When the clinging white clouds of smoke had slowly rolled up and away they went to the pool to examine what damage the explosion had done, and they found that it had torn and shattered the rock to a great extent, but that as yet the barrier stood firm. They were hardly disappointed at this result, for they knew the rock to be of some considerable thickness, and had not expected to break it all down at once. With his usual energy Alec immediately began to clear away the _débris_, and the heavy vapour had hardly floated off before he was at work again, chipping and pecking away to make another blast hole.
Murri who had been capering about in childish pleasure, that was tinged with delightful fear, at the noise of the explosion, came up to Alec, from the very safe distance to which he had run when the charge exploded, and said--
"Mine _pitnee_" (I believe, or think), "_myalls_, come here along o' that debil-debil. _Myalls_ hear um plenty much long way; um say debil-debil along o' Whanga, and come see what him do. _Myalls_ come daytime plenty much, afraid along o' dark-dark."
This was an anxiety that was no novelty to the boys; they had thought that some such result was probable, but, as the work had to be done, they did it, without letting fears of possible eventualities interfere with the business in hand. That night passed quietly without signs of the nearness of any _myall_, and they began to hope that no tribe had been near enough to the valley to hear the explosion.
The next morning--the seventh day that they had been in the Whanga--the two boys returned to their work of blasting the rock. The sun had not risen when they left the humpie, and a cold mist hung above the water, like a ghostly stream floating in the air, and following every curve and bend of its prototype beneath. There was need for haste, for their provisions, that had been so decreased by Prince Tom's theft, were running short; the flour was almost gone; and if it had not been for the fresh meat that Murri obtained for them they would have had to go back before this.
"What have you got left?" said Alec, when George told him the state of affairs.
"Well, there is really not more than four days' full rations of flour, but we must put ourselves on short commons, and we can last out eight or nine days then, if we can manage to get plenty of fresh provisions. We must keep Murri at it, and see that he doesn't eat up three parts of what he catches before he brings the spoil home to us. I have started him off already."