Page:Adventures of Kimble Bent.djvu/247

Rh voice ask. He turned and saw the war-chief Titokowaru standing at his side. "What do you want of this pakeha?"

The Maori replied that he wished the white man to help him haul the soldier's body into the marae.

"No!" cried the chief in his great hoarse voice. "No! you must not call upon my pakeha to help you. He shall not touch the bodies of his countrymen."

So the war-captain and his cartridge-maker stood by watching the frightful procession of Hauhaus and their prizes. The seven naked bodies were dragged into the pa and laid out in the centre of the marae.

The excited people all gathered in a great circle around the bodies. One after another the orators