by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XII.
THE FIRST ALARM.
One morning Mr. and Mrs. Renshaw went down to spend a long day with theMitfords. The latter had sent up the boat over-night, and they startedthe first thing in the morning. For the two or three days previous Jack,the young native, had more than once spoken to Wilfrid of the proprietyof the hands keeping near the house, but Wilfrid had failed to obtainfrom him any specific reasons for the warning.
"Bad men come down from Waikato," he said. "Much talkee talkee amongnatives."
"But what do they talk about, Jack?"
Jack shook his head. "Jack no hear talkee. Men come to hut and talk withfather. Other Maoris on land steal in and talk too, but no talk beforeJack; always turn him out or send him on errand. But Jack hear sometimesa word, and think that trouble come. Young master better not go far awayby himself, and tell two white men to keep close to hut. Perhaps nothingcome, but better to be on guard."
"Very well, Jack; I am obliged to you for the warning. I will tell theGrimstones not to go out to the outlying clearings, but to occupythemselves with what they can find to do near home."
Jack nodded. "That best, Master Wilfrid, but no talk too much with me.If my people thought I speak to you then trouble come to Jack."
Wilfrid nodded, and without saying anything to his father and mothertold the Grimstones to keep near the house. "After you have doneshooting of a morning," he said, "instead of bringing your guns into thehouse as usual take them down with you to the place where you are atwork, so that they will be handy in case of necessity. Most likely thereis no danger whatever; but I have heard a rumour that some people fromWaikato have come into this neighbourhood, and if so no doubt they aretrying to get the tribes here to join the Hau-Haus. I do not think thatthere is much chance of their succeeding, for the natives have alwaysbeen very friendly, and there has been no dispute about land or anyother grievance; but when one knows how suddenly they have risen inother places, it is better to take precautions."
After breakfast on the morning when his father and mother had started,Wilfrid strolled out on to the verandah, and stood for some little timehesitating what he should do. The Grimstones had just started to look upsome cattle in one of the distant clearings, one of the native handshaving reported the evening before two of the animals were missing.
"I will go not far till they come back," he said to himself. "The gardenwants hoeing. Weeds grow as fast here as they do at home. That will bejust the job for me." He was about to turn to enter the house, when hesaw four natives emerge from the trees and make towards him.
"Marion," he said through the open door, "get the guns down from therack, and see that they are capped and ready. There are four nativescoming towards the house. I daresay they are friendly, and are probablyonly on the way down the river to look for work, still as we are aloneyou cannot be too careful."
Hearing Marion reply "All right, Wilfrid!" the lad leant against thedoor in a careless attitude, and awaited the coming of the natives. Asthey approached he saw they were all strangers to him, although he knewmost of the natives in the neighbourhood by sight, for these notinfrequently came in to barter a pig or a sheep for tobacco, sugar, orother things necessary to them. The natives as they came up gave theusual salutation of good-day, to which Wilfrid replied.
"We are hungry," a tall Maori, who by his dress appeared to be a chief,said.
"I will get you something to eat," Wilfrid answered.
The Maoris would have followed into the house, but he stopped and saidsharply, "We do not allow strangers in the house. Those we know are freeto enter and depart as they choose, but I have not seen any of youbefore. If you will sit down on that bench outside I will bring youfood."
He soon reappeared with a dish of maize and boiled pork, for a supplywas generally kept in readiness in case any of the natives should comein.
"Shuffle about and make a noise," he said to Marion as she got the dishfrom the cupboard. "They cannot know who are inside, and if they meanmischief--and honestly I do not like their looks--they will be morelikely to try it on if they think that I am alone."
The Maoris took the food in silence, and as they ate it Wilfrid wasamused to hear Marion stamping heavily about inside, and occasionallyspeaking as if to her father. He could see that the men were listening,and they exchanged words in a low tone with each other.
Presently the leader of the party said, "Drink!" Wilfrid went in andbrought out a pitcher of water. "Gin!" the chief said shortly. "I haveno gin to give you," Wilfrid replied; "we do not keep spirits."
The natives rose to their feet. "We will come in and see," the leadersaid.
"No you won't!" Wilfrid said firmly. "I have given you what food thereis in the house, and you are welcome to it; but strangers don't comeinto the house unless they are invited."
