more infirm and helpless they became, the more faithfully to cherish and protect them. In speaking on this subject, I grew earnest and excited, and probably my voice and manner too strongly expressed the abhorrence I felt for such monstrous and unnatural crimes.

At this point Barton, who had for some time been looking on in astonishment at the serious turn which the matter had so unexpectedly taken, interrupted me with the whispered caution

'Be careful, Arthur! I fear, from the black looks of one of your clerical fathers here, that you are giving offence to the cloth, and trenching upon perilous ground.'

But the warning came too late. Just as I glanced round in search of the threatening looks to which Barton alluded, a frightful figure sprang up on the outer edge of the circle of listeners directly in front of me, and with cries of rage, forced its way towards the spot where I stood. I recognized at once the old priest of the marae; but how changed since I last saw him! Every sign of age and decrepitude had vanished: his misshapen frame seemed dilated, and instinct with nervous energy: his face was pale with the intensity of his fury, and his small eyes flashed fire.

'Perish, reviler of Oro and his priests!' he cried, and hurled at me a barbed spear, with so true an aim, that if I had not stooped as it left his hand, it would have struck my face. Whizzing over my head, it pierced the tough bark of a bread-fruit-tree ten yards behind me, where it stood quivering. Instantly catching a club from the hands of a bystander, he rushed forward to renew the attack. He had reached the foot of the rock where I stood, when Rokoa, with a bound, placed himself between us, and though without any weapon, motioned him back with a gesture so commanding, and an air at once so quiet and so fearless, that the priest paused. But it was for an instant only; then, without uttering a word, he aimed a

blow at Rokoa's head. The latter caught it in his open palm, wrenched the weapon from him, and adroitly foiling a furious attempt which he made to grapple with him, once more stood upon the defensive with an unruffled aspect, and not the slightest appearance of excitement in his

manner.

The baffled priest, livid with rage, looked round for another weapon. Half-a-dozen of the men who had arrived upon the ground with him uttered a wild yell, and pressed forward with brandished clubs and spears. Barton and I placed ourselves by Rokoa's side, the former handing me one of his pistols. All was tumult and confusion. The outbreak had been so sudden and unexpected, and what I have just related had passed so rapidly, that the bystanders had not yet recovered from the first shock of astonishment and terror. Of the women, some shrieked, and fled from the spot, others threw themselves between us and the armed natives, or invoked the interference of their brothers and friends for our protection. Only a few even of the men seemed to participate in the feeling of hostility against us.

But however inferior in number, the party of our foes far surpassed that of our friends in resolution and energy. Foremost among them were the priest, and the hard-featured chief who had been so deeply incensed by what he regarded as the wanton insults offered him by Barton. A number of the young men also, whose anger and jealousy had been aroused by his sudden popularity, and the attention which had been paid us, sided zealously with the priest and his party, and joined in the clamour against us.

Meanwhile Mowno, at Olla's entreaty, strove to calm the tumult, and to pacify the leader and instigator of it; but his authority was fiercely spurned, and our goodnatured protector quailed before the fury of the vindictive old man. As yet, however, our enemies, conscious that the sympathies of a large number of the bystanders were

with us, had offered us no actual violence, confining themselves to menacing cries and gestures, by which they seemed to be striving to work themselves up to the requisite pitch of excitement. This was likely to be speedily attained under the influence of the fierce exhortations and contagious fury of the priest. Some of the young men, in fact, now commenced a sort of covert attack, by throwing stones and fragments of wood at us from the outskirts of the crowd, and Barton was struck violently on the mouth by one of these missiles, by which his lip was badly cut. In the midst of all the excitement and tumult, Rokoa stood with the outward appearance at least of perfect composure. Neither the ravings of the priest, nor the menacing attitude of 'Catiline,' nor the brandished weapons of their followers, deprived him of his coolness and presence of mind. He steadily confronted them with an unblenching eye, grasping the club of which he had possessed himself, in readiness to meet the attack, which he at the same time did nothing, by look or gesture, to provoke. His calm intrepidity, while it seemed temporarily to restrain our enemies, served also to reassure and steady Barton and myself; and endeavouring to emulate his self-possession, we stood ready to act as circumstances should indicate, looking to him for the example."

Here Arthur paused, as if about to suspend his narrative. Charlie, who was now broad awake, and listening eagerly, waited patiently a few moments, expecting him to recommence. Finding, however, that he did not do so, he at length asked him to "go on."

"It is getting quite late," answered Arthur; "see, those three bright stars which were high in the heavens when we first sat down here, are now on the very edge of the horizon, about to sink behind the ocean. As we expect to be up and on our way to Castle Hill before sunrise tomorrow, I think we should now go to rest."

"If we do," replied Charlie, "I am sure I shall not be

able to sleep; I shall be thinking of that terrible old priest, and trying to guess how you escaped at last."

"I judge," said Browne, "that you are pretty nearly at the end of your adventures in Angatan, so pray let us have the remainder now."

"Do so," added Morton, "and set Charlie's mind at rest, or he will be dreaming of cannibals and cannibal priests all night, and disturbing us by crying out in his sleep."

"I think it is quite likely," said Charlie, shaking his head in a threatening manner. "I feel just now very

much as if I should."

"Since that is the case," said Arthur, "I suppose I must 'go on' in self-defence; and as I believe that twenty minutes will suffice for what remains, I will finish it.”

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE FLIGHT.

TE VEA!-THE VICTIM FOR SACRIFICE-THE ESCAPE AND PURSUIT THE PRIEST'S AMBUSH.

"For life, for life, their flight they ply,
And shriek, and shout, and battle-cry,
And weapons waving to the sky,
Are maddening in their rear."

"While the party hostile to us thus stood hesitating, but to all appearance rapidly approaching a point where all hesitation would cease, Olla, with tears streaming down her cheeks, besought us to fly to her husband's house, where, she seemed to imagine, we should necessarily be

safe from violence. But though no one yet laid hands on us, we were surrounded on all sides, and could not, with any certainty, distinguish friends from foes; and the first movement on our part to escape would probably be the signal for an instant and general attack by the priest and his followers. We thought, therefore, that our best hope of safety lay in maintaining a firm but quiet attitude, until Mowno, and those disposed to protect us, could make their influence felt in our behalf. They, however, confined their efforts to feeble expostulations and entreaties; and perhaps it was unreasonable to expect them to engage in a deadly conflict with their own neighbours, relatives, and personal friends, in the defence of mere strangers like ourselves. They could not even restrain the younger and more violent portion of the rabble from carrying on the species of desultory warfare from which Barton had already suffered; on the contrary, the stones and other missiles, thrown by persons on the outskirts of the crowd, fell continually thicker and faster. At length Rokoa received a staggering blow on the back of the head from a clod of earth, thrown by some one who had stolen round behind the rock for that purpose, and who immediately afterwards disappeared in the throng.

'How much longer are we to endure this?' cried Barton. 'Must we stand here and suffer ourselves to be murdered by these cowardly attacks? Let us shoot a couple of them, and make a rush for the shore.'

But a moment's reflection was enough to show the utter hopelessness of such an attempt. However much the natives might be astounded for an instant by the discharge of firearms, all fear and hesitation would vanish upon our taking to flight. Our backs once turned, would be the mark for a score of ready spears; and, except perhaps for Rokoa, whose speed was extraordinary, there would be scarcely the possibility for escape. Still, it was evident that the audacity of our enemies was steadily in