Pikoi raised his bow, felt his arrow, and said to his father, “What arrow is this?”
His father replied, “That is the arrow Mahu, which eats the flower of the lehua-tree.”
Pikoi said: “This will not do. Hand me another.” Then his father gave him Laukona (The-arrow-which-strikes-the-strong-leaf), but the boy said: “This arrow has killed only sixty rats and its eye is smooth. Give me one more.”
His father handed him the Huhui (The-bunched-together), [[164]]an arrow having three or four sharp notches in the point.
Pikoi took it, saying, “This arrow wins the treasure,” and went toward the tree, secretly repeating his chant.
Then he let the arrow go twisting and whirling around, striking and entangling the whiskers of three rats.
Mainele saw this wonderful shooting, and delivered all the treasures he had wagered. But Pikoi said he had not really won until he had killed fourteen more rats, so he shot again a very long arrow among the thick leaves of the shrubs, and the arrow was full of rats strung on it from end to end hanging on it by forties.
The people stood with open mouths in silent astonishment, and then broke out in wildest enthusiasm.
While they were excited the boy and his father secretly went away to their home in Manoa Valley and remained there with Ka-ui-o-Manoa a long time, not visiting Waikiki or the noted places of the island Oahu.
Kakuhihewa, the king, heard about this strange contest and tried to find the wonderful boy. But he had entirely disappeared. The caretaker of the high chiefess was the only one who had carefully observed his eyes and his general appearance, [[165]]but she had no knowledge of his home or how he had disappeared.