Chapter V.

Mrs. Parry, with Nurse Perkins and the boys, had got through the usual duties of the day which could not on any account be left undone, such as feeding the pigs and poultry, and driving the working oxen to water, and folding the sheep; and the two first named were now settled in their little parlour, busily working by the last rays of the setting sun, when Harry and David came running in in a great hurry to say that they saw some natives coming over the hill towards the house.

“We will take our guns, and if they are enemies, the best thing we can do is to shoot them,” exclaimed Henry.

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“Oh no, no! my dear boys. Do not on any account hurt the people,” answered Mrs. Parry. “Remember, ‘whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed.’ They may be friends, or if enemies, they are more likely to be won over by gentleness and kindness. We must remember that they are savages, and that if even they are disposed to quarrel and fight, we, as Christians, should show them the holiness of our religion, and not resort to force till all milder measures have failed.”

“All right, mother; we will not fire if it can possibly be helped,” answered Harry, as he and David took their rifles and ran back to the spot where they had left Freddy on the look out. He declared that he saw a whole army of Maories advancing towards the farm. David climbed up a tree that he might get a better view. He said that he could only see two people, and when Harry mounted up a little way, he declared that, after all, he believed that they were only two women, and that from the appearance of one of them he should not be surprised if she was Yeda. So sure was he at last, that they all ran forward to meet her, hoping that she had brought them tidings of Emily and Jane. She seemed well pleased to see them, but her countenance changed as did that of her companion when they told her of what had occurred.

“That is just like Matangee,” said Yeda. “He was coming here with a number of fighting men to attack the house, so he boasted; but finding two weak girls and some cows, he was satisfied with page 52 carrying them off, and avoiding any risk to himself.” This was said partly in English, so that the boys as well as her companion quite understood it.

“Yes, it is true,” answered Madu. “If he were a Christian, he would, I am sure, have been very different, but he would never listen to what the missionaries said to him; and now I fear that he is going to fight with the English, and will do many bad things and lose his life.”

Harry and his brothers invited the two native girls to come in and rest and take some food. They were unwilling to delay, yet they agreed to go to the house for a short time to see Mrs. Parry. Yeda told her that Madu, having heard of her brother's intention of attacking the farm, she had hurried to her that she might give them warning. They believed that Matangee meeting with the two girls had thought it safer to carry them and the cows off. They now proposed hurrying to Moodewhy's pah, hoping by the short path they would take over the hills to arrive there before Matangee. As soon therefore as they had taken a little food they set out. Harry and David were very anxious to go with them, but Yeda told them that the risk would be too great, and hinted that they would not be able to keep up with them. The boys were inclined to be indignant at this, declaring to each other that they could run as fast as any Maori girls in the three islands. Mrs. Parry and Nurse Perkins thanked the girls again and again for their zeal, and prayed that they might be protected in their somewhat perilous expedition.

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Had they taken the line of country followed by the cows, they would soon have come up with Major Parry and his party, as notwithstanding Harry's opinion of their powers of walking, they travelled at a rapid rate. They knew the way well, for although it was over steep hills, it was by a path they had often traversed. They had no foolish fears of ghosts or spirits of evil; in their heathen state they might have had; but as Christians, they had been taught that an all-seeing and much-loving God was ever watching over them, and that He would protect them from the worst spirit of all, he who goes about “like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” Then was it likely that hobgoblins, or spirits of the woods, or rocks, or streams, even supposing such creatures to exist (which they knew do not), should be allowed to do them harm? Instead therefore of resting as Major Parry's party were doing, they pushed on through the darkness for the greater part of the night, the bright stars above and the grand outlines of the hills serving to direct them. The desire to serve their friends urged them on. At length they lay down to rest under the shelter of an over-hanging rock, they had nothing to fear, and slept soundly till the returning light of day awoke them. They instantly sprang to their feet, but before moving on, knelt down, and offered up their simple prayers to the God of the white man and their God for protection from danger, and for success in the undertaking in which they were engaged. Once more they hurried on, and made such good speed page 54 that they reached the pah at an early hour. Many of the inhabitants were only then appearing at the doors of their huts. Madu inquired for her brother. He had not returned, the expedition he had gone on was no secret. Yeda was regarded with frowning looks by many, because it was known that she would not wed with their chief's son, and was also a friend of the English. Still, protected by Madu, no one dared to injure her, or even to speak a word against her. Madu therefore instantly sought her father, and telling him what had happened, begged him to exert his authority over Matangee to induce him to release his prisoners.

“How do the Maories feel when an enemy injures or carries off their wives and children?” she asked. “Surely the English are not likely to care less for their women than the Maories do! They care, as you well know, far more. They are their equals and friends, and never their slaves, as are most of the Maori women. Do you think then that they will quietly submit to be thus treated by our people? No; they will all combine together, and come and attack us, and level our pah to the ground.”

Old Moodewhy was evidently very much troubled at what his daughter and her friend said. If he had lived farther away from the coast, where the English could not get at him, he might have been more ready to hold out; but he had heard of the way their fighting-men had of sending rockets hissing along the ground, and shells to burst even in the very middle of a pah where no one could escape them; and he page 55 did not wish to be treated in that manner, and he began to wish that Matangee had not been in so warlike a humour. Yeda and his sister knew that he was a very difficult person to deal with, and they therefore begged old Moodewhy not to say that they were in the pah, when he arrived, that they might see how he intended to treat his prisoners. Madu and her friend had only just made these arrangements, and retired to Madu's hut, when old Moodewhy, gazing forth from his look-out place, a platform raised on poles above the paling, observed a large party of Maories, with several head of cattle, approaching the pah.

“At all events he has secured some valuable spoil,” thought the old chief. “That is certain profit, the girls will only create trouble in the pah, and to my mind the sooner they are out of it the better. Those English will not care so much about losing a few head of cattle; but, as my daughter says, they will be very apt to cause me a great deal of trouble if their young women are ill-treated.”

The old chief did not use these words exactly, but such was the tenor of his thoughts.