Ngati took all in at a glance, and signing to his companions to follow,
he again lay down, creeping on for a short distance, trailing his spear,
till they were well behind a pile of rocks.
Here he gave a sharp look round at the _cul de sac_ into which they had
been driven, and without hesitation crept to their left to where the
rocky wall descended to the raging torrent.
To him the place seemed to have no danger, as he passed over the edge
and disappeared, but to Don it was like seeking death.
"We can never do it, Jem," he said.
"Must, Mas' Don. Go on."
Don looked at him wildly, and then in a fit of desperation he lowered
himself over the edge, felt a pair of great hands grasp him by the
loins, and, as he loosened his hold, he was dropped upon a rough ledge
of rock, where he stood giddy and confused, with the torrent rushing
furiously along beneath his feet, and in front, dimly-seen through a
mist which rose from below, he caught a glimpse of a huge fall of water
which came from high up, behind some projecting rocks, and disappeared
below.
The noise of falling water now increased, reverberating from the walls
of rock; the mist came cool and wet against his face, and, hurried and
startled, Don stood upon the wet, rocky shelf, holding on tightly, till
Ngati laid his hand upon his shoulder, passed round him, and then,
signing to him to follow, went on.
Don's first thought was of Jem, and looking behind him, there was his
companion close to where he stood.
Jem nodded to him to go on, just as a faint shout arose from somewhere
above; and this seemed to nerve him to proceed over the slippery stones
to where Ngati was passing round a corner, holding tightly by the rock,
which he seemed to embrace.
The way was dangerous in the extreme--a narrow ledge of the most rugged
kind with a perpendicular moss-covered wall on the right, and on the
left, space, with far below the foaming torrent, a glance at which
seemed to produce vertigo.
To stand still seemed to be worse than going on, and taking it to his
comfort that what one man could do another might, Don reached the
corner, but hesitated again, for there seemed to be no foot-hold
whatever. But as he hesitated a great brown hand came round, ready to
grasp his firmly; and with this help he made the venture, pressing
himself close against the rock and creeping on.
He was just in the most perilous part, well out over the torrent, when
his left foot slipped, and a horrible chill ran through him, as he felt
that he was falling into the chasm below to instant death. He held on
with his right hand, and strove to press his breast against the rock,
but the effort was vain; his right hand slipped from the crevice in
which it was thrust, his right foot glided over the wet moss, and he
slipped down, hung for a moment or two over the foaming waters, and then
felt himself swung up and on to a broad ledge, upon which Ngati was
standing.
The Maori took it as a matter of course, signed to him to get up, and
passed his hand round the rock once more to assist Jem.
A curious sensation ran through Don as he watched for Jem's coming, and
trembling and unnerved, it seemed to him that watching another's peril
was more painful than suffering oneself.
But in spite of his wounded shoulder Jem came round the point slowly and
carefully, but with his brow rugged from the pain he suffered as Ngati
held him firmly by his injured arm.
As soon as he was in safety Jem passed his hand across his wet forehead
and bit his lip, whilst once more signing to them to follow, Ngati led
on.
The way now was downward from rock to rock, and, terrible though it
looked, the danger was less, for there was ample foot-hold and an
abundance of bushy stems and fern fronds ready to their hands. The
falls were again invisible, and they pressed on toward where another
shoulder of the rocks jutted out, hiding the falling waters, whose noise
was now so deafening that, had they wished to speak, a shout close to
the ear would hardly have been heard.
Big as the Maori was, he seemed to be as active as a goat, and picking
the easiest ways over the mist-moistened stones, he led his companions
lower and lower down the rock wall till, when they reached the next
projection, and on passing round, it was to find themselves in what was
little more than a huge rock pit, facing a mass of water which fell from
quite two hundred feet above them into a vast cauldron of white foam,
which chafed and roared and cast up clouds of spray as it whirled round
and then rushed out of the narrow opening along the jagged gash by whose
side they had come.
The appearance of the vast body of water falling in one clear bound was
bewildering, while the noise, as it reverberated from the rocky sides,
produced a feeling of awe which made Don stand motionless till Ngati
passed him, and sheltering his face behind a tuft of fern, peered round
the corner they had just passed.
He withdrew his head, looking fierce and determined, signed once more to
Don to follow, and went on climbing carefully along the sides of the
huge pit.
"Where can he be going now?" thought Don, as he caught sight of a
refulgent rainbow spanning the falls, and his eyes rested upon the
brilliant, sun-illumined greens of fern, bush, and grass, with pendent
mosses, all luxuriating in the heat and moisture of the wind-sheltered
place.
These were but momentary glances, for his whole thoughts seemed to be
taken up by the struggle for life imperilled in a hundred ways.
For still Ngati climbed on, turning every now and then to extend his
hand or spear-shaft to Don when the place was unusually difficult; and
by this means they went on and on till first they were on a level with
the side of the fall, then partially shielded by it, and at last, when
the Maori paused, unable to proceed farther either up or down, they were
standing upon a projecting mass of rock with the great veil of water
between them and the daylight, one vast curve of hundreds of tons of
greenish water falling, ever falling, into the chasm below.
It was dim with a greenish light where they stood, and the mist wetted
them as they glanced sidewise along the way by which they had come, to
see whether their enemies were in pursuit; but after watching for some
time Ngati smiled and shook his head.
"No," he said, or seemed to say, for they could only judge by the
movement of his lips. "No," and he shook his head, and seating himself,
gazed calmly and placidly at the water, as if there were no such thing
as danger.
In fact, to the great savage there was no such thing as peril in any of
the objects of nature. Full of strength and calm matter-of-fact
courage, climbing rocks or making his way into such a place as this was
a very commonplace affair. His idea of danger was in the sight of
enemies thirsting for his blood. Now that they were out of reach, and
he believed that he had thrown them off the scent, he was perfectly
content, and ready to smile at the perfection of the hiding-place he had
sought.
"Can you hear me, Jem?" said Don at last, after they had sat on the wet
stones for some time, watching the falling water and listening to the
thunderous roar.
"Yes, if you shout quite close?"
"Isn't it an awful place?"
"Ay, 'tis."
"Do you think we shall escape?"
"I was thinking what a good job it was that we had managed a good feed."
"How are we to get away again?"
"Dunno. P'r'aps there's another way out."
"I hope so. It will be horrible to have to go back as we came."
Jem nodded, and began to nibble the dry skin at the side of his finger
nails, looking up thoughtfully at the translucent arch.
Then he nodded to Don as if he wished to speak, and Don put his ear
close to Jem's lips.
"Think there's much more on it to come down?"
"More, Jem?"
"Yes. 'Cause when it's all run out, they'll be able to see us."
"I should think it is always falling like this, Jem."
"Oh!"
No more was said, and they sat patiently waiting for danger or freedom,
whichever might be in store for them. Ngati held out his great fist
from time to time to shake hands in a congratulatory way, and the hours
glided on till it began to grow dark, and another horror assailed Don.
It was evident that they must pass the night there in the cold and damp,
for to attempt to escape in the dark would be madness, and how would it
be if they dropped off to sleep and slipped?
He shuddered at the thought, and sat in silence gazing at Ngati, who
waited calmly till the shadows of evening had quite filled the chasm,
when he rose, and it was evident that he did not consider escape in the
darkness impossible, for, grasping Don's arm, he uttered the one word
"Come!" and led the way out from beneath the watery arch, to stand, as
soon as they were quite clear, shading his eyes and gazing through the
transparent gloom in search of their enemies.
Apparently satisfied, he tapped both on the shoulder, and with a shudder
of dread Don followed him along the side of the gulf.