'Let us go and find out if anything did happen,' he suggested as they rose from their meal; for he was oppressed by an uncomfortable feeling that trouble was in store for them. His presentiment presently grew stronger, for, as they walked towards the _marae_, or open courtyard of the _pah_, the unusual quiet of the long lanes surprised them, for the inhabitants were early astir as a rule. The court itself was deserted, save for two old men, who sat upon a seat opposite to the open gates. George looked down upon the plain, where a company of women and children could be seen returning from the bush across the river. In anxious haste he turned to one of the old men. 'Where is everybody, O my father?' he inquired. 'Where is Te Karearea?' The old Maori shook his head and showed his toothless gums. 'Nay; he is not here, Hortoni. He is gone to fight the Pakeha.' 'Gone to fight the Pakeha!' echoed George. He looked down again. A band of armed Maoris had issued from the bush and were crossing the river bridge. 'Is that the Hawk returning?' he asked. 'Wake up, old man!' He gently shook the ancient. 'Is it the Hawk who flies hither?' The old fellow blinked drowsily in the warm sun. 'Nay; Te Karearea is gone to drive the Pakeha into _Moana_. Who knows when he will return? Let me slumber, Hortoni.' George wheeled round upon Terence. 'The crafty rascal!' he cried wrathfully. 'I see it all now. It was the noise of his departure that you heard in the night, Terence. Well might he scheme that we should bind ourselves fast with our own words. Oh, if you had but woke me! But now we have promised, and----' He shook his fist in the direction of the bush. 'Terence, we have been properly fooled. We are caught in a trap of our own making.' 'A parole extorted by such a piece of treachery can hardly be considered binding,' objected Terence. 'Oh, we will keep our word, if only to shame him, if that were possible. But let the subtle Hawk look out for himself when we do take back our parole.' 'And may I be there to see,' finished Terence, taking his friend's arm. 'Let us go to meet those people and learn the news.' CHAPTER XVIII PAEROA AT LAST As the comrades encountered the returning warriors, who had been left as a garrison, their leader, a young chief named Rolling Thunder, called out: 'Salutations, Hortoni! The Pakeha Eagle takes an early flight; but he is too late to catch the Hawk, who has gone to flesh his beak and talons.' 'He will meet with a few more eagles who will make small account of his beak and talons,' answered George grimly. 'When does he wing his way back to his eyrie? I mean, if he ever gets the chance.' 'Not until he has scattered the fragments of the last Pakeha to the four winds,' replied Rolling Thunder proudly, and marched off in high dudgeon at their shouts of derisive laughter.