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Show - 87 - reign. Still he rowed almost mechanically, his arms rising and lowering, dipping the oar on one side and then the other. He continued to call upon his unknown reserves of strength. The canoe took on qualities of Tangaroa's deep domain. It could have been a strange fish; the sneed with which it cut through the waters was as fast as the waves and currents of the sea itself. It was a starless night and even Marama, the moon, withheld her light. Roa thought of his mother Marama, and his brothers and sisters in the shelter and comfort of the whare. He had. never known such loneliness in his life. But be was no"* in his seventeenth summer. He was almost a man. Was there a great difference between boy and man? If so, x«7hen did it hanpen, and how did one know xvhen the change took nlace? His lonely thoughts were even more troubled than usual. A startling cry shattered his thoughts and the stillness of the night. "Don't leave me! Don't leave me!" "I won't leave you, my brother," Roa said through trembling lips. And then h« sairl es much for himself as for Ruruku, "Kia kaha. Kia kaha. Be |
