Whereupon Warwick departed. He had divested himself of his European garments, and was attired chiefly in a flax mat (_pureke_), a _tapona_ (war-cloak), and other strictly Maori habiliments, with a _heitiki_ suspended from his neck; his muscular arms and lower leg were bare. He looked so like a native that only by close inspection could he be detected. "The gods be praised!" said Mr. Slyde, fervently. "Men getting mouldy here. Another month or two like this would demoralize them. Out of hand a trifle already. Look at Warwick! Doesn't he glide along, at that half run, half walk of the natives? At this distance no one would take him for a white man. Have all the news when he comes to supper." With this hope before them, the friends addressed themselves to such occupations as were available, and awaited the evening meal, when Warwick would have an opportunity of unloading his budget. When the bugle-call sounded the welcome invitation, they descried him lounging down from the other end of the camp in undress uniform, having taken the opportunity to remove every trace of his recent experiences. "And now for your adventures, Warwick," said Massinger, as, having settled to the after-supper pipe, the little party seated themselves on a rude bench constructed of fern stems some ten feet in length, and supported on blocks of the pahautea. "It doesn't happen to rain now, wonderful to relate, and the moon, taking heart and encouragement, 'diffuses her mild rays,' as the poets say, through this ancient and darksome woodland. Did you see any of the Ngaiterangi?" "I did indeed, nearer than I liked," answered Warwick; "and but for a lucky chance they would have seen me, in which case _you_ would never have seen me again--alive that is." "Thrilling in the extreme," assented Mr. Slyde. "What was it--a _taua_?" "More than that; a whole _hapu_--a strong one too, women and all. They were travelling fast, and heading straight for Kihikihi." "How far off were you?" "Barely sixty yards. What saved me was that I was in the bed of a creek, among the ferns on the edge of the water. I had just been going to climb to the top, when I heard a girl laugh. I could scarcely believe my ears. However, I crawled up and peeped through the manuka. Sure enough, there they were, three hundred strong, besides women and children--marching in close order, too. If they had straggled at all I was a gone man." "So they didn't see you?" "No. What saved me was a bend in the creek, which they had crossed higher up; so they steered for the other point which they could see--there are some rocks on the bank--and left me in the loop of the circle. If they had struck the creek nearer to me, I must have been seen. But they had camped at the other point, and having had their _kai_, were marching to recover the time. I was very glad when I saw their backs." "How long would they be in reaching Kihi-kihi?"