us. This man is worthy of correction--may you be as worthy in\nyour sin. In ages past, to trick the giants of evil, he substituted\nthe False for the True, to protect the True; and now it comes back\nupon him in like manner, and he is tricked. Let him alone!\u201d\n\nSuch words as these took shape within me, and I could neither speak to\nhim nor move to his aid. As I stood shuddering helplessly, his mood\nchanged, and he began to pace fiercely up and down the cave, passing\nand re-passing through the broad flood of twilight that came through\nthe opening, and fell upon the face of the marble image.\n\n\u201cNgha! she has withdrawn into the sky,\u201d he said. \u201cI will go to her,\nand she shall not return when I am one. It is but a stone that is\nhere. It shall not remain. The world shall see the Bright One no more.\nIt is the end; it is the end.\u201d\n\nHe disappeared in the darkness of the inner cave, and came out again\nwith a weapon, a heavy _mer\u00e9_ of the broad-leaf kind. Whirling this\nabove his head, he paced to and fro, again chanting the long toil of\nhis life. Now he stopped before the image and whirled the weapon\nwithin an inch of the lovely face.\n\n\u201cNone other shall chant your loveliness,\u201d he cried fiercely, and yet\nthere was worship in his aspect; \u201cnone other shall say, \u2018She came\nagain at my bidding.\u2019 Oh! Hine-tu-a-hoanga--sacred stone on which I\nsharpened my curses to cleave the heads of the Vile Ones--you are as a\nhouse that shall not stand. And this great house that holds your house\nshall be closed for ever.\u201d\n\nAt this point I was sure of his purpose, and resolved to go in search\nof Hinauri herself in the Place-of-Many-Chambers. She would stay his\nhand if I could not.\n\nThe thrall that held my feet relaxed as I turned to descend. More\nfierce and high the chant of Ngaraki sounded behind me as I went. My\ntorch was still burning where I had left it, and I picked it up to\nhurry on through the tunnels, sick with a vague fear that, as Hinauri\nhad said, she and the stone had but one spirit between them; that the\ntohunga\u2019s ancient magic, which had glanced from the granite Cazotl to\nthe real, might--I fled on, striving to run away from the terrible\nthought. The chanting voice still reached me faintly through the high\ntunnels as I emerged into the Place-of-Many-Chambers. My God! What was\nthat? A crash! and a yell! and another crash! echoing down through the\ntunnels from the marble cave above. My God! What was this? A woman\u2019s\nshriek! a moan! and another shriek! coming from the chamber towards\nwhich I was hastening.\n\nAs I staggered forward I saw Kahikatea supporting the form of Hinauri\ndrooping on his arm. Her face was as white as the stone image I had\nleft in the marble cave. Yet another yell and another crash echoed\nfaintly down the tunnels, and a tremor ran through the fair form, as\nKahikatea sank upon a rock and supported her head upon his knee.\n\n\u201cShe is dying, Warnock,\u201d he said, in a voice of anguish, gazing down\ninto her lovely face, while I held the torch so that the light fell\nupon it. The long lashes showed very black against the pale cheek, and\nher whole face and neck, to her cross-girt, white-robed bosom, showed\ntoo deadly white against the enveloping cloud of her hair. It was not\na mere swoon.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d I replied hoarsely, and the torchlight trembled as it fell on\nthe rocks of the chamber, \u201cit is death.\u201d\n\nAs we gazed in too great agony for words, Hinauri\u2019s dark eyes opened,\nher bosom rose and fell, and a sweet smile rested upon her lips as she\nlooked up into Kahikatea\u2019s face.\n\n\u201cBe patient, my lord!\u201d she said, raising one arm and placing her hand\nagainst his cheek, \u201cit is but a little time since we planned our work\nin this world, and now I have to go. It is hard, my love--but raise me\nup--it is sweet even to die upon your breast.\u201d He raised her while she\nplaced her arms about his neck and nestled to him.\n\n\u201cWhen I am gone,\u201d she murmured, \u201ctake this poor body out on to the\nroof of the mountain, and there, on the shore of the crystal lake that\nstands against the sky----\u201d\n\nA low groan of agony came from Kahikatea, and she ceased!\n\n\u201cBe patient, my lord,\u201d she said again, drawing his head down and\nraising her lips to his. \u201cHasten the world on to the brighter day when\nwe shall meet again--kiss me, love, I am going.\u201d\n\nTheir lips met. A shiver of joy ran through her last breath. Her head\ndrooped forward and lay on Kahikatea\u2019s shoulder, shrouded in her hair.\nHinauri had withdrawn into the sky, and at that moment I stood like a\nstone among the everlasting stones, and asked myself, What is this\nworld of many shows, of glimpses, and flitting shadows? And the answer\ncame from the depths of my despair: A desolation of nothingness, a\nbarren waste where the bright dead moon smiles down on the sapless\nruin of things once living as herself; where the wild wind wails like\na planetary spirit come back to view the scene of its buried hopes. To\nme this was a world where nothing mattered, and I scarcely know why I\nmoved forward to Kahikatea and placed my hand upon his arm. Perhaps it\nwas with a confused consciousness that his sorrow was even greater\nthan mine. I strove to speak his name, but a throb of grief choked it\nback. My friend sat with his dead love in his arms, gazing straight\nbefore him. I shook him gently, and he looked up with speechless agony\non his face. I saw his desire to be left alone with his pain, and\nstood away.\n\nAt that moment I caught sight of a light descending through the\ntunnels. It drew near, and I saw Ngaraki striding down. He came on and\nemerged into the Place-of-Many-Chambers. I almost barred his passage\nas I stood there with my torch, but he did not see me. His flashing\neyes were too bright for the calmness of his bearing. Despair was on\nhis face; a quick thought told me that I might increase it, but that\nthought passed away, and the feeling that nothing mattered was\nstronger than ever upon me. I stood and watched him like one\nsleep-walker watching another. He approached the strange-looking\nlever--the device of the giants, whose purpose in placing it there had\nbeen handed down through the ages.\n\n\u201cIt is the end,\u201d he said sadly, as he raised the tapering arm.