Blown to Bits; or, The Lonely Man of Rakata (2024)

"CAME UNEXPECTEDLY ON A CAVERN."

OR

THE LONELY MAN OF RAKATA.

A Tale of the Malay Archipelago.

BY R.M. BALLANTYNE,

AUTHOR OF "BLUE LIGHTS, OR HOT WORK IN THE SOUDAN;" "THE FUGITIVES;""RED ROONEY;" "THE ROVER OF THE ANDES;" "THE WILD MAN OF THE WEST;" "THERED ERIC;" "FREAKS ON THE FELLS;" "THE YOUNG TRAWLER;" "DUSTY DIAMONDS;""THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER;" "POST HASTE;" "BLACK IVORY;" "THE IRONHORSE;" "FIGHTING THE FLAMES;" "THE LIFEBOAT;" ETC. ETC.

With Illustrations by the Author.

EIGHTH THOUSAND.

LONDON:

JAMES NISBET & CO., 21 BERNERS STREET.

1894.

PREFACE.

The extremely violent nature of the volcanic eruption in Krakatoa in1883, the peculiar beauty of those parts of the eastern seas where theevent occurred, the wide-spread influences of the accompanyingphenomena, and the tremendous devastation which resulted, have allinspired me with a desire to bring the matter, in the garb of a tale,before that portion of the juvenile world which accords me a hearing.

For most of the facts connected with the eruption which have beenimported into my story, I have to acknowledge myself indebted to therecently published important and exhaustive "Report" of the KrakatoaCommittee, appointed by the Royal Society to make a thoroughinvestigation of the whole matter in all its phases.

I have also to acknowledge having obtained much interesting and usefulinformation from the following among other works:—The MalayArchipelago, by A.R. Wallace; A Naturalist's Wanderings in the EasternArchipelago, by H.O. Forbes; and Darwin's Journal of Researches roundthe world in H.M.S. "Beagle."

R.M. BALLANTYNE.

HARROW-ON-THE HILL, 1889.

CONTENTS.

• CHAPTER I.—THE PLAY COMMENCES
• CHAPTER II.—THE HAVEN IN THE CORAL RING
• CHAPTER III.—INTERESTING PARTICULARS OF VARIOUS KINDS
• CHAPTER IV.—NIGEL UNDERGOES SOME QUITE NEW AND INTERESTING EXPERIENCES
• CHAPTER V.—CAPTAIN ROY SURPRISES AND GRATIFIES HIS SON, WHO SURPRISES A NEGRO, AND SUDDENLY FORMS AN ASTONISHING RESOLVE
• CHAPTER VI.—THE HERMIT OF RAKATA INTRODUCED
• CHAPTER VII.—WONDERS OF THE HERMIT'S CAVE AND ISLAND
• CHAPTER VIII.—PERBOEWATAN BECOMES MODERATELY VIOLENT
• CHAPTER IX.—DESCRIBES, AMONG OTHER THINGS, A SINGULAR MEETING UNDER PECULIAR CIRc*msTANCES
• CHAPTER X.—A CURIOUS SEA-GOING CRAFT—THE UNKNOWN VOYAGE BEGUN
• CHAPTER XI.—CANOEING ON THE SEA—A MYSTERIOUS NIGHT-SURPRISE AND SUDDEN FLIGHT
• CHAPTER XII.—WEATHERING A STORM IN THE OPEN SEA
• CHAPTER XIII.—FRIENDS ARE MET WITH, ALSO PIRATES, AND A LIFE-OR-DEATH PADDLE ENSUES
• CHAPTER XIV.—A NEW FRIEND FOUND—NEW DANGERS ENCOUNTERED AND NEW HOPES DELAYED
• CHAPTER XV.—HUNTING THE GREAT MAN-MONKEY
• CHAPTER XVI.—BEGINS WITH A TERRIBLE FIGHT AND ENDS WITH A HASTY FLIGHT
• CHAPTER XVII.—TELLS OF THE JOYS, ETC., OF THE PROFESSOR IN THE SUMATRAN FORESTS, ALSO OF A CATASTROPHE AVERTED
• CHAPTER XVIII.—A TRYING ORDEAL—DANGER THREATENS AND FLIGHT AGAIN RESOLVED ON
• CHAPTER XIX.—A TERRIBLE MURDER AND A STRANGE REVELATION
• CHAPTER XX.—NIGEL MAKES A CONFIDANT OF MOSES—UNDERTAKES A LONELY WATCH AND SEES SOMETHING WONDERFUL
• CHAPTER XXI.—IN WHICH THE PROFESSOR DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF
• CHAPTER XXII.—A PYTHON DISCOVERED AND A GEYSER INTERVIEWED
• CHAPTER XXIII.—TELLS OF VOLCANIC FIRES AND A STRANGE RETURN "HOME,"
• CHAPTER XXIV.—AN AWFUL NIGHT AND TERRIBLE MORNING
• CHAPTER XXV.—ADVENTURES OF THE "SUNSHINE" AND AN UNEXPECTED REUNION
• CHAPTER XXVI.—A CLIMAX
• CHAPTER XXVII.—"BLOWN TO BITS,"
• CHAPTER XXVIII.—THE FATE OF THE "SUNSHINE,"
• CHAPTER XXIX.—TELLS CHIEFLY OF THE WONDERFUL EFFECTS OF THIS ERUPTION ON THE WORLD AT LARGE
• CHAPTER XXX.—WONDERFUL CHANGES
• CHAPTER XXXI.—ENDS WITH A STRUGGLE BETWEEN INCLINATION AND DUTY
• CHAPTER XXXII.—THE LAST

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

• VIGNETTE TITLE
• "HE CAME UNEXPECTEDLY ON A CAVERN"
• ART ON THE KEELING ISLANDS
• THEY DISCOVER A PIRATES' BIVOUAC
• "DO YOU HEAR?" SAID VERKIMIER, STERNLY
• BLOWN TO BITS

BLOWN TO BITS

A TALE OF THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO.

CHAPTER I.

THE PLAY COMMENCES.

Blown to bits; bits so inconceivably, so ineffably, so "microscopically"small that—but let us not anticipate.

About the darkest hour of a very dark night, in the year 1883, a largebrig lay becalmed on the Indian Ocean, not far from that region of theEastern world which is associated in some minds with spices, volcanoes,coffee, and piratical junks, namely, the Malay Archipelago.

Two men slowly paced the brig's quarter-deck for some time in silence,as if the elemental quietude which prevailed above and below hadinfected them. Both men were broad, and apparently strong. One of themwas tall; the other short. More than this the feeble light of thebinnacle-lamp failed to reveal.

"Father," said the tall man to the short one, "I do like to hear thegentle pattering of the reef points on the sails; it is so suggestive ofpeace and rest. Doesn't it strike you so?"

"Can't say it does, lad," replied the short man, in a voice which,naturally mellow and hearty, had been rendered nautically harsh andgruff by years of persistent roaring in the teeth of wind and weather."More suggestive to me of lost time and lee-way."

The son laughed lightly, a pleasant, kindly, soft laugh, in keeping withthe scene and hour.

"Why, father," he resumed after a brief pause, "you are so sternlypractical that you drive all the sentiment out of a fellow. I had almostrisen to the regions of poetry just now, under the pleasant influencesof nature."

"Glad I got hold of 'ee, lad, before you rose," growled the captain ofthe brig—for such the short man was. "When a young fellow like you getsup into the clouds o' poetry, he's like a man in a balloon—scarce knowshow he got there; doesn't know very well how he's to get down, an' hasno more idea where he's goin' to, or what he's drivin' at, than the manin the moon. Take my advice, lad, an' get out o' poetical regions asfast as ye can. It don't suit a young fellow who has got to do duty asfirst mate of his father's brig and push his way in the world as aseaman. When I sent you to school an' made you a far better scholar thanmyself, I had no notion they was goin' to teach you poetry."

The captain delivered the last word with an emphasis which was meant toconvey the idea of profound but not ill-natured scorn.

"Why, father," returned the young man, in a tone which plainly told of agleeful laugh within him, which was as yet restrained, "it was notschool that put poetry into me—if indeed there be any in me at all."

"What was it, then?"

"It was mother," returned the youth, promptly, "and surely you don'tobject to poetry in her."

"Object!" cried the captain, as though speaking in the teeth of aNor'wester. "Of course not. But then, Nigel, poetry in your mother ispoetry, an' she can do it, lad—screeds of it—equal to anything thatDibdin, or, or,—that other fellow, you know, I forget his name—everput pen to—why, your mother is herself a poem! neatly made up, roundedoff at the corners, French-polished and all shipshape. Ha! you needn'tgo an' shelter yourself under her wings, wi' your inflated, up in theclouds, reef-point-patterin', balloon-like nonsense."

"Well, well, father, don't get so hot about it; I won't offend again.Besides, I'm quite content to take a very low place so long as you givemother her right position. We won't disagree about that, but I suspectthat we differ considerably about the other matter you mentioned."

"What other matter?" demanded the sire.

"My doing duty as first mate," answered the son. "It must be quiteevident to you by this time, I should think, that I am not cut out for asailor. After all your trouble, and my own efforts during this longvoyage round the Cape, I'm no better than an amateur. I told you that ayouth taken fresh from college, without any previous experience of thesea except in boats, could not be licked into shape in so short a time.It is absurd to call me first mate of the Sunshine. That is in realityMr. Moor's position—"

"No, it isn't, Nigel, my son," interrupted the captain, firmly. "Mr.Moor is second mate. I say so, an' if I, the skipper and owner o'this brig, don't know it, I'd like to know who does! Now, look here,lad. You've always had a bad habit of underratin' yourself an'contradictin' your father. I'm an old salt, you know, an' I tell 'eethat for the time you've bin at sea, an' the opportunities you've had,you're a sort o' walkin' miracle. You're no more an ammytoor than I am,and another voyage or two will make you quite fit to work your way allover the ocean, an' finally to take command o' this here brig, an' letyour old father stay at home wi'—wi'—"

"With the Poetess," suggested Nigel.

"Just so—wi' the equal o' Dibdin, not to mention the other fellow. Nowit seems to me—. How's 'er head?"

The captain suddenly changed the subject here.

Nigel, who chanced to be standing next the binnacle, stooped to examinethe compass, and the flood of light from its lamp revealed a smooth butmanly and handsome face which seemed quite to harmonise with the cheeryvoice that belonged to it.

"Nor'-east-and-by-east," he said.

"Are 'ee sure, lad?"

"Your doubting me, father, does not correspond with your latelyexpressed opinion of my seamanship; does it?"

"Let me see," returned the captain, taking no notice of the remark, andstooping to look at the compass with a critical eye.

