countenances
scarcely looked like those of human beings, and the grim, immovable
idols, upon their pedestals, seemed vaster and more hideous than ever.

"As we turned, and plunged into the grove again, resuming our flight in
a somewhat altered direction, an eager shout announced that we had been
seen. But this cry proceeded, not from the group in front of the marae,
who were wholly absorbed in their savage orgies, but from a straggling
party of pursuers from the village, to whom the light of the bonfire had
betrayed us. The chase was now no longer random or uncertain; they came
on like hounds in full view of the game, uttering yells that caused the
blood to curdle in my veins. My strength began to fail, and I felt a
horrible spell creeping over me, like that which often in dreams,
deprives us of the power to fly some appalling danger. Rokoa restrained
his superior speed, and kept beside Barton and myself. `Courage,
Artua!' he said, `we are near the shore,' and he offered me his hand to
assist me, but I would not take it. Notwithstanding our utmost
exertions our pursuers gained upon us. I was very nearly exhausted when
we reached the ravine which divided the miro-grove from the bread-fruit
plantation, and, as we struggled up its steep side, Barton panted and
gasped so painfully for breath, that I dreaded each moment to see him
fall to the ground incapable of proceeding further. But we knew that
our lives were at stake, and forced ourselves to exertions which nature
could not long support; still, the cries of our pursuers, the sound of
their footsteps, and the crashing of branches in their path, drew
continually nearer.

"At last we had nearly traversed the breadth of the plantation, and the
welcome sound of the waves, breaking upon the beach, greeted our ears.
Safety now seemed within our reach, and we summoned all our remaining
energies for a final effort. The trees, growing more thinly as we
approached the skirt of the wood, let in the light, and between their
trunks I caught a glimpse of the sea. Right before us was a thicket,
tangled with fern, and scarcely twenty yards beyond it lay the beach
shining in the star-light. As we turned a little aside to avoid the
thicket, an appalling yell rang out from it, and half a dozen dark
figures started from their ambush, and sprang into the path before us.
The old priest was at their head: my heart sank, and I gave up all as
host. Rokoa, swinging up his ponderous c