\n\nIt swung to the roof and then fell back and struck the floor. I knew\nthen that the great rolling stone that had rested on the weight of the\nlever was now speeding into the deep gulf below, on the gloomy errand\nit was designed to execute. The openings of this vast temple would be\nclosed for ever--yes, but it did not appeal to me with any force; it\nwas a matter of no consequence now, for who wanted to go out into that\nwaste place called the world? I did not, and I was certain Kahikatea\ndid not. Yet I noted the hollow rumblings that followed the fall of\nthe stone, and wondered wearily what would happen.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVII.\n THE GIANTS CLOSE THEIR TEMPLE.\n\nNgaraki passed down through a side tunnel, and I returned to the\nplace where Kahikatea still sat with his dead. After gazing at the\nscene awhile I withdrew again, mindful of my friend\u2019s unexpressed\ndesire to be left alone. Then Grey and Miriam floated into my mind;\nsince I could do nothing else I could at least see that they were\nsafe. Acting on this thought, I made my way down through the main\ntunnel, and at length reached the vantage ground high up in the wall\nabove the lake. The cascade was silent again. Ngaraki had gone down by\n\u2018the way of the winged fish\u2019 beneath the water. Presently there was a\nflickering light below, and soon afterwards the chief, bearing a\ntorch, passed round the lake and paused upon the ledge above the\nabyss. As mechanically and wearily as I had found my way down to this\npoint, I now stood and watched him.\n\nPacing to and fro upon the rocky ledge, he chanted his last karakia--a\nlament in which the poetry of his despair struggled through all his\nfierceness.\n\n\u201c_Ihungarupaea! Hine-nui-o-te-po! Thou art hurled down, a sunken\nrock._\n\n\u201c_Thou canst not rise. Shattered into fragments; never will your dust\nbe gathered from its everlasting grave._\n\n\u201c_Hinauri, Rival of the Dawn! thou too art gone for ever._\n\n\u201c_Alas! what melting sorrow fills my breast to overflowing._\n\n\u201c_Hinauri, Daughter of the Light! for whom I cursed and toiled--for\nwhom I waited all my life--for whom my bosom yearned with love, alas!\nthou too art gone._\n\n\u201c_The gentle brooks of Marahau poured laughter down the sunlit\nslopes--ran glad with songs to Tinirau--with love songs to the Ocean\nLord._\n\n\u201c_But now their waters flow like tears--while on Kaiteriteri\u2019s shore\nthe penguin wails with sobbing cry--_\n\n\u201c_Tears of Rangi and of Papa flowing to the lake of tear-drops where\nthe waves of woman\u2019s weeping rise against the sky._\n\n\u201c_Hush! those billows roll for ever, swollen with our lifelong\ntears--_\n\n\u201c_On and on into the distance till they break in lamentations on the\nfar off Sacred Isle--_\n\n\u201c_Break with many mourning voices at the feet of Tinirau--_\n\n\u201c_Kiss those feet with sobbing tidings: Hinauri is no more._\n\n\u201c_She will never come again. No distant dawn will bear her feet, no\nsun ray bring her back to life._\n\n\u201c_Alas! Alas! the wild white crane against the cloud a moment shows\nher shining wing, then all is dark and all is lost._\u201d\n\nHe paused for a moment on the brink of the abyss--a torchlight picture\nframed in the gloom of his ancient temple. For a moment his eyes were\nraised as if his glance could pierce through the darkness and beyond\nthe cavern\u2019s roof; then his voice rang out again in fiercer tones:\n\n\u201c_She stays not! neither will I stay! I\u2019ll fling me to the dark!\nNgha!_\n\n\u201c_Down, down into the black abyss, that I may gain the sparkling stars\nand look into her eyes once more._\u201d\n\nAs a soul plunges down into the world of spirits from the heights of\ngloomy Reinga, so he hurled himself headlong into the abyss, lighting\nthe way to death with his blazing torch. The sight of it wrung a cry\nfrom me. I slid down the rope and made my way to the brink of the\nabyss, where I leaned forward, gazing into the darkness. Far down a\nlight burns still and clear--a night-lamp by a hero\u2019s bedside. For a\nmoment I think I see its ray light up the image of Zun the Terrible,\nfor ever gazing upwards through the night. The love that does not die\nis stamped upon the granite face. \u201cI will return,\u201d is graved indelibly\nupon his breast, and the hands that graved it are clasped above his\nheart. The leaping flame springs up, and all is dark again. _Kia\nkotahi ki te Ao: kia kotahi ki te Po_: Ngaraki is dead, but clings to\nLife in the darkness.\n\n\nWhile I remained standing on the brink of the abyss, full of a savage\npathos for the noble Maori chief, as well as with sorrow for his\ngoddess, my ear caught something unusual. A dull roar came up from the\ndepths, faint and far away; could it be that the overflow from the\nlake had found a bottom at last? I listened intently, and even as I\ndid so the sound seemed to deepen. Was this the work of the rolling\nstone which Ngaraki had launched from the mysterious lever in the\nPlace-of-Many-Chambers, or had the great round rock which he had\nrolled down after the Vile Tohunga\u2019s head blocked the channel and\ndammed the water back?\n\nWhatever was the cause, I soon came to the conclusion that the water\nwas rising rapidly in the abyss below the abyss. It would fill the\ngulf, and then would flow out through the giants\u2019 window into the\nfissure beyond. But while concluding the matter thus there came back\ninto my mind the words of Te Makawawa in reference to the ancient\ntradition of the mysterious lever: \u201cWhen it is raised all the ways of\nthe temple will be closed.\u201d\n\nI was about to follow this matter up and see for myself, when there\nwas a sound like a great gush of water in the lake as if another\nsluice gate had been unbarred in its depths. Then I heard the increase\nof the flood as it hissed and tore through the aperture in the\npartition and fell into the darkness of the abyss. Presently the\nchange was marked again by a louder thunder from the depths. In the\nmidst of this I heard a shout from the direction of the gulf. I\nhastened towards it, and, midway on the path that led to the giants\u2019\nwindow, encountered Grey and his wife. Grey, the man who had\nforgotten, looked into my eyes without the slightest sign of\nrecognition and said:\n\n\u201cLook there! What is to be done? That is the way out--I travelled it\nquite lately--and it\u2019s closing up--my wife tells me there are two more\nhere besides yourself. Where are they?