At this Terence gasped in a queer way and collapsed flat upon his face; but when George, who thought that he had fainted again, was about to rise, he scrambled to his knees, and catching his friend in a bear's hug, exclaimed brokenly: 'Oh, thank God! O George, thank God I didn't hit you! Oh!' He buried his face in his arms, while George patted his broad back, saying soothingly: 'So it was you after all! Curiously enough, I thought so at the time; but I did not see how such a thing could be. Cheer up, old fellow! There's no harm done.' Terence wrung his friend's hand. There were traces of tears upon his cheeks, but he did not seem to mind. 'I took deliberate aim at you,' he said. 'We all thought that the white man on the hill must be one of those Pakeha-Maori rascals; so I let drive and----' 'Missed him! So that's all right,' finished George cheerfully. 'You must not let out to these people that you were the slayer of their comrades, or we shall hear a lot about a blood-feud and have endless trouble. By the way, was Te Karearea present at your court-martial?' 'I saw nothing of him until he stopped our little fight. Why?' George did not explain. He had reason to know that the chief did not always choose to appear as the moving spirit in the programme of events. 'No matter,' he said. 'Now, I want to hear all your news. Are you hungry?' 'Oh no; your friends fed me well before turning me over to the hangman.' 'Don't call them my friends,' protested George. 'I would----' 'Oh! Then you are not a Pakeha-Maori?' put in Terence, with an air of great simplicity. 'You are yourself again, I see,' said George, laughing. 'Fill your pipe and let me hear your adventures.' 'I have had none until to-day,' began Terence. 'Colonel Cranstoun was very kind to me on board; but he and Horn kept me at it with never-ending drill. By the way, the colonel expressed his regret that he had packed you off in the tug.' 'No! Surely not?' George grinned. 'Yes. He pulled his long moustache, and observed: "I should have done better to keep the young scapegrace under my own eye."' 'You humbug!' laughed George. 'Go on.' 'He is a fine old fellow, George. On the third day out we met a Sydney-bound brig, which hove to, and the colonel sent a letter to your father. You saw it, no doubt.' 'No; but I am glad he wrote it. I started on your trail next morning.' 'What a fellow you are!' said Terence admiringly. 'I was sure that you would lose no time. But next morning!' 'Get on with your yarn,' ordered George. 'Right, sir! In due time we arrived at Auckland, where Colonel Cranstoun took me out of the ranks and made me useful as an orderly, or something of the kind. Since then I have been sent here, there, and everywhere. My last mission was to bring dispatches from our colonel in Wanganui to Major Biggs at Poverty Bay. There I found Biggs just starting after your beauties, so I got permission to join the expedition.'