'Hush! Some one is coming,' in a fierce whisper from Terence, who instantly extinguished his torch upon the ground, George following his example.
'We must wait, for they will hear us if we run,' thought George, and then an idea came to him. He smiled grimly in the darkness, groping here and there with his hands. 'Do as I do,' he breathed into Terence's ear, rapidly whispering directions.
'Oh, lord, no; I can't,' sighed Terence.
'You must. We may be dead men else. Quick! There is no time to lose.'
Voices sounded now, not far away, and dancing flashes of light began to illumine the near distance. It was as well that a sharp rise of the ground intervened between the fugitives and the newcomers; for, otherwise, the glare from their own torches would long ago have betrayed the presence of the former.
Presently the light broadened, and, to the surprise of the watchers, Te Karearea, following the old tohunga, Kapua Mangu, appeared upon the crest of the ridge, some twenty paces away from the grim circle of heads, now once more complete.
Te Karearea, who had apparently shaken off the physical effects of his recent exertion, pulled up short as Kapua Mangu plunged his hand into a hole in the trunk of an enormous fallen tree, which formed a long, low arch across the ridge. Then, striving to hide his terror of some supernatural manifestation under a mask of cultured indifference, the chief advanced again with the evident intention of looking over the magician's shoulder.
But the old man swung suddenly round and, crying in a loud, clear voice the single word, 'Tapu!' flung a dark object at the feet of the chief.
With a howl of terror Te Karearea reeled away from the thing upon the ground. 'Ngara! Tuatara!' he screeched, and turned to flee from the spot.