\u201d\n\nI followed the direction of his finger, and saw what startled me. The\nmoon was just showing above the sill of the giants\u2019 window, and its\nlight glinted on the under surface of a tremendous hewn stone that had\nalready descended half way down over the upright bars like a colossal\nshutter.\n\n\u201cI know what has happened,\u201d Miriam Grey was saying hurriedly; \u201cthe\nlever in the heart of the mountain has been raised, and all the\napertures will be closed. Where is Crystal--Hinauri--where is she?\u201d\n\n\u201cHigh up in the mountain,\u201d I said slowly, for I had not the heart to\ntell them that she was infinitely higher than the highest mountain on\nearth. \u201cKahikatea will take her up through the roof by the way he came\ndown. There is yet time for you to escape by the giants\u2019 window.\u201d\nTurning to Grey I added, \u201cYou say there is a way?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d he replied; \u201cI remember the way perfectly, but it requires a\nrope.\u201d\n\nI glanced at the opening which still remained as the great shutter\nseemed to be descending slowly, and guessed there was time.\n\n\u201cWait here,\u201d I said to Miriam, \u201cand, for the present, good-bye. If we\nmeet again it will be at Wakatu.\u201d\n\nThere was much more to say, but no time to say it. I grasped her hand,\nand with \u201cFollow me, Grey, I will find you a rope,\u201d I turned away.\n\nShe was a brave woman. \u201cGood-bye, and God bless you; I trust you with\nmy child.\u201d This was all she said as she stood there against the rock\nto wait for her husband\u2019s return.\n\nWith all haste I hurried along the level path, followed by Grey. Round\nthe buttress on to the margin of the lake we went, and there we came\nto a halt, for the water flung back from the fountain, which now rose\nseveral yards high in the centre of the lake, was washing over our\nfeet. But the halt was only for a moment. Knee deep in the wash and\nripple that swamped the margin, I led the way round until we reached\nthe place where the rope was hanging. There I handed the torch to Grey\nand said: \u201cWait here; I will cut the rope above and throw it down.\u201d\n\nWith feverish haste I climbed up, and, when I had gained the upper\nlanding, drew my sheath knife and severed the rope.\n\n\u201cHold your end and stand away round the wall,\u201d I shouted down to Grey.\n\u201cStand away, and I will drop it.\u201d\n\nI heard his answer from below, signifying that I might heave it down.\nI did so, and then heard him call up: \u201cBut what about you?\u201d\n\n\u201cMake haste,\u201d I yelled down; \u201cdamn it all, make haste. Save your wife,\nnever mind about me.\u201d Well I knew that my life was worth very little\neither to myself or anybody else.\n\nHe made some reply which I could not catch, then shouted \u201cGood-bye!\ngood-bye!\u201d and something else which was lost in the tumult of the lake\nbelow. I watched his torch disappear round the buttress, and then fell\nto gazing at the small stream of moonlight that now pierced through\nthe darkness above the abyss. Would Grey and his wife get through the\ngiants\u2019 window before that ray was darkened altogether? I prayed that\nit might be so.\n\nIn less than three minutes I was sure of it, for something obstructed\nthe ray for a moment, and then it shone on clear as before, though\nperceptibly less. They had passed through, and now in a few minutes\nthe giants would close their window for ever.\n\nBut before the ray died out it fell above the outer lip of the huge\nbasin, and revealed the form of the wizard negro still standing there\nspellbound.\n\nWhat would be his end? I knew the abyss was filling; by the roar of\nthe falling water I judged it was filling rapidly. The picture of that\nfigure in the moonray standing, as soon he must, with nothing but his\nhead above water, unable to stir hand or foot to save himself, moved\nme strangely. I would release him from his bondage and let him have at\nleast a rat\u2019s chance of drowning on his own responsibility. But I\nfeared it was too late. Would he hear my voice against the roar of the\nwaters? At least I could try. Standing up, I shouted to him across the\nintervening space:\n\n\u201cServant of the Brotherhood of Huo! My voice is the only thing--you\nare free to save yourself if you can.\u201d\n\nHe heard me. I saw him crouching down on the rock. Then, as the\nmoonray dwindled away to nothing, there came from the darkness the\nsame wild, unearthly laugh I had heard so often before. It echoed from\na thousand crags in the walls and roof of the vast cavern, and was\nfinally bandied about in the central vault like the voice of a fiend\nchuckling to himself. But he could do no harm now; sooner or later he\nmust drown like any rat.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVIII.\n FAREWELL.\n\nLouder and louder came the thundering roar from the abyss. The sound\nseemed to have risen several tones in pitch, and from this fact I\nstrengthened my conclusion that the vast cavern was gradually filling.\nThere was now no way out except that by which Kahikatea had come\nin--the \u2018way of the spider.\u2019 Should we scale that way, or should we\nsit in darkness, with the body of Hinauri between us, and wait while\nthe rising water surged up through the tunnels and covered us? I\nthought the latter grim alternative would be the end; at least I felt\nlike it as I turned and toiled again up through the tunnels.\n\nThe way was dark and I had no light now, but with slow and heavy\nfootsteps, groping my way with both hands, I at last gained the\nPlace-of-Many-Chambers. Even there all was dark and silent. I fell\nover the arm of the lever on the stone floor, and Kahikatea cried out,\n\u201cWho goes there?\u201d\n\n\u201cI, Warnock; strike a light--my matches are wet.\u201d\n\nAs I gathered myself up I heard him strike a match on the rock, and,\nby its light as he held it up, saw that he was still sitting where I\nhad left him, holding Hinauri to his breast. He did not speak; his\nface was set with grief, and I was moved with a great sympathy towards\nhim. In the endeavour to show this I went up to him, and, placing my\nhand on his arm, looked into his eyes, saying nothing.\n\nHe understood. \u201cThank you, Warnock,\u201d he said softly and sadly; \u201chave\nyou ever lost someone who was all the world to you--someone whose\ngoing left a dreary darkness, which you wrapped closer about you while\nlonging for death?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d I replied slowly, \u201cI have.