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Rifle and Tomahawk

Chapter II — The Flight

page 27

Chapter II
The Flight

The Hauhaus! At the mention of those fanatical, prophet-deluded people, whose very name struck terror into the hearts of settlers in lonely places, Isbel grew pale, and stood as if turned to stone.

"Quick, Isbel!" commanded Ron sharply. "There is no time to waste! They have burned Johnston's place and will be here as soon as they can cover the three miles between!"

"How do you know?" Isbel asked.

"I saw the fire. Hori told me this afternoon there was a rumour that Te Kooti might come down to the Bay. We must hide in the cave! Quick, get Hughie!"

By this time the first shock of Ron's awful news had passed, and, snatching up a rug from the sofa, Isbel ran to the room wherein, but a short time ago, she had put Hughie to bed. The little fellow was very sleepy, but he put a drowsy arm round Isbel's neck as she slipped on his clothes. Wrapping him tightly in the rug, she page 28carried him out to the kitchen. Ron had already taken down his gun, and was in the pantry selecting what food he judged they could carry. Then he filled a large bottle with milk for Hughie, and crammed the whole into a kitbag.

They went quickly down the path to the creek, and, crossing on the stepping-stones just above the pool, gained the opposite bank. A track led along by the water's edge, so narrow as to be almost imperceptible to anyone not accustomed to the bush. But the children knew every inch of the way. They could have found it blindfolded if need had been, for it led to their best-loved haunt, the place of which Hori had spoken as being known only to the three of them.

They journeyed as silently as possible, Ron carrying Hughie, for the sturdy baby was no light weight. Three-quarters of an hour's travelling brought them to a place where the creek narrowed into a little gorge, the cliffs rising abruptly from the water. The bush about was almost impenetrable; but the brother and sister were well acquainted not only with the path they now trod, but with several others in the vicinity, one of which led directly to the house that Ron had but lately seen in flames—"The Poplars," as the Johnstons' farm was called. The gorge was, in page 29fact, considerably nearer to "The Poplars" than it was to the Camerons' own home. However, in bringing his charges into what would appear to be the very jaws of danger, Ron knew that he was acting wisely. He was certain that the conquering Hauhaus, even did they know the forest track, would keep to the well-marked road that connected the two homes rather than waste time in following an ill-defined path through thick bush. He argued, too, that once they had finished their ghastly work at "The Poplars" they would travel with all haste to the next farmhouse in their path—his own home—and that Isbel, Hughie, and himself would be considerably safer for the night, and perhaps for the succeeding day, in the vicinity of "The Poplars" than anywhere else. He told Isbel this in a low voice as they neared the objective of their journey; and Isbel, terrified though she was, answered that she agreed with him.

They struck to the left now, and came out on top of a cliff of papa, 1 thirty feet in height; and, holding Hughie carefully, Ron commenced an awkward though not perilous descent, Isbel following. At the bottom was a narrow ledge of page 30rock, which they traversed for a few yards until they came to a thick wall of drooping ferns. These Ron pushed aside, and next moment all three were within the cave.

Ron and Hori had discovered this retreat some months previously, while out pigeon-snaring, and with the secrecy with which all children of the bush love to conceal their favourite haunts they had agreed to tell no one of it except Isbel. It was high of roof, dry, and very roomy, although narrow at the entrance. A more ideal hidingplace could not be imagined, for the ferns formed a curtain across the entrance, and anyone, even if standing on the cliff directly opposite, would never dream of its existence.

With his heart filled with thankfulness at their escape Ron was about to lay Hughie down on a bed of dried fern when Isbel uttered a sudden cry.

"Oh, Ron! We forgot the food-bag!"

Here was disaster undreamed of. Horrified, Ron remembered that he had put the bag down when first he took Hughie from his sister; and so scattered had been his thoughts at the time that he had forgotten to tell Isbel to pick it up. He remembered the very spot on which he had placed it—the bank of the creek just above the pool. Bitterly he blamed himself for his forgetfulness.

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"Whatever shall we do?" wailed Isbel. "We wouldn't mind being hungry, you and I, and, anyway, we could always find some berries. But Hughie must have his food—he is only a baby!"

"I left it just above the pool, this side of the stepping-stones," said poor Ron Oh, Isbel, what a fool I was to forget it!" He was thinking hard as he spoke.

Isbel, who had borne herself bravely through their flight, commenced to cry before this terrible trouble. "Whatever shall we do about Hughie?" she sobbed.

"Look here, Isbel," said Ron slowly, "you are right. Hughie must have some food, and some-how we've got to get that bag. Would you mind being left for a while if I were to go back for it?"

"I'd hate it!" answered Isbel promptly. "And you might run right into the Hauhaus and get killed!"

