FICTION.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1682, 25 May 1904, Page 3

FICTION.

A FIGHT TO A FINISH.

A STORY OF THE MAORI WAR. * BY OWEN HALL. ALL BIGHTS RESERVED. CHAPTER XIII (Continued). I waa running my best, but I was growing mora aonscooiK every moment that I had over-estimated my isbrengtlh. My 'limbs seemed to be growing heavier with every stop I took, and my head began to grow dizzy, -and when I tried -to took -ahead and judge how far I still had to go before I should reach our line®, my eyes grew dazzled, and everything seemed to move indistinctly bo-or them. Tho firing was certainly ainicreaising, though.l could no longer tail -deadly where it onime from, and strain my eyes cs I would I could no longer see any of the men who ware firing, either -of tour ewn or the enemy’s forces. • I co-uldn’t help thinking I must have go-t neaiily as far as- the place l where I had left Dick and our own men, and yet somehow I hadn’t readied them. They even appeared to bo soma distance away, and I feilt that I must stop if I meant to see anything cleariy. I pulled myself together as well as I could, cmd with a little stagger I stopped. In spite of dJI I could do ait must have taken me nearly a minute before I could ' make out anything, for my head Tseemed to my eyes grew dazzled; at last I shut them tightly for a second or two, and when I opened them again I coukl understand how it -was. Our men were falling back. They were net so very far away yet, but they -were falling back Stea-dily, firing as they went at the natives who were advancing in great numbers. There seemed to be hundreds of them along .the edge of the forest, for the smoke from their guns extended farther than •where- our. men were, and nearer me they had even left 'the Shelter of the hush, and were pushing forward, filing as they went, -at the retreating 'Rangers. I had been iso interested that I had ail meet forgotten how it all affected me for the moment, but then I started; in a minute more they would have out me off. I looked behind me for, a single in- . Stiant, and then I started at any best speed. There wasn’t a moment to lose, if it was not too kite -already. 'White I had rested for that minute the men behind had gained tremendously; it looked as if -they were within twenty yards —and even they were not the worst. If -these cit-hers should 10-c-k .ro-und apd see mo I must be caught between them dio what I would. I did my very best. Tired as I was—-for I could feel it now at every step—l think I gained on the Maoris behind me, bub it was no use. The natives in front had seen me, -and a score of them ran to cub me off. It- was a -otiose thing, and at first I thought I should manage, it. If onlly I could gat ahead I would run any dlia-iioe of being shot afterwards. iSb far the track was clear, for I could see it stretching ahead, like a narrow white ribbon between the ferns. The Maoris had neatly reached it, but they had to run. through the dense ferns and scrub, se I had allil tire advantage. I strained-every muscle; though I"could hear the panting of .the men behind me, I waSn’t afraid cf them. No, it was those rustling, leaping figures, that seemed to dazzle any eyes as they sprang through the scrub, that discouraged me. 'I icoujldn’t see them plainly, and indeed I was half- afraid to look; so I tried" to fix any eyes on jthe litt-le track and think Cif nothing else. I had nearly done It. Half a minute metre would have been enough; but I was just too late. There was a rustling in the ferns beside me, and a shadow seemed to spring at me from the right. I' swerved involuntarily to the left; my foot tripped among the ferns that stood up thickly along the track—next moment I fell. CHAPTER XIV. - A VERY CLOSE SHAVE. I had shut any eyes, with a vague idea that in another moment I should he killed, but When nothing happened I looked u,p into -a group of wild faces that looked down iat me as I lay. Obe miarn was dancing solemnly round me, while the rest looked, on -iviith looks that seemed to me to bemoire interesting than cruel, at the performance. I -couldn’t help wondering whether this •were only the first step towards my being knocked -on the head with the : butt -of the clumsy gun which the dancing Maori flourished in th-e air as he moved round ane, and at the thought a Cold sensation crept down my 'back that -was far from pleasant. In the meantime the sounds of the

.fining, -were every min'ulbe growing fqin- - tea- and more distant.- I’oofuM fcftil'l dis-

tinguish flhe quick dropping rifle isUilot® that rang wi-tlh so different a report from -the ( nxuskats and ispqrfciug-gunfe of tthe njaltives, but every minute they sounded farther’off and fainter—the rehrmt (had fairly begun.

