AS MAN-EATERS GO

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 299, 29 September 1938, Page 7

AS MAN-EATERS GO

A Story of Adventure Among the Maoris.

| By J. HALKET MILLAR. :: Author of “The Bayly Murder Case."

CHAPTER 24. Much was to happen, however, before wo faced the invaders. A council l of chiefs was hold to discuss the impending onslaught, and this 1 attended at the invitation of the principal chief, whose name was Motai. There was a great deal of talk before the subject matter turned to the wall I had built, the purpose of which had very soon revealed itself to their acute intelligence. The orators spoke of the part I had taken in the previous battle with the Men of Oromahoe and they openly advocated that I should be placet! in supreme charge of the defence. This I at once assented to, being willing to match the skill and resourcefulness of the white man against the craftiness and circumscribed methods of the savage. While we were yet discussing the defence of the pa, the tohunga arrived in haste, calling aloud that he had; had a dream. His cry filled me with apprehension. for if one of these priests had a dream during a crisis, it was the signal for the whole community to fall into a state of the greatest expectancy and even consternation. When any undertaking of import was about to he attempted, one of the priests was almost sure to have a dream, and such was the superstitious faith of the people, that they would drop everything to hear the recital of the dreamer, believing the dream to be a manifestation of the wills of the gods, not to be disregarded at any cost. “These are my words to you,” he cried, while the crowd waited expectantly. “In my sleep I saw a great company of spirits passing before me—the spirits of the dead, and the dead were of this tribe.”

At that, most of the natives showed signs of misgiving, and some even wailed wretchedly. At such a time, a declaration like this was fatal to our purpose, and from that moment I detested the lying oracle and determined to circumvent his dream. His name was Kapu, the meaning of which had something to do Avith the holloAv of the hand.

“Aptly named,” thought I, for did he not hold these simple souls in his hand to do Avith them according to his Avhims ? They trusted him implicitly, and here he was 1 frightening them and destroying their confidence on the eve of a battle. And to the Maori this meant the fight already half lost. He Avas speaking again: “The omen is evil. The enemy Avill prevail. Wo are meat for their gods!” ho cried.

“The omen is a good one!” I shouted, dashing into the centre of them as a fresh outburst of frenzied Availing broke,from the women. “I, too, have dreamed, and in my sleep I saAV a great company of spirits passing before me. They AA'ere the spirits of the Men of Oromahoe,” I lied, for I knew that if once they got the notion into their heads that they Avere doomed, no power on earth Avould save them. “Kapu, the tohunga, has spoken falsely.” “Liar!” cried the tohunga, hoav almost demented Avith rage. “My Avords are the words of the spirit. Liar!” And he spat on the ground in his passion. “I say that the omen is good, and ithe Avhite man’s gods are more powerful than your gods,” I replied hotly. “The pakeha is right,” spoke up Raumati, coming to my rescue. “What the White Heron says is truth. Have I not seen the poAver of his gods?” 0, Raumati, lioav great, hoAV noble, lioav strong you Avere, to thus openly turn aAvay from the falsity of your fathers’ gods to the gods of the stranger ! My deceptiveness smote me to the heart, for I had long almost forgotten the Avhite man’s true God, whom I had knoAvn in childhood'. Kapu darted a finger accusingly at Raumati: “Then let the stranger’s gods save you when the foe is upon you. I have spoken.” Ho turned away, and ere the- hush SAvalloAved him up, he cried back to us: “To-morrow will: seo your sun set at noon.” There Avere Avhisperings among the Maoris, and I saw that iny utterance Had! taken effect. Raumati chose to construe the mutterings as being in our favour, for he shook his fist at the disappearing tohunga, having in mind, no doubt, the suspicions concerning Kapu of which he had already spoken to me. “It is Avell,” lie said, “Kapu and his gods have fled.” And the people said : “It is aa'cll.” Motai Avas plainly nonplussed, though inclined to side Avith us, not being as yet acquainted Avith the new-found gods, hut taking it for granted that they must he superior to those of the Maori. An hour afterwards', as Ave Avalked back to our duty of inspection at the palisades, Raumati threw me a shreAvd glance. There was a twinkle in his eve: “Is it true that the White Heron had such a dream?” he asked. Raumati had been thinking, evidently! For reply I smiled hack at him and ho nodded his head. “Ac pea. Perhaps so.” he said'quietly. He smiled, as 1 a cynic smiles. So near is faith to misgiving.