The native laid his hand on Wilfrid's shoulder to push him aside, butfour months of chopping and digging had hardened every muscle in thelad's body. He did not move an inch, but jerked the Maori's hand off hisshoulder.
With an exclamation of anger the native drew a heavy knobbed stick fromthe girdle round his waist, but before he could raise it to strikeanother figure appeared at the door. Marion held a gun in her hand whichshe raised to her shoulder. "Drop that," she said in a clear ringingvoice, "or I fire!"
Taken by surprise, and seeing the rifle pointed full at his head, thechief instantly dropped his club. At the same instant Wilfrid sprang tothe door, exclaiming "Go in, Marion!" and before the natives hadrecovered from their surprise the door was shut and barred.
They had not been deceived by Marion's attempt to personate a man, andtheir sharp ears had told them while eating their meal that there wasbut one person in the house, and that it was a girl. They knew thatthere was no other about, having watched the house for some time, andhad therefore anticipated that the work of murder and plunder would beaccomplished without difficulty. The instant the door was closed theybounded away at the top of their speed to the shelter of the bush,expecting every moment to hear the report of a rifle behind them; butthe Renshaws had not thought of firing.
"Well done, Marion!" Wilfrid exclaimed as soon as the door was fastened."I was on the point of springing upon him when I heard your voice behindme; I think that I could have tripped him backwards, but if I had doneso the others would have been upon me with their clubs. Now, let usclose and fasten the shutters, though I do not think we need have anyfear of their coming back. In each case we have heard of they havealways fallen on the settlers suddenly and killed them before they hadtime for resistance, and I do not think there is a chance of theirtrying to attack us now that they know we are ready for them. I expectthat they were passing down to some of their people below, and seeing,as they thought, a defenceless hut, thought it would be an easy businessto plunder it and knock on the head anyone they might find here. Nowthat they have failed they will probably go on their journey again."
"I was horribly frightened, Wilfrid," Marion said when they joined eachother in the sitting-room after making all the fastenings secure.
"You did not look frightened a bit, Marion; and you certainly gave thatfellow a tremendous scare. Didn't he drop his club sharp? And now, whatdo you think we had better do? The first thing is to get the Grimstonesin. Those fellows may have been watching for some time and saw them goout."
"But they have got their guns with them, Wilfrid. The natives wouldsurely not think of attacking two men with guns when they have nothingbut their clubs."
"No, they certainly would not think of doing that, Marion. But thechances are that they have got guns, and that they left them in the bushwhen they sallied out, as they wanted to look peaceful and take us bysurprise."
"I did not think of that, Wilfrid. Yes, perhaps they have guns. Well,you know, it has always been agreed that in case of danger three shotsshould be fired as a warning to those who might be out. If we fire andthey hear it they will hurry back."
"Yes, but they might be shot as they make their way down to the h
ouse;that is what I am afraid of."
Marion was silent for a minute. "Do you know where they have gone to,Wilfrid?"
"They have gone in the first place to the clearing with those two bigtrees standing in the centre, but I cannot say where they may go toafterwards, for they had to look for four or five of the cattle that hadstrayed away."
"I can slip out from the window in the men's room and get into the bushand work round to the clearing, Wilfrid, and fire three shots there;that would bring them to me at once. You see, the natives couldn't crossthe clearing here without your having them under your gun."
"No, Marion," Wilfrid said decidedly; "that is not to be thought of. Ifthey saw you going they could work up through the bush on their side tothe top of the clearing, and then follow you. No; I think I will firethe three shots. We have talked it over several times, you know, and theGrimstones have been told that if they heard the alarm they must maketheir way cautiously to the top of the clearing and see what is going onbefore they venture to make for the house. As soon as I see them I canshout to them to keep to the bush on their left till they get oppositethe house. Everything is so still that one can hear a shout a long way,and I feel sure I could make them understand as far off as the end ofthe clearing. It isn't as if we were sure that these fellows were stillhanging about ready to attack us; the probabilities are all the otherway. They would have murdered us if they could have taken us bysurprise, but that is a different thing altogether to making an attacknow they know we are armed and ready."
