The man of "the strange, strong race"--the race of the Eagle--had held to the _mere_ of TUMATAUENGA, and the doom of the House of Te Turi had fallen. * * * * * * * What a lot they had to say to one another that night, as they sat round the bivouac fire and watched the flames as they shot up from the stockade and _whares_--for Te Ingoa had not left standing a single stick of the _Pah_ of Death. The long day after the battle was won had worn quickly to an end, for there was much to do, and those who had come through the stress of the fight were now gathered together, resting and celebrating their victory, each after his own manner. Around one fire sat Colonel Haughton and George, reconciled for all time, and anxious only to please one another, Terence and General Cantor, Kawainga, the faithful Paeroa and the Arawa chief, Te Ingoa, who listened, absorbed, to the story of the adventures of the two young Pakehas. The greenstone club, of course, came in for a considerable share of attention, and Terence stoutly championed its claim to magical powers. 'You can't explain how it came to be in your hand that first night on board the _Stella_,' he declared. 'You can't account for the fact that it got between you and Paeroa's club on the hillside over there. You can't ex----' 'Look here, my son,' struck in George, smiling up into his father's face, though he addressed Terence, 'the explanation of the whole business lies in four words--"the Providence of God." Each time the greenstone club came into play was a time of tremendous excitement, and I have no doubt that I was too preoccupied to notice what I did or did not do with regard to it. So encrusted with legend is the _mere_ of TUMATAUENGA that, because I cannot remember exactly what I did each time I used it, miraculous powers are at once attributed to it.' 'So you make out that there was nothing extraordinary about it at all,' said Terence, disappointed. 'Of course one does not expect miracles nowadays.' 'Don't you, my boy?' interposed Colonel Haughton. 'God's providence works miracles on our behalf almost daily. Is it not a miracle that, after death has stared him in the face so often, I should have my dear son back again? Was it not a miracle that when you stood with the rope round your neck he should come up in time? Suppose he had not walked towards the sentry and learned what was toward.' 'You are right, Colonel,' Terence answered, abashed; 'though I did not quite mean what I said.' 'A thing is none the less miraculous because you can sometimes explain it,' remarked General Cantor. 'However, I am sure that both you boys know well enough to whom you owe your safety, and that you are not so ungrateful as not to acknowledge His care for you.'