Then up sprang the strangers to dance in their turn.  Te Ponga waited his opportunity, and when the time came, danced so beautifully that the people of the village were surprised at his agility and grace, and as for the young girl, Puhihuia, her heart conceived a warm passion for Te Ponga.

When the dance was concluded, everyone, overcome with weariness, went to sleep—­all except Te Ponga, who lay tossing from side to side, unable to sleep, from his great love for the maiden, and devising scheme after scheme by which he might have an opportunity of conversing with her alone.  At last he decided to carry out a plan suggested by his servant.  The next night, when he had retired in the chief’s house, he called this servant to fetch him some water; but the servant, following out the plot, had concealed himself and refused to respond.  Then the chief said to his daughter, “My child, run and fetch some water for our guest.”  The maiden rose, and taking a calabash, went off to fetch some water, and no sooner did Te Ponga see her start off than he too arose and went out, feigning to be angry with his slave and going to give him a beating; but as soon as he was out of the house he went straight off after the girl.  He did not well know the path to the well, but was guided by the voice of the maiden, who sang merrily as she went along.

When she arrived at the fountain she heard someone behind her, and turning suddenly around she beheld the young chief.  Astonished, she asked, “What can have brought you here?” He answered, “I came here for a draught of water.”  But the girl replied, “Ha, indeed!  Did not I come here to draw water for you?  Could not you have remained at my father’s house until I brought the water for you?” Then Te Ponga answered, “You are the water that I thirsted for.”  And as the maiden listened to his words, she thought within herself, “He, then, has fallen in love with me,” and she sat down, and he placed himself by her side, and they conversed together, and to each of them the words of the other seemed most pleasant and engaging.  Before they separated they arranged a time when they might escape together, and then they returned to the village.

When the time came for Te Ponga to leave his host he directed some dozen men of his to go to the landing-place in the harbor, prepare one large canoe in which he and his followers might escape, and then to take the other canoes and cut the lashings which made the top sides fast to the hulls.  The next morning he announced that he must return to his own country.  The chief and his men accompanied him part of the way to the harbor.  Puhihuia and the other girls had stolen a little way along the road, laughing and joking with the visitors.  The chief, seeing his daughter going on after he had turned back, called out, “Children, children, come back here!” Then the other girls stopped and ran back toward the village, but as to Puhihuia, her heart beat but to the one thought of escaping with her beloved Te Ponga.