Taking three of the rifles, Wilfrid opened one of the shutters at theback of the house and fired them, with an interval of about five secondsbetween each shot, then he stood at the window and watched the upperend of the glade. "Dear me!" he exclaimed suddenly, "I am sorry wefired."
"Why?" Marion asked in surprise.
"Because Mr. Atherton is sure to hear it if he is at home, and will comehurrying over; and if these fellows are still there he may come rightinto the middle of them."
"I do not think he would do that, Wilfrid," Marion said, after thinkingfor a moment or two. "Mr. Atherton is not like the Grimstones. He hasbeen in all sorts of adventures, and though I am sure he will come toour help as soon as he can, I think he would take every precaution. Hewould know that the natives will be likely to come from above, andtherefore be between him and us, and would come along carefully so asnot to be surprised."
"I hope so, I am sure," Wilfrid said; "for he is an awfully good fellow.Still, as you say, he is sure to keep his eyes opened, and unless theysurprise him I should back him against the four of them."
In a quarter of an hour they heard a shout from the edge of theclearing. "There are the Allens!" Wilfrid exclaimed as he leapt to thedoor. "I forgot about them, although of course they are nearer than Mr.Atherton. All right!" he shouted; "you can come on." The two Allens ranacross the open space between the wood and the house.
"What is it, Wilfrid?" they exclaimed as they came up. "You fired thealarm-signal, did you not?" Both were breathless with the speed at whichthey had run. They had been engaged in felling when they heard theshot, and had thrown down their axes, run into the hut for their guns,and made for The Glade at the top of their speed. In a few words Wilfridexplained what had happened, and that there was every reason to believethat four hostile neighbours were lurking in the bush on the oppositeside of the glade. The Allens at once volunteered to go up to the headof the clearing to warn the Grimstones. Returning to the point wherethey had left the forest, they made their way among the trees until theyreached the upper end of the clearing; then they sat down and listened.In a few minutes they heard the sound of breaking twigs. "Here come themen," the elder Allen said; "the Maoris would come along noiselessly."Two or three minutes later the Grimstones came up at a run, accompaniedby their two dogs.
"This way," James Allen said.
"What is it, sir?" Bob Grimstone gasped. "We were a long way in thewoods when we thought we heard three shots. We were not quite sure aboutit, but we started back as fast as we could come. There is nothingwrong, I hope?"
"Fortunately nothing has happened," James Allen replied; "but fourstrange Maoris came up to the house, and would certainly have murderedMr. Wilfrid and his sister if they had not been prepared for them.Whether they are in the bush now or not I do not know; but we have comeup to warn you not to go up the clearing, as, if they are there, theymight pick you off as you did so. We must come down under shelter of thetrees till we are opposite the house."
In ten minutes they reached the house. Just as they did so Mr. Athertonappeared at the edge of the wood which they had just left.
"Thank God you are all safe!" he said as he strolled up to the house."Your three shots gave me a fright; but as I heard no more I wasrelieved, for the signal told that you had not been taken by surprise,and as there was no more firing it was clear they had drawn off."
"But how did you get to that side of the clearing, Mr. Atherton?"
"I followed the wood till within a few hundred yards of the clearing, asI made sure if there were hostile natives about they would be at theedge of the bush. Then I got down into the river and waded along theedge. The bank in front here was not high enough to hide me, though Istooped as much as I could; but I reckoned that all eyes would be fixedon the house, and it was not likely I should be noticed. And now, whatis it all about? I am sure you would not have fired the signal unlessthere had been good cause for the alarm." Wilfrid related what had takenplace.
"Well done, Miss Marion!" Mr. Atherton said when he had finished. "Itwas lucky for your brother that you did not go with your father andmother this morning.
"It was lucky," Wilfrid agreed; "but at the same time, if I had beenquite alone I should have closed the shutters and door as they came up,and kept indoors. I only ventured to meet them outside because I knewthat Marion had a gun ready to hand to me the moment I wanted it."
"Yes; but you see there was not time to hand you the gun, Wilfrid, asit turned out, and you would have been knocked on the head to acertainty if your sister had not come to your rescue."
"That I certainly should; and I know that I owe Marion my life. What doyou think we had better do now?"
"I do not think we can do anything, Wilfrid, beyond trying to find outwhether the fellows who came here were alone, or were part of a largerparty. Where are your natives?"