\u201d The match went out. My hand slid\nalong to his, and they met in a clasp of silent sympathy. He did not\nknow--I think he never knew--that the one I had lost was the one lying\ncold and still upon his breast.\n\n\u201cStay here, Warnock,\u201d he said presently; \u201cstay here and lighten my\ndarkness. I have given way beneath this load of grief, and must rouse\nmyself. Stay here and talk; I will listen, and try to struggle up out\nof my black despair.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will,\u201d I said, though it occurred to me that my own feelings were\nscarcely such as would lighten anyone\u2019s darkness. \u201cBut first give me\nthe matches, and let\u2019s dispel this outer gloom.\u201d\n\nHe handed them to me, and I went in search of a pile of pineheart\ntorches which I had seen on my first exploration of the place. I\nlighted one, and then carried an armful into the open space and set a\nlight to them. Soon there was a blazing fire, which cast a ruddy glow\non the rocky walls and ceiling of the Place-of-Many-Chambers. Tenderly\nKahikatea disengaged the fair arms from about his neck, and, bearing\nthe white form into the open space, laid it gently down upon the rocky\nfloor not far from the fire. Her head rested upon the soft pillow of\nher floating hair, and her limbs fell into the beautiful pose of one\nwho is sleeping sweetly. As I looked down at her peaceful face, and\nsaw still resting upon it the last smile of joy that had marked her\nspirit\u2019s flight, I could scarcely realise that she was dead.\n\nThen Kahikatea and I sat down one on each side of her, but neither of\nus spoke; it was a kind of vigil, and I could not break its silence. I\nhad made the fire, and that was all I could do towards lightening the\ndarkness of my friend. But I will not say what thoughts came to me in\nthe presence of the lovely dead. They were strange thoughts of another\nworld, where, in some inexplicable way, eternal love means eternal\npossession of the thing loved, where beings that love the same are one\nwith their beloved. But these are not thoughts we can explain.\n\nI know not how long we sat there; it was probably a matter of hours,\nand we might have sat for other hours had not something aroused me. It\nwas a vague shadow moving like a tentacle of the darkness about the\nopening of the lower tunnel.\n\n\u201cWho\u2019s there?\u201d I shouted sharply, and Kahikatea raised his head\ninquiringly.\n\nThe answer to my challenge came from a very long way off; it was the\nwild and hideous laugh of the wizard. I sprang to my feet and stood\nlooking into the gloom, where all I could see of him was his eyes,\nwhich caught and reflected the glare of the fire. He was crouching in\nthe shadows as I advanced towards him.\n\n\u201cServant of the Vile Brotherhood of Huo,\u201d I said, \u201cyou are no longer\nfree to move; you are----\u201d\n\nBut the harsh laugh, sounding again nearer than before, cut my words\nshort, and I knew the power of the poison had passed. He was again the\npowerful agent of evil, a thing to be feared, and, if possible, to be\nstrangled.\n\n\u201cCome out here!\u201d I said, \u201cand I will fight you on equal terms now that\nyour infernal poisoned darts are gone. But, first, what are we to\nfight about? You have been punished, and Hinauri, the Bright One, is\ndead--her body lies there.\u201d I pointed to the open space by the fire\nwhere Kahikatea sat almost unheeding by the side of his lost love.\n\nThe negro came out of the dark at my words and stood before me. I saw\nhis eyes rove quickly over me, and they bore a devilish glint of\ntriumph as he saw that his reed tube was not in my hand.\n\n\u201cWe will fight for the body of the Bright One,\u201d he said, \u201cand when I\nhave bound you I will bind your friend there. Then\u201d--he concluded by\npointing his skinny finger at the white form of Hinauri.\n\nI ground my teeth, but, before I could spring at him, Kahikatea\u2019s deep\nvoice arrested me.\n\n\u201cStop!\u201d he cried, springing to his feet and coming forward with\nfingers crooked and brows let down; \u201cit is my privilege to strangle\nthis black villain, whoever he is.\u201d\n\nIn three strides he was upon him, and in another moment the negro was\ntwisting and twining in a strong grasp from which his soul, if he had\none, might possibly find escape towards hell, but his body never.\nKahikatea had gripped him by the arms. Now he transferred one hand to\nthe wizard\u2019s throat, and the end began. As I stood by and watched, I\nthought it strange that the negro did not use his liberated arm and\nhand to clutch at the one which gripped his throat. Instead of doing\nthat, as they swayed to and fro, he was feeling with it for something\nin his hair. His eyes were starting out of his head, but his fingers\nwere still searching through his hair as Kahikatea shook and strangled\nand shook him again.\n\nPresently the fingers drew forth a slender thing--a small, reed-like\ndagger, only large enough to give a needle\u2019s prick, but I knew it was\npoisoned. With a quick shout of \u201cTake care!\u201d I darted forward just as\nthe negro was raising his arm. I caught him by the wrist, but, with a\nquick side twist, he wrenched loose, scratching my skin with the\ncursed thing as he did so. Then, swift as lightning, before I could\nintervene, he raised his arm again, and drove the point into\nKahikatea\u2019s shoulder.\n\nA last horror swept through me as I realised that in less than three\nseconds we should both be at his mercy by virtue of the swift poison;\nand the form lying still in death behind us--great God! should\n\n\n [image: images/img321.jpg\n caption: \u201cKAHIKATEA STOOD LIKE A BRONZE STATUE, WITH ONE ARM STRETCHED\n OUT. IN THE HAND OF THAT ARM WAS THE THROAT OF THE WIZARD, WHOSE BODY\n HUNG FROM IT, LIMP AND LIFELESS.\u201d]\n\n\nthe body of the Pure One pass into this foul wizard\u2019s hands after all?\nIn another moment all would be over. I felt my senses going, when I\nsaw that the negro was trying to speak, but Kahikatea\u2019s hand was still\ntoo tight on his throat. Not until it relaxed under the influence of\nthe poison could he speak the words which would take command of our\nfailing wills. Then, when I saw that, a lightning thought flashed\nthrough my mind: the commanding voice should be mine. I was going\nfast, but I still had strength enough to cry: \u201cKahikatea! my voice is\nthe only thing! You cannot let go! Kill him! Kill him! You cannot let\ngo!\u201d\n\nThe last words seemed to come from everywhere. Myself seemed blotted\nout, and my own words sounded like many voices crying as one from\nbeyond the horizon: \u201cYou cannot let go!