The flood of light, in this case, revealed a visage in which good-naturehad evidently struggled for years against the virulent opposition ofwind and weather, and had come off victorious, though not withoutevidences of the conflict. At the same time it revealed features similarto those of the son, though somewhat rugged and red, besides beingsmothered in hair.

"Vulcan must be concoctin' a new brew," he muttered, as he gazedinquiringly over the bow, "or he's stirring up an old one."

"What d' you mean, father?"

"I mean that there's somethin' goin' on there-away—in the neighbourhoodo' Sunda Straits," answered the Captain, directing attention to thatpoint of the compass towards which the ship's head was turned. "Darknesslike this don't happen without a cause. I've had some experience o' themseas before now, an' depend upon it that Vulcan is stirring up some o'the fires that are always blazin' away, more or less, around the StraitsSettlements."

"By which you mean, I suppose, that one of the numerous volcanoes in theMalay Archipelago has become active," said Nigel; "but are we not somefive or six hundred miles to the sou'-west of Sunda? Surely theinfluence of volcanic action could scarcely reach so far."

"So far!" repeated the captain, with a sort of humph which was meant toindicate mild contempt; "that shows how little you know, with all yourbook-learnin', about volcanoes."

"I don't profess to know much, father," retorted Nigel in a tone ofcheery defiance.

"Why, boy," continued the other, resuming his perambulation of the deck,"explosions have sometimes been heard for hundreds, ay hundreds, ofmiles. I thought I heard one just now, but no doubt the unusualdarkness works up my imagination and makes me suspicious, for it'swonderful what fools the imag—. Hallo! D'ee feel that?"

He went smartly towards the binnacle-light, as he spoke, and, holding anarm close to it, found that his sleeve was sprinkled with a thin coatingof fine dust.

"Didn't I say so?" he exclaimed in some excitement, as he ran to thecabin skylight and glanced earnestly at the barometer. That glancecaused him to shout a sudden order to take in all sail. At the samemoment a sigh of wind swept over the sleeping sea as if the storm-fiendwere expressing regret at having been so promptly discovered and met.

Seamen are well used to sudden danger—especially in equatorialseas—and to prompt, unquestioning action. Not many minutes elapsedbefore the Sunshine was under the smallest amount of sail she couldcarry. Even before this had been well accomplished a stiff breeze wastearing up the surface of the sea into wild foam, which a furious galesoon raised into raging billows.

The storm came from the Sunda Straits about which the captain and hisson had just been talking, and was so violent that they could do nothingbut scud before it under almost bare poles. All that night it raged.Towards morning it increased to such a pitch that one of the back-staysof the foremast gave way. The result was that the additional strain thusthrown on the other stays was too much for them. They also parted, andthe fore-top-mast, snapping short off with a report like a cannon-shot,went over the side, carrying the main-topgallant-mast and all its gearalong with it.

CHAPTER II.

THE HAVEN IN THE CORAL RING.

It seemed as if the storm-fiend were satisfied with the mischief he hadaccomplished, for immediately after the disaster just described, thegale began to moderate, and when the sun rose it had been reduced to astiff but steady breeze.

From the moment of the accident onward, the whole crew had been exertingthemselves to the utmost with axe and knife to cut and clear away thewreck of the masts and repair damages.

Not the least energetic among them was our amateur first mate, NigelRoy. When all had been made comparatively snug, he went aft to where hisfather stood beside the steersman, with his legs nautically wide apart,his sou'-wester pulled well down over his frowning brows, and his handsin their native pockets.

"This is a bad ending to a prosperous voyage," said the youth, sadly;"but you don't seem to take it much to heart, father!"

"How much or little I take it to heart you know nothin' whatever about,my boy, seein' that I don't wear my heart on my coat-sleeve, nor yet onthe point of my nose, for the inspection of all and sundry. Besides, youcan't tell whether it's a bad or a good endin', for it has not ended yetone way or another. Moreover, what appears bad is often found to begood, an' what seems good is pretty often uncommon bad."

"You are a walking dictionary of truisms, father! I suppose you mean totake a philosophical view of the misfortune and make the best of it,"said Nigel, with what we may style one of his twinkling smiles, for onnearly all occasions that young man's dark, brown eyes twinkled, inspite of him, as vigorously as any "little star" that was ever told inprose or song to do so—and much more expressively, too, because of theeyebrows of which little stars appear to be destitute.

"No, lad," retorted the captain; "I take a common-sense view—not aphilosophical one; an' when you've bin as long at sea as I have, you'llcall nothin' a misfortune until it's proved to be such. The onlymisfortune I have at present is a son who cannot see things in the samelight as his father sees 'em."

"Well, then, according to your own principle that is the reverse of amisfortune, for if I saw everything in the same light that you do,you'd have no pleasure in talking to me, you'd have no occasion toreason me out of error, or convince me of truth. Take the subject ofpoetry, now—"

"Luff," said Captain Roy, sternly, to the man at the wheel.

When the man at the wheel had gone through the nautical evolutioninvolved in "luff," the captain turned to his son and said abruptly—

"We'll run for the Cocos-Keelin' Islands, Nigel, an' refit."

"Are the Keeling Islands far off?"

"Lift up your head and look straight along the bridge of your nose, lad,and you'll see them. They're an interesting group, are the Keelin'Islands. Volcanic, they are, with a coral top-dressin', so to speak. Sitdown here an' I'll tell 'ee about 'em."

Nigel shut up the telescope through which he had been examining thethin, blue line on the horizon that indicated the islands in question,and sat down on the cabin skylight beside his father.

"They've got a romantic history too, though a short one, an' are setlike a gem on the bosom of the deep blue sea—"

"Come, father, you're drifting out of your true course—that'spoetical!"

"I know it, lad, but I'm only quotin' your mother. Well, you must knowthat the Keelin' Islands—we call them Keelin' for short—wereuninhabited between fifty and sixty years ago, when a Scotsman namedRoss, thinking them well situated as a port of call for the repair andprovisioning of vessels on their way to Australia and China, set hisheart on them and quietly took possession in the name of England. Thenhe went home to fetch his wife and family of six children, intendin' tosettle on the islands for good. Returning in 1827 with the family andfourteen adventurers, twelve of whom were English, one a Portugee andone a Javanee, he found to his disgust that an Englishman named Hare hadstepped in before him and taken possession. This Hare was a very badfellow; a rich man who wanted to live like a Rajah, with lots o' nativewives and retainers, an' be a sort of independent prince. Of course hewas on bad terms at once with Ross, who, finding that things were goingbadly, felt that it would be unfair to hold his people to the agreementwhich was made when he thought the whole group was his own, so heoffered to release them. They all, except two men and one woman,accepted the release and went off in a gun-boat that chanced to touchthere at the time. For a good while Hare and his rival lived there—theone tryin' to get the Dutch, the other to induce the English Governmentto claim possession. Neither Dutch nor English would do so at first, butthe English did it at long-last—in 1878—and annexed the islands to theGovernment of Ceylon.

"Long before that date, however—before 1836—Hare left and went toSingapore, where he died, leaving Ross in possession—the 'King of theCocos Islands' as he came to be called. In a few years—chiefly throughthe energy of Ross's eldest son, to whom he soon gave up the managementof affairs—the Group became a prosperous settlement. Its ships tradedin cocoa-nuts (the chief produce of the islands) throughout all theStraits Settlements, and boat-buildin' became one of their mostimportant industries. But there was one thing that prevented it frombein' a very happy though prosperous place, an' that was the coolies whohad been hired in Java, for the only men that could be got there atfirst were criminals who had served their time in the chain-gangs ofBatavia. As these men were fit for anything—from pitch-and-toss tomurder—and soon outnumbered the colonists, the place was kept inconstant alarm and watchfulness. For, as I dare say you know, the Malaysare sometimes liable to have the spirit of amok on them, which leadsthem to care for and fear nothin', and to go in for a fight-to-death,from which we get our sayin'—run amuck. An' when a strong fellow isgoin' about loose in this state o' mind, it's about as bad as havin' atiger prowlin' in one's garden."

"Well, sometimes two or three o' these coolies would mutiny and hide inthe woods o' one o' the smaller uninhabited islands. An' the colonistswould have no rest till they hunted them down. So, to keep mattersright, they had to be uncommon strict. It was made law that no oneshould spend the night on any but what was called the Home Islandwithout permission. Every man was bound to report himself at theguard-house at a fixed hour; every fire to be out at sunset, and everyboat was numbered and had to be in its place before that time. So theywent on till the year 1862, when a disaster befell them that made aconsiderable change—at first for the worse, but for the better in thelong-run. Provin' the truth, my lad, of what I was—well, no—I wasgoin' to draw a moral here, but I won't!

"It was a cyclone that did the business. Cyclones have got afree-an'-easy way of makin' a clean sweep of the work of years in a fewhours. This cyclone completely wrecked the homes of the Keelin'Islanders, and Ross—that's the second Ross, the son of the firstone—sent home for his son, who was then a student of engineering inGlasgow, to come out and help him to put things to rights. Ross thethird obeyed the call, like a good son,—observe that, Nigel."

"All right, father, fire away!"

"Like a good son," repeated the captain, "an' he turned out to be afirst-rate man, which was lucky, for his poor father died soon after,leavin' him to do the work alone. An' well able was the young engineerto do it. He got rid o' the chain-gang men altogether, and hired nonebut men o' the best character in their place. He cleared off the forestsand planted the ground with cocoa-nut palms. Got out steam mills,circular saws, lathes, etc., and established a system of generaleducation with a younger brother as head-master—an' tail-master too,for I believe there was only one. He also taught the men to work inbrass, iron, and wood, and his wife—a Cocos girl that he married aftercomin' out—taught all the women and girls to sew, cook, and manage thehouse. In short, everything went on in full swing of prosperity, tillthe year 1876, when the island-born inhabitants were about 500, ascontented and happy as could be.

"In January of that year another cyclone paid them a visit. Thebarometer gave them warning, and, remembering the visit of fourteenyears before, they made ready to receive the new visitor. All the boatswere hauled up to places of safety, and every other preparation wasmade. Down it came, on the afternoon o' the 28th—worse than they hadexpected. Many of the storehouses and mills had been lately renewed orbuilt. They were all gutted and demolished. Everything movable was sweptaway like bits of paper. Lanes, hundreds of yards in length, werecleared among the palm trees by the whirling wind, which seemed toperform a demon-dance of revelry among them. In some cases it snappedtrees off close to the ground. In others it seemed to swoop down fromabove, lick up a patch of trees bodily and carry them clean away,leaving the surrounding trees untouched. Sometimes it would select atree of thirty years growth, seize it, spin it round, and leave it apermanent spiral screw. I was in these regions about the time, and hadthe account from a native who had gone through it all and couldn't speakof it except with glaring eyeballs and gasping breath.