"The three men are chopping, and Jack went out with the Grimstones tolook for the cattle."
"Was he with you when you heard the shots fired, Bob?"
"He was with us a minute or two before, and was following a track. Afterwe heard the signal we did not think anything more about him, andwhether he followed us or went on looking after the cattle I do notknow."
"If you go to the door, Wilfrid, and give a loud cooey it will bring himin if he is within hearing. You may be sure that he heard the signal,for his ears are keener than those of your men; but he would not rushstraight back, but would come cautiously through the woods according tohis nature."
Wilfrid went to the door and gave a loud cooey. A minute later the Maoriissued from the bush, nearly opposite the house, and ran in.
"That's just where the natives took to the bush," Wilfrid said. "Perhapshe will be able to tell us something about them."
"I expect he has been scouting," Mr. Atherton said, "and his comingboldly out from that point is a pretty sure proof that the natives havemade off. Well, Jack, so you heard our signal?"
Jack nodded.
"And what have you been doing since?" Wilfrid asked.
"Jack went through the bush fast till he got near house, then, as theguns were not going off, he knew there could be no attack; but thoughtblack man might be lying in bush, so he crept and crawled. Presently heheard man talk, and then saw four Maori walking fast away from house. Heonly heard them say as he passed, 'No use now; too many Pakehas. Comeanother day and finish them all.' Jack was coming straight to house whenhe heard cooey."
"You have seen nothing of your father and the other t
wo men, Jack?"
The Maori boy shook his head. "They chop wood; perhaps not heardsignal."
"More likely they heard, but thought it better to stay away," Wilfridsaid.
"No got guns; they not fighting-men," Jack said, as if in excuse.
"There is something in that," Mr. Atherton said. "The Hau-Haus havealways proved themselves even more merciless towards the friendlynatives than towards the whites; and these men, being unarmed, might,even with the best disposition in the world, be afraid to come to thehouse. At any rate, I am glad those fellows have made off. You see, theywere in a position to shoot any of us if they got the chance, while wewere scarce in a position to return the compliment."
"Why not?" James Allen asked.
"Because, although we could have now no doubt whatever as to theirintentions, they have committed no actual assault. They tried their bestto push their way into the house, and when Wilfrid opposed them one ofthem drew his club; but they might say this was only done to frightenhim, and that they had no thought of using it. If they had fired a shot,we should of course be justified in killing them; but were we to beginthe shooting, the whole tribe they belong to would take it up, and therewould be a cry for vengeance; and even if nothing were done at once, weshould be marked down to be wiped out at the first opportunity.
"We shall learn in a day or two whether the matter was serious or not,"Mr. Atherton went on. "If there is anything like a general defection ofthe natives in these parts yours will not have been the only placethreatened, and we shall hear of attacks on other settlers. If we do nothear of such attacks we can safely put it down that these four fellowswere mere haphazard passers, like tramps at home, who were tempted bythe fact that the house contained only two persons. In that case we needfeel no further anxiety; for as you would be able to recognize them ifyou met them anywhere, they would not be likely to come near this partof the district again. At any rate I will set off with the boy here andone of the dogs, and will follow up their tracks and see if they havegone well away. I have no doubt they have done so; still, it will bemore comfortable to make certain of it."
"By the way, Bob," Wilfrid said, "don't you take those two dogs outagain. I don't think they would be any good for hunting cattle, andwould be much more likely to frighten and hunt them away than to helpyou to drive them in. At any rate they were bought as guards, and are toremain about the house. Shall I go with you, Mr. Atherton?"
"No, thank you, Wilfrid; Jack will be enough to help me follow thetracks, for what he heard them say is almost proof that they have gone.I shall go round to my own place when I have followed them fairly offthe land, but will come round here to-morrow morning, when we will holda general council of war. It is no use my coming back again thisevening, as your father and the others will not be here before thattime. It is possible that they will bring us some news from theMitfords. If there is any trouble anywhere along the river Mitford issure to be the first to hear of it. I will send a message back by Jackwhen he has gone as far as necessary for our purpose."