\u201d Then I know not what\nhappened. Consciousness fled to this extent--I was conscious of\nnothing but a blank.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen I awoke I found myself on the stone floor. I sat up and gazed\nabout me. The fire was burnt low, and I could see only the form of\nHinauri still lying where it had been. The place was too dark to see\nmore. I rose hastily, and kicked the remains of the fire together. A\nbright blaze sprang up, and I turned towards the spot where I had last\nseen the wizard in the grip of my friend. They were still there.\nApparently the fight was not yet finished, for I could see vaguely the\ntwo figures standing together in the gloom. How could this be? The\nfire could not have burnt down in less than two hours.\n\nI snatched a piece of smouldering pineheart, fanned it to a blaze,\nand, hastening to where they stood, held it up. The thing that I saw\nwas as grim as it was weird. Kahikatea stood like a bronze statue,\nwith one arm stretched out. In the hand of that arm was the throat of\nthe wizard, whose body hung from it, limp and lifeless. Kahikatea\u2019s\nface was set, his teeth clenched; the command, \u201cYou cannot let go!\u201d\nwas written on iron in every feature, muscle, and limb; and, with his\neyes fixed on the lifeless thing he held suspended by the throat\nbefore him, he was still strangling that wizard, whose last twisted\nhideousness was too frightful to describe.\n\nA pale ghost of a \u201cThank God!\u201d fell from my lips; then I set about\nundoing the voice-and-poison spell.\n\n\u201cKahikatea!\u201d I said; \u201cmy voice is the only thing; you are yourself\nagain; wake up! you can let go.\u201d\n\nHis fingers relaxed, and the wizard corpse fell in a huddled heap upon\nthe floor. Kahikatea turned to me with a look of amazement on his\nface.\n\n\u201cWhat happened?\u201d he said; \u201cI felt my senses going when I heard you\nshout \u2018Kill him! you cannot let go!\u2019 and then I seemed to be spending\na long lifetime in strangling him with all my strength.\u201d\n\nAs briefly as possible I explained the strange action of the wizard\u2019s\npoison and the power of the first will that came into possession by\nmeans of the voice. I had not finished when, at a sound from the\ndarkness in the direction of the lower tunnel, I suddenly broke off,\nand we both faced round to listen. Again the sound came to our ears;\nit was the soft splash of water against the rocks. I advanced with the\nblazing wood in my finger tips, and saw with dismay that the flood was\nrapidly rising in the tunnel. It was already within ten yards of where\nwe stood, and was encroaching visibly.\n\nI turned to Kahikatea. \u201cQuick!\u201d I cried; \u201call the outlets are closed,\nand the place is filling. Up through the tunnels to the marble cave. I\nwill follow.\u201d\n\nHe turned and tenderly lifted the body of the Bright One in his arms;\nthen, taking up a fragment of burning wood, he proceeded into the\ntunnel which led up into the marble cave. I remained, and dragged the\nbody of the Vile Thing of Darkness towards the breast-high barrier\nupon which the lever had rested as on a fulcrum. Then, raising my\nburden above my head, I heaved it into the gulf that yawned on the\nother side. Something of the triumphant feelings of Ngaraki, when he\nhad hurled the Vile Tohunga\u2019s head down to Porawa, came over me as I\nlistened, fancying that I should hear that wild laugh again echoing\nfrom the depths of Darkness. But there was no reply; the Poisoner had\ngone down for ever.\n\nI was aroused by the wash of the water rising on the rocks where I\nstood. Even as I sprang forward and caught up another blazing\nfragment, the tide surged in and swamped the fire with a quick hiss. I\ndarted into the tunnel with the waves lapping at my heels, and\nfollowed Kahikatea.\n\nWhen I reached the marble cave I stood and surveyed the scene before\nme with feelings of regret, dismay, and despair. A great slab of stone\nhad slid down in the grooves that I had noticed on each side of the\nopening, and the place was closed even to the moon and stars; but what\ncalled up all my grief afresh was a thing of which I had been\nconvinced ever since I left the cave to find Hinauri. The marble\nstatue no longer stood in the centre of the cave with its arms\noutstretched. There, on the floor, broken and shattered, were the\nfragments of the lovely image which Miriam Grey, as a sculptress, had\nhewn out of the sacred stone; and there, a little beyond, lying upon a\nsoft Maori mat, was the still cold form of the lovely spirit which\nshe, as a mother, had led out of the distant past.\n\nAs I made my way among the fragments, I picked up the golden circlet,\nand, bending down, gently placed it upon Hinauri\u2019s brow. At once the\nprophecy came to my mind--the prophecy she had read after solemnly\nidentifying herself with the statue: \u201c_Thou, Hia, shalt return at the\ndawn of a new age, but ere the sun shall have shone twice upon this,\nthy crown, thou shalt withdraw into the sky._\u201d\n\nKahikatea was in the recess of the inner cave, holding in his hand the\nrope by which he had descended.\n\n\u201cI will go first,\u201d he said; \u201cthen I will let the rope down a little so\nthat you can make a double loop for her, and I will draw her up. After\nthat I\u2019ll let the rope down again for you. But wrap her in the mat,\nWarnock, and fasten the rope securely.\u201d\n\nHe began to climb as he gave these directions, but he was scarcely\nfive feet from the ground when the strands broke far up above and he\nfell heavily, the whole of the rope rattling down into the cave about\nus.\n\n\u201cMust have frayed on the edge of the rock,\u201d he said, struggling to his\nfeet. \u201cWell, I suppose there\u2019s nothing to do now, my friend, but sit\ndown here quietly and wait for the end, for the water will be here\npresently, and there\u2019s no other outlet. Certainly we might float up,\nbut for my part I don\u2019t think it\u2019s worth while.\u201d\n\nSo weary of life was I that I was tempted to agree with him; but I\nchanced to glance round the cave before I spoke, and my eye fell on\nthe grotesque wooden gods grinning at our hopelessness as they nursed\ntheir stomachs serenely. A sudden idea struck me: why not make a raft\nof these wooden deities, and so float up on the rising flood? I\nmentioned my idea to Kahikatea, and he greeted it with a half-smile.