"I found next morning that the bleeding had been stopped and the wound bandaged. Since then I have been terribly weak, but am now recovering slowly, very slowly. To-day I feel better than I have done for some time past. I shall pick up as soon as we reach the shore."
"May God grant it," she replied. "If it was through any act of mine that you quitted home and friends, I should feel that your blood was on my head. When I think of your renunciation, I cannot help doubting whether any woman is worth the sacrifice. And now we must say farewell. You are to leave at dawn, I hear; so if we are doomed never to meet again, think kindly of Hypatia Tollemache, and believe that you have her best wishes, her prayers."
As she spoke she held out her hand, which he clasped in his; so thin and wasted was it that the tears rose to her eyes. He pressed his lips passionately to it, and relinquished the slender fingers with a sigh.
It was late when Erena returned. The little household was assembled at the evening meal when she entered the room, and, declining to join the repast, stood with a countenance troubled and darkly boding before she spoke. So might Cassandra, as she stood before the Trojan host in high-walled Ilion.
"Bad news!" she said abruptly. "So bad that it could hardly be worse. This Hau-Hau sect is gaining ground. They are carrying round Captain Boyd's head to stir up the tribes; they have murdered Mr. Volkner, and are marching towards the coast. No one can tell where they will strike next."
The countenances of the women blanched as this announcement was made. Mr. Summers, though visibly affected, preserved his composure, as he asked where the dreadful deed took place.
"At Opotiki," said Erena. "He came in a vessel, though he was warned not to do so. He and Mr. Grace, another missionary, were at once taken prisoners, and Mr. Volkner was hanged on a willow tree by Kereopa; the tribe assenting."
"Is there any chance of their coming here?" said Mr. Summers. "We have never had the slightest altercation with the tribes. I have been here since 1850, and every thought of my heart, every word from my lips, has been with the object of their benefit. No chief would permit such an outrage, such an unheard-of crime."
"You do not know Kereopa," replied Erena. "He is one of those natives who go perfectly mad when their blood is up, and think no more of killing any man, woman, or child near him than you people do of wringing the neck of a kea. Besides, Te Ua, who has declared himself to be a prophet, boasts of a message from the angel Gabriel, that the sword of the Lord and Gideon is committed into the hands of the Pai Marire, with which to smite the pakeha and the unfaithful Maoris. But I have sent one who will put Ropata on their track; if he comes up with them, they will learn more of Old Testament law."