We were firing alternately--that is, I had laid down and fired from the right-hand side of the tree, then had slipped behind it, letting Hutton take my place while I loaded under cover. Hutton had fired and had sprung to his feet as we were about to vacate our cover and run back so as to pass through the groups that had taken up their position some twenty yards to our rear, and were ready to cover our retreat; in fact, I had started to race back, when I heard beside me the thud a bullet makes when it strikes flesh, and Hutton, with a gasping cry, fell against me, nearly knocking me off my feet. In a moment I had hold of him, dragged him back to the tree, and had grasped my carbine, just in the nick of time, to meet the rush of a big Maori who, tomahawk in hand, had charged in to finish off his victim. He was in fact not more than three yards from me when my bullet crashed into his head, when, throwing up his arms, his knees gave way and he fell dead at my feet, this being the first Hau Hau that I could be positive of having put out of mess up to date. He had hardly reached the ground before I had seized Hutton’s carbine, handing him mine, saying: “Try and load this, old chap,” which, although he was coughing up blood, he managed to do. At the same instant Jack and Buck were alongside of us. “’Ere, what’s all this?” howled the former, his blue eyes on fire and his face as hard as a stone. “Leave me alone,” gasped Hutton; “the other fellows have all fallen back and you’ll be cut off. I’m done for.” “Leave yer alone,” growled Jack; “that be damned for a yarn; white-livered ---- you must think us ’uns to leave yer alone. ’Ere, Dick, you and Buck cover me. I’ll carry our mate out. Bring along all the carbines and give the ruddy scum hell if they try to rush. Come on, now,” and exerting his enormous strength the foul-mouthed old pirate lifted Hutton, big man as he was, and bore him tenderly, like a mother carrying a sick infant, to the rear. Buck and myself now had our hands full, but I think both of our next shots must have been lucky ones, as the Hau Haus hung back for a moment from rushing us, a moment we grasped to race back under heavy fire to a tree some dozen yards away, where we turned at bay. Again we fired, and I know my shot was a lucky one, as I got a good chance, and saw the fellow I had aimed at crumple up and fall, which gave us the opportunity to again run back to fresh cover. No sooner had we reached it than Buck shouted, “It’s all right, Dick, the flankers have come up and are twisting their tails; look out, we’ll get a shot at the beggars in front of us as they bolt. Gosh, this beats cock-shooting at home.” Sure enough as he spoke I heard our fellows’ volleys, together with their charging shout, and knew we were out of the fire, for at the same moment our own company came back with a rush, which we joined, and in a few minutes we had taken the position, driving the Hau Haus helter-skelter in flight.