I Hay where I had fallen among the ferns for a minute or two; then I gathered myself together and slat up, looking aniownd -at' the crowd of wild-100-king figures that seemed to be increasing every moment, till I should think at ■least a hundred wild faces were staring ait me with a kind of savage cuidosrity that was hardly pleasant. Suddenly two big Maoris stepped forward, and seizing me ,by any arms, dragged me to any feet-. Ihefh. the main who had been dancing stepped in front, and after staring solemnly into my eyes for a minute, beckoned-me with has hands, as lie exclaimed in a ioav t-ono: “Haere-ma-i; EOaere-mai t-o pakelha.” Then .shouldlering his big gun, lie turned away, and I found myself forced by the man who held -my arms to follow him. 'They were nob going to kij'.il me a.t c-n-ice, after call, so there might be some chance. Weil, at any rate, I would keep my eyes open in case there might be some chance of getting -away. It didn’t- seem likely, I thought, as I glanced round at the crowd® of fierc-e----looking natives Who followed us; but at any rate it 00-ulet do no harm to keep my eyes open, and if I did get away it would be useful. I felt tired by my exentimis, but fortunately my conductors were in no hurry, so I let them drag me back again by the path which I liad -already travelled over twice. A,t least we turned the point cf the' tongue of bush land, and once moire I found myself .face" to faoe with the stockade on the higher ground. I seemed to see it dearly now for the first time, for below I had omiay got a general! idea of a long -line of earthworks, and of a high fence of upright stakes on the top of a. bank. Now I saw that the rising ground was ton the other side of a creek that was rather wider than usual, except- here and there, Where a broad path seemed to have been made across i-b by piling branches of. trees covered with ferns in the course of the stream. It was not very high—nc-t more than twenty or thirty feet, altogether—above the land between it and the river, but yet somehow the stockadelooked very formidable to my eyes, espcieiaf.ily when I looked upon it from the creek.

I was -dhagge-d up the bank of the guiMy, and then I saw the.it the Stockade Was not more -than thirty .yards away. It was surrounded by -a ditch that seemed to be about twelve fec-t wide, and was certainly not less 'than eight or nine feet deep. The land appeared to be very solid clay, and it had cut so clean that, to my eyes, at any rate, the work looked as if it had been dene by our own corps tof Engineers. The clay from the trench load been thrown up into a regular bank, and alt- the top of the bank the trill fence of thick stakes bristled up, standing two or three inches apart-, and rising perhaps ten feet above the alay. . ' . . We stopped for a minute m front- or the pab, and the eyes both of my companions, and of the little crowd that followed me, were turned on me, as if to see what impression their fortress maria on me on nearer acquaintance.' I made no attempt to -coucaail the adimiration which I r<Mly felt for the work they bad done. I could see by their faces tlhev were phased, and one of the man who hol-d one looked' into my facie and said: “Kapai tene?” (“Is this good?’’) to which I replied in some of the feiw words I had picked up from any comrades. “Kanui-pai tene.” (“Very good this.”) A satisfied grunt from the Maori, and a glance which passed between them, was the only acknowledgment, but I felt sure they were pleased by their faces. I was led along the diitoh till we reached the corner, and then I saw that it stretched a good long distance ait right angles. About half way -along -the ditch was spanned by a -log, which was laid oiorosis.ait a place where the stockade Seemed to bo double. We stopped when we reached the pla-ce, and one of my •guides let go my arm and stepped on the log, which he began to cross; the other pushed mo after him, following me doselly as I crossed. 'The moment I reached -the other side my arm Was! grasped again by the guard who was waiting, -and I was led through the narrow opening between the two rows of stakes, and found myself for the first time inside a Maori pah. In ' another moment the second guard who had followed ane seized nay arm again, and I was lied across an open space of some- extent towards a group cf huts tihaib seemed to be Scattered about near tlio middle -of the enclosure.

