"War to the Knife;" or, Tangata Maori by Rolf Boldrewood (100 best novels of all time TXT) 📕

Zealand, who [Pg 269] stood there drenched to the skin, with the water dripping from his garments—"and will be until this unhappy war is over. The fact is, that I heard through a native convert that the missionaries at Ohaupo were in danger, so I started at midnight to warn them. The creek was flooded, or I should not have looked so much like a drowned rat."

Massinger, who had been gazing intently at the devoted Churchman of whom he had heard such wondrous stories—tales of his courage, his athletic feats, his influence among the natives, his eloquence, his tender treatment of the wounded on both sides—was lost in admiration as he gazed at the expressive countenance, so noble in its simplicity. He now came forward with an offer of a change of garments.

"My friend, Lieutenant Massinger," said Mr. Slyde, introducing him. "He has only joined recently, and, indeed, is but lately from England."

"Massinger of the Court? Surely not!" said the bishop, with an air of much interest. "How strange that we should meet thus! I knew your people well before I left England. I will not ask you how you came to be thus engaged, but must content myself with declining your courteous offer. We are all in one boat as to discomfort. I am only bearing my share of the common burden; and, indeed, I believe that were I to trouble my head about these trifling privations, I should lose my robust health, and, like some of my poor native parishioners, become a prey to ordinary ailments."

At this stage of the interview an orderly arrived with a pressing invitation from the senior officer of the Forest Rangers, who trusted that his lordship [Pg 270] would not delay joining their mess at breakfast; so, with a hearty expression of thanks and adieu, this devoted soldier of the Church Militant departed with the orderly, every soldier within sight saluting as he passed.

"That's a man, if you like!" said Mr. Slyde. "If there were more like him, no other religion would have a chance with ours. Travelled on foot from coast to coast—in all weathers, too. Night or day, high water or low, hot or cold, all alike to him. Opposed to the war, too, back and edge. Government taken his advice, never have broken out."

"And now, what is his work?"

"Peace and good will on earth. Can't be hoped for just yet, of course. Making the best of it now, until the end comes. Risked his life over and over again. Worst of it, natives beginning to doubt him—fired at him, indeed. Feels it bitterly, they say. Been advised to keep out of the way. Scorns prudence. Says it's his duty to go to the front. Careful only about other men's lives."

"I've often heard of him," said Massinger; "I'm thankful now that I've seen him. It does one good to meet an apostle in the flesh."

"Not an extra religious man myself," said Mr. Slyde; "but deep respect for the man, apart from his cloth. Black his boots any day, and feel proud to do it, by Jove!"

Breakfast concluded, there were certain military duties to be observed, at the conclusion of which the lieutenant made his way to headquarters, hoping for an interview with this heroic personage. To his regret, he found that, with characteristic rapidity of action, he had already departed, but had found time [Pg 271] to write hastily the note which was now handed to him. It ran as follows:—

"My dear Young Friend (if I may so address you),

"You can hardly imagine the mingled feelings which your presence in this camp called up. Your county adjoins mine, and I have heard of your family ever since I can remember. Knowing its position, I can hardly imagine what could have brought about your departure from the land we all hold so dear.

"Mine was a call, imperative and irresistible. I could not refuse to perform my Master's work. I should have, perhaps, been unduly puffed up by the success of my previous efforts, had not this disastrous war come to lower my pride. I have been chastened, God only knows how severely. May it be for my soul's good! You are in the ranks of those who are fighting—some in defence of a policy of injustice; others, like yourself, I feel certain, merely as a protest against the domination of a savage race—in defence of the hearths and homes which a victorious foe would desecrate. Of the inception of the war you and your friend, Mr. Slyde, I know, are innocent.

"Among our native allies, the Ngapuhi and the Rarawa tribes have ever been true and faithful. The chiefs Waka Nene and Patuone, in their steadfast adherence to the Christian faith and unswerving loyalty to our Queen, may well serve as examples to men in high position. Farewell! and may He who is able to save both body and soul, preserve you through all dangers, now and evermore.

"Believe me to be

"Most truly yours,

"G. A. New Zealand."

[Pg 272]

"We shall meet again," thought the recipient of the apostolic epistle—"we must do so, with leisure to hear his opinion on this most vexed question of the war. I wish with all my heart that it was over. But a peace would be worse than nothing unless we fully proved our superiority. These Waikatos and Ngatihaua must not be suffered to think that they have repulsed the whole British army. The country would be impossible to live in. And we can't afford to lose such a brace of islands as these, the nearest approach, in climate, soil, and adaptation to the British race, of any land yet occupied. Not to be thought of."

And here he began to hum a song in which the glories of Britain on land and sea were set forth, and for the moment forgot his virtuous indignation against the occupation of Taharaimaka and the injustice of the Waitara business.

And so the war progressed, sometimes with passages of toilsome marching, daring attack of pah or redoubt, hairbreadth escapes, wounds, and inevitable incidents of warfare. Ever and anon a brilliant surprise, a masterly manɶuvre on the part of the troops or allies, followed by an ambuscade planned by the natives with consummate skill, or a desperate stand in their entrenchments, where the loss of officers was unduly great, and the rank and file suffered severely. When it was considered that nearly three years had elapsed in a campaign where ten thousand British regulars, and nearly as many volunteers and native allies, were arrayed against the Maoris, who at no time could have had five thousand men in the field, it seemed amazing that no decisive victory should have been obtained.