That afternoon, I decided to once again do some scenting between the pa and the river and, the faithful Raulnati. with me, squeezed past the narnow openings in the fence that were the only outlets during war time. We passed to the right of the stone Avail and soon Avere on the river flat beyond sight of the citadel, Avhich, perched high up in the air, reminded me of nothing so much as a huge round cake from Avhich a slice had been cut. In the art of the path-finder I Avas a dullard, for even the children could see a track that my eyes failed to discern even after it had been pointed out to me; so Raumati devoted his attention to the ground Avhiie I searched the surrounding hush for signs of the besiegers. “Ah!” He rose from the ground, casting about, him eagerly. “What it is?” I asked. He pointed before him, and there 1 saAV an impression left by the butt end of a. spear or staff; at the bottom Avas a small indentation as of a rough cross. “When I took your cutter hack there,” and he pointed in the direction of the southern pa, “J cut that mark

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on the base of Til’s taiaha.” “It does not signify much beyond Avliat avo already knoAv.” “Even so, but it may yet have its uses,” he said quietly. “Then let us folloAV the mark,” I suggested. With that he led the way, his eyes bent upon the ground. Along the hank of the river he Avent Avithout a fault, following the tell-tale mark that Tu had: left as he propelled himself along Avith his staff. For upAvards of a mile the trail enticed us, Raumati absorbed in the marks and I Avatehing the forest. Once he halted and looked anxiously ahead to Avliere a series of hills raised their rounded heads above the taller of the trees. “This is dangerous country, White Heron,” he said. “You Avill recall the Aviekcd spirit I told you of, that Avhich sot fire to our village, robbed our kumara pits, and lias killed men merely by looking at them?” “Yes, I remember.” “It is there that tins spirit lives,” and he pointed directly at the hills before us. “Wo should turn back.” “But if Tu can go there, avo can. Why, your own proverb says, ‘Where one man may go, there may another folloAV. ’ “That is so, but AA r liilo many may go, none might return!” “At any rate, I am going on.” “Then I go Avith you. If there he danger or- death lief ore us, Ave shall share it together.” Bravely he struck off along the path once more, but as avo progressed he became more and more uneasy, glancing here and there Avhenever he raised his eyes. Presently the path took a turn to the right and, advancing cautiously, Ave saw before us the mouth of a cave, half, screened by bushes. Though he iioav shook in every limb,

Raumati Avould not be diverted, so at his sign I sat doAvn among the ferns while he, bending double, climbed to the mouth of the cave. For a moment he paused, listening, then drawing a deep breath, vanished into the boAvels of the earth. A few minutes later I saw him return to the mouth of the caA r e, Avalking backward. As h© reached the open air he sped down the track to rny side, his face troubled. There was cause for it, for his first Avords startled me: “Tu and, Kapu are in there!” “Impossible,” I cried. “1 .have heard them; they are there.”

“You heard them, yes, hut did you see them ? You went in expecting you knew not Avliat.” But he stuck to his guns: “I did not see them, but I heard them and I knoAv their voices as I knoAv yours.” “This confirms your suspicions. Noav is the time to strike at them. They are almost in our hands.” “Were they the only ones it Avould lie a good plan, but lioav do avo know there may not be others there, also concerned, in this plot? It Avould be unwise' to attack. The cries of tnese tAVo might bring others to their assistance. and Ave Avould be cut off. No, avo must return to the pa and Avsvrn them.” This seemed to be the best thing, and Ave Avere about to turn on our tracks when, the most blood-chilling, Aveird cry burst upon us. In the utter silence of the brooding forest it seemed to completely envelope us, filling the valleys and echoing from one hill to another. The hairs on my head, I am prepared to SAvear, stood, on their ends, for of a certainty no human being could utter half so devilish a sound. A second time it broke forth, trailing into a Avail that made a cold SAveat break out upon my skin. Rooted to the spot I could do nothing hut- gasp. Raumati’s face assumed a look of frozen horror,, and Avith a shriek, he bounded off in the direction of the pa. “The Taipo!” he shouted as he ran, and I lost no time in starting after him but he had been long inside the fortress ere I, with raAv lungs, passed through the gate and thretv myself clown on the .grass to recover. As my breathing became normal, I began to reason that there must indeed lie something behind all the strange and wonderful superstitions Avhich governed the lives of the! Maoris from the moment of their birth till the moment of their death —aye, and even beyond, into the Land of Darkness. I have said that Ho human being could have uttered the cries Ave had, heard, but, if so, Avhat Avas the agent? “When this Avar is over, I’ll investigate the matter,” I promised myself as I rose and Avent in search of Raumati. When I found him he was pale, even through his brown skin, and I put oil till some future date the questions I longed to ask. It Avas dusk before avc came aAvare that Kapu had returned and avc kept him in sight for an hour, studying his demeanour. His face avus a mask, giving not the slightest indication, as lie Avent among the men offering advice for their better protection in the fight, of the rank treachery Ave had no doubt he intended against his own people. (To be continued.)