At this dread threat the Hau-haus recoiled, and Te Karearea whispered a sharp aside to George: 'Quick! Give me the club. If the fools see it in my hand, they will know that I have not told them a tale.'
He was a great actor, this Te Karearea; but George was not taken in. 'I will show it to them, Chief,' he said, stepping to the front.
'Behold the mere of TUMATAUENGA!' he began, when there arose a great commotion, and Te Karearea uttered a cry of warning. The Maori whom Terence had battered, rendered reckless by rage and pain, wrenched a rifle from the nearest of his compatriots, rushed at George, and yelling, 'Die, accursed Pakeha!' pushed the muzzle within a few inches of his chest and pulled the trigger.
With a shout of horror, Terence sprang forward; but, to the utter amazement of all, George, who still stood erect, holding up the mere, reversed the weapon and with a quiet smile brought it down sharply upon the head of his would-be murderer, who for the third time that morning measured his length on the ground.
With a feeling that the world was turning upside down, Terence stared at his friend, while deep-toned exclamations expressed the bewilderment of the Maoris. There was the burn upon the Pakeha's coat, just over the heart. 'Na! The mere of TUMATAUENGA was strong indeed when it could turn a bullet like that. Na! Best let the Pakeha alone and save themselves, lest his magic make short work of them, even as it had done of Pokeke—the Sullen One—who had fired the shot.' With one accord they bolted out of reach of this dealer in magic and spells.
With Terence gazing, wonder-struck, and Te Karearea glancing fearfully at him, George still stood with rigid muscles and set smile, though he was deadly pale. He was, indeed, as much amazed as any of them at his marvellous escape. So many queer things had happened, that it never occurred to him then, any more than to the least intelligent among the Hau-haus, that in the hurry of loading an unfamiliar weapon, the Maori who owned the gun had probably forgotten to put in the wad over the ball, which had naturally rolled out of the barrel long before the gun was fired.[[2]]
[[2]] A fact.
For all his outward coolness, he was shaken and spent, and it was only by the supremest effort that he managed to control his quivering nerves and stand there, calm and smiling, as if he had anticipated this very result.
Te Karearea was almost as frightened as were his men, and the temptation he felt to run along with them warred hard against the necessity for keeping up his dignity in their presence. But his iron will conquered, and presently he turned to George and said with a forced smile: 'Teach me your magic, Hortoni, I pray you. We Hau-haus claim to be invulnerable in battle, but——'
But George, now that the strain was lifted, felt suddenly limp and intensely desirous of being left alone. So with a protesting wave of the hand he cut into the chief's speech. 'Another time, O Hawk of the Mountain, we will talk of this wonder. Now I go to give thanks to my God, who is stronger than TUMATAUENGA, and who twice within the hour has saved me from death.'