'What are you going to do?' George asked eagerly.
'And thus, almost without a blow struck at itself, falls the Pah of Death,' said Te Ingoa, half to himself. He waved his hand downwards. 'Ignorant of our approach—he could hardly be careless of it—Te Karearea has allowed his men to get out of hand in his desire to recover the greenstone club. One column of my fellows is busy with the remnant of the garrison, the other is there by the river, blocking the advance of the returning Hau-haus. What am I going to do? Why, charge down the hill, take this lot in the rear, and then join column number two in polishing off the fellows by the river. I never expected such an easy job, I must say.'
'He talks like an Englishman,' observed Terence, as the Maori dived below to summon his men, 'and he feels, like an Irishman, sorry that he won't have enough fighting.'
'He may get as much as he cares for before all is done,' said George. 'All this is very unlike Te Karearea. I suspect a trick.'
'Well, down we go! Here come Te Ingoa and his merry men.' The whoop Terence let out would have done credit to a Comanche. 'Hurrah! Stick close to me, George. I believe the old Hawk has been caught napping.'
It really was so. The crafty Te Karearea, unsettled by the escape of his prisoners, and still more so by the disappearance of the greenstone club, had allowed his men to get out of hand, and was now paying heavily for his error. Perhaps, too, the words of the old prophecy haunted him, and the hopelessness of averting the ruin of his house still further unbalanced him.
At any rate, instead of playing tricks and laying ambuscades, there he was on the hillside, fighting like a demon. As the comrades raced down the slope in advance of Te Ingoa, the desperate Hau-hau turned his head and saw them, and with a loud howl of fury sprang through the press and made straight at them.
It was magnificently brave—one man charging two hundred—but the upward rush of the Arawas to meet Te Ingoa bore back the Hau-haus, and Te Karearea, shouting hateful words of vengeance, was swallowed up in the recoiling wave of his own men. Another moment and the Arawas, swooping down the hill, struck their prey, driving them back upon the weapons of the Arawas below, and the Hau-haus, like the hard, defiant quartz between the crushing hammer and the plate, were smashed to pieces.
Armed only with his mere, George was able to do very little execution, for the Hau-haus who recognised him gave him a wide berth. However desperate a conflict may be with ordinary folk, there is always a chance of escape; but when it comes to engaging a wizard armed with a magical club, it is best to take no chances.
The slaughter was terrific, for the combat was in the old style, hand to hand. Neither side had had time to reload, and while some swung their guns by the barrel, others used their ramrods like rapiers, thrusting viciously at eyes and throats. One wretch, pierced through and through, rushed howling into the thick of it, the slender steel rod, protruding front and back, wounding others and barring his own progress, till he was mercifully slain with a blow from a bone mere.