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Dickey Barrett: with his ancient mariners and much more ancient cannon! At the siege of Moturoa: Being a realistic story of the rough old times in New Zealand, among the turbulent Maoris, and the adventurous whalers, ere settlement took place.

Chapter VIII. Rawhinia

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Chapter VIII. Rawhinia.

In all times, in the great human family, quite irrespective of any ethnological distinction, the daughters of the primary she, at the age of sixteen, have borne an ascendency of attraction. It boots little where they may be regarded: in palaces, in hovels, in urban crowds, in desert wastes; in torrid, temperate, or arctic or antarctic zones; go where one lists, mix with whoever one may—the nymph of sixteen, plump or spare, is rarely other than engaging! In some, indeed, it may be embarrassing to point out what special trait about them most pleases, and, in others again, quite a puzzle to fix on where any specially alluring outline lies at all. There are, in the form Divine, fashioned graces which even the sense of vision cannot arbitrate upon.

Rawhinia, as has been related, being providentially restored to her sire, after nearly two years of absence, became, naturally thereby, an object of very great solicitude and affection; and every day she proved herself not an unworthy one. Rawhinia, at this instant, assuredly was an opening bud of very rare and gratifying promise—with her gracefully chiselled oval face, her peerless teeth—like two rows of blocked pearls; dark, full, coruscating eyes, expressive of dominion; a tiara of glossy ebony locks, the fringes of which, falling with graceful freedom half down her well-developed, shapely body. Her stature could not be said to be much, if anything, in excess of the general standard of womankind; yet, for all that, it gave forth the impression somehow of statuesqueness: undeniably the pose was allusively regal.

It would be nonsense, notwithstanding all that has been favourably said of Rawhinia, to imply that she was altogether perfect, as, such an attribute, none created can lay claim to. No! no, dear; no! not that! She was simply a kindly, handsome, good girl, and in keeping too, with the majority of her sex—that is, a little perverse when her sympathies got in anyway thwarted, which a trifling touch of, anon, here will follow.

See her on the morning following her return to the old home, outside the palisading of the Ngamotu war-pah, and seen, merely speculatively, will go a good way to get endorsed what has already been said of page 49 her. How is it—can it be explained that the breed of Matilda, so defthanded at carving, make no attempt whatever at copying such pleasing forms as she? The artists who carved long, long ago, the grotesque images, rife all round York Cathedral and other medieval edifices throughout Europe, skilled as they must have been in the way of handling the chisel, after all, were no more excellent in the art, than must have been many of these wild children of the desert here. The faces and heads of carved objects at this time, liberally stuck up on the top of palisading around this pah, are quite masterpieces, that they assuredly are, in delineative hideousness: nevertheless presenting a wonderful exactitude in detail. It does not require much of the faculty of perception, even in the little time that it is since Rawhinia's coming again among her people, to notice that she is one of that class of young ladies gifted with the nice sense of drawing all around her to regard themselves in her favour so she was even more than what the apostle Paul counselled. She was not only all things to all men, but all things also to all women. Whoof! There were not many, nay, scarcely a bachelor chief, from Petone to Mokau, who ever happened to have a word with Rawhinia, but gleefully thought within himself that he was quite exceptionally with her the first inamorata! Even the whalers were all less or more similarly smit, but tied their tongues from giving their cherished notion any expression, simply on account of the impression which everyone of them entertained, that Rawhinia was already “tapued” to some great chief, and, therefore, not by any means getatable by such small rantipolo blades as they.

It is not to be supposed though, that either Rawhinia's sire, Te Puki, or, as far as that goes, any of her lineally dark hue, cared very much for the peculiar proclivity which, a few days after getting back, Rawhinia evinced, which was in reservedly sitting by herself on a sanddune on the beach, watching the boats as they plied to and fro on the water from the shore and the ‘Flying Fish,’ with freight and cargo. Why, one minutely observing the practice which was followed by Rawhinia at this period, of squatting so constantly apart by herself, at the place heretofore described, might readily have taken her, if differently endued, as some Customs house tidewaiter, who had to keep a sharp unabstracted eye on every package going out or coming in; and that it was quite as much as any single person, either, could well attend to, the taking stock of all the flour barrels, pease barrels, liquor barrels, soap boxes, bales of blankets, cotton goods, and different nicknacks which were strewed on the black ironsand beach. There is not a question about it, but Te Puki inwardly did fret at this uncommon tendency, which he put down to his daughter's odd way, after being so long away from him, not to give himself, his friends, and his distinguished visitors more of her very much hankered after society; but, what was he to do? Chide her—for his very life he could not do so. His love was much too strong for that!

