tty his propriety; again the Maori girl felt nothing but pleasure
and pride in the part she played.

When they reached the further side, Amiria picked up her mat and threw
it over her glistening shoulders, and Scarlett floundered over the
slippery rocks towards the beach.

"You'll come to the _pa_?"

"You're too kind. I must get back to town."

"But you've had nothing to eat."

"I have my lunch in my wallets."

Amiria's face fell. "You're very unkind," she said.

"I'll stay all day, next time I come."

"When will that be?"

"As soon as I can. Ah, here's my horse, under this birch tree. Well,
good-bye, Amiria. Thank you for taking charge of me to-day. My word, how
you can swim: like a mermaid."

His hand touched hers for a brief moment; the next he was in the saddle.
His spur lightly touched the horse's flank, and the springy turf yielded
to the iron-shod hooves; there was a waving of a disappearing hand, and
the brown girl was left alone.

"You will come back," she called through the leaves.

"I'll come back."

Then, slowly, sadly, she walked towards the _pa_, talking to herself in
Maori, listless and sorrowful.

By the time that Scarlett had reached the outskirts of Timber Town the
night had begun to close in. Leaving the main road, he passed along a
by-way to a ford, where a foot-bridge spanned the river. As his horse
bent its head to drink, Jack heard a woman scream upon the bridge above
him. In a moment he had dismounted, and his heavy boots were resounding
on the wooden planks. In the middle of the bridge he came upon a girl
struggling in the grasp of a thick-set ruffian, who was dragging her
towards the bank further from the town. Grappling with the brutal
fellow, Jack released the girl, who ran past him in the direction of
the horse.

The scoundrel cursed and kicked, but Jack, who had him by the throat,
almost squeezed the life out of him, and then heaved him over the
bridge into the dark and gurgling water. Returning to the girl, who was
standing at the bridge-head, crying and, seemingly, deprived of power to
run further, Scarlett led her to where the horse stood beside the water.

"Which way shall I take you?" he asked.

"I live at the other side of the town," she replied. "I was going home
when that brute met me on the bridge." Again she lost control of her
powers, and Jack was obliged to support her.

When she had recovered, he swung her into the saddle and led the horse
across the riv