Captain Grant's Children

Chapter 50: Daobo Lake (2)
The bone gnawer was the only chief who had withdrawn from the battlefield. After he returned to his hometown, he first notified everyone of the failure.Of the 150 fighters he took away, [-] never came back, and a few of them were captured alive by the British, but most of them died on the battlefield, and they would never have the chance to see Jiangdong's elders again.

Therefore, the entire tribe mourned unceasingly, and for this defeat, those who died were even more mourned.

Maori have a special custom: to use the body to express all the sadness in the heart.As a result, many relatives and friends of the dead, especially women, used particularly sharp shells to scratch their faces and shoulders.

Most of these wailing people were covered in blood and tears were streaming down their faces.Some of the women almost looked bloody, mutilated, and their mourning bordered on madness.

Because these soldiers who died in the war have no bones to return to their ancestral graves, their relatives and friends are even more sorry.

In the eyes of the Maori, the preservation of the body is considered to be the most important thing related to the rebirth in the next life.Of course, the most important thing to protect the body is to protect the bones.They often collect all the bones of the deceased, and then carefully wash, scrape, paint, and finally put it in "Udouba"—the so-called memorial house or the like.

In the "Wuduba" of the Li people, there must be a wooden statue of the deceased, and the images of the deceased's life and death should also be painted on the statue.But now these people are buried in foreign countries, how can their bones be sent to "Wudouba"?Perhaps the corpse had already been eaten by wild dogs.

At the moment they all acted distraught.No sooner had the old women's insults stopped than the men's savage shouting began.That ruthlessness could really be compared with wild animals, as if the ten captives had to be eaten alive.

In order to prevent these crazy people from doing anything, the bone gnawer took Glenarvan and others into the temple.

The temple was located at the other end of the village, built on a high rock, and just in front of a cliff, the terrain looked majestic and sacred.

The entire temple is actually a big shed. The Maori call it "Waller", which is a place dedicated to worshiping gods.From time to time, the "Aljis" will also talk about the Bible here.

After arriving at this sacred and safe place, Glenarvan and his companions took a deep breath.Everyone lay down on the straw mats one after another.

At this moment, Mrs. Helen was exhausted physically and mentally, and she leaned weakly on her husband's warm arms.Glenarvan hugged his wife while comforting and encouraging her:

"Don't be afraid, my dear Helen! Be strong and cheer up!" Robert didn't show a little tiredness, he stepped on Wilson's broad and powerful shoulders, and looked out from the gap under the eaves .He saw the whole village from a distance, and even saw clearly the house where the bone gnawer lived. "They are currently having a meeting around the chief..." He quietly reported to his companions in a low voice, "Look at those people waving their hands again...they are yelling again...the bone gnawer is about to speak... ..."

After a while, he continued to tell everyone: "The bone gnawer is talking again now... Those people are quiet..." The major said meaningfully: "It seems that the bone gnawer really wants to trade us Their leader! But everyone else disagrees!"

"No more objections!...They are really obedient!..." Robert said ecstatically, "They have all dispersed...Everyone went back to their homes...Hey, some people even left the cottage..."

"Really?" asked the major hastily. "Really! Now there are only a few people left around the bone gnawer. Oh, those people on the boat! ... Oh, there is another soldier coming towards us!" Robert told Everyone.

"Come down quickly! Robert." Glenarvan hurriedly urged.

Mrs. Helen also stood up from her haste, grabbed her husband's arm and said word for word:

"Edward, Mary and I must not be taken away by these natives!" As she spoke, she took out a loaded pistol and handed it to her husband.

"You still have a gun?" Glenarvan exclaimed in surprise, his eyes flashed sharply.

"Yes! Have you forgotten that the Maori do not search women captives. Let me tell you, this gun is not for shooting them...it is reserved for shooting us...Edward!"

"Don't be stupid! Hide it first! It's too early to say this!" McNabbs hurried forward to persuade.

So Jazz hid the gun on his body.While speaking, the door of this temple was opened from the outside to the inside.I saw a Maori soldier come straight in.He gestured to the group of Europeans to follow him.Glenarvan and his companions were brought to the bone eater again.Beside the bone gnawer, besides some guards, there was also the chief who came to meet him.

The chief looked 40 years old, with a big arm and round waist and a fierce face.His name was Karatet, which means "hot tempered".From the particularly detailed pattern on his face, it can be clearly discerned that his status in the tribe is not low.