Two hours later Jack returned with the news that the Maoris had gonestraight on without making a stop. Mr. and Mrs. Renshaw were expectedback at about ten o'clock. They were to breakfast early at the Mitfordsand to come up with their light canoe. They arrived, however, soon aftereight o'clock.
"Is all well?" Mr. Renshaw shouted as he stepped from the boat.
"All well, father," Marion replied, running down to meet them. "We had alittle unpleasantness yesterday, but nothing of consequence. What bringsyou back so early? You must have started before daylight."
"Bad news came in yesterday evening, and we should have come straightover if it had been possible, but Mr. Mitford would not let us leavetill morning. We have been very anxious about you."
"What is the news?" Wilfrid asked.
"The natives murdered two settlers at a farm some four miles from Mr.Mitford's. Yesterday he received letters both from Poverty Bay andNapier saying that the natives were in a very disturbed state, thatHau-Hau prophets had been going about among them, and that in bothdistricts there had been several murders. Corps of volunteers are beingraised at Napier, and they have sent to Wellington for a company of theconstabulary. The settlers at Poverty Bay are also making preparationsfor defence. Mr. Mitford was asked to get all the colonists on thisriver to arm and prepare for an attack. Of course this news was veryalarming in itself, and when two or three hours later the news came inof the murders in our own settlement we were naturally most anxiousabout you. However, as we could not come over in the dark through theforest, and as Mitford pointed out that the house was well prepared fordefence, and that you would certainly be on the alert and had the dogs,who would give you notice of any body of men coming, we consented toremain if he would send us home in the canoe at five o'clock in themorning. And now, what is it that happened here yesterday?"
"It was nothing very alarming, father. Four natives came up and askedfor food, which of course I gave them. Then they wanted gin, and seeingthat I was alone tried to push their way into the house I tried to stopthem. The fellow snatched at his club. As he did so Marion appeared atthe door with a levelled rifle, and the fellows, who had no guns withthem, took to their heels. We gave the alarm-signal, and the Allens andMr. Atherton came over at once, and the Grimstones ran in from theirwork. However, the natives had made their way off, and I do not supposewe shall hear any more of them."
"I don't know, Wilfrid," his father said. "If it had been only thisaffair I should not have thought much about it. The natives are oftenrude and insolent, and these men might not have meant to do more thanhelp themselves to a bottle of spirits, but taken with these accountsfrom Napier and Poverty Bay, and with the murders yesterday, I think itis very serious."
"Mr. Atherton and the Allens promised to come over at ten o'clock,father, to chat the matter over with you, and hear whether you hadbrought news of any troubles elsewhere. So we shall have quite acouncil. And now let us have breakfast. We were just going to sit downwhen we heard your call, and I am sure you must be as hungry as huntersafter your three hours on the water."
Breakfast was scarcely finished when Mr. Atherton and the Allensarrived, and were made acquainted with the news of the murder of the twosettlers on the previous day.
"It is clear," Mr. Atherton said, "that the affair here yesterday wasnot, as I hoped, a mere incident, such as might happen anywhere if aparty of ruffianly fellows arrived at a lonely house which they thoughtthey could rob with impunity. This sad business you tell us of showsthat there is a general movement among the natives, the result, Isuppose, of the arrival of some emissary from the Hau-Haus. It is anawkward business. What is Mr. Mitford's opinion on the subject?"
"He thinks it will be well that all settlers on the river capable ofbearing arms should be enrolled as a volunteer corps, and be inreadiness to turn out at a moment's notice. He is of opinion that allthose whose farms lie at a distance from the main body should drive intheir animals and bring in such goods as they can carry to his station,as one of the most central. Huts could be got up there, and the animalsall kept at night in his large stockaded yard. In case the natives seeminclined to make a regular attack the women and children could be sentdown the river in boats or put on board a ship and sent to Napier.Fortunately, there is seldom a week without a craft of some sort puttinginto the river."
"There is no doubt that this would be the safest plan," Mr. Athertonsaid, "but it would be a serious thing for the settlers to abandon theircrops and houses to the natives unless it was certain that the dangerwas very great."
"That is my opinion," Mr. Renshaw said. "I am certainly not disposed tohave the results of our labour destroyed without a struggle."
