The daughter of the dawn

by William Reginald Hodder

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When I awoke to consciousness the faint light of daybreak was struggling in through the giants’ window. The vast cavern was full of greater and lesser darknesses, and, as I peered into these, I recalled the events of the past night. A sickening horror swept through me as I realised that I had been lying on a narrow bridge above the abyss for hours, and it was followed by a feeling of thankfulness that I had not turned in my deep sleep and rolled down into the depths. I felt as if angels had stood one on each side of me, and sat up, full of the conviction that I should see the outer world again.

It was strange that I had not been discovered. Evidently my pursuers had not thought of my hiding place. But in order to get out safely it would be necessary to make all haste, for no doubt they were still keeping watch, and the grey, misty light of the far-off day was growing every minute. Very soon I should make an easy target for stones, and if Ngaraki could hit the Vile Tohunga’s eyebrow at twenty yards with his jade meré, what could he not do with me? To his way of looking at things there was no telling what secrets I might carry away with me if I escaped, therefore the sooner I was wiped off the face of the rock the better for that ancient temple and all it contained.

As yet it was impossible to see more than a vague suggestion of one’s hand before one’s face, but in ten minutes’ time there would be enough light to shoot by. Crawling along the spar towards the basin, I made all possible haste. I had not gone far before I heard footsteps several paces in front of me. I stopped, and all was silent. I could hear my heart beating, and the ghostly whiffle of the descending torrent immediately beneath, but no other sound.

It was no time for delay. A plan suggested itself to my mind in a flash, and I acted on it without a second thought. Drawing a match from my pocket with my left hand and raising my revolver with my right, I struck the match on the granite and threw it fizzing into the darkness before me. The light lasted only a second, but in that brief space I saw two figures crouching on the spar ahead, fired point blank at the foremost, and saw him roll over into the abyss. The next instant something whizzed through the air two inches from my forehead, turning my hat half round upon my head. I knew that Ngaraki had also taken advantage of the momentary light to hurl his meré. The involuntary start backwards at this sudden surprise saved my head again, for, immediately after the missile, came the crashing sound of a heavy club on the rock a foot before me. This was the work of the other figure I had seen. Dropping my revolver, I leaned forward and seized the head of the club with both hands. A struggle ensued, and each tried to use the club as a means of pushing the other off the spar. The struggle did not last long. Giving the club a quick twist from my end, I at the same time pushed it violently against my antagonist, who made a sound in his throat and fell backwards, still holding his end of the club. But in doing this I swung and fell sideways. The next moment we were dangling one on each side of the spar, with nothing to hold by but the club lying like a cross-bar over the narrow rock. All this took place in the space of a few seconds, and it was while I was swaying in the air that I heard from far below the rattle of Ngaraki’s meré on the floor of the abyss.

Thank Heaven, the mute held on. If he had let go I should have gone down with him. Never was a man so anxious that his foe should keep his head.

In moments of danger different people act in widely different ways, but, in moments of extreme peril, when even fear itself seems paralysed, most men, I think, would do the right thing automatically. From what happened I am convinced that the man on the other side of the rock was doing exactly as I was doing, looking for some point of rock by which to cling. At all events I felt, by my end of the club, which I was now holding in one hand, that he was not hanging quietly. Never were two living beings weighed on a more extraordinary balance to determine which should be found wanting. One more second determined it. Failing to find a purchase with one hand, I had grasped the club with both again and drawn myself up with my chin over the end of it. Then, to find a good hold on the edge of the spar, I transferred my right hand while sustaining my weight with my chin and left arm. Quickly I slid my other hand along the club till it found the rock. It was done. The club went up as soon as I released it; there was a guttural exclamation on the other side, and the sound of clawing fingers on the granite as the man went down into the pit, leaving me hanging over the side of the spar.

I drew a long breath and proceeded to raise myself. With chin and one hand supporting my weight again, I reached forward and swept the surface of the spar with the other. The first thing I felt was my revolver, but it was little use to me just then. There was a rough point near it which would help me, but no sooner had I grasped it than I had to withdraw my hand, for I could just distinguish a shadowy form coming towards me from the basin end. I could hear him feeling his way along, and knew that he was looking for me. I would let him pass and then climb and shoot everything I met on the rest of my journey towards the basin. With this end in view, I found the revolver again, and placing it with difficulty in my coat pocket, got my hand back on the rock and remained hanging till the one who was looking for me had passed by.

To find the rough point of rock again was easy, but to draw myself up with nothing to place my knees or feet against was more difficult. At length I managed to get one foot up on the spar, and then gradually dragged my weight on to the upper surface. The light had grown considerably stronger in the last few minutes. I could now see the grey surface of the rock before me. By the time I had crawled twenty feet along the widening surface I could discern the vague outline of the great round stone above the outer lip of the basin, and could hear the gritting sound it made as it rolled and rocked slightly in its socket with the motion of the spar, set up principally by the man who was looking for me at the other end. I needed only a little more light in order to stand upright and make a rush.

A full minute I waited, straining my eyes before me to see if there was anyone barring the way. The spar was now quivering violently, and I knew the one who had passed me was near the further end. Another minute passed and the motion grew fainter; he was on his way back. Presently I heard him crawling along on his hands and knees not ten yards behind me.