iNtot a 'Word bad been said, and, indeed, my whole attention was fixed on the place in which I bad so unexpectedly found myseilif. The inside of the enclosure bad a curiously unfinished look, for ithe ground was cumbered with heaps Of branches of trees, and even thick liogs, and as we came near the hut we bad been making for I had ailmost exclaimed as I caught sight of . a place at the farther end Of the pah ainjd saw that there was a considerable gap in the stockade. la a uinniute' or two more we had reached the hut, which was considerably larger than the rest. It was roughly built, on a light framework of saplings, tied together at the places they crossed with strips of green flax, and thatched, both on roof and Wahls, With bundles of the tail rushes I had noticed growing in the creek, as thick as a man’s leg, laced tightly together. I had never seen a newly built hut before, and I couldn'T help aidmiringtUie

neatness and efficiency of th-e work. There -was no place left for a window, or for a second doorway, and the level light- which -shotme for some distance into the interior was the only light- admitted, but by its .assistance I could see thatthere were a good many in the hut already. Tike men were at the end of the but farthest from the doorway, beyond the spot- where a small fire burned dimly on the floor, but a glance was enough to convince mo that they were chiefs-. Three of them were crouching in a semicircle behind tire fir© in the curious attitude common to -the Maoris, by which they appear t-o sib on the calves of their legs, and the others stood behind them motionless. I was pushed forward till I stood 1 near the fire and within five or six feet of the chiefs who sat on the opposite side. There was hardily any smoke, c-o that I could easily see the faces of the men who were, I had no -doubt, my judges. The chiefs who were seated were old men; the one in the middle indeed- looked very old, and each was wrapped in a native cloak far more beautiful than anything -of the kind I had seen before. Their faces were curiously still and calm. Each face was ©o.rveid into an elaborate pattern, and the eyes that .looked out- from below heavy white eyebrows looked blood-slict and dim, but in spite of this, and of the queer position in which they crouched, there was a look of calm dignity about them t-o which I felt as if I coml-d have bowed. The chiefs' who stood behind them were younger men, but they had very much the same general appearance. They were rather tall, and usually bro-ad, powerfully built men; they liad the same elaborately carved faces, and the same impressive dignity I had been struck with in the older -men. Ec.r several minutes we stood facing each -other without- a word being spoken: then the old chief who sat in the middle said something in a low tone which -sounded like a question. The man who had danced round me when I fell, and who had since then led the way, stepped forward and siaid a few words, pointing sometimes, at me and sometimes through the door of the hut, as if ho had been describing all that had happened. His voice sounded strangely quiet and subdued compared with what it had been when he sung his song of triumph oyer me -as I lay among the ferns, but the atmosphere here seemed to force every one to silence. There was a long pause when he had. finished, and then first one and then another, of the chiefs standing in the group behind the old men said a few words. Each man as he spoke stepped forward, drew the cloak of beautiful silky-.looking black and white flax over his shoulder, and stretched out his hand with a stately gesture. I’d have given a good deal more than all I possessed to understand what they said, but of course I could not.

At last everybody who had anything to say seemed to have done, and for sev.eral minutes not a word was said, and nobody moved in the hut. I could hear a fly buzz in the silence, and _ I started nervously when a small'stick burned through and sllid down into the fire. At last the old man in the: middle raised his eyes that had been staring into the fire and looked at. me. Then he raised his hand from the knee on which it was resting and pointed at me while he said a few words in the same low, feeble tone in which ho had first spoken : then his hand dropped on his knee again, and his eyes went back to the fire. The men who had brought me in seized my arms again without a word, turned me sharply round, and marched me out of the hut. I hadn’t an idea what was going to happen to me but I breathed more freely when I found myshlf outside, and no longer had all those solemn eyes staling into mine. I think it was a relief to my guards too. They spoke to one another, and I noticed that they didn’t hold my arms quite so tight, which I thought a, good sign. They led me past nearly all the lints till we reached one smaller than the rest. A large fire was blazing in front of it in tlie„middle of which there seemed to be a heap of stones, end near it there were several holes fa the ground that were lined witji s'.-Jjs of flat stone. Beside them were two or three heaps of earth from which steam was rising, and there was a small of cooking pork in