"About midnight of the 28th the gale was at its worst. Darkness thatcould be felt between the flashes of lightning. Thunder that was nearlydrowned by the roaring of the wind an' the crashing of everything allround. To save their lives the people had to fling themselves intoditches and hollows of the ground. Mr. Ross and some of his people werelying in the shelter of a wall near his house. There had been a schoonerlying not far off. When Mr. Ross raised his head cautiously above thewall to have a look to wind'ard he saw the schooner comin' straight forhim on the top of a big wave. 'Hold on!' he shouted, fell flat down,and laid hold o' the nearest bush. Next moment the wave burst right overthe wall, roared on up to the garden, 150 yards above highwater mark,and swept his house clean away! By good fortune the wall stood theshock, and the schooner stuck fast just before reachin' it, but so nearthat the end of the jib-boom passed right over the place where thehousehold lay holdin' on for dear life and half drowned. It was atremendous night," concluded the captain, "an' nearly everything on theislands was wrecked, but they've survived it, as you'll see. Though it'sseven years since that cyclone swep' over them, they're all right andgoin' ahead again, full swing, as if nothin' had happened."

"And is Ross III. still king?" asked Nigel with much interest.

"Ay—at least he was king a few years ago when I passed this way and hadoccasion to land to replace a tops'l yard that had been carried away."

"Then you won't arrive as a stranger?"

"I should think not," returned the captain, getting up and gazingsteadily at the atoll or group of islets enclosed within a coral ringwhich they were gradually approaching.

Night had descended, however, and the gale had decreased almost to acalm, ere they steered through the narrow channel—or what we may call abroken part of the ring—which led to the calm lagoon inside. Nigel Royleaned over the bow, watching with profound attention the numerousphosphorescent fish and eel-like creatures which darted hither andthither like streaks of silver from beneath their advancing keel. He hadenough of the naturalist in him to arouse in his mind keen interest inthe habits and action of the animal life around him, and these denizensof the coral-groves were as new to him as their appearance wasunexpected.

"You'll find 'em very kind and hospitable, lad," said the captain to hisson.

"What, the fish?"

"No, the inhabitants. Port—port—steady!"

"Steady it is!" responded the man at the wheel.

"Let go!" shouted the captain.

A heavy plunge, followed by the rattling of chains and swinging round ofthe brig, told that they had come to an anchor in the lagoon of theCocos-Keeling Islands.

CHAPTER III.

INTERESTING PARTICULARS OF VARIOUS KINDS.

By the first blush of dawn Nigel Roy hastened on deck, eager to see theplace in regard to which his father's narrative had awakened in himconsiderable interest.

It not only surpassed but differed from all his preconceived ideas. Thebrig floated on the bosom of a perfectly calm lake of several miles inwidth, the bottom of which, with its bright sand and brilliantcoral-beds, could be distinctly seen through the pellucid water. Thislake was encompassed by a reef of coral which swelled here and thereinto tree-clad islets, and against which the breakers of the IndianOcean were dashed into snowy foam in their vain but ceaseless efforts toinvade the calm serenity of the lagoon. Smaller islands, rich withvegetation, were scattered here and there within the charmed circle,through which several channels of various depths and sizes connected thelagoon with the ocean.

"We shall soon have the king himself off to welcome us," said CaptainRoy as he came on deck and gave a sailor-like glance all round thehorizon and then up at the sky from the mere force of habit. "Visitorsare not numerous here. A few scientific men have landed now and again;Darwin the great naturalist among others in 1836, and Forbes in 1878. Nodoubt they'll be very glad to welcome Nigel Roy in this year of grace1883."

"But I'm not a naturalist, father, more's the pity."

"No matter, lad; you're an ammytoor first mate, an' pr'aps a poet maycount for somethin' here. They lead poetical lives and are fond o'poetry."

"Perhaps that accounts for the fondness you say they have for you,father."

"Just so, lad. See!—there's a boat puttin' off already: the king, nodoubt."

He was right. Mr. Ross, the appointed governor, and "King of the CocosIslands," was soon on deck, heartily shaking hands with and welcomingCaptain Roy as an old friend. He carried him and his son off at once tobreakfast in his island-home; introduced Nigel to his family, and thenshowed them round the settlement, assuring them at the same time thatall its resources were at their disposal for the repair of theSunshine.

"Thank 'ee kindly," said the captain in reply, "but I'll only ask for astick to rig up a foretop-mast to carry us to Batavia, where we'll givethe old craft a regular overhaul—for it's just possible she may havereceived some damage below the water-line, wi' bumpin' on the mast andyards."

The house of the "King" was a commodious, comfortable building in themidst of a garden, in which there were roses in great profusion, as wellas fruit-trees and flowering shrubs. Each Keeling family possessed aneat well-furnished plank cottage enclosed in a little garden, besides aboat-house at the water-edge on the inner or lagoon side of the reef,and numerous boats were lying about on the white sand. The islanders,being almost born sailors, were naturally very skilful in everythingconnected with the sea. There was about them a good deal of that kindlyinnocence which one somehow expects to find associated with a mildpaternal government and a limited intercourse with the surroundingworld, and Nigel was powerfully attracted by them from the first.

After an extensive ramble, during which Mr. Ross plied the captain witheager questions as to the latest news from the busy centres ofcivilisation—especially with reference to new inventions connected withengineering—the island king left them to their own resources tilldinner-time, saying that he had duties to attend to connected with thekingdom!

"Now, boy," said the captain when their host had gone, "what'll 'ee do?Take a boat and have a pull over the lagoon, or go with me to visit afamily I'm particularly fond of, an' who are uncommon fond o' me!"

"Visit the family, of course," said Nigel. "I can have a pull any day."

"Come along then."

He led the way to one of the neatest of the plank cottages, which stoodon the highest ridge of the island, so that from the front windows itcommanded a view of the great blue ocean with its breakers that fringedthe reef as with a ring of snow, while, on the opposite side, lay thepeaceful waters and islets of the lagoon.

A shout of joyful surprise was uttered by several boys and girls atsight of the captain, for during his former visit he had won theirhearts by telling them wild stories of the sea, one half of each storybeing founded on fact and personal experience, the other half on a vividimagination!

"We are rejoiced to see you," said the mother of the juveniles, a stoutwoman of mixed nationality—that of Dutch apparently predominating. Shespoke English, however, remarkably well, as did many of the Cocospeople, though Malay is the language of most of them.

The boys and girls soon hauled the captain down on a seat and began tourge him to tell them stories, using a style of English that was by nomeans equal to that of the mother.

"Stop, stop, let me see sister Kathy first. I can't begin without her.Where is she?"

"Somewhere, I s'pose," said the eldest boy.

"No doubt of that. Go—fetch her," returned the captain.

At that moment a back-door opened, and a girl of about seventeen yearsof age entered. She was pleasant-looking rather than pretty—tall,graceful, and with magnificent black eyes.

"Here she comes," cried the captain, rising and kissing her. "Why,Kathy, how you've grown since I saw you last! Quite a woman, I declare!"

Kathy was not too much of a woman, however, to join her brothers andsisters in forcing the captain into a seat and demanding a story on thespot.

"Stop, stop!" cried the captain, grasping round their waists a small boyand girl who had already clambered on his knees. "Let me inquire aboutmy old friends first—and let me introduce my son to you—you've takenno notice of him yet! That's not hospitable."

All eyes were turned at once on Nigel, some boldly, others with a shyinquiring look, as though to say, Can you tell stories?

"Come, now," said Nigel, advancing, "since you are all so fond of myfather, I must shake hands with you all round."

The hearty way in which this was done at once put the children at theirease. They admitted him, as it were, into their circle, and then turningagain to the captain continued their clamour for a story.

"No, no—about old friends first. How—how's old mother Morris?"

"Quite well," they shouted. "Fatterer than ever," added an urchin, whoin England would have been styled cheeky.

"Yes," lisped a very little girl; "one of 'e doors in 'e house too smallfor she."

"Why, Gerchin, you've learned to speak English like the rest," said thecaptain.

"Yes, father make every one learn."

"Well, now," continued the captain, "what about Black Sam?"

"Gone to Batavia," chorused the children.

"And—and—what's-'is-name?—the man wi' the nose—"

A burst of laughter and, "We's all got noses here!" was the reply.

"Yes, but you know who I mean—the short man wi' the—"

"Oh! with the turned up nose. I know," cried the cheeky boy; "youmeans Johnson? He goed away nobody know whar'."

"And little Nelly Drew, what of her?"

A sudden silence fell on the group, and solemn eyes were turned onsister Kathy, who was evidently expected to answer.

"Not dead?" said the captain earnestly.

"No, but very very ill," replied the girl.

"Dear Nelly have never git over the loss of her brother, who—"

At this point they were interrupted by another group of the captain'slittle admirers, who, having heard of his arrival, ran forward to givehim a noisy welcome. Before stories could be commenced, however, thevisitors were summoned to Mr. Ross's house to dinner, and then thecaptain had got into such an eager talk with the king that evening wasupon them before they knew where they were, as Nigel expressed it, andthe stories had to be postponed until the following day.

Of course beds were offered, and accepted by Captain Roy and Nigel. Justbefore retiring to them, father and son went out to have a stroll on themargin of the lagoon.

"Ain't it a nice place, Nigel?" asked the former, whose kindly spirithad been stirred up to quite a jovial pitch by the gushing welcome hehad received alike from old and young.

"It's charming, father. Quite different from what you had led me toexpect."

"My boy," returned the captain, with that solemn deliberation which hewas wont to assume when about to deliver a palpable truism. "W'en you'vecome to live as long as me you'll find that everything turns outdifferent from what people have bin led to expect. Leastways that's myexperience."

"Well, in the meantime, till I have come to your time of life, I'll takeyour word for that, and I do hope you intend to stay a long time here."

"No, my son, I don't. Why do ye ask?"

"Because I like the place and the people so much that I would like tostudy it and them, and to sketch the scenery."

"Business before pleasure, my lad," said the captain with a grave shakeof the head. "You know we've bin blown out of our course, and have nobusiness here at all. I'll only wait till the carpenter completes hisrepairs, and then be off for Batavia. Duty first; everything elseafterwards."

"But you being owner as well as commander, there is no one to insist onduty being done," objected Nigel.

