ressed in a blue riding-habit, and in her hand
she carried a light, silver-mounted whip. She jumped lightly from the
saddle, opened the gate, and led her horse up the drive.

The fair girl ran down the path, and met her near the tethering-post
which stood under a tall bank.

"Amiria, I _am_ glad to see you!"

"But think of all I have to tell you." The brown girl's intonation was
deep, and she pronounced every syllable richly. "We don't have a wreck
every day to talk about."

"Come inside, and have some lunch. You must be famishing after your long
ride."

"Oh, no, I'm not hungry. _Taihoa_, by-and-by."

The horse was tied up securely, and the girls, a contrast of blonde and
brunette, walked up the garden-path arm-in-arm.

"I have heard _such_ things about you," said the fair girl.

"But you should see him, my dear," said the brown. "You would have
risked a good deal to save him if you had been there--tall, strong,
struggling in the sea, and _so_ helpless."

"You _are_ brave, Amiria. It's nonsense to pretend you don't know it.
All the town is talking about you." The white face looked at the brown,
mischievously. "And now that you have got him, my dear, keep him."

Amiria's laugh rang through the garden. "There is no hope for me, if
_you_ are about, Miss Rose Summerhayes," she said.

"But wasn't it perfectly awful? We heard you were drowned yourself."

"Nonsense! I got wet, but that was all. Of course, if I was weak or a
bad swimmer, then there would have been no hope. But I know every rock,
every channel, where the sea breaks its force, and where it is
strongest. There was no danger."

"How many men?"

"Twenty-nine; and the one drowned makes thirty."

"And which is _the_ particular one, your treasure trove? Of course, he
will marry you as soon as the water is out of his ears, and make you
happy ever afterwards."

Amiria laughed again. "First, he is handsome; next, he is a _rangatira_,
well-born, as my husband ought to be. I really don't know his name.
Can't you guess that is what I have come to find out?"

"You goose. You've come to unburden yourself. You were just dying to
tell me the story."

They had paused on the verandah, where they sat on a wooden seat in the
shade.

"Anyway, the wreck is better for the Maori than a sitting of the Land
Court--there! The shore is covered with boxes and bales and all manner
of things. There are ready-made clothes for everyone in the _pa_, boots,
tea, tobacco, s