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The workers used as levers some posts taken from the interior of the oudoupa, and they plied their tools vigorously against the rocky mass. Under their united efforts the stone soon moved. They made a little trench so that it might roll down the inclined plane. As they gradually raised it, the vibrations under foot became more distinct.
An appearance would be enough to dupe the Maories, and there was no need for the terrible realities of an eruption. How long that day seemed. Each one of the party inwardly counted the hours. All was made ready for flight. The oudoupa provisions were divided and formed very portable packets. Some mats and firearms completed their light equipment, all of which they took from the tomb of the chief.
A column of fire rushed to the sky with loud detonations, while streams of boiling water and lava flowed toward the native camp and the lower valleys. All the cone trembled as if it was about to plunge into a fathomless gulf. Glenarvan and his companions had barely time to get out of the way; they fled to the enclosure of the oudoupa, not without having been sprinkled with water at 220 degrees.
A large opening, covered with mats, led into it. Glenarvan was about to invade the sanctity of the "oudoupa," when he reeled backward. "A savage!" said he. "In the tomb?" inquired the Major. "Yes, McNabbs." "No matter; go in." Glenarvan, the Major, Robert and John Mangles entered.
The place of "oudoupa," or the tomb, had been chosen outside the fortress, about two miles off at the top of a low hill called Maunganamu, situated on the right bank of the lake, and to this spot the body was to be taken.
And so saying, John Mangles handed to Lady Helena the fragment of paper on which was legible the sacred words; and these young women, whose trusting hearts were always open to observe Providential interpositions, read in these words an indisputable sign of salvation. "And now let us go to the 'oudoupa!" cried Paganel, in his gayest mood. "It is our castle, our dining-room, our study!
Glenarvan, Paganel, McNabbs, Robert, the steward, and the two sailors, all lent a hand. The spot for the crater was chosen thirty paces from Kara-Tete's tomb. It was important to keep the oudoupa intact, for if it disappeared, the taboo of the mountain would be nullified.
At the sound of his voice they all rushed into the "oudoupa," and he was cordially embraced all round. Paganel was found again. He was their salvation. They wanted to question him; to know how and why he was here on the summit of Maunganamu; but Glenarvan stopped this misplaced curiosity. "The savages?" said he. "The savages," said Paganel, shrugging his shoulders.
There sat a Maori, wrapped in a large flax mat; the darkness of the "oudoupa" preventing them from distinguishing his features. He was very quiet, and was eating his breakfast quite coolly. Glenarvan was about to speak to him when the native forestalled him by saying gayly and in good English: "Sit down, my Lord; breakfast is ready." It was Paganel.
It would be difficult to conceive of the joy that pervaded the oudoupa. Hope had regained the mastery in all hearts. The intrepid travelers forgot the past, forgot the future, to enjoy the present delight! And yet the task before them was not an easy one to gain some European outpost in the midst of this unknown country.
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