before the gate of which they found their mother sitting, weighed down with despondency. They greeted her with every demonstration of affection, but the unfortunate captive lady was overcome with terror for their sake, lest the dreaded Pona might return and slay her sons. Kari asked her, “Will it be long after the sun has set before the Pona return to land?” Uru answered, “They will return as soon as it is quite dark.” The sons then proposed that they should hide away in the thatch in the top of the house, a proposition which their mother thought unwise, for fear that they might be discovered; but they assured her that they knew magical charms which would render them invisible. They accordingly made holes in the thick layers of reeds which formed the roof, and in these holes they concealed themselves, pulling the reeds into place over them.
The sun went down; and soon the scouts of the water-kelpies appeared, followed by thousands of the horrid monsters trailing up from the waters of the lake. They poured into the great temple in dense crowds, until it was nearly filled by them, and having arranged themselves in their customary manner, all fell asleep. At midnight Tawha and Kari came down from their hiding-places, and finding that