Rawhinia might have longer sustained the reputation she had page 50 acquired for cheerful equableness of temperament had it not been for, at this time, a dwarfish imp of a Tongan, whose original name was Whorumkumloo-ng-lookomwhor, starting suddenly up. The stock name that this Tongan imp answered to was not quite so prolonged as that above given, and if not so pretentions in quantity of syllables, more pretentious, perhaps, in euphonious symphony, such being, Ambrozia! and for the sake of approvable conciseness, such is what he here shall be designated All the said Ambrozia's antecedents in connection with Rawhinia, were rather of a negative kind: that is to say, he had but seen her occasionally in the ‘Flyingfish,’ from the coupd' oeil obtained from the cooking galley. But, for all that, Ambrozia seemed to have deemed this furtive acquaintance ample and good enough to justify himself on the sand-dune to “plant” himself in a half-reclining attitude right before this eccentrically retiring maiden. Following a few “know-yon-knows!” and “this-was-thats,” and “thats-were-so-and-sos!” Rawhinia, more for the sake of keeping the conversation up at the moment than from any ulterior motive, dreamily-like asked Ambrozia if he had known Mr. Barrett at any time in Sydney?

“O, yah, me know hum ter wery wal, Messie,” replied Ambrozia, with affable frank celerity. “Yah, an me too, know wery wal oom Messor Barrett ter like,” supplemented he, with an inimitable exasperating chuckle, yea, just as though wanting to convey an impression that he was cursorily the depository of the secret of numerous of Mr. Barrett's covert irregularities.

“Why!” said Rawhinia, irate, “Mr. Barrett, I am sure, likes everybody, and everybody likes Mr. Barrett.” Then she artfully, as if desirous to remove from Ambrozia's mind any impression of partizanship in what had been talked of between them, said, “Ambrozia, what you've missed knowing and seeing in your travels here and there about the world can't, I should think, be worth much. But, what really did you mean—tell me, Ambrozia, do, when you chuckled so? I say again, and with what I say, I know I am not a great way out—there's not many that Mr. Barrett doesn't like.”

Then this Mr. Whorumkumloo-ng-lookumwhor, otherwise Ambrozia, said, in intently studious response, “Al lat wary wal, but no what um want to mean, Messie Hinia.”

“What do you want to mean, then?” enquired Rawhinia, testily, betraying, again, what she desired above all things to conceal.

“Tez way,” ingeniously Ambrozia made response. “Un like un dog: un like petter un dogs, Maitah: un like petter-ha!—ever much jolly petter more, al te same as you, te piccaninnie of te Maitah—you now savy, Messie? Oh—hu-ha-ah! Oh—hu-ha-ah! Wary, wary, knte! O! ez no meeka um wink te eye now: ez know now, Messie: ez know, wal! O—hu-ha-ah!”

“Get you away from here, at once, you do,” jerked out Rawhinia, with unrestrained perturbation. I call you a good for nothing, nasty, vile, lying Tonga cobra.”

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However, Rawhinia might every bit as well have been talking to the gusty wind around. Her objurgations were rendered, at this instant, nugatory, by Ambrozia being called away suddenly to the boat, to bear a hand with a heavy lift. But thither, as this prince of mischief-making sped, he threw backward, while on his way hastening, a hideous glance; and also repeated a still more exasperating aggravating chuckle.

Rawhinia, after this Tongan had thus abruptly been called away, kept on, with a purchase round her knees with her two hands, moodily rocking back and fore, her body. The outcome of this osculating process seemed this: that her mind, she imagined, was fully made up, come of it whatever now would. She would not: no, never, never more, for as long as ever she lived—that too, soon, everybody should see—throw herself in the way of Mr. Barrett. She well knew, she owned to herself, this would be very hard; aye, and difficult to do: however, do it she most certainly would. But, singularly, after all such solemn protestations, in a minute or two following, what should be this ill-at-ease maiden's next step—why, she removed herself to a place where the very individual protested so strenuously against must inevitably, in a short time pass! Then, in process of time, when she was well aware that his eyes were directed straight upon her, she deflected, bringing her back vice versa style to be regarded in lien of that of her face!

“Gracious me, my fresh blown tulip!” exclaimed Dick, as he stopped to contemplate the ridiculousness of her inverted posture, “What's now the humour, lass? Tell me! whatever does this hidingseek kind of manoeuvre mean?”

Rawhinia once more deflected, and looked with a sickly wan smile the puzzled Richard openly in the face, the quickly rouged, and afterwards—O! what a fatuous attempt!—tried to pass her queer conduct off as nothing more than a simple joke. Failing, signally, in the vain attempt, which she might have considered she should do, she resorted upon something not very unlike a specious fabrication, by telling Dick that she could not possibly stay a moment just then, as there was an appointment made between her and a young visiting chief—she was even, just then, she was behind the time of meeting.

“Oh! that's all right, my pick of water-lilies,” affably acquiesced Dick. “It's just as well, too, when, now I give it a thought, not to be detained, for it's just as much as I have time now to quietly take a bit snack of lunch. Toll-loll, my cupsy-wupsy: lots of time when work's over,” and, at the instant, each of them silently diverged along their own way.