\nSuch a slight thing changes the course of mortals, and I believe it\nwas the mere happiness of this idea that led us to combat what was at\nthat time a great temptation to leave our bodies with that of the one\nwe both loved, and go out into the starry sky with Zun to find her.\n\nWith a spontaneous movement we sprang up and set to work. I remembered\nthat in the Place-of-Many-Chambers there was a deep gulf to fill, and\nconsequently it would be some time before the water reached us.\n\nSo we took Tiki, the Progenitor of Mankind, and Tangaroa, the sea god,\nand Tawhirimatea, the god of storms, and Tanemahutu, and Rongomatane,\nand several others, and, laying them side by side on the floor of the\ncave, lashed them together with the rope. There was a store of torches\nin this as in all the other centres of the temple, and we set several\ngoing to light us in our work.\n\nAt length it was finished, and we laid the dead upon soft mats in the\ncentre. I also placed on our raft the remainder of the torches, and an\naxe I found among the weapons. Then we sat and waited, Kahikatea at\nHinauri\u2019s head and I at her feet, both bearing torches in our hands.\nIn time the water flooded in with gurgling sounds, and we rose on our\nraft of gods up through the opening in the roof of the mountain. When\nwe had mounted some fifty feet I looked up between the dark crags that\nstill towered above us and saw the stars in an indigo sky. Slowly we\nfloated up with our fair burden until, upon a crag above us, we saw\nthe silver moonlight glistening. In a few minutes we reached that\ncrag, and found we were on the broad summit of the mountain temple,\nthe twin peaks rising one on each side of us, their snowy summits\nstanding up like sentinel spirits as the moonlight touched them in the\nclear, cold silence of the sky.\n\nThe raft now floated into a small oblong basin, and as the water rose\nin this I saw that it would flow out through an aperture beyond. Here,\nthen, was our highest point. I stepped out on to the roof of the\nmountain temple. Kahikatea followed, and together we lifted our raft\nof gods with its burden out on to the rough rocks. As we did this the\nwater escaped at the other end of the oblong basin, and I advanced\nwith my torch to see what became of it. Beyond the aperture its\nsurface shone in the moonlight, making a loop like a silver horseshoe;\nthen it disappeared again into the rock at a spot not very far from\nwhere it issued.\n\nI looked up at the southern peak, and then at Kahikatea, who stood\nbeside me. \u201cYes,\u201d he said, interpreting my thought, \u201cthere is a large\nlake up there. I came across it in my wanderings. It is no doubt the\nsource of all this water.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe crystal lake that stands against the sky,\u201d I said, slowly\nrepeating Hinauri\u2019s own words; \u201cis there a way to it?\u201d I glanced\ntowards the raft as I spoke, and my voice was lowered almost to a\nwhisper.\n\n\u201cYes, there is a tunnel,\u201d he replied softly. \u201cCome! our raft is now a\nbier. Let us carry out her wish.\u201d\n\nSo we severed Tiki, the Progenitor of Mankind, and Tanemahutu, the\nstrong god of light, from the others, and, using them as a bier,\npassed up through a narrow but lofty tunnel in the direction of the\nSouthern peak. After we had ascended some hundreds of feet by a fairly\nsteep incline, we came out on the margin of a large circular lake held\nin by towering crags against the side of the peak. The clear waters\nwere still and pure, as befitted that high solitude, and in the\ncrystal depths were reflected the lights of Heaven. We descended to\nthe shelving, sandy shore, and set our burden down in the shadows.\nThen, by mutual understanding, we went back and carried up the rest of\nthe gods and the pinehearts and the axe. And Kahikatea himself hewed\nthe gods in pieces to supply the wood for the funeral pyre.\n\nI cannot linger over that last sad scene by the silent lake. I cannot\nwrite of Kahikatea\u2019s last kiss of farewell on those pure maiden lips.\nI stood apart, bareheaded beneath the moon and stars, gazing my last\nupon the serene white face as, with hands crossed upon her bosom, and\nher shrouding hair drawn over\n\n\n [image: images/img326.jpg\n caption: \u201cWITH HANDS CROSSED UPON HER BOSOM, AND HER SHROUDING HAIR\n DRAWN OVER HER LIKE THE CURTAINS OF THE NIGHT, HINAURI LAY UPON THE\n PYRE.\u201d]\n\n\nher like the curtains of the night, Hinauri lay upon the pyre. Then\nthe pinehearts blazed up, the bones of the gods crackled and hissed,\nand soon the form of the one we had loved and lost was enveloped in a\nclear, glowing pyramid of flame, which burned up to heaven like the\nlight of a great lamp set in a spot well sheltered from the wind.\n\n * * * * *\n\nI recall but dimly our leaving that crystal lake against the sky, and,\nin the grey light of dawn, reaching the Table Land below by ways\ndifficult and dangerous. Suffice it to say that the \u2018way of the\nspider\u2019 by which Kahikatea had scaled that mountain was such that no\nman who valued his life would attempt it. How we passed in safety is a\nmatter that I can only account for by the fact that we did not value\nour lives at all.\n\nThe yellow, rolling plain was deserted when we passed across it, and\nnone greeted us from the _whar\u00e9s_ dotted about here and there. We\nstopped nowhere until we reached the further end of the Table Land,\nand there we turned to gaze for the last time on the mountain wall\nthat shut out half the eastern sky. It was a grand and solemn tomb of\nthings forgotten; stupendous, majestic, threatening in its gloom. But\non the snowy peaks above there rested a flush of sunrise--a rosy pink\nwhich touched them with a pure and radiant glory as they stood against\na background of white rifted clouds. Though the giants\u2019 temple, with\nbeetling brows, frowned darkly at us, it seemed as if the rosy peaks\nwere showing the sun which path Hinauri, the Daughter of the Dawn, had\ntaken.\n\nA day\u2019s march brought us to the place below the great cliff in the\nhillside, where we had seen the water spout up in a fountain, and\nwhere, subsequently, I had found my hat which had fallen into the\nabyss. The channel was dry, and the pool from which it issued had sunk\nseveral feet. I conjectured that if that underground stream could be\nfollowed, the explorer would come up against the great round stone,\nstopping the water\u2019s flow somewhere in the bowels of the earth.