the air. An old woman sat crouching against the wall of the hut close to the entrance, plaiting strips of green flax into little baskets. She looked up as we came near, and stared at me wildly through the mass of tangled iron-grey hair that hung in loose strands I'ound her face. I seemed to recognise her wild eyes: it was old Mata again, and without thinking I exclaimed “Mata!” She leaped to her feet and ran towards me. Then she looked curiously up into my face, as if trying to remember me and failing. Then she turned to the men and seemed to ask a dozen questions in quick succession, glancing suspiciously back at me between each answer. Gradually some faint recollection appeared to dawn in her eyes and the expression grew more wild and fierce, till they almost reminded me of the last time I had seen them as slio brandished the mere over Dick’s head. I thought for a moment she would have sprung upon me, but one of the men spoke sternly to her and she fell back. Then the man pointed to the lint at the entrance of which we liad found her, and seemed to explain; and then lie and his companion led me forward to the doorway. He stooped, and picking up several of the strips of flax which she had been using, and twisting them together tied my hands together at the wrists. Then they pushed mo through the doorway, where I was instantly received with a low growl from a dog whom I couldn’t see in the darkness of the back part of the hut. I felt sure it was Pincher, yet I was a little uneasy in case he might take a fancy to attack me in my helpless condition, so I ventured to whisper his name between two of bis growls. The experiment was more successful than it had proved with Mata. Ho still growled a little, but I thought it sounded more curious than savage, and when ha looked up into my face at last he seemed to remember, for he first smelt and then licked the band with which I touched liis bead. Mata held a longf conference with the men who had brought me, and at last all three crouch* ed against the wall near the entrance 8 and continued their conversation ora what seemed to be the friendliest terms, Pincher went and looked out at th© doorway, as if to satisfy himself wh® was there, and then with one friendly glance at me he retired into the dark corner out of which lie had come.

. I was getting tired of standing, so S looked about for something to make ® seat of, but there was nothing. I tried! leaning against the wall of the hut* but after a while the new position seemed almost worse than standing. Afc last I let myself slide down till I sat on the earthen floor, with my back resting in the corner. That was bet* ter. The floor wasn’t very even indeecL but it was not hard, and the wall of reeds behind me was soft and elastic. In a few minutes more I found myself nodding, and then I dreamed. It was nearly dawn when I awoke. There was no light at all in the hut, but the reflection of a fire outside threw a red light in at the doorway, and I could see an occasional shadow of a man pass between it and the hut. There was also a strong smell of roasted meat which was pleasant enough, tor I began to feel hungry. I guessed that the smell came from the meat that had been cooked in the Maori ovens, which I had been told were holes in the ground lined with stones and filled full of red hot stones before the meat was put in, and then covered over with earth. - Those must have been ovens that I had seen with the steam coming up through the earth. At last Mata herself came to the doorway, and called some name in a low voice. In • a moment more Pincher came out of his cornier and seemed to listen while she talked to hi min a low tone. Then she turned away, and after a minute or two came back with a bone in her hand, which she gave him. giving him an order at the same time in a voice that sounded harsh. Pincher picked up the bone and retreated with it to a spot just in front of me, where he lay down and began to gnaw it. Mata stood looking in at the entrance for a minute or two; then she turned away. . I seemed to understand. Mata had been left to see that. I didn't escape, anu. she had made Pincher my gaoler. The wild, half mad expression- of the