"Pardon me," returned the captain, "there is a certain owner namedCaptain David Roy, a very stern disciplinarian, who insists on thecommander o' this here brig performin' his duty to the letter. You maydepend upon it that if a man ain't true to himself he's not likely to betrue to any one else. But it's likely that we may be here for a coupleof days, so I release you from duty that you may make the most o' yourtime and enjoy yourself. By the way, it will save you wastin' time ifyou ask that little girl, Kathy Holbein, to show you the best places tosketch, for she's a born genius with her pencil and brush."

"No, thank you, father," returned Nigel. "I want no little girl tobother me while I'm sketching—even though she be a born genius—for Ithink I possess genius enough my self to select the best points forsketching, and to get along fairly well without help. At least I'll trywhat I can do."

"Please yourself, lad. Nevertheless, I think you wouldn't find poorKathy a bother; she's too modest for that—moreover, she could manage aboat and pull a good oar when I was here last, and no doubt she hasimproved since."

"Nevertheless, I'd rather be alone," persisted Nigel. "But why do youcall her poor Kathy? She seems to be quite as strong and as jolly asthe rest of her brothers and sisters."

"Ah, poor thing, these are not her brothers and sisters," returned thecaptain in a gentler tone.

"Kathy is only an adopted child, and an orphan. Her name, Kathleen, isnot a Dutch one. She came to these islands in a somewhat curious way.Sit down here and I'll tell 'ee the little I know about her."

Father and son sat down on a mass of coral rock that had been washed upon the beach during some heavy gale, and for a few minutes gazed insilence on the beautiful lagoon, in which not only the islets, but thebrilliant moon and even the starry hosts were mirrored faithfully.

"About thirteen years ago," said the captain, "two pirate junks in theSunda Straits attacked a British barque, and, after a fight, capturedher. Some o' the crew were killed in action, some were taken on boardthe junks to be held to ransom I s'pose, and some, jumping into the seato escape if possible by swimming, were probably drowned, for they werea considerable distance from land. It was one o' these fellows, however,who took to the water that managed to land on the Java shore, more deadthan alive. He gave information about the affair, and was the cause of agun-boat, that was in these waters at the time, bein' sent off in chaseo' the pirate junks.

"This man who swam ashore was a Lascar. He said that the chief o' thepirates, who seemed to own both junks, was a big ferocious Malay withonly one eye—he might have added with no heart at all, if what he saido' the scoundrel was true, for he behaved with horrible cruelty to thecrew o' the barque. After takin' all he wanted out of his prize hescuttled her, and then divided the people that were saved alive betweenthe two junks. There were several passengers in the vessel; among them ayoung man—a widower—with a little daughter, four year old or so. Hewas bound for Calcutta. Being a very powerful man he fought like a lionto beat the pirates off, but he was surrounded and at last knocked downby a blow from behind. Then his arms were made fast and he was sent wi'the rest into the biggest junk.

"This poor fellow recovered his senses about the time the pirates weredividin' the prisoners among them. He seemed dazed at first, so said theLascar, but as he must have bin in a considerable funk himself I suspecthis observations couldn't have bin very correct. Anyhow, he said he wassittin' near the side o' the junk beside this poor man, whose name henever knew, but who seemed to be an Englishman from his language, when awild scream was heard in the other junk. It was the little girl who hadcaught sight of her father and began to understand that she was going tobe separated from him. At the sound o' her voice he started up, and,looking round like a wild bull, caught sight o' the little one on thedeck o' the other junk, just as they were hoistin' sail to takeadvantage of a breeze that had sprung up.

"Whether it was that they had bound the man with a piece o' bad rope, orthat the strength o' Samson had been given to him, the Lascar could nottell, but he saw the Englishman snap the rope as if it had bin a bit o'pack-thread, and jump overboard. He swam for the junk where his littlegirl was. If he had possessed the strength of a dozen Samsons it wouldhave availed him nothin', for the big sail had caught the breeze and gotway on her. At the same time the other junk lay over to the same breezeand the two separated. At first the one-eyed pirate jumped up with anoath and fired a pistol shot at the Englishman, but missed him. Then heseemed to change his mind and shouted in bad English, with a diabolicallaugh—'Swim away; swim hard, p'raps you kitch 'im up!' Of course thetwo junks were soon out of sight o' the poor swimmer—and that was theend of him, for, of course, he must have been drowned."

"But what of the poor little girl?" asked Nigel, whose feelings wereeasily touched by the sorrows of children, and who began to have asuspicion of what was coming.

"I'm just comin' to that. Well, the gun-boat that went to look for thepirates sighted one o' the junks out in the Indian Ocean after a longsearch and captured her, but not a single one o' the barque's crew wasto be found in her, and it was supposed they had been all murdered andthrown overboard wi' shots tied to their feet to sink them. Enough o'the cargo o' the British barque was found, however, to convict her, andon a more careful search bein' made, the little girl was discovered, hidaway in the hold. Bein' only about four year old, the poor little thingwas too frightened to understand the questions put to her. All she couldsay was that she wanted 'to go to father,' and that her name was Kathy,probably short for Kathleen, but she could not tell."

"Then that is the girl who is now here?" exclaimed Nigel.

"The same, lad. The gun-boat ran in here, like as we did, to have someslight repairs done, and Kathy was landed. She seemed to take at once tomotherly Mrs. Holbein, who offered to adopt her, and as the captain ofthe gun-boat had no more notion than the man-in-the-moon who the childbelonged to, or what to do with her, he gladly handed her over, so hereshe has been livin' ever since. Of course attempts have been made todiscover her friends, but without success, and now all hope has beengiven up. The poor girl herself never speaks on the subject, but oldHolbein and his wife tell me she is sure that Kathy has never forgottenher father. It may be so; anyhow, she has forgotten his name—if sheever knew it."

Next day Nigel made no objections to being guided to the mostpicturesque spots among the coral isles by the interesting orphan girl.If she had been older he might even have fallen in love with her, anevent which would have necessitated an awkward modification of theground-work of our tale. As it was, he pitied the poor child sincerely,and not only—recognising her genius—asked her advice a good deal onthe subject of art, but—recognising also her extreme youth andignorance—volunteered a good deal of advice in exchange, quite in apaternal way!

CHAPTER IV.

NIGEL UNDERGOES SOME QUITE NEW AND INTERESTING EXPERIENCES.

The arrangements made on the following day turned out to be quite inaccordance with the wishes and tastes of the various parties concerned.

The ship's carpenter having been duly set to work on the repairs, andbeing inspected in that serious piece of prosaic business by the secondmate, our captain was set free to charm the very souls of the juvenilesby wandering for miles along the coral strand inventing, narrating,exaggerating to his heart's content. Pausing now and then to askquestions irrelevant to the story in hand, like a wily actor, for thepurpose of intensifying the desire for more, he would mount a block ofcoral, and thence, sometimes as from a throne, or platform, or pulpit,impress some profound piece of wisdom, or some thrilling point, or someexceedingly obvious moral on his followers open-mouthed and open-eyed.

These were by no means idlers, steeped in the too common business ofhaving nothing to do. No, they had regularly sought and obtained aholiday from work or school; for all the activities of social andcivilised life were going on full swing—fuller, indeed, than theaverage swing—in that remote, scarcely known, and beautiful little gemof the Indian Ocean.

Meanwhile Nigel and Kathy, with sketch-books under their arms, went downto where the clear waters of the lagoon rippled on the white sand, and,launching a co*ckleshell of a boat, rowed out toward the islets.

"Now, Kathy, you must let me pull," said Nigel, pushing out the sculls,"for although the captain tells me you are very good at rowing, it wouldnever do for a man, you know, to sit lazily down and let himself berowed by a girl."

"Very well," said Kathy, with a quiet and most contented smile, for shehad not yet reached the self-conscious age—at least, as ages go in theCocos-Keeling Islands! Besides, Kathy was gifted with that charmingdisposition which never objects to anything—anything, of course, thatdoes not involve principle!

But it was soon found that, as the co*ckleshell had no rudder, and theintricacies they had to wind among were numerous, frequent directionsand corrections were called for from the girl.

"D' you know," said Nigel at last, "as I don't know where you want meto go to, it may be as well, after all, that you should row!"

"Very well," said Kathy, with another of her innocent smiles. "I thinkedit will be better so at first."

Nigel could not help laughing at the way she said this as he handed herthe sculls.

She soon proved herself to be a splendid boatwoman, and although herdelicate and shapely arms were as mere pipe-stems to the great brawnylimbs of her companion, yet she had a deft, mysterious way of handlingthe sculls that sent the co*ckleshell faster over the lagoon than before.

"Now, we go ashore here," said Kathy, turning the boat,—with a promptback-water of the left scull, and a vigorous pull of the rightone,—into a little cove just big enough to hold it.

The keel went with such a plump on the sand, that Nigel, who sat on aforward thwart with his back landward, reversed the natural order ofthings by putting his back on the bottom of the boat and his heels inthe air.

To this day it is an unsettled question whether this was done on purposeby Kathy. Certain it is that she did not tumble, but burst into ahearty fit of laughter, while her large lustrous eyes half shutthemselves up and twinkled.

"Why, you don't even apologise, you dreadful creature!" exclaimedNigel, joining in the laugh, as he picked himself up.

"Why should I 'pologise?" asked the girl, in the somewhat broken Englishacquired from her adopted family. "Why you not look out?"

"Right, Kathy, right; I'll keep a sharp lookout next time. Meanwhile Iwill return good for evil by offering my hand to help you a—hallo!"

While he spoke the girl had sprung past him like a grasshopper, andalighted on the sand like a butterfly.

A few minutes later and this little jesting fit had vanished, and theywere both engaged with pencil and book, eagerly—for both wereenthusiastic—sketching one of the most enchanting scenes that can wellbe imagined. We will not attempt the impossible. Description could notconvey it. We can only refer the reader's imagination to the one old,hackneyed but expressive, word—fairyland!

One peculiarly interesting point in the scene was, that on the oppositeside of the lagoon the captain could be seen holding forth to hisjuvenile audience.

ART ON THE KEELING ISLANDS

When a pretty long time had elapsed in absolute silence, each sketcherbeing totally oblivious of the other, Nigel looked up with a long sigh,and said:—

"Well, you have chosen a most exquisite scene for me. The more Iwork at it, the more I find to admire. May I look now at what you havedone?"

"Oh yes, but I have done not much. I am slow," said the girl, as Nigelrose and looked over her shoulder.

"Why!—what—how beautiful!—but—but—what do you mean?" exclaimed theyouth.

"I don't understand you," said the girl, looking up in surprise.

"Why, Kathy, I had supposed you were drawing that magnificent landscapeall this time, and—and you've only been drawing a group of shells.Splendidly done, I admit, but why——"

He stopped at that moment, for her eyes suddenly filled with tears.