[Pg 273]

"Talk of its being 'one of Britain's little wars,' as the newspapers call it!" grumbled Mr. Slyde. "My belief is that it is going to last as long as that confounded Carthaginian business. How they used to bore us with it at school! Beginning bad enough—end probably worse. Fellows die of old age, unless we hurry up."

"It does drag fearfully; it's only bearable when we're in action. This lagging guerilla business, with such a commissariat—all the privations of war, and none of the excitement—is simply unendurable. However, when Warwick comes in from his scouting prowl we may hear something."

"Wonder he doesn't get 'chopped' some of these fine days. Certainly manages to pick up information in a wonderful way. Von Tempsky says he's thrown away upon us two. Wants to get him for scout business pure and simple."

"For some inscrutable reason he has attached himself to me," said Massinger. "I suggested that he might do good service by acting in that capacity—alone. He didn't take kindly to it at all—seemed hurt; so I let him alone."

"Best thing you could do. Not a bad thing to have a fidus Achates born a Trojan. Put you up to their wiles. Shouldn't wonder if he'd given you a hand as it is?"

"Now I come to think of it, he did once. We were having some brisk work that day at Katikara, where we couldn't dislodge the natives from the redoubt. The firing was sharp, when he motioned me to change position. The next minute a bullet struck the tree just where I had been standing, and [Pg 274] a fellow put his head over the parapet to see if he had bagged me. Warwick was waiting for him, and as he fired I saw my friend fling up his arms and fall backward."

"'Close call!' as the backwoodsmen say; but that sort of thing's all luck. Look at Ropata! You'd think he stood up on purpose to be shot at—shilling a shot kind of business. Never been touched yet. No wonder they call him 'Waha Waha.' 'The devil or some untoward saint' has an eye to him, the Tohungas say."

"He's a grand soldier. It's lucky for us that he's on our side. Reckless and ruthless, a true Ngatiporou.—Hallo! what tribe do you belong to?" continued he, as he pointed to a tall Maori standing within a few paces of them. "Why, it's Warwick! How in the world did you get so close to us without our hearing you?"

"Only in the way some Waikato will sneak you, lieutenant, if you are not more careful—when you'll be shot before you have time to lift your hand. My native relatives taught me that and other things when I was young."

"And what news have you? Anything important?"

"That's as it may be. Large bodies of the Ngaiterangi have commenced to move forward towards the Orakau. We shall have a big affair soon. I fell in with a scout of the Arawa named Taranui, and he was of the same way of thinking. Said the Ngaiterangi were closing up. But I must deliver my report at headquarters first."

Whereupon Warwick departed. He had divested [Pg 275] himself of his European garments, and was attired chiefly in a flax mat (pureke), a tapona (war-cloak), and other strictly Maori habiliments, with a heitiki suspended from his neck; his muscular arms and lower leg were bare. He looked so like a native that only by close inspection could he be detected.

"The gods be praised!" said Mr. Slyde, fervently. "Men getting mouldy here. Another month or two like this would demoralize them. Out of hand a trifle already. Look at Warwick! Doesn't he glide along, at that half run, half walk of the natives? At this distance no one would take him for a white man. Have all the news when he comes to supper."

With this hope before them, the friends addressed themselves to such occupations as were available, and awaited the evening meal, when Warwick would have an opportunity of unloading his budget. When the bugle-call sounded the welcome invitation, they descried him lounging down from the other end of the camp in undress uniform, having taken the opportunity to remove every trace of his recent experiences.

"And now for your adventures, Warwick," said Massinger, as, having settled to the after-supper pipe, the little party seated themselves on a rude bench constructed of fern stems some ten feet in length, and supported on blocks of the pahautea. "It doesn't happen to rain now, wonderful to relate, and the moon, taking heart and encouragement, 'diffuses her mild rays,' as the poets say, through this ancient and darksome woodland. Did you see any of the Ngaiterangi?"

"I did indeed, nearer than I liked," answered Warwick; "and but for a lucky chance they would [Pg 276] have seen me, in which case you would never have seen me again—alive that is."

"Thrilling in the extreme," assented Mr. Slyde. "What was it—a taua?"

"More than that; a whole hapu—a strong one too, women and all. They were travelling fast, and heading straight for Kihikihi."

"How far off were you?"

"Barely sixty yards. What saved me was that I was in the bed of a creek, among the ferns on the edge of the water. I had just been going to climb to the top, when I heard a girl laugh. I could scarcely believe my ears. However, I crawled up and peeped through the manuka. Sure enough, there they were, three hundred strong, besides women and children—marching in close order, too. If they had straggled at all I was a gone man."

"So they didn't see you?"

"No. What saved me was a bend in the creek, which they had crossed higher up; so they steered for the other point which they could see—there are some rocks on the bank—and left me in the loop of the circle. If they had struck the creek nearer to me, I must have been seen. But they had camped at the other point, and having had their kai, were marching to recover the time. I was very glad when I saw their backs."

"How long would they be in reaching Kihi-kihi?"

"Not before tomorrow night. Their intention is, of course, to get into Orakau and strengthen the defences. There's only a sufficient number there now to hold the earthworks against a moderate force."

"What do you think the general will do?"

[Pg 277]

"Move to intercept them before they can get into the pah."

"And is there time for the march?"

"Barely. Don't be