It happened this way: Although they were in blissful ignorance of the fact, they had been spotted by two separate parties of Hau Haus, each numbering forty men. These parties, posted on high ranges of hills, had not pursued them, as they deemed it impossible to overtake them, but when they saw them enter the hut they came down from their heights, and closely surrounded the place. One of them creeps up and peers through the chinks of the rickety door, and there he sees the four wretched scouts fast asleep, with their guns made fast to the hut-pole. In a moment the door of the hut is knocked into splinters, and before one of the inmates can move a finger they are overwhelmed by numbers, and securely tied hand and foot. Next morning the captives are brought before the arch-devil, Te Kooti. They are all warriors of high repute and rangateras of the bluest blood, most valuable recruits if they can only be made to join the Hau Haus. Te Kooti knows this well, and for a long time does all in his power to persuade or intimidate them to join him, but to all his specious arguments and diabolical threats he only receives this one answer: “Do with us as you like; we are warriors of the Great White Queen, who fear not death, come it as it may.” As persuasion is of no avail the threats are put into practice, but I will not go into nauseating details. Frequently at intervals during the next twenty-four hours the torture is discontinued for a few minutes, and the offer of life renewed to the sufferers, but so long as speech remains the overtures are met by the same steadfast answer: “Do with us as you will; our honour is the honour of the Great White Queen; we fear not death, come it as it may.” At last it came, and those four savage gentlemen yielded up their lives, but retained their honour. If in the far future there should chance to be a _corps d’élite_ among the legions of angels, I will wager my golden crown that those four Maori rangateras will swing their flaming tomahawks in its ranks. Well, now let’s get on with the main yarn. I have previously mentioned the infernal weather, which that year was the worst ever known in New Zealand, and as Taupo is always bleak and cold, we came in for more than our share of snow, sleet and frost; in fact, it being impossible for human flesh and blood to keep the field, the Colonel occupied the two strong positions of Rotoaira and Tokanu, while Te Kooti remained quiet in his fastnesses, both sides having to sit tight for a bit, and wait till the clouds roll by. While we are marking time for the clerk of the weather, I think I may take the opportunity of telling you about a wonderful occurrence that took place at Tokanu, which is situated among the hot springs and geysers close to the shores of Lake Taupo. Many of these are hot enough to cook in, the water boiling furiously, while many others are cool enough to bathe in, and there was one of the latter particularly favoured by all hands. Let me try to describe it.