"Forgive me, dear child," said Nigel, hurriedly; "I did not intend tohurt your feelings. I was only surprised at your preference."

"You have not hurt me," returned Kathy in a low voice, as she resumedher work, "but what you say calls back to me—my father was very fond ofshells."

She stopped, and Nigel, blaming himself for having inadvertently touchedsome tender chord, hastened, somewhat clumsily, to change the subject.

"You draw landscape also, I doubt not?"

"Oh yes—plenty. If you come home to me to-night, I will show you some."

"I shall be only too happy," returned the youth, sitting down again tohis sketch, "and perhaps I may be able to give you a hint ortwo—especially in reference to perspective—for I've had regulartraining, you know, Kathy, and I dare say you have not had that here."

"Not what you will think much, perhaps, yet I have study a little inschool, and very much from Nature."

"Well, you have been under the best of masters," returned Nigel, "if youhave studied much from Nature. And who has been your other teacher?"

"A brother of Mr. Ross. I think he must understand very much. He was anengineer, and has explained to me the rules of perspective, and manyother things which were at first very hard to understand. But I do seethem now."

"Perhaps then, Kathleen," said Nigel, in that drawling, absent tone inwhich artists are apt to indulge when busy at work—"perhaps you may bealready too far advanced to require instruction from me."

"Perhaps—but I think no, for you seems to understand a great deal. Butwhy you call me Kathleen just now?"

"Because I suppose that is your real name—Kathy being the short for it.Is it not so?"

"Well, p'raps it is. I have hear mother Holbein say so once. I likeKathleen best."

"Then, may I call you Kathleen?"

"If you like."

At this point both artists had become so engrossed in their occupationthat they ceased to converse, and for a considerable time profoundsilence reigned—at least on their part, though not as regarded others,for every now and then the faint sound of laughter came floating overthe tranquil lagoon from that part of the coral strand where Captain Roywas still tickling the fancies and expanding the imaginations andharrowing or soothing the feelings of the Cocos-Keeling juveniles.

Inferior animal life was also in ceaseless activity around thesketchers, filling the air with those indescribably quiet noises whichare so suggestive of that general happiness which was originally interrestial paradise and is ultimately to be the lot of redeemedcreation.

Snipe and curlews were wading with jaunty step and absorbed inquiringgaze in the shallow pools. Hermit crabs of several species and sizeswere scuttling about searching for convenient shells in which to deposittheir naturally homeless and tender tails. Overhead there was a sort ofsea-rookery, the trees being tenanted by numerous gannets, frigatebirds, and terns—the first gazing with a stupid yet angry air; thelast—one beautiful little snow-white species in particular—hoveringonly a few feet above the sketchers' heads, while their large black eyesscanned the drawings with the owlish look of wisdom peculiar toconnoisseurs. Noddies also were there, and, on the ground, lizards andspiders and innumerable ants engaged in all the varied activitiesconnected with their several domestic arrangements.

Altogether it was a scene of bright peaceful felicity, which seemed topermeate Nigel's frame right inward to the spinal marrow, and would havekept him entranced there at his work for several hours longer if thecravings of a healthy appetite had not warned him to desist.

"Now, Kathleen," he said, rising and stretching himself as one is apt todo after sitting long in a constrained position, "it seems to me abouttime to—by the way, we've forgotten to bring something to eat!"

His expression as he said this made his companion look up and laugh.

"Plenty cocoa-nuts," she said, pointing with her pencil to theoverarching trees.

"True, but I doubt my ability to climb these long straight stems;besides, I have got only a small clasp-knife, which would be but a poorweapon with which to attack the thick outer husk of the nuts."

"But I have got a few without the husks in the boat," said the girl,rising and running to the place where the co*ckleshell had been left.

She returned immediately with several nuts divested of their thick outercovering, and in the condition with which we are familiar in England.Some of them were already broken, so that they had nothing to do but sitdown to lunch.

"Here is one," said Kathy, handing a nut to Nigel, "that has got no meatyet in it—only milk. Bore a hole in it and drink, but see you bore inthe right hole."

"The right hole?" echoed the youth, "are some of them wrong ones?"

"Oh yes, only one of the three will do. One of our crawbs knows that andhas claws that can bore through the husk and shell. We calls himcocoa-nut crawb."

"Indeed! That is strange; I never heard before of a crab that fed oncocoa-nuts."

"This one do. He is very big, and also climbs trees. It goes about mostat night. Perhaps you see one before you go away."

The crab to which Kathy referred is indeed a somewhat eccentriccrustacean, besides being unusually large. It makes deep tunnels in theground larger than rabbit burrows, which it lines with cocoa-nut fibre.One of its claws is developed into an organ of extraordinary power withwhich it can break a cocoa-nut shell, and even, it is said, a man'slimb! It never takes all the husk off a cocoa-nut—that would be anunnecessary trouble, but only enough off the end where the three eyeletsare, to enable it to get at the inside. Having pierced the proper eyewith one of its legs it rotates the nut round it until the hole is largeenough to admit the point of its great claw, with which it continues thework. This remarkable creature also climbs the palm-trees, but not togather nuts; that is certain, for its habits have been closely watchedand it has been ascertained that it feeds only on fallen nuts. Possiblyit climbs for exercise, or to obtain a more extended view of itscharming habitat, or simply "for fun." Why not?

All this and a great deal more was told to Nigel by Kathleen, who was abit of a naturalist in her tendencies—as they sat there under thegraceful fronds of the palm-trees admiring the exquisite view, eatingand drinking cocoa-nuts.

"I suppose you have plenty of other kinds of food besides this?" saidNigel.

"Oh yes, plenty. Most of the fish in our lagoon be good for eating, andso also the crawbs, and we have turtle too."

"Indeed! How do you catch the turtle? Another nut, please.—Thankyou."

"The way we gets turtle is by the men diving for them and catching themin the water. We has pigs too—plenty, and the wild birds are some verynice."[1]

When the artists had finished they proceeded to the shore, and to theirsurprise and amusem*nt found the co*ckleshell in possession of apiratical urchin of about four years of age in a charmingly light stateof clothing. He was well known to Kathleen, and it turned out that,having seen the co*ckle start at too great a distance to be hailed, andhaving set his heart on joining in the excursion, he had watched theirmovements, observed their landing on the islet—which was not far fromthe main circlet of land—and, running round till he came opposite toit, swam off and got into the boat. Being somewhat tired he had laindown to rest and fallen sound asleep.

On the way home this urchin's sole delight was to lean over the bow andwatch the fish and coral groves over which they skimmed. In this he wasimitated by Nigel who, ungallantly permitting his companion to row, alsoleaned over the side and gazed down into the clear crystal depths withunwearying delight.

For the wonderful colours displayed in those depths must be seen to bebelieved. Not only is the eye pleased with the ever-varying formationsof the coral bowers, but almost dazzled with the glittering fish—blue,emerald, green, scarlet, orange, banded, spotted, and striped—that darthither and thither among the rich-toned sea-weed and the variegatedanemones which spread their tentacles upwards as if inviting the gazerto come down! Among these, crabs could be seen crawling with undecidedmotion, as if unable to make up their minds, while in out of the waycrevices clams of a gigantic size were gaping in deadly quietude readyto close with a snap on any unfortunate creature that should give themthe slightest touch.

Nigel was sharply awakened from his dream by a sudden splash. Looking uphe observed that the small boy was gone. With a bound he stood erect,one foot on the gunwale and hands clasped ready to dive, when a glancerevealed the fact that Kathy was smiling broadly!

"Don't jump!" she said. "He is only after a fish."

Even while she spoke Nigel saw the brown little fellow shooting aboutlike a galvanised tadpole, with a small harpoon in his hand!

Next moment he appeared on the surface shouting and spluttering, with asplendid fish on the end of his harpoon! Both were hauled into theboat, and very soon after they drew near to land.

In the shallow water Nigel observed some remarkable creatures whichresembled hedgehogs, having jaws armed with formidable teeth to enablethem to feed, Kathy said, on coral insects. File-fishes also drew hisattention particularly. These were magnificently striped and coloured,and apparently very fearless.

"What convenient tails they have to lay hold of," remarked our hero, asthey slowly glided past one; "I believe I could catch it with my hand!"

Stooping swiftly as he spoke, he dipped his arm into the water, andactually did grasp the fish by its tail, but dropped it againinstantly—to the shrieking delight of the urchin and Kathy,—for thetail was armed with a series of sharp spines which ran into his handlike lancets.

This was an appropriate conclusion to a day that would have beenotherwise too enjoyable. Poor Nigel's felicity was further diluted whenhe met his father.

"We'll have to sleep a-board to-night," said the captain, "for there's afair breeze outside which seems likely to hold, and the mast has beentemporarily rigged up, so we'll have to up anchor, and away by break ofday to-morrow."

Nigel's heart sank.

"To-morrow! father?"

"Ay, to-morrow. Business first, pleasure afterwards."

"Well, I suppose you are right, but it seems almost a shame to leavesuch a heaven upon earth as this in such a hurry. Besides, is it notunkind to such hospitable people to bolt off after you've got all thatyou want out of them?"

"Can't help that, lad—

"Come father, don't say that you quote that from mother!"

"No more I do, my boy. It's my own—homemade. I put it together lastnight when I couldn't sleep for your snorin'."

"Don't tell fibs, father. You know I never snore. But—really—are we tostart at daylight?"

"We are, if the wind holds. But you may stay as late as you choose onshore to-night."

Nigel availed himself of the opportunity to see as much of the place andpeople as was possible in the limited time. Next morning the good thoughdamaged brig was running in the direction of Sunda Straits before astiff and steady breeze.

CHAPTER V.

CAPTAIN ROY SURPRISES AND GRATIFIES HIS SON, WHO SURPRISES A NEGRO, ANDSUDDENLY FORMS AN ASTONISHING RESOLVE.

Arrived in Batavia—the low-lying seaport and capital of the Dutchisland of Java—Captain Roy had his brig examined, and found that thedamage she had sustained was so serious that several months wouldprobably elapse before she would be again ready for sea.

"Now, Nigel, my lad," said the old gentleman, on the morning after theexamination had been made, "come down below with me; I want to have aconfabulation with 'ee."

"Why, father," said the youth, when seated at the small cabin tableopposite his rugged parent, "you seem to be in an unusually solemn frameof mind this morning. Has anything happened?"

"Nothin', boy—nothin'. Leastwise nothin' in particular. You know allabout the brig, an' what a deal o' repair she's got to undergo?"

"Of course I do. You know I was present when you talked the matter overwith that fellow—what's-'is-name—that gave you his report."

