Edwin glanced round at Mr. Hirpington. It was a look which said, "Stand by me." The appeal was mute, and he answered it neither by word nor sign. Edwin thought despairingly he had not understood him, but a hand was laid on his shoulder. He almost fancied he was pushed aside, as Mr. Hirpington spoke to Nga-Hepé in his cheeriest tones:—
"Well met, old neighbour. Both of us above ground once again, thank God in his mercy. As for me and mine, we were fairly buried alive, and should have died under the mud but for this lad's father. We left everything and fled for our lives, and so it was with most of us. But now the danger is over, I have come back to look after my property, and find a thief has been there before me. According to this boy's account, I am afraid the same fellow has walked off with something of yours. But I have a plan to catch him, and you are the one to help me."
"A' right," answered the Maori. "You catch your man, I catch my boy. Man and boy go hand in hand."
"No," said Edwin stoutly; "I have nothing to do with Lawford."
Nga-Hepé raised his club. "You, who but you," he asked, "watched my wife dig hole? Who but you set foot on the spot? Who but you say, 'Man dig here'? I'll make you say a little more. Which had the bag?"
"I have never seen or touched the bag since I gave it back to your wife Marileha on the night of the tana's visit," answered Edwin.
"A' right," repeated Nga-Hepé. "No, you are not a' right, or you would go with me to find the man; for who but you knows who he is? If you won't, you are a' wrong, and I have come here to kill you."
An exasperated savage on horseback, with a club in his hand, was no mean foe. Edwin thought of old Hal's words. Was it a bad day's work which restored Nga-Hepé to life? But he answered himself still with an unwavering "No."
"You are returning me evil for good," said Edwin quietly. "Whero would not have dared to follow the kaka over the mud if I had not gone with him; but for me you would have been a dead man. Ask Whero—ask your own son."
"I take no counsel with boys," answered the Maori loftily.