old woman’s eyes came back to me, &nd the idea of being left to her care with my hands tied was anything but agreeable. The idea of getting away came hack to me, and I looked at Pincher. At the same moment he raised his head and eyed me with a strange questioning look, as if he had some doubt what, his real connection with me could be. After a pause he got up and came close to me, smelling his way from my feet upwards till lie. reached my hands, which he licked softly as he had done before; then he turned back to his bone. What did that mean, I asked myself. Was it merely a dog’s sym'pathy with one in trouble or did it mean a special assurance of friendliness? A long time Seemed to pass and it had long been dark before (Mata came back. There was still a red glow from the fire outside, and I saw her wild figure as she stood in the doorway. 'She seemed to have something in her hand, but there wasn’t light enough to what it was. She stood for minute or two peering into the darkness ' and muttering to herself, and her hand seemed to shake ■with excitement. Then she advanced slowly into the hut as if she were coming towards me. Suddenly Pincher gave a low growl, which seemed to make her change her mind. She stopped, and then, still muttering to herself, laid .whatever it was she had been carrying on the floor, and proceeded to fetch some red embers from the fire outside, which she placed in a little hollow in the middle of the hut, laying a few light pieces of wood on the top of them. In a minute or two they blazed up, throwing a flickering light on the floor and walls, as well as on myself and on Pincher, who lay at my feet, and on Mata’s wild figure which crouched beside it. I had grown used to a good many things that were new and disagreeable in the last three months, but this was the worst I had come across yet. As I looked at the figure of the old woman, crouched together, her hands on her knees, and her bloodshot eyes fixed on the fire, I couldn’t help thinking of the other times I had seen her, and I felt sure she was mad. I looked at her, ana I confess I shuddered. I won’t deny that cold drops started out on my brow as I thought how, at any moment, she might do to me as she had tried to do to Dick that other night in the hut at the creek —and my hands were tied. In spite of myself I moved uneasily, and Pincher lifted his head and looked at me silently. It seemed to me that his eyes rested on my hands as they lay helplessly on my knees, fastened at the wrists. Yes, that was the first thing. I must "somehow get them free—when that was done I should have a chance at any rate. , . It was strange that I hadn't thought of it sooner, for it couldn’t really he hard to do; the cord was only twisted flax, and my teetn were good.. The danger was that Mata might see me if she raised her eyes. I lay for some time looking at her as she fixed that vacant stare on the fire, but ,at last, as she didn’t move,. I raised my hands cautiously to my lips and began to gnaw the twisted strands with which the men had tied them. As I gnawed my eyes never moved from that wild haggard face that seemed to fascinate me. There was not a sound in the hut, arid for a

.long time no sounds had come from the outside; except for the slight movement now and then of one or other of the sticks that made our little fire the silence was almost ghostly. I had nearly done it. There was only one more strand to cut through when Mata moved uneasily and looked up. At the same instant the wood fell together in the. fire, and a bright flame shot up, making everything visible in the' hut. Mata’s eyes rested on me, and it seemed as if a flash, brighter even than the firelight, shot from them. With a quick, fierce exclamation her hand went out and grasped whatever it was she had laid on the floor at her side; next moment she had sprung to her feet, and a bright tomahawk glittered in the firelight ns she leaped at me. Quick as she had. been she hadn’t been so quick as Pincher, who sprang to her feet with a threatening growl and faced her. It seemed to stagger her for an instant to find the dog against her, and she paused within a few feet of me with her hand raised to - strike. I think that instant saved me. Her sudden movement had almost paralysed me, and I had done nothing, but now I struggled to my feet, trying at the same time to tear my hands apart. It -was only for a second; then Mata with a cry that was more like the snarl of some wild beast than anything human made a furious kick at Pincher which was hard enough to roll him over, and threw herself upon me. In spite of my efforts my hands were fastened still, but I threw them up desperately so as to arrest her arm in its descent, and even with my fingers to cling to her skinny arm. It seemed an age while my eyes and those of the mad woman held one another; then she tried to wrench her arm away. I struggled to hold her, hut I felt her ; arm slipping from me, and already I seemed to feel the blow of the glittering tomahawk that quivered in her hand. I had dragged her towards the entrance of the hut, while she sung to

me with the hand that was disengaged, when a. shadow seemed to pass before /me, there was a short, deep exclamation and next moment I saw Mata grasped

and dragged backwards by a strong hand which appeared at the same instant to sweep the weapon from her, and to hurl her in a heap into a corner. I staggered back, gasping for breath, and when I looked up the red glow of the firelight rested on a dark face which I somehow recognised at once as the face of Ropata. (T© be Continued.)