But with a rush George was among them and, ignoring ceremony, struck right and left with his fists, upsetting the would-be slayer and those who held Paeroa as well. Without an instant's delay Paeroa scuttled into the bush, pending the adjustment of the dispute. 'Pardon, friends!' George said apologetically, turning his glance upon two who stood ruefully rubbing their swollen noses. 'You were about to kill the wrong man. That is Paeroa, who brought word of my captivity.' 'And you are Hortoni?' queried a thin, lithe man who was evidently in command. None of the Arawas seemed either surprised or resentful. 'It is so,' replied George. 'I have just escaped with Mura, Kawainga, and Paeroa from the nest of the Hawk.' 'Mura! If you mean Tereni, he was slain after the fight at Paparatu,' said the Arawa chief. 'No; he is here,' corrected George. 'Te Karearea meant to kill him that night, but I came up in time to----' 'To stop them from shoving me through the gates of Reinga,' put in Terence, bobbing up from the fern and airing his broken Maori. 'I am very much alive, I assure you, Chief.' The Arawa leader and he grinned cheerfully at one another. 'Don't you remember me?' went on Terence. 'You are Te Ingoa, who imitated the Hau-hau cry that night at our bivouac.' 'Yes; I remember you, O Tereni,' replied the Arawa in English. 'You told us of Hortoni, and how he had run away from the white-haired chief.' "The white-haired chief." George heard without understanding. 'What are we to do, O Te Ingoa?' he asked. 'Even now Te Karearea scours the bush for us with his young men.' 'While he scours the bush, we may clean up the _pah_, Hortoni,' the Arawa replied sententiously. 'Two of my men have fallen down a hole here. They say that there is quite a large space, but fear to go on lest Taniwha should lurk at the other end. What am I to do?' 'There is indeed a _taipo_ at the other end,' George answered gravely. 'It is in the form of a Hawk who devours women and little children.' Then, as the Arawa's eyes gleamed with comprehension: 'Let me lead you through the passage, O Te Ingoa. The issue of this hole is close by the _Pah_ of Death, more than half way up the hill. There is the upper bridge to cross, but----' 'Lead on, Hortoni,' Te Ingoa interrupted excitedly. 'To us shall fall the honour of clipping the Hawk's talons and blunting his beak. The rest, with the white-haired chief, your father, are behind. I will send a messenger to hurry them.' George turned to Terence, who was smiling sympathetically at him. 'Colonel Cranstoun is evidently not far away,' he said. 'Te Ingoa wishes to march forward. But don't you think we ought to wait until the others come up?' 'Decidedly not,' replied Terence. 'Let these fellows do their own killing. The white-haired chief, as they call him, will be better out of this fuss.'