I told the stranger of the warning we had just received from Tofa of the threatened attack by the heathens, supposing that he might not have understood what the lad might have said to him.
While some of our friends ran off to the huts to obtain provisions, Abela and Lisele taking our hands, told us that we must set off at once to the mountains, till the fury of the heathens had ceased. Three or four of our other friends also prepared to accompany us.
“But what will this stranger do?” I asked. “Surely if the heathens find him when no longer under the protection of Mafoa, they will put him to death.”
“He is under my care,” exclaimed Tofa. “I promised Mafoa that I would protect him, and I will show them that I am clever enough to hide him away even although the whole tribe come to look for him.”
I explained this to the young stranger, and advised him to put himself under Tofa’s guidance. Nanari having commended us to the care of Jehovah, we and our friends, not stopping even to obtain anything at the house, hurried off towards the mountains, while Tofa led the stranger by a more direct way up a precipice, which was too steep for us to climb. As we were quitting the chapel, turning my eyes seaward for a moment, I caught sight of several sails dotting the ocean in the far distance. I pointed them out to Lisele.
“They may be my father’s canoes,” she exclaimed, “and he might arrive in time to protect us.”
“Alas! even should they be Masaugu’s fleet, they may be too late for that,” said Abela. “We must not delay on such a chance; perhaps, too, they may prove more deadly foes than those from whom we fly. Let us hasten on, and we may be able to learn what they are when our charge is in safety.”
Thus urged, Lisele no longer hesitated. Night was coming on, but provided we could make our way, the darkness would assist us in eluding our savage foes should they pursue us. The path towards the mountains, at all times difficult, was rendered doubly so by the number of fallen trees across it, thrown down by the hurricane. Sometimes we had to climb over the trunks, at others to creep under the branches.
“The heathens will be less able to discover our tracks,” observed Lisele, “than if the path had been open.”
“Ah yes! my child,” said Abela, “all is ordered for the best.”