"Just so. Well now, Nigel, you don't suppose, do you, that I'm goin' tokeep you here for some months knockin' about with nothin' to do—eatin'your grub in idleness?"

"Certainly not," said the youth, regarding the stern countenance of hisparent with an amused look. "I have no intention of acting such anignoble part, and I'm surprised at you askin' the question, for you knowI am not lazy—at least not more so than average active men—and theremust be plenty of work for me to do in looking after the cargo,superintending repairs, taking care of the ship and men. I wonder atyou, father. You must either have had a shock of dotage, or fallen intoa poetical vein. What is a first mate fit for if—"

"Nigel," said Captain Roy, interrupting, "I'm the owner an' commander ofthe Sunshine, besides bein' the paternal parent of an impertinent son,and I claim to have the right to do as I please—therefore, hold yourtongue and listen to me."

"All right, father," replied the young man, with a benignant grin;"proceed, but don't be hard upon me; spare my feelings."

"Well now, this is how the land lies," said the old seaman, resting hiselbows on the table and clasping his hands before him. "As Mr. Moor andI, with the stooard and men, are quite sufficient to manage the affairso' the brig, and as we shall certainly be here for a considerable timeto come, I've made up my mind to give you a holiday. You're young, yousee, an' foolish, and your mind needs improvin'. In short, you want agood deal o' the poetry knocked out o' you, for it's not like yourmother's poetry by any means, so you needn't flatter yourself—not builton the same lines by a long way. Well—where was I?"

"Only got the length of the holiday yet, father."

"Only, indeed. You ungrateful dog! It's a considerable length to get,that, isn't it? Well, I also intend to give you some money, to enableyou to move about in this curious archipelago—not much, but enough tokeep you from starvation if used with economy, so I recommend you to gointo the town, make general inquiries about everything and everywhere,an' settle in your mind what you'll do, for I give you a rovin'commission an' don't want to be bothered with you for some time tocome."

"Are you in earnest, father?" asked Nigel, who had become moreinterested while the captain unfolded his plan.

"Never more in earnest in my life—except, p'raps, when I inquired overtwenty years ago whether you was a boy or a gurl."

"Well, now, that is good of you, father. Of course I need not saythat I am charmed at the prospect you open up to me. And—and when may Istart?"

"At once. Up anchor and away to-night if you choose."

"But—where?"

"Anywhere—everywhere, Java, Sumatra, Borneo—all Malaysia before youwhere to choose. Now be off, and think over it, for I've got too much todo to waste time on you at present," said the captain, rising, "and,stay—Nigel."

"Well?" said the youth, looking back as he was about to leave the cabin.

"Whatever you do, don't grow poetical about it. You know it is saidsomewhere, that mischief is found for idle hands to do."

"All right, father. I'll keep clear of poetry—leave all that sort o'nonsense to you. I'll—

It need scarcely be said that our hero was not slow to take advantage ofthe opportunity thus thrown in his way. He went off immediately throughthe town, armed with the introduction of his father's well-known name,and made inquiries of all sorts of people as to the nature, theconditions, the facilities, and the prospects of travel in the MalayArchipelago. In this quest he found himself sorely perplexed for thevery good reason that "all sorts" of people, having all sorts of ideasand tastes, gave amazingly conflicting accounts of the region and itsattractions.

Wearied at last with his researches, he sauntered towards afternoon inthe direction of the port, and began in a listless sort of way to watchthe movements of a man who was busily engaged with a boat, as if he weremaking preparations to put to sea.

Now, whatever philosophers may say to the contrary, we hold strongly tothe opinion that likings and dislikings among men and women and childrenare the result of some profound occult cause which has nothing whateverto do with experience. No doubt experience may afterwards come in tomodify or intensify the feelings, but it is not the originating cause.If you say it is, how are we to account for love at first sight? Beautyhas nothing necessarily to do with it, for men fall in love at firstsight with what the world calls plain women—happily! Character is notthe cause, for love assails the human breast, ofttimes, before the lovedobject has uttered a word, or perpetrated a smile, or even fulminated aglance to indicate character. So, in like manner, affection may arisebetween man and man.

It was so on this occasion with Nigel Roy. As he stood abstractedlygazing at the boatman he fell in love with him—at least he took apowerful fancy to him, and this was all the more surprising that the manwas a negro,—a woolly-headed, flat-nosed, thick-lipped nigg*r!

We would not for a moment have it supposed that it is unnatural to lovesuch a man. Quite the reverse. But when such a man is a perfectstranger, has never uttered a word in one's presence, or vouchsafed somuch as a glance, and is gravely, stolidly engaged in the unsavoury workof greasing some of the tackling of a boat, it does seem unaccountablethat he should be unwittingly capable of stirring up in another man'sbosom feelings of ardent goodwill, to put it mildly.

After watching him for some time, Nigel under an almost involuntaryimpulse shouted "Hullo!"

"Hullo!" replied the negro, looking up with a somewhat stern frown and apout of his thick lips, as much as to say—"Who are you?"

Nigel smiled, and made that suggestive motion with his forefinger whichsignifies "Come here."

The frown fled and the pout became a smile as the negro approached,wiping his hands on a piece of cotton-waste.

"What you want wi' me, sar?" he asked.

"Well, upon my word," said Nigel, somewhat perplexed, "I can't verywell say. I suppose something must have been in my mind, but—anyhow, Ifelt a desire to have a talk with you; that is, if you can spare thetime."

The first part of this reply induced a slight recurrence of the frownand pout, but at its conclusion the black brow cleared and the mouthexpanded to such a gum-and-teeth-exposing extent that Nigel fairly burstinto a laugh.

"You's bery good, sar," said the man, "an' I's hab much pleasure to makeyour acquaintance.—Der an't no grease on 'em now."

The last remark had reference to the enormous black paw which he heldout.

Nigel at once grasped it and shook it heartily.

"I's bery fond ob a talk, sar," continued the negro, "so as you wantsone, heabe ahead."

Thus encouraged, our hero began by remarking that he seemed to bepreparing for a trip.

"Dat's zackly what I's a-doin', sar."

"A long one?"

"Well, dat depends on what you call short. Goin' to Sunda Straits, whichp'raps you know, sar, is nigh a hundred miles fro' here."

"And what may you be going to do there?" asked Nigel.

"Goin' home to Krakatoa."

"Why, I thought that was an uninhabited island. I passed close to it onmy way here, and saw no sign of inhabitants."

"Da's cause I was absint fro' home. An' massa he keeps indoors a gooddeal."

"And pray who is massa?" asked Nigel.

"Sar," said the negro, drawing up his square sturdy frame with a look ofdignity; "fair-play is eberyt'ing wid me. You've ax me a heap o'questions. Now's my—turn. Whar you comes fro'?"

"From England," replied Nigel.

"An' whar you go to?"

"Well, you've posed me now, for I really don't know where I'm going to.In fact that is the very thing I have been trying to find out all day,so if you'll help me I'll be much obliged."

Here Nigel explained his position and difficulties, and it was quiteobvious, judging from the glittering eyes and mobile mouth, that hepoured his tale into peculiarly sympathetic ears. When he had finished,the negro stood for a considerable time gazing in meditative silence atthe sky.

"Yes," he said at last, as if communing with himself, "I t'ink—I ain'tquite sure, but I t'ink—I may ventur'."

"Whatever it is you are thinking about," remarked Nigel, "you mayventure to say anything you like to me."

The negro, who, although comparatively short of stature, was herculeanin build, looked at the youth with an amused expression.

"You're bery good, sar, but da's not what I's t'inkin' ob. I's t'inkin'whedder I dar' ventur' to introdoce you to my massa. He's not fond o'company, an' it might make 'im angry, but he came by a heaby loss latelyan' p'raps he may cond'send to receibe you. Anyhow you 'd be quite safe,for he's sure to be civil to any friend ob mine."

"Is he then so fierce?" asked Nigel, becoming interested as well asamused.

"Fierce! no, he's gentle as a lamb, but he's awrful when he'sroused—tigers, crokindiles, 'noceroses is nuffin' to him!"

"Indeed! what's his name, and what does he do? How does he live?"

The negro shook his head. "Da's more'n I dar tell till I ax his leave,sar. I kin only say de peepil around calls 'im the hermit ob Rakata,'cause he libs by his self (wid me, ob course, but I counts fornuffin), close under de ole volcano ob Krakatoa. Dey tink—some ob defoolish peepil—dat he hab sold his-self to de dibil, but I knowsbetter. He's a good man, and you'd hab great fun if you stop wid him.Now, what I's a-gwine to advise you is, come wid me an' see de hermit.If he lets you stop, good. If not, I fetch you ober to de mainland—whar you please—an' you kin come back here or go whar youchoose. Its wort' your while to take your chance, anyhow."

The negro said this with such an earnest look that Nigel made up hismind on the spot to accept this curious invitation.

"I'll go!" he exclaimed with sudden energy. "When do you start?"

"To-morrer at daybreak, sar."

"Well, I shall have to talk it over first with my father, but I'm surehe won't object, so you may look out for me here at daybreak. Shall Ihave to fetch any provisions with me for the voyage?"

"No, nuffin'. Boat's crammed wi' grub. But you'd better bring a gun o'some sort an' a 'volver, an' a big knife, an' a mortal big appetite, fora man's no good widout dat."

"I always carry that about with me," said the youth, "whatever else Imay leave behind; and I'll see to the other things.—By the way, what'syour name?"

"Moses."

"Is that all?"

"Isn't dat enuff?" returned the negro with a look of dignity.

"Quite; but I have the advantage of you there, Moses, for I have twonames—Nigel Roy."

"Well, I don't see much use ob two, but which does you like to becalled by—Nadgel or Roy?"

"Whichever you please, Moses; I'll answer to either. So now, good-byefor the present, and look out for me to-morrow at daylight."

"Good-bye, Massa Nadgel, till to-morrer."

The negro waved his hand and, sauntering slowly back to his boat,remarked in an undertone, "I lub dat young feller!" Saying which, heresumed his greasing operations.

Of course Captain Roy made no objection to his son's proposal, though hefreely gave his opinion that it was a wild-goose chase.

"However, lad, please yourself and you'll please me," he added; "andnow, be particular to bear in mind that you've got to write to me everytime you get within hail of a post-office or a passing ship or steamerthat may chance to be comin' this way, and in each letter be sure totell me where you're goin' to next, so as I may send a letter there toyou in case I want you to return sudden or otherwise. We mustn't losetouch, you see. You needn't write long screeds. I only want to know yourwhereabouts from time to time. For the rest—you can spin it out inyarns when you come back."

CHAPTER VI.

THE HERMIT OF RAKATA INTRODUCED.

