Private George Tuffin, one of the garrison--who is still alive, in Wanganui--was up with the others at the first alarm. He fired his revolver into the mass of Maoris outside the gateway; then, dropping the revolver, he got to work with his carbine. He had fired one shot out of his carbine, and stooped under the shelter of the parapet to slip in another cartridge. Just as he was rising to fire again he was struck in the head by a Maori bullet, and fell to the ground unconscious. He could not have been in that condition very long, for when he came to, Captain Ross was still alive and fighting to keep the Maoris out of the gateway. "Hello, old man!" cried the captain; "are you hit?" Young Tuffin lay there, unable to reply. "Where's your rifle?" asked the captain; he was reloading his revolver while he spoke. Tuffin pointed to where his gun was lying on the muddy ground beside him. "Come on, boys!" yelled the captain; "they're coming in at the gate!" Those were the last words Tuffin heard his commanding officer utter. A few moments later, in that fearful confusion of attack and defence in the darkness, the gallant Ross was struck down, defending the gateway to the end with his sword. A Hauhau charged right into the redoubt, and killed the captain with his long-handled tomahawk. Making a clean cut in his breast, he tore out the heart, a trophy for the terrible ceremony of the _mawé_ offering. Then he darted back as quickly as he had come, yelling a frightful cry of triumph. And another heart was torn from a white man's body even before it had ceased to beat. This was the corpse of Lennon, the keeper of the store and canteen. He had been killed alongside his little hut, just outside the redoubt, when the fight began. He was tomahawked almost to pieces and his heart cut out. And in the very midst of that battle in the dark the pagan ceremony of the _whangai-hau_ was performed, the oblation to the god of war. The priest of the war-party offered up one of the _pakeha_ hearts--some Maoris say it was Captain Ross's, although Lennon's would really be the heart of the _mata-ika_, the "first-fish" slain, which was usually the one offered to the gods. The savage _tohunga_ lit a match (he carried _pakeha_ matches for this dreadful purpose), and held the bleeding heart over the flame. Immediately it began to sizzle and smoke, he cried in an exultant voice, "_Kei au a Tu!_" ("I have _Tu_!"), meaning that Tu, the supreme god of war, was with him, or on his side. Then he threw down the burnt sacrifice, and, clutching his long-handled tomahawk, rushed into the fight again. The captain's heart was discovered after the fight was over lying on the blood-stained ground outside the trench.