"There's not much fear of that," said Ron.

"They will be on the other side of the creek, and if they have gone to our place they will be too busy burning up everything to see me in the bush. You and Hughie will be perfectly safe here, for to-night anyhow, and I'll be back in an hour."

As Isbel still demurred Ron urged: "It's only for Hughie's sake. Be brave, Isbel! Think of page 32his waking up in the morning and wanting something to eat!"

"All right, Ron," answered Isbel, with a sigh. "I won't mind staying by myself for an hour or so; but do be as quick as you can, and whatever you do don't run any risks of being seen."

Kissing his sister fondly, Ron pushed aside the ferns and went out, and, sitting down beside Hughie, Isbel prepared to keep her lonely watch.

It was, of course, pitch-dark in the cave, but she was not afraid of darkness. She knew the bush so well that ordinarily it held no terrors for her. But just now she was, quite naturally, a little unstrung, and she started at any sudden sounds that at other times would not attract her notice. Several times she put out her hand and felt Hughie; and the warmth of the little slumbering body reassured her in some measure.

Presently her small brother stirred and seemed as though about to waken, so she lay down beside him in order to hush him if need be. She must have been lying thus for a long time when suddenly it occurred to her that more than an hour must have gone by since Ron had left her.

"But p'r'aps it's just because I'm so anxious," she thought bravely. "I'll try counting the seconds and then I'll know how the time is going."

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She commenced counting slowly. One, two, three, four—sixty seconds to every minute; five minutes, then ten … twenty … half an hour…. Before she reached forty minutes Isbel fell asleep.

She was awakened by Hughie's little fists thrust into her face; and to her amazement it was already daylight. Her first impulse was to be conscience-stricken at having slept at her post, her second one of terror. Daylight, and Ron had not returned!

Had he fallen into the hands of the Hauhaus? Why, oh, why! had she ever consented to his going back for the food-bag? It would have been far better to have let Hughie go hungry than to have allowed her brave brother to sacrifice his life in a gallant attempt to rescue their food! Distractedly she picked Hughie up and replied as well as she was able to his questions as to what Hughie and Bel were doing in "dis place."

What was she to do now? Had it not been for the baby she could have gone back along the track in search of her elder brother, but that was impossible. Supposing that Ron were indeed safe, the fact that he had not returned probably meant that there were Hauhaus between him and the cave, and that alone made her shelter by no means secure. If, on the other hand, he had been killed page 34or imprisoned by the natives, it would serve no good purpose to remain in the cave and perhaps starve to death ere help came. Unless by the merest accident, no one would come near the gorge but Hori; and Hori, because of his friendship for the Camerons, might be so well watched that he would not attempt to reach the cave for fear of betraying his friends.

While these thoughts ran through Isbel's brain Hughie began to ask for food.

"Want breakfuss, Bel, want breakfuss!" he demanded, tugging at her skirt.

"Hughie will get some breakfast presently," said poor Isbel, and she thought: "I'll wait until the [gap — reason: damage] climbs up as far as the first branch of that kahikatea-tree on the other bank, and if Ron doesn't come by then, I'll go up near 'The Poplars' and see if I can't find some one who will help me."

By the time that the sun had reached the bough she had fixed upon Hughie was beginning to cry for some food. Still there was no sign of Ron, so, taking Hughie in her arms, Isbel made her way up the face of the cliff, pausing on one of the rough steps to scratch an arrow pointing in the direction of "The Poplars." She knew that Ron, were he still alive and capable of making his way page 35back to the cave, would not fail to notice it; and then with a heavy heart she set out on her journey.

She made slow progress, for Hughie insisted on walking some of the way and wanted to sit down and pick what he called "pitty ferns" every now and then. He also kept asking plaintively for "breakfuss," and she was terrified lest he should commence to cry and thus discover their presence to any savage enemy who might be lurking in the bush.

At length, however, she reached the point where she must again cross the stream. There were plenty of big, flat boulders on which to cross, and Isbel breathed a sigh of relief when she reached the other side. She had now only a low, scrubcovered hill to ascend before she reached the clearing that surrounded "The Poplars."

The scrub was tall and thick, mostly manuka and high fern. Suddenly a crashing in the bushes made her crouch down behind a big clump of bush-lawyer.

"Play hide, Hughie! Quiet!" she whispered desperately to her brother, and the little fellow, thinking it a game, gave one little gurgle of delight, and thereafter remained as still as a mouse.

The crashing continued, and Isbel was appalled to find that, whatever or whoever it was, was page 36coming in her direction. Summoning up all her courage, she ventured to peep round the edge of the bush-lawyer, to see before her the mild eyes of a very friendly-looking cow.

