THE LITTLE GREEN MAN

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 123, 26 May 1928, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE LITTLE GREEN MAN

(By ALICE A. KENNY.) TART XYIII. Tb»re were great rejoicings in the pa •»er the two little grandchildren. The fSba frieHds were made welcome., and a fesst was spread. But how could Tu ■nd Petiwai be happy -when they know the late intended for thtir people. Tu h»d hoped to find so many atout warriors surrounding his grandfather that ft would have been safe to cry out suddenly that these guests were dangerous enemies, and trust to his own tribe to kill them all. But he saw that the men In the pa were few and old, and could )Bot oppose the invaders. The chief kept the children near him While he feasted and made fine speeches, itnd never gave them a chance to steal •way and whis_ or a warning to anyone. One of the warriors made some excuse And went down to the shore again, and Tu knew that he had gone to give a signal for the war canoes to come in while everyone was busy talking and feasting. The little warning voice he had heard was the only thing that gave him hope, because he felt sure it Was a message from the little green man whom he had not seen now for many hours. At length the feast was over, and the Grangers rose. "We must say farewell to you, oh peat chief!" said they. "Farewell —we nave feasted richly, and our hearts are full of friendship to yoti. Let the children accompany us to the shore, for *>ur hearts are sore at parting with them." "Farewell!" said the old chief. "Depart friends 1 Methinks I bear the inarch of a great wind over the sea. Delay not, these are stormy shores." "Farewell!" said the stranger again, with a cunning glance at his companions. "Perchance w» may yet find our '"'ay hark to y.jur stockade."

''Perchance." said the old chiet i.v----"If first ) 017 can find your wav'uuwn to the shore.

The Adventures of Tu and Petiwai

As they moved away from the pa, the old grandmother reached out.her hand to Tu and pressed something into his hand. "A gift for you, child," she said. "Hold it fast, fast!" Tu looked in his hand and found that he held a little carved stick with a thread tied ro<ind it. Tie looked back and saw that the thread was unwinding from his grandmother's hand as he walked sadly away with the cruel chief. He caught a glimpse of his grandfather holding up a little carved man, painted red, and muttering strange words, and then the slope of the hill hid him. Out in the bay the big war canoes were sweeping towards shore. Behind them, where all had been blue and sunny, lay a black storm cloud, and a far-off roar of wind would be heard. "To-night we will feast again!" said the chief exultantly. "This pa full of old men and women is ours to take!" And then all at once strange and terrible things began to happen. A thin mist rose in the air around . them, thickened to a dense white fog, and then became as black as the blackest night. In a moment everyone was lost; they stumbled and fell down steep places, and clutched at each other, and voices cried out from every direction. Tu had never let Petiwai's hand go, and in the first confusion of the darkness he escaped from the man who held him. "Now —now wicked man. find your way to the bcacli if you can," he cried. "But we are lost, too." wailed Petiwai. ".No," cried Tu, joyfully, for he felt the unwinding thread jerk in his hand, and he knew his grandmother was holding the other end to guide him safely to her. Petiwai held on to him, and he felt his way along, step by step, feeling the thread tug gently all the time. The darkness was so thick that they walked against the stockade without seeing it, and a moment later their grandmother clasped them tight in her arms.

I'ART XIX. Iriside the stockade it was bright daylight, although the black fog which the old chief had called up rose like a wall outside. Tu's heart v. as filled with joy to see scores of wcllunned lighting men standing read to defend the pa. "We are not so weak and old as the enemy think.'' said his grandfather. "Welcome, my little warrior. You have guarded your sister well, and brought her safely to my pa, so you shall take a spear this day and stand with the lighting men.'' "Where is the little green man?" asked Tu, his heart swelling with happiness. "On your breast,"' said his grandfather, "ho was my little messenger of magic, and now his work is done, but the greenstone pendant will always bring you good fortune." Petiwai, as happy as Tu, sat contentedly on her grandmother's lap while Tu put on a war belt and stood to wait the attack with the fighting men. But the old chief's magic work was not yet finished. The black storm cloud on the sea. though they could not longer see it, had burst in a fierce gale upon the shore. Wind and rain shrieked tempestuously through the darkness, and wild human cries mingled with the noise of tho storm. The war canoes will not need to steal in craftily through the narrow channels of the bay," said the old chief. "They are riding on the storm waves now and driving headlong for the rocks. Kow my work is done." Slowly, slowly, the fog grew thinner and floated away, the wind shrieked less loudly and then ceased altogether. The waves of the bay still lashed the shore and tossed up white foam. All the beach was strewn with wrecked canoes and paddles. Of all the terrible war party hardly any were left alive, and these were soon taken prisoners by the warriors from the pa. And now Tu'b and Petiwai's troubles were over. They grew up happily in their grandfather's pa, learning how to be skilful and wise and good; and when they were married people and had children of their own they used to tell them tales about the fairies, and dragons, and all the strange creatures they had encountered on their perilous journey.