\n\nTwo days\u2019 march brought us to Kahikatea\u2019s hut, where he put a few\npapers together, and announced his intention of journeying with me as\nfar as Wakatu, and thence taking a boat for the north, and finally for\nEngland. When he informed me of this I looked at him inquiringly. He\nsaw the question in my eyes, and said:\n\n\u201cFriend! my dreams have ended sadly, but the strange madness that drew\nme to this solitude was, I know now, full of hidden method. You heard\nwhat she said: \u2018Hasten on the world.\u2019 Warnock! if ever a man tried, by\nputting his shoulder to the wheel of time, to hasten the dawn of a\nbrighter age, I am going to try. She told me many things that you did\nnot hear and that I cannot tell you--things throwing light on the\nworld\u2019s failure in the past to grasp its opportunities--plans to pave\nthe way for an inborn greatness of a coming generation. When you think\nof me, Warnock, think of me as one who is toiling incessantly with\ndull, heavy foundation stones at the bidding of a voice which to him\nis the sweetest thing in all the world.\u201d\n\nAt Wakatu we found Grey and his wife, and together we helped one\nanother through the story of Hinauri\u2019s death. The\nMan-who-had-forgotten heard it as a thing far off; it touched him like\nthe sadness of a dream, for eighteen years were struck from his life,\nand he remembered neither his own daughter nor the Daughter of the\nDawn. But Miriam\u2019s grief, the grief of such a mother for such a child,\nwas beyond words. For many weeks after Kahikatea\u2019s departure she\nlingered between life and death in Wakatu, and it was not until three\nmonths after the events narrated in the foregoing pages that I told\nGrey all I knew about his forgotten years, and sailed with them both\nto the Sounds--to the home and the garden where I had first met\nCrystal Grey. In due time they went home to claim the property, which,\nas I have somewhere stated, had been left to Miriam. I remained behind\nto take care of the old place until they returned a year later, when\nthey refused to let me go.\n\n\nHere, then, in the rustic retreat beneath the nut-trees, where the\nsweet influence of Crystal Grey seems to linger round me, I have spent\nthe summer days in writing these pages. Now it is finished, and again\nI recall the words of my aged friend the chief and tohunga, Te\nMakawawa:\n\n\u201c_O Son, the word of our ancient law is death to any who reveals the\nsecrets that are hidden in the Brow of Ruatapu. The secret of Hinauri,\nthe Daughter of the Dawn, the mystery of the Vile Tohungas of the Pit,\nthe traditions of far time preserved in the heart of the great\nRock--all, everything, is a death-blow returning on the head of him\nwho reveals it. Yet, O Son of the Great Ocean of Kiwa, I, who was once\nthe guardian priest of the temple of Hia and the hereditary curser of\nthe Vile Ones of the Abyss of Huo, now show these things to you, for I\nam weary of climbing the snows of Ruahine, and long for rest and\nTane\u2019s living waters. The great Tohungas of the Earth have taught me\nin my sleep with words like the voice of the wind in the forest trees:\n\u2018O tohunga of the Great Rock, the mystery of Hinauri is not for the\nMaori unless thou tell it first to the Sons of the Sea, but know that\nif thou tell it thou must die.\u2019 Therefore, Son, I show it to you, for\nwhat though I fear the eye of the fierce Ngaraki, I fear not death.\nFriend! perchance, when I have descended by the sacred Pohutukawa\nroot, you, too, will tire of life and tell this thing to your\nbrethren; \u2018but know that if thou tell it thou must die._\u2019\u201d\n\nI am content that it should be so. Last night I dreamed that I\nwandered astray in the forest, and that is an omen that no Maori could\nmisinterpret. Perchance it is the shadow cast before a welcome event,\nin terms of the Maori lore so dear to my heart. And now as I write,\nanother and more striking omen is vouchsafed me in the same quaint\nterms. A ray from the golden sun of the autumn evening slants through\nthe broken screen of yellowing leaves and falls upon the woodwork of\nmy rough table placed against the hazel stems. Suddenly a little green\nlizard runs from a bundle of papers I have but lately lifted from the\nground and placed on the corner of the table. It reaches the sunlight\nand pauses, moving its head strangely in the air. In another moment\nits bright little eyes meet mine, and for some seconds it remains\nmotionless. A cloud comes before the sun, the ray fades, and the\nlittle creature wriggles off the table on to the ground, where I hear\nits faint rustle among the leaves. Well I know this is a call to\nReinga, thence to the living waters of Tane, and thence to the bright\nBeyond--a summons, clear and sweet, to the Living Waters of Tane,\nwhere mortals fling off their garments of clay, and, plunging deep,\nrenew their strength. Oh! let it be soon. How often have I longed,\nwith the great chief who now clings to Life in the Light, to throw my\nbody headforemost into the jaws of Darkness, that I, with him, may\ngain the sparkling stars, and look into her eyes once more!\n\n THE END OF WANAKI\u2019S NARRATIVE.\n\n\n\n\n CONCLUSION.\n\n (_A letter from Ak\u00e9 Ak\u00e9 Rangitane, the son of Ngaraki, to the\n Editor._[28])\n\n O Friend of the Maori Race,--These are my last words to you, for\n while you remain here among the chills of winter, I go to the land\n which laughs beneath the southern sun. My experience of the will of\n the Great Tohungas of the Earth teaches me that it will be obeyed\n concerning the record of Wanaki. When you have done my bidding and the\n book is made, then you will remain at peace. I send to you with this a\n letter that has been given to me by the Pakeha Kahikatea. Set it at\n the end of Wanaki\u2019s record, but do not write the Pakeha\u2019s other name,\n for it may be that he has the spirit of one of the Great Tohungas of\n the Earth whose names are _tapu_. When your task is done, fear not\n that the fate of Wanaki will overtake you. Now I go, but you remain.\n Follow me not with your thoughts. When I see the book that is made the\n love of my heart will flow towards you like a mountain stream. There\n is no Maori word to tell of \u201cgratitude,\u201d but, O Pakeha, in the Maori\n heart there are feelings which cannot be hidden behind a word. My\n letter to you is ended. Farewell.