Wilfrid looked alike surprised and pleased. "I am glad to hear you sayso, father. It would be an awful nuisance and loss to have all our cropsdestroyed and our house burnt down, and to have to begin the whole thingover again. I don't see what would have been the use of gettingeverything ready for defence if we are all to run away
directly thereis danger; but I think it would be a good thing to send the animals downto Mr. Mitford's, as he is good enough to offer to take them. We mightsend down the three natives to look after them, as of course they willhave to go out to graze in the daytime, and keep Jack here. I do notknow about the other men, and one doesn't seem able to trust the nativesin the slightest; but I feel sure of Jack, and he would be useful to usin many ways in the house, besides being able to scout in the woods farbetter than we could do."
"I think that you are right, Mr. Renshaw," Mr. Atherton said. "I shouldpropose as an addition that the Allens here and I make this ourhead-quarters while the scare lasts. We could run up a light shanty witha few hours' work just behind the house. The Allens could go over totheir work during the day and return here at night, and I should wanderabout the woods with my gun as usual. I do not think we need fear anyattack in the daytime. If it comes at all it will be at night or atearly morning. The natives will know from the men who were here that youare well armed, and will try to catch you napping. We won't be any moretrouble to you than we can help, and with the addition of our three gunsI think we could defend ourselves against any number of natives. What doyou think of my proposal, lads?"
The Allens said at once that they thought it was an excellent one, ifMr. and Mrs. Renshaw were willing to have the trouble of them.
"It will be no trouble at all," Mrs. Renshaw said, "and will be a verygreat comfort. With seven men to protect us Marion and I shall feelperfectly safe, and it will be in all ways pleasant to have you herewith us. I do not see that you need build a hut outside at all. Therewill be no difficulty in making up beds here and in the kitchen, andthen we shall be all together."
"But I do not propose that you should cook for us, Mrs. Renshaw. If wehad a hut of our own our boys could do that for us. You see, we arecoming up here for our own defence as well as yours."
"I should not think of such a thing," Mrs. Renshaw said decidedly."There is no more trouble in cooking for nine than there is for six;and, as I have said, it will be a real pleasure to us to have youstopping here."
"Very well. Then in that case, Mrs. Renshaw, we will accept yourinvitation. I will bring over my belongings to-day and store them inyour loft above, and the Allens had better bring over anything they donot want burnt by the natives. I still hope that these outrages are thework of a few ruffians, and that the natives in general will not allowthemselves to be persuaded into hostilities against us; still, if theworst comes to the worst, I am convinced that we can hold this houseagainst quite as strong a force as they are likely to bring to attackit. There is one precaution I should advise you to take at once, andthat is to lay in a store of water. I daresay you have got some emptymolasses and pork casks, that is if you do not burn them as soon as youempty them. If not we must set to work and make a strong wooden tank. Incase we were really besieged, it would be fatal to us if we were caughtwithout a supply of water."
Fortunately there were three or four empty casks. These were taken downto the river and thoroughly washed, filled with water and rolled up tothe house. While this was being done, Wilfrid, with the Grimstones andthe natives, had gone out and driven in all the animals from theclearings, and as soon as they were brought in Wilfrid with the nativesstarted to drive them to Mr. Mitford's. Mr. Atherton went over to hishut, and before night his two natives had brought over all his mostvaluable property, and the next day his hut was completely stripped. TheAllens only brought over a few things. Their furniture was rough andheavy, and they contented themselves by carrying it out into the forestnear and hiding it in the undergrowth. Wilfrid returned to The Glade inthe evening. He said that many of the settlers had come in, and wereerecting shelters of hides, canvas, and wood near Mr. Mitford's house.The men were all being enrolled. Officers had been appointed, and thenatives were likely to meet with a stout resistance if they ventured onhostilities.
Mrs. Mitford had sent an earnest invitation to Mrs. Renshaw and Marionto take up their abode with her. Mr. Mitford had approved of theirintention of holding the house. He knew its capabilities of defence andthought that, unless taken by surprise, they would be able to hold it.
"It will be a sort of outpost for the colony," he said, "and will add toour safety; for if any strong body of natives were approaching theywould probably attack you before coming on here. The instant we hearthat you are attacked we will come up to aid you. We shall be able tomuster in all something like fifty mounted men--a strength sufficient tomeet any number of natives likely to assemble in these parts."