At last he caught hold of a hand and cried out, 'Hullo, who's this?'
And Hine-Moa answered: 'It's I, Tutanekai.'
And he said: 'But who are you? Who's I?' Then she spoke louder, and
said: 'It's I, 'tis Hine-Moa.'
And he said: 'Ho! ho! ho! Can such in very truth be the case? Let us two,
then, go to my house.'
And she answered 'Yes.'
And she rose up in the water as beautiful as the wild white hawk, and
stepped upon the edge of the bath as graceful as the shy white crane. And
he threw garments over her, and took her, and they proceeded to his house
and reposed there, and thenceforth, according to the ancient laws of the
Maoris, they were man and wife.
XVIII A FATHER OF FEDERATION
Mr Gladstone and Sir George Grey ploughed different seas, under charter
from the English-speaking race. One flew his pennant in the nearer
waters, the other in the farther. Now and then they met, but briefly, as
ships do which pass in the night.
'What I saw of Mr. Gladstone,' said Sir George, 'was mostly at official
gatherings, or gatherings arising out of official life. One session,
however, during which I was in England, we dined almost every Wednesday
evening at the same London house.
'Mr. Gladstone was always a most charming personality, and I recall his
friendliness in walking up with me to the hall of ceremonies, when I
received the honorary degree at Cambridge.
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