\n\n\n _A letter from Miriam Grey to Sir\u2026 Bart.,\u2026\n St. James\u2019 Chambers, London._\n\n Dear Kahikatea,--It is with feelings of deep regret that I write to\n tell you of the death of our dear friend Wanaki. The circumstances of\n his end were very strange. It was a night when a thunderstorm was\n brewing, and Wanaki, instead of going to bed, put on his mackintosh\n and went out to look at the storm. But it did not break till near\n midnight, and then there was only a single vivid flash, followed by a\n peal of thunder directly overhead. In the morning, finding our dear\n friend\u2019s room unoccupied, we searched the garden and the plantations,\n and at length discovered him lying dead on the grass at the foot of\n one of the great bluegums. That he had been struck by lightning while\n standing with his back to the tree was evident, for the grass where he\n had stood was burnt, and his watch chain was fused. But the strange\n thing that I have to tell you is this: On the trunk of the tree\n against which Wanaki had been standing, the lightning had left a mark\n which is evidently a duplicate tracery of the course the electric\n fluid took through his body, but at the same time--this is no woman\u2019s\n fancy--I recognised it as an exact picture on a small scale of the\n principal ways of the ancient temple, from the marble cave to the\n foundations. I say again, this is not my fancy, for if anyone could\n recognise the diagrammatic representation of the spiral tunnels and\n spaces of that ancient place it would surely be myself. Is this\n another instance of the strange magic of that terrible priesthood of\n the ages, which has now left its sign to show that Wanaki has suffered\n the penalty for revealing the secrets of their temple, or is it\n capable of a simpler explanation? Is it possible that the lightning\n followed some occult line of least resistance through that temple of\n the ages--that mysterious epitome of the universe, the human body, and\n left the track of its passage burnt in on the tree behind? But I\n cannot do more than merely suggest the mystery of this exact\n correspondence, for both my husband and myself are heartbroken at the\n loss of our dear friend, the story of whose snow-white hair and\n gentle, weary face, you already know.\n\n I will not write more now except to add, as ever, that my heart is\n with you in your work--with you as constantly as my thoughts are with\n her whom we love, and as earnestly as my prayers are with those of all\n women who stand in the \u201cBrow of Ruatapu\u201d and raise their arms of\n longing to the heaven where greatness waits to be revealed on earth.\n\n                                             Yours sincerely,\n                                             MIRIAM GREY.\n\n THE END.\n\n\n\n\n ENDNOTES.\n\n[01] _karakia_] Philosophical and meditative hymns used as\nincantations.--Editor.\n\n[02] _pa_] A _pa_ is a fortified village, a stronghold.\n\n[03] _Kahikatea\u2026 my friend the Forest Tree_] The Maoris regard the\nKahikatea, or white pine, with much poetical feeling.--Editor.\n\n[04] _rangatira_] Gentleman.\n\n[05] _the green lizard that will summon me to Reinga_] The Maori\nbelieves that when the little green lizard looks at him meaningly it\nis a summons for him to depart for the spirit world within three\ndays.--Editor.\n\n[06] _tiki_] An ornament of jade fashioned in the image of Tiki, the\nfirst man, and worn round the neck.--Editor.\n\n[07] _white-winged taniwhas_] The taniwha of the Maoris is a mythical\nmonster of the deep. When they first saw the Pakehas\u2019 ships they set\nthem down as taniwhas.--Editor.\n\n[08] _kohutukutu_] The wild fuchsia--the only deciduous native\ntree.--Editor.\n\n[09] _wharekura_] An ancient Temple of Mysteries.--Editor.\n\n[10] _Zun the Terrible_] Wanaki has a note here to the effect that,\nalthough the Maori\u2019s pronunciation of this name was \u2018Tunu,\u2019 he prefers\nto preserve it in what he avers was its original form, _viz._,\n\u2018Zun.\u2019--Editor.\n\n[11] _matakite_] Clairvoyant.\n\n[12] _tapu_] Sacred.\n\n[13] _its spirit had fled beyond Wai Ora Tane_] The bourne from which\nno traveller returns.--Editor.\n\n[14] _matakite_] A seer--a clairvoyant.--Editor.\n\n[15] _mana_] Power, prestige.--Editor.\n\n[16] _kumara_] The kumara is a kind of sweet potato.\n\n[17] _Taranaki glowed\u2026 thundering Tongariro_] According to ancient\nlegend Tongariro and Taranaki, standing together, were rival volcanoes\nfor the hand of a smaller mountain near by, named Pihanga. They\nfought, hurling great rocks at each other, until at last Taranaki\nwithdrew to the seashore, where he now stands.\n\n[18] _Whaka ariki_] A battle-cry.\n\n[19] _heitiki_] A small image of polished jade, held very sacred.\n\n[20] _waiariki_] A warm spring.\n\n[21] _taepo_] Devil--the hobgoblin of the night.--Editor.\n\n[22] _weka_] The Maori hen--a rare ventriloquist.\n\n[23] _Makutu_] Bewitchment.\n\n[24] _crying_ \u2018_Utu! Utu!_\u2019] _Utu_ is payment, compensation for\ninjury.--Editor.\n\n[25] _marae_] The open space.\n\n[26] _utu_] Payment, compensation--an eye for an eye.\n\n[27] _Upokokohua!_] \u201cBoil your head.\u201d All Maori curses relate to\ncooking or giving in cookery, to boiling or being boiled.--Editor.\n\n[28] This letter, with its enclosure from Miriam Grey to Kahikatea,\nreached me just as the task of editing this work was\nfinished.--Editor.\n\n\n\n\n TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTES.\n\nThe Hodder & Stoughton edition (London, n.d.) was consulted for\nmost of the changes listed below.\n\nMinor spelling variances (_e.g._ lovelight/love-light, nut-trees/nut\ntrees, etc.), the inconsistent italicization of foreign words, and\nredundant footnotes (matakite, utu) have been preserved.\n\nPlain text edition only: note markers are given in [square] brackets.\n\nAlterations to the text:\n\nConvert footnotes to endnotes.\n\nPunctuation: quotation mark pairings/nestings, missing commas, etc.\n\n[Chapter IV]\n\nChange (\u201c_Tanawha_ lives there,\u201d he said, \u201cit is tapu. The Maori) to\n_Taniwha_.\n\n[Chapter XII]\n\n\u201cArrived at a village on the coast line near _Hokitiki_\u201d to\n_Hokitika_.\n\n[Chapter XIII]\n\n\u201cAn easel and _pallette_ reclined against the hedge\u201d to _palette_.\n\n[Chapter XXI]\n\n\u201cthe narrowing gulf could be seen the _giant\u2019s_ window\u201d to _giants\u2019_.\n\n[Chapter XXIII]\n\n\u201cdescend the marble steps when his controlled emotions _brake_ loose\u201d\nto _broke_.\n\n[Chapter XXV]\n\n\u201cYet it _semed_ a trifle strange to me that he should not\u201d to\n_seemed_.\n\n [End of text]","title":"The daughter of the dawn : $b A realistic story of Maori magic","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":108054}