As the saying goes, the onlooker knows clearly, and everyone doesn't need to think about it at all. At a glance, they can see that there is something wrong with the two chiefs.The conversation between the two was obviously unhurried, and it seemed that the bone gnawer's face was not good-looking, the smiles on his face were all fake, but the jealousy reflected in his eyes was real.The major thought to himself: One mountain must not contain two tigers, and these two chiefs must be secretly fighting for power... So the bone gnawer began to interrogate Glenarvan: "Are you British?"

"It's the British!" Jazz replied almost without thinking. He thought that only the British could be exchanged.

"What about your fellows?" asked the Bonechewer again.

"It's all British too. We were on our way, but the boat capsized on the way. If you want to know, I can tell you for sure: none of us went to war! Damn it! Who would believe you Bullshit! All the British devils don’t have a single good thing! You plundered and occupied our island, and burned so many of our villages! I hate you to death!” Karate began to curse.

"That's what they did! It doesn't include us!" Glenarvan protested with righteous indignation. "They are abominable and detestable; this is what I say in my heart, and it is definitely not to please you!"

"Listen to me," the bone gnawer seemed a little agitated at the moment, "our 'Tuohonga', the master of Nuyi Atou, has now fallen to your side. Our great god told me to hurry up He redeemed it! Humph! Otherwise, I'll have to gouge out your hearts! And hang all your British heads on the fence!"

His face was full of murderous intent, and his eyes were blood red, as if he was about to eat people. After calming down for a while, he restrained his emotions:

"Tell me! Will the Brit army trade our 'Tohunga' for you?"

Glenarvan stared at the chief's face, wanting to test the intention behind the words, so he didn't answer right away.

The whole room was very silent as if it had been frozen. "I don't know." Glenarvan weighed tentatively. "What? Tell me! Is your cheap life worth more than our 'Tuohonga'?" The bone gnawer asked sharply after hearing his answer. "Incomparable!" Glenarvan replied decisively; "I'm not a leader, nor a master!" Paganel was immediately confused when he heard that, and Monk Zhang Er couldn't figure it out, he just stared blankly Sir.The bone gnawing demon also showed a surprised expression. "You mean that they cannot be exchanged?" "I don't know." Glenarvan said clearly. "Don't you know if they'd give you our Tohunga?"

"Of course I won't change it for me, but it's definitely for our group!" Glenarvan said in a very firm tone. "We Maori only pay attention to exchanging one for another." The bone gnawer roared loudly.

"If that's the case, then you can exchange these two ladies for your so-called masters!" Glenarvan pointed to Helen and Mary beside him.

At this moment, Mrs. Helen tried to go to her husband, but was stopped by the major.

"These two ladies," Glenarvan continued, and bowed deeply to Mrs. Helen and Mary, "they are all great nobles in their country." The bone gnawer cast an evil look Glenarvan, at the same time, had a very sinister smile on the corner of his mouth.However, just for a moment, he immediately put on a straight face and said angrily:
"You bloody Englishman! Do you think you can fool my bone-cutter? Do you think I'm blind?"

He pointed at Mrs. Helen and scolded Sir, "She is your so-called wife!" "It doesn't belong to him, it belongs to me!" Karat yelled wildly like a wolf.As he spoke, he saw the pervert push away the crowd and put his hand on Mrs. Helen's shoulder.And Mrs. Helen was frightened, her face was pale and pale.

"Edward!" she exclaimed, terrified and unable to restrain herself.But Glenarvan didn't respond, but raised his arm quickly.

Only a bang was heard.Karate died on the ground.

As soon as there was a gunshot, the group of Maori rushed out of their sheds as if flying.The arena in front of the gate was immediately full of people.

Many guns were aimed at the 10 prisoners at the same time.And someone ran over quickly and seized the pistol in Glenarvan's hand.

For a moment, the bone gnawer was taken aback by the sudden change in front of him.After a while, he came back to his senses, and saw that he stood up to protect Glenarvan and persuaded the Maori to retreat.

At this time, the noise inside and outside the house became a pot of porridge. "God forbid! God forbid!" In the end, the voice of the chief overwhelmed all the crowd.

If it weren't for the order and protection of the bone gnawer, Glenarvan and the others would have been torn to pieces.

When the situation calmed down a bit, the Maori escorted the captives back to the temple again.

However, Robert and Paganel were nowhere to be found.

(End of this chapter)