‘I obey the gods,’ said Rua. ‘He robbed the grave of my ancestor. The fury of Tane has fallen upon him. My grandfather Rewi is avenged.’ It occurred to Dikon that all this grandiloquence would have sounded more impressive in the native tongue. Mrs Claire seemed to be of this opinion. She administered a crisp scolding, her hands folded at her waist, while Rua, still clutching his preposterous trophy, rolled his eyes and seemed to be in two minds whether to go for Webley or beat a retreat.

Upon this scene, half comic, half ominous as all scenes at Wai-ata-tapu seemed fated to appear, came Huia, nervously twisting her hands. She edged her way round the dining-room door and along the back of the verandah. Her gaze was fixed upon her great grandfather. At the same time Simon appeared round the corner of the house and Barbara, carrying a tray, drifted through the dining-room and paused at the windows. Dr Ackrington loomed up behind her, peered through the window and, seeing what was afoot, limped out to the verandah. A moment later Dikon heard a movement in Gaunt’s rooms. It was as though the characters in a loosely constructed drama had begun to converge upon a focal point.

Huia’s face had lost its warmth of colour. She and the old man stared at each other, seeming to communicate. He raised the adze. The crest of hair quivered. ‘Haere ami,’ said Rua. ‘Come here to me.’

She crept a little nearer. He began to speak to her in their own tongue but soon checked himself. ‘You do not understand me. You know little of the speech of the children of Tane. Very well. Let your shame be made known in the tongue of the pakeha.’ He looked about him, commanding the attention of his hearers. ‘Many months ago, feeling myself draw near to the path that goes down to the final abode, I spoke with my eldest grandson who now fights with our battalions in a strange country. To him I confided the secret hiding place of this weapon, a secret which has been known only to the ariki, the first-born, of each generation of my family. Beyond the manuka bushes where we spoke, unknown to me, this girl lay dreaming. I discovered her when my grandson had left me. I questioned her and she told me that since I had spoken in our own tongue she had not understood me. Look at her now and judge if she deceived me.’ He moved towards her. She pressed herself against the wall and watched him. ‘To whom did you betray the resting place of Rewi’s toki? Answer me. To whom?’

She made a timid abortive gesture, half raising her hand. Then as if Rua had menaced her, she shot out her arm and pointed at Eru Saul.

III