OF THE SOUTH SEAS 387 



breath of a demon that may have wandered about their 

 home? 



"Taua eats and enjoys his meal, but Rehua is dis- 

 tracted. A cloud gathers on her brow, and her eyes, 

 full of sadness, are always toward the house where the 

 children are sleeping. The meal finished, she, with 

 her husband, hurry to the mats on which the children 

 slept, but the little ones had heard the noise of their feet 

 upon the dewy leaves. 



" 'Haere atu! Let us go !' said the brother to the 

 sister. The door is closed, and with his slender arms he 

 parts the light bamboo palings which surround the 

 house, and both flee through the opening. 



"A long time they wandered. They followed the 

 reaches of the valley. They dipped their bruised feet 

 in the amorous river that sang as it crept toward the 

 ocean. They broke through the twisted brush which 

 was shadowed by the giant leaves, and while they so 

 hurried they heard often the words of their parents, 

 which the echoes of the valley brought to their ears: 



" 'Come back! Come back to us, Pipiri Ma! Ma! 

 Haere mat, liaere mai, Pipiri Ma!' 



"And they called back from the depths of their 

 bosoms, 'No, no; we will never come back. The torch- 

 light fishing will again yield the children nothing.' 



"They hid themselves on the highest mountains which 

 caress the sky with their misty locks. They climbed 

 with great difficulty the lower hills from which they 

 looked down on the houses as small as a sailing canoe 

 on the horizon. They came upon a dark cave where the 

 tupapaus made their terrible noises, and in this cavern 

 dwelt a tahuj a sorcerer. They were afraid, but the 