"Hughie's breakfast!" she gasped, in utter relief. "But what am I to do for a pail?"

Bidding Hughie keep still, the resourceful girl ran down to the creek again, and, picking three or four of the large leaves of a shrub that grew thickly along the bank, she quickly fashioned them into cups.

The cow had not been milked that morning; so she stood contentedly while Isbel, holding a leafcup in one hand, milked deftly with the other.

When Hughie had drunk his fill of the warm milk, and Isbel too had made her breakfast, she took up the little fellow again and started up the hill. When she reached the point where the track led directly out into the paddocks about "The Poplars" a melancholy sight met her eyes.

"The Poplars" had been the finest house in the neighbourhood. Now it lay a mass of smouldering ruins, witness to the spirit of savage destruction that had inspired Te Kooti's desperadoes. The stable had gone too, and of all the farm-buildings only a small woodshed remained standing. Isbel's eyes filled with tears as she gazed on page 37the ruins of what yesterday, had been a happy, comfortable home.

"Oh, the poor, poor people!" she whispered. "What has happened to them all? Perhaps they had no warning and the Hauhatis came up and killed them before they knew what had happened!"

She was turning away, sick at heart, when a sudden movement in some flax-bushes that stood between her and the little woodshed attracted her attention. Quickly she shrank down so as to be concealed from observation, and peered out.

Presently the movement was repeated, and Isbel could hardly believe her eyes when she saw a small figure crawl out of the flax and make its way toward the shed.

"It's Tom Johnston!" she gasped. "He must have escaped by hiding in the flax. Oh, I wonder if any of the others are alive?"

By this time Hughie was getting sleepy, so she arranged a bed of fern for him, and, wrapping him in her coat, laid him down. Then she peered out again, and saw the small boy come out of the shed and go back to the flax-clumps. He seemed to be searching for something. Presently Isbel saw him emerge from the bushes, carrying something very carefully. Then light dawned on her.

"There's somebody in the shed," she thought; page 38"somebody alive and perhaps so wounded that he can't move. little Tom has been looking for a hen's nest—those are eggs he's carrying."

Hughie was now fast asleep, so Isbel, with a regretful glance at the beloved little figure, left the shelter of the scrub and ran across the paddock to the shed. Pausing in the doorway, she met with a fearful sight.

Mrs Johnston lay on the floor, horribly wounded. She had been gashed in several places with a tomahawk, and was unable to move. She would have bled to death ere then had not her youngest boy, Tom, who, as Isbel had surmised, had managed to hide in the flax-bushes, heard her moans and, creeping forth and into the shed, found her, and contrived to bind up her wounds. He was kneeling beside her now, endeavouring to raise her head in order that she might derive some nourishment from one of the eggs that he had discovered. The little lad was but seven years old, and he was pale as a ghost from his terrifying experiences of the previous night. He uttered a little startled cry as Isbel's figure darkened the doorway.

"It's all right, Tom," said Isbel, speaking quickly and reassuringly. "I've come to see if I can help your mother. Oh, poor Mrs Johnston, what an awful time you must have had!"

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The woman looked tip at her with agonized eyes. Isbel continued: "Where are Mr Johnston and Dick and Jim?"

Mrs Johnston's lips moved, and Isbel saw them frame the one word: "Killed!"

The horror of it all made Isbel feel faint. At first she could only hold the woman's hand and cry bitterly. But in a little while she pulled herself together and said: "I must get help to you somehow. I don't think the Hauhaus will come back this way, so you will be safe for a time, at least. Tom must stay beside you and do his best, and I will go up along the road and try to get into Roro. You'll be brave, won't you, Tom?" she concluded, putting her hand on the little boy's shoulder. "See that you give your mother plenty of water—she will need that more than food. And get some dried grass for a pillow to make her head more comfortable."

"I'll do what I can," said the boy valiantly.

''That's right,'' answered Isbel approvingly. ''It won't be long before I get help for you. Now, Mrs Johnston, is there anything I can do for you before I go?"

The pale lips formed two words: "Thanks … no …," and, looking down at the bloodless face, Isbel could not help but utter a silent prayer that page 40help might arrive in time. Mrs Johnston appeared to be sinking fast.

With a cheery word of farewell Isbel turned and sped back across the paddocks.

"I'll have to wake Hughie at once," she thought as she made her way into the scrub. "He'll be cross, but I can't help that. We'll go up on to the road, and I'll surely meet some one before long. By this time they must know in Roro and Turanganui that the Hauhaus are on the warpath."

She reached the little cluster of fern behind which she had left the sleeping baby, and stood suddenly still, transfixed with horror.

Hughie had disappeared!

1 A kind of whitish-blue clay common in New Zealand river cliffs.