Nothing worthy of particular note occurred during the boat-voyage alongthe northern shore of Java to Sunda Straits. A fair, steady breezewafted them westward, and, on the morning of the third day, they came insight of the comparatively small uninhabited island of Krakatoa.

The boat in which they voyaged, although a little one, had a smallportion of the bow decked over, so that our hero and his sable friendcould find shelter from the night air when disposed to sleep and fromthe fierce rays of the sun at noon.

By the advice of his father, Nigel had changed his sailor costume forthe "shore-goin' toggery" in which he had landed on the Keeling Islands,as being more suitable to his new character as a traveller, namely, awhite cloth cap with a peak in front and a curtain behind to protect hisneck, a light-grey tunic belted at the waist, and a pair of strongcanvas trousers. He had also purchased an old-fashioneddouble-barrelled fowling-piece, muzzle-loading and with percussionlocks.

"For you see, Nigel," the captain had said, "it's all very well to usebreech-loaders when you've got towns and railways and suchlike to supplyyou wi' cartridges, but when you've got to cruise in out-o'-the-waywaters, there's nothin' like the old style. It's not difficult to carrya few thousand percussion-caps an' a bullet-mould about wi' you whereveryou go. As to powder, why, you'll come across that 'most everywhere, an'lead too; and, for the matter o' that, if your life depended on it youcould shove a handful of gravel or a pen-knife or tooth-pick into yourgun an' blaze away, but with a breech-loader, if you run out o'cartridges, where are you?"

So, as Nigel could not say where he was, the percussion-gun had beenpurchased.

The peak of Rakata—the highest in the island—a little over 2600 feet,came in sight first; gradually the rest of the island rose out of thehorizon, and ere long the rich tropical verdure became distinguishable.

Krakatoa—destined so soon to play a thrilling part in the world'shistory; to change the aspect of the heavens everywhere; to attract thewondering gaze of nearly all nations, and to devastate its immediateneighbourhood—is of volcanic origin, and, at the time we write of(1883) was beginning to awaken from a long, deep slumber of two hundredyears. Its last explosion occurred in the year 1680. Since that date ithad remained quiet. But now the tremendous subterranean forces which hadoriginally called it into being were beginning to reassert theirexistence and their power. Vulcan was rousing himself again andbeginning once more to blow his bellows. So said some of the sailors whowere constantly going close past the island and through Sunda Straits,which may be styled the narrows of the world's highway to the Chinaseas.

Subterranean forces, however, are so constantly at work more or lessviolently in those regions that people took little notice of theseindications in the comparatively small island of Krakatoa, which wasbetween five and six miles long by four broad.

As we have said, it was uninhabited, and lying as it does betweenSumatra and Java, about sixteen miles from the former and over twentymiles from the latter, it was occasionally visited by fishermen. Thehermit whom Nigel was about to visit might, in some sort, be counted aninhabitant, for he had dwelt there many years, but he lived in a cavewhich was difficult of access, and held communication with no one. Howhe spent his time was a mystery, for although his negro servant went tothe neighbouring town of Anjer in Java for supplies, and sometimes toBatavia, as we have seen, no piece of inanimate ebony from the forestcould have been less communicative than he. Indeed, our hero was thefirst to unlock the door of his lips, with that key of mysterioussympathy to which reference has already been made. Some of the bolder ofthe young fishermen of the neighbouring coasts had several times madefutile efforts to find out where and how the hermit lived, but the fewwho got a glimpse of him at a distance brought back such a report that akind of superstitious fear of him was generated which kept them at arespectful distance.

He was ten feet high, some romancers said, with shoulders four feetbroad, a chest like a sugar-hogshead, and a countenance resembling acompound of orang-utan and tiger.

Of course our hero knew nothing of these rumours, and as Moses declinedto give any information regarding his master beyond that already given,he was left to the full play of his imagination.

Moses was quite candid about it. He made no pretence to shroud things inmystery.

"You mus' know, Massa Nadgel," he said, as they slowly drew near to theisland, "I's 'fraid ob 'im dough I lub 'im."

"But why do you love him, Moses?"

"'Cause he sabe my life an' set me free."

"Indeed? well, that is good reason. And why do you fear him?"

"Da's what I don' know, massa," replied the negro with a puzzled look.

"Is he harsh, then?"

"No."

"Passionate?"

"No. Gentle as a lamb."

"Strong?"

"Yes—oh! mighty strong an' big."

"Surely you're not afraid of his giving you a licking, Moses?"

"Oh no," returned the negro, with a smile of expansive benignity; "I'snot 'fraid ob dat. I's bin a slabe once, got used to lickin's. Don'tcare nuffin' at all for a lickin'!"

"Then it must be that you're afraid of hurting his feelings, Moses, forI know of no other kind of fear."

"Pr'aps da's it!" said the negro with a bright look, "now I wouldn'twonder if you's right, Massa Nadgel. It neber come into my head in datlight before. I used to be t'ink, t'inkin' ob nights—when I's tired obcountin' my fingers an' toes—But I couldn't make nuffin' ob it. Now Iknows! It's 'fraid I am ob hurtin' his feelin's."

In the excess of his satisfaction at the solution of this long-standingpuzzle, Moses threw back his head, shut his eyes, opened his enormousmouth and chuckled.

By the time he had reversed this process they were sufficiently near toKrakatoa to distinguish all its features clearly, and the negro began topoint out to Nigel its various localities. There were three prominentpeaks on it, he said, named respectively, Perboewatan about 400 feethigh, at the northern end of the island; Danan, near the centre, 1500feet; and Rakata, at the southern end, over 2600 feet. It was high up onthe sides of the last cone that the residence of the hermit wassituated.

"And you won't tell me your master's name?" said Nigel.

Moses shook his woolly head. "No, sar, no. I's 'fraid ob him—he! he!'fraid ob hurtin' his feelin's!"

"Well, never mind; I'll find it out from himself soon. By the way, whatwere you telling me about explosions yesterday when that little whitegull came to admire your pretty face, and took off our attention?"

"Well, I dun know. Not got much to tell, only dar's bin rumblin' an'grumblin's an' heavin's lately in de mountains as didn't use to be, an'cracks like somet'in' bustin' down blow, an' massa he shook 'is head twoor free times an' look solemn. He don't often do dat—shook 'is head, Imean—for he mostly always looks solemn."

A few minutes later the boat, running through a narrow opening amongthe rocks into a small circular harbour not more than fifty yards indiameter, rested its keel gently on a little bed of pure yellow sand.The shore there was so densely covered with bushes that the harbourmight easily have been passed without being observed.

Jumping ashore, Moses made the painter fast to a tree.

"What a quiet, cosy place!" said Nigel, as he sprang on the beach andlooked admiringly round.

"Yes, an' not easy to find if you don't knows 'im. We will leabe de boathere,—no danger ob bein' tooked away—an' den go up to de cave."

"Is it far?" asked Nigel.

"A good bit—near de top ob de mountain,"—answered the negro, wholooked at his companion somewhat uneasily.

"Why, what's the matter, Moses?"

"Nuffin'—oh! nuffin'—but—but when massa axes you who you is, an' whatyou bin up to, an' whar your a-gwine to, an' what wages you want, jistyou answer 'im in a sorter permiscuous way, an' don't be too partikler."

"Wages! man, what d' ye mean?"

"Well, you'll 'scuse me, sar," returned the negro with an air ofprofound humility, "but my massa lost a old sarvint—a nigg*r likemyself—only last munt', an' he wants to go on one ob his usualexpeditions jus' now, so he sends me to Batavia to git anoder man—'agood one, you know,' says massa,—an' as you, sar, was good 'nuff to axme what you should do, an' you looked a pritty smart man, I——"

"You scoundrel!" cried Nigel, interrupting him, "do you really mean totell me that you've brought me here as a hired servant?"

"Well, not zackly," returned Moses, with solemn simplicity, "you needn'tax no wages unless you like."

"But what if I don't want to take service?" demanded our hero, with asavage frown.

"You kin go home agin," answered Moses, humbly.

Nigel could contain himself no longer. As he observed the man'sdeprecatory air, and thought of his own position, he burst into a fit ofhearty laughter, whereupon the negro recovered himself and smiled thesmile of the guiltless.

"Come," said Nigel at last. "Lead on, you rascal! When I see your masterI shall know what to say."

"All right, Massa Nadgel, but mind what you say, else I won't answer forde consikences. Foller me an' look arter your feet, for de road isroughish."

The negro's last remark was unquestionably true, for the road—if a merefootpath merits the name—was rugged in the extreme—here winding roundthe base of steep cliffs, there traversing portions of luxuriantforest, elsewhere skirting the margin of the sea.

Moses walked at such a pace that Nigel, young and active though he was,found it no easy matter to keep up with him. Pride, however, forbade himto show the slightest sign of difficulty, and made him even converse nowand then in tones of simulated placidity. At last the path turnedabruptly towards the face of a precipice and seemed to terminate in asmall shallow cave. Any one following the path out of mere curiositywould have naturally imagined that the cave was the termination of it;and a very poor termination too, seeing that it was a ratheruninteresting cave, the whole of the interior of which could be seen ata single glance from its mouth.

But this cave served in reality as a blind. Climbing by one or twoprojecting points, the negro, closely followed by Nigel, reached anarrow ledge and walked along it a short distance. On coming to the endof the ledge he jumped down into a mass of undergrowth, where the trackagain became visible—winding among great masses of weatherworn lava.Here the ascent became very steep, and Moses put on what sporting mencall a spurt, which took him far ahead of Nigel, despite the bestefforts of the latter to keep up. Still our hero scorned to run or callout to his guide to wait, and thereby admit himself beaten. He pushedsteadily on, and managed to keep the active Moses in view.

Presently the negro stepped upon a platform of rock high up on thecliffs, where his form could be distinctly seen against the bright sky.There Nigel observed that he was joined by a man whose tall commandingfigure seemed in such a position to be of gigantic proportions.

The two stood engaged in earnest conversation while watching Nigel. Thelatter immediately slackened his pace, in order at once to recoverbreath and approach with a leisurely aspect.

"The wild man of the island, I suppose," he thought as he drew near; buton coming still nearer he saw that he must be mistaken, for the strangerwho advanced to meet him with gracious ease and self-possession wasobviously a gentleman, and dressed, not unlike himself, in a sort ofmixed travelling and shooting costume.

"I must apologise, Mr. Roy, for the presumption of my man, in bringingyou here under something like false pretences," said the stranger,holding out his hand, which Nigel shook heartily. "Moses, I find, hasfailed to execute my commission, and has partially deceived you; but asyou are now here, the least I can do is to bid you welcome, and offeryou the hospitality of my roof."

