And lo! as the king sat brooding, a rumour rose in the crowd; The yottowas nudged and whispered, the commons murmured aloud; Tittering fell upon all at sight of the impudent thing, At the sight of a gift unroyal flung in the face of a king. And the face of the king turned white and red with anger and shame In their midst; and the heart in his body was water and then was flame; Till of a sudden, turning, he gripped an aito hard, A youth that stood with his omare,[8] one of the daily guard, And spat in his ear a command, and pointed and uttered a name, And hid in the shade of the house his impotent anger and shame. Now Tamatea the fool was far on his homeward way, The rising night in his face, behind him the dying day. Rahero saw him go by, and the heart of Rahero was glad, Devising shame to the king and nowise harm to the lad; And all that dwelt by the way saw and saluted him well, For he had the face of a friend and the news of the town to tell; And pleased with the notice of folk, and pleased that his journey was done, Tamatea drew homeward, turning his back to the sun. And now was the hour of the bath in Taiarapu: far and near The lovely laughter of bathers rose and delighted his ear. Night massed in the valleys; the sun on the mountain coast Struck, end-long; and above the clouds embattled their host, And glowed and gloomed on the heights; and the heads of the palms were gems, And far to the rising eve extended the shade of their stems; And the shadow of Tamatea hovered already at home. And sudden the sound of one coming and running light as the foam Struck on his ear; and he turned, and lo! a man on his track, Girded and armed with an omare, following hard at his back. At a bound the man was upon him;--and, or ever a word was said, The loaded end of the omare fell and laid him dead. II THE VENGING OF TAMATEA Thus was Rahero's treason; thus and no further it sped. The king sat safe in his place and a kindly fool was dead.