This disconcerted maiden, when left again by herself, went into perfect paroxyisms of anguish. She wished she had never let on that she had understood what the nasty Tongan had said, or that she had been able to control her feelings a little better. “The dwarfish wretch,” she said, with great warmth, “will be almost sure to crack nasty filthy jokes about my childishness here on the beach, all over the ‘Flyingfish.’ She wished to goodness, she exclaimed, that she had told Dick page 52 everything that had come in at her cars. Then, unaccountably pledged to herself that, what she had so unexpectedly learned, he should positively never, no, never in this world, know anything at all about. She liberally wished the Tongan all sorts of evil, and prayed, aye, fervently prayed that she would never see his monkey-like face again: yet, yearned withal, again to confront him, so that she might be able to learn more! Finally Rawhinia then seated herself composedly for a minute: abruptly started on her feet again: adjusted a Robroy shawl around her shapely and flexible body, and betook herself, as if being pursued, to the Ngamotu fighting pah, up-towering on the crown of the hill beyond.…. Never after this, though, returning as before was her wont to watch, from off the sandy dune, the boats tendering the good ship ‘Flyingfish!’

The day of the first full moon, among the divers hapus of the Taranaki tribe, was the day that was agreed upon as the most appropriate one for making a great feast, as a compliment to Te Puki, on the most fortunate restoration of his long absent daughter; and, assuredly, most wonderful preparations went on to make it a rejoicing which would throw, most likely, all former efforts of this kind completely into shade. All sorts of supplies were now every day coming in; loads of mealy potatoes, invigorating taro, sweet kumeros; birds, fish, and bivalves; barrels of flour, kegs of Jamaica and molasses were supplied by the whalers from what they had newly received from the ‘Flyingfish’ Strange, though, to relate, the very person that all these contributions were made on behalf of—as a compliment to—seemed to be the only one about, who went with a distraught look, a stooped head, and a clonded brow. Yes: Te Puki, in the midst of all these bustling preparations, evidently seemed to have a mind ill, ill at ease. Te Puki, try as much as he would, could not shake off the depression which was wel-nigh consuming him, foreboding trouble in the near future, from Rawiri's hurtful and injudicious impulsiveness. Too, too well he knew, was his frequent asservation, the vindictive nature of the Waikato, who, for the loss of one of their revered old chiefs, would athirst for hundreds of their enemies' lives by way of vengeance. However, he appended, let these preparations be uninterruptedly prosecuted: such can do no harm, and possibly good, who knows, may arise there-from, by bringing together the divers chiefs of Taranaki to a more wholesome unity; and, moreover, there is this, he mentally concluded, it may be the means of my daughter, in the extra comings and goings, obtaining a suitable protector for herself.

Conforming to the promise made, Mr. Richard Barrett, as soon as the work of tendering the schooner ‘Flyingfish’ was over for the day, made his way up the hillside towards the pah, to have an hour or two's pleasant dalliance with her he entertained more than chivalrous feelings towards, and whom he had retrieved by diplomacy from durable captivity. But, just then, he was fated to further considerable chagrin and disappointment, for, lo! in place of finding Rawhinia, where it was page 53 customary for him so to do, inside the whare-iti [small house], which she usually occupied alone with her father, what disconcertingly was his surprise to discover, his modern Thespe, whom he was in quest of, amusing herself etourderie as the French would call it, with a set of young chiefs, in the middle of the whare-nui [big house], who each strived with the other, stimulated by Rawhinia's presence, for who should give utterance to the most taking pleasantry, so as to improve their chance, as was individually thought, of being the accepted suitor.

The exclamation greeted Dick's ears, from a corner of the dwelling, of “Four knaves. Golly! in one hand;” and the incensed retort of, “You have been edging them,” came from old Jack Grundy.

Opposite from this, again, in another corner, wheezingly emanated from Jemmie Ling, “Losh, guidness a' the day, noo, what a singular coinseedence.” But the run of the play was inimical to Jemmie's recounting his reminiscenses, as he and his collaborator were on the losing tack, and he was, consequently, through irritation, impolitely told to “You shut up, will you, for an old jabbering Macaw.”

This much Mr. Barrett derived from this untoward visit—that there was certainly some very mysterious underground swell of unfamiliar range, unaccountably existing between himself and Rawhinia. Then, lo! he, yea, even he, the dauntless Dickey, for the first time throughout the course of his whole life, felt indubitably influenced by the sorry green-eyed monster which was leading him will ye, nill ye, wheresoever it might list. Richard, at this consummately tantalizing juncture, devoutly invoked that the Waikato would speedily be with them, and then should be seen, in their true colours, he said, who were worthy and who were unworthy of favourable consideration. In sooth, Dick, in his sleep that night, dreamed that he was dictating terms to all the Maori Chiefs in New Zealand!