There was something so courteous and kindly in the tone and manner ofthe stranger, and something so winning in his soft gentle tones, whichcontrasted strangely with his grand towering figure and massive beardedcountenance, that Nigel felt drawn to him instantly. Indeed there was apeculiar and mysterious something about him which quite fascinated ourhero as he looked up at him, for, bordering on six feet though Nigelwas, the stranger stood several inches above him.

"You are very kind," said the visitor, "and I don't think that Moses canfairly be charged with deceiving me, although he has been somewhatunwise in his way of going about this business, for I had told him Iwanted to see something of these regions, and perhaps it may be to myadvantage to travel in your service—that is, if I can be of any use toyou; but the time at my disposal may be too limited."

"How much time have you to spare?" asked the stranger.

"Well, say perhaps three months."

"That will do," returned his questioner, looking thoughtfully at theground. "We will talk of this hereafter."

"But—excuse me," said Nigel, "your man spoke of you as a hermit—a sortof—of—forgive me—a wild-man-of-the-island, if I may—"

"No, I didn't, Massa Nadgel," said the negro, the edge of whose flatcontradiction was taken off by the extreme humility of his look.

"Well," returned Nigel, with a laugh; "you at least gave me tounderstand that other people said something of that sort."

"Da's right, Massa Nadgel—kite right. You're k'rect now."

"People have indeed got some strange ideas about me, I believe,"interposed the hermit, with a grave almost sad expression and tone. "Butcome, let me introduce you to my hermitage and you shall judge foryourself."

So saying, this singular being turned and led the way further up therugged side of the peak of Rakata.

After about five minutes' walk in silence, the trio reached a spot wherethere was a clear view over the tree-tops, revealing the blue waters ofthe strait, with the Java shores and mountains in the distance.

Behind them there yawned, dark and mysterious, a mighty cavern, so blackand high that it might well suggest a portal leading to the regionsbelow, where Vulcan is supposed to stir those tremendous fires whichhave moulded much of the configuration of the world, and which are everseething—an awful Inferno—under the thin crust of the globe on whichwe stand.

Curiously formed and large-leaved trees of the tropics, with theirpendent parasites, as well as rank grasses, sprouting from below andhanging from above, partially concealed this cavern from Nigel when hefirst turned towards it, but a few steps further on he could see it inall its rugged grandeur.

"My home," said the hermit, with a very slight smile and the air of aprince, as he turned towards his visitor and waved his hand towards it.

"A magnificent entrance at all events," said Nigel, returning the smilewith something of dubiety, for he was not quite sure that his host wasin earnest.

"Follow me," said the hermit, leading the way down a narrow well-wornpath which seemed to lose itself in profound darkness. After being a fewminutes within the cavern, however, Nigel's eyes became accustomed tothe dim light, and he perceived that the roof rapidly lowered, while itswalls narrowed until they reached a spot which was not much wider thanan ordinary corridor. Here, however, it was so dark that it was barelypossible to see a small door in the right-hand wall before which theyhalted. Lifting a latch the hermit threw the door wide open, and a glareof dazzling light almost blinded the visitor.

Passing through the entrance, Nigel followed his guide, and the negrolet the heavy door shut behind him with a clang that was depressinglysuggestive of a prison.

"Again I bid you welcome to my home," said the hermit, turning roundand extending his hand, which Nigel mechanically took and pressed, butwithout very well knowing what he did, for he was almost dumfounded bywhat he saw, and for some minutes gazed in silence around him.

And, truly, there was ground for surprise. The visitor found himself ina small but immensely high and brilliantly lighted cavern or naturalchamber, the walls of which were adorned with drawings of scenery andtrees and specimens of plants, while on various shelves stoodinnumerable stuffed birds, and shells, and other specimens of naturalhistory.

A table and two chairs stood at one end of the cave, and, strangest ofall, a small but well-filled book-case ornamented the other end.

"Arabian Nights!" thought Nigel. "I must be dreaming."

His wandering eyes travelled slowly round the cavern until they restedat last on the door by which they had entered, beside which stood thenegro with a broad grin on his sable visage.

CHAPTER VII.

WONDERS OF THE HERMIT'S CAVE AND ISLAND.

The thing that perhaps surprised Nigel most in this strange cavern wasthe blaze of light with which it was filled, for it came down directthrough a funnel-shaped hole in the high roof and bore a marvellousresemblance to natural sunshine. He was well aware that unless the sunwere shining absolutely in the zenith, the laws of light forbade theentrance of a direct ray into such a place, yet there were thepositive rays, although the sun was not yet high in the heavens,blinding him while he looked at them, and casting the shadows of himselfand his new friends on the floor.

There was the faintest semblance of a smile on the hermit's face as hequietly observed his visitor, and waited till he should recoverself-possession. As for Moses—words are wanting to describe the fieldsof teeth and gum which he displayed, but no sound was suffered to escapehis magnificent lips, which closed like the slide of a dark lantern whenthe temptation to give way to feeling became too strong.

"My cave interests you," said the hermit at last.

"It amazes me," returned our hero, recovering himself and lookingearnestly at his host, "for you seem not only to have all thenecessaries of life around you in your strange abode, but many of theluxuries; among them the cheering presence of sunshine—though how youmanage to get it is beyond my powers of conception."

"It is simple enough, as you shall see," returned the hermit. "You haveheard of the saying, no doubt, that 'all things are possible towell-directed labour'?"

"Yes, and that 'nothing can be achieved without it.'"

"Well, I have proved that to some extent," continued the hermit. "Yousee, by the various and miscellaneous implements on my shelves, that Iam given to dabbling a little in science, and thus have made my lonelyhome as pleasant as such a home can be—but let us not talk of thesematters just now. You must be hungry. Have you had breakfast?"

"No, we have not—unless, at least, you count a sea biscuit dipped insalt water a breakfast. After all, that may well be the case, forhermits are noted for the frugality of their fare."

"I am not a genuine hermit," remarked his host gravely. "Men do indeedcall me the Hermit of Rakata, because I dwell alone here under theshadow of this particular cone of Krakatoa, but I do not ape the austerelife of the conventional hermit, as you see, either in my domesticarrangements or food. Come, your breakfast is ready. From my outlook Isaw your boat approaching some hours ago, and knew that it was mine, soI made ready for your arrival, though I did not guess that Moses wasbringing me a guest instead of a servant!"

So saying, he led the way through a short natural passage to an innercave, the entrance to which, like the outer one, was boarded. On openinga small door, Nigel was again greeted as before with brilliant rays ofsunshine, and, in addition, with a gush of odours that were exceedinglygrateful to a hungry man. A low "Ho! ho!" behind him told that his blackcompanion was equally gratified.

The inner cave or mess-room, as the host styled it, combined dining-roomand kitchen, for while in one corner stood a deal table with plates,cups, etc., but no tablecloth, in another stood a small stove, heated byan oil lamp, from which issued puffing and sputtering sounds, and thesavoury odours above referred to.

Nigel now perceived that although his strange host necessarily spoke agood deal while welcoming him and offering him the hospitalities of hisabode, he was by no means communicative. On the contrary, it was evidentthat he was naturally reserved and reticent, and that although politeand gentle in the extreme, there was a quiet grave dignity about himwhich discouraged familiarity. It must not be supposed, however, that hewas in any degree morosely silent. He was simply quiet andundemonstrative, said little except when asked questions, and spoke,alike to Nigel and Moses, in the soft, low, kindly tones with which onemight address very young people.

Going to the stove he took a coffee-pot therefrom and set it on thetable. At the same time, Moses, without requiring to be told, opened theoven and brought forth fried fish, meat of some kind, and cakes of heknew not what, but cared little, for their excellence wasunquestionable.

During the meal that followed, Nigel ventured as far as politenesspermitted—indeed a little further, if truth must be told—to inquireinto the circ*mstances and motives of his entertainer in taking up hisabode in such a strange place, but he soon found that his eccentricfriend was not one who could be "pumped." Without a touch of rudeness,and in the sweetest of voices, he simply assumed an absent manner andchanged the subject of discourse, when he did not choose to reply, bydrawing attention to some irrelevant matter, or by putting a counterquestion which led away from the subject. Nigel also found that his hostnever laughed and rarely smiled, though, when he did so the smile was soslight as merely to indicate a general feeling of urbanity and goodwill,and it was followed instantly by a look of gravity, if not sadness.Altogether the guest was much perplexed about the host at first, andsomewhat constrained in consequence, but gradually he began to feel atease. Another discovery that he soon made was, that the hermit treatedMoses not as a servant, but as if he were in all respects an equal and acomrade.

After eating for some time in silence, and having tried to draw out hishost without success, Nigel changed his tactics and said—

"You were so kind as to speak of me as your guest, Mr.—— Mr.—— I begpardon, may I—"

"My name is Van der Kemp," said the hermit quietly.

"Well, Mr. Van der Kemp, I must tell you that I am quite willing toaccept the position for which Moses hired me—"

"No, I didn't," contradicted the negro, flatly yet very gently, both intone and manner, for long residence with the hermit had apparentlyimbued him with something of his spirit.

"Well, then," said Nigel, "the position for which Moses should havehired some one else. ('K'rect now' whispered Moses.) Of course I donot intend to ask for or accept wages, and also, of course, I accept theposition on the understanding that you think me fit for the service. MayI ask what that service is to be, and where you think of going to?"

"The service," returned the hermit slowly and with his eyes fixed on thefloor as if pondering his reply, "is to accompany me as my attendant andcompanion, to take notes as occasion may serve, and to paddle a canoe."

At this reply our hero almost laughed, but was prevented from doing soby his host asking abruptly if he understood canoeing.

"Well, yes. At least I can manage what in England is known as the RobRoy canoe, having possessed one in my boyhood."

"That will do," returned the hermit gravely. "Can you write shorthand?"

"I can. A friend of mine, a reporter on one of the London dailies, oncegave me a few lessons, and, becoming fond of the subject, I followed itup."

"That is well; you did well. It is of immense advantage to a man,whatever his position in life, that he should be able to write shorthandwith facility. Especially useful is it in commerce. I know that, havinghad some experience of commercial life."

At this point in the conversation Nigel was startled by what was to himan absolutely new sensation, namely a shaking or trembling of the wholecavern, accompanied by faint rumbling sounds as if in deeper cavernsbelow him.

He glanced quickly at his host and at the negro, but to his surprisethese remarkable men seemed not to be aware of the shaking, although itwas severe enough to cause some of the furniture to rattle. Observinghis look of surprise, Moses remarked, with a benignant though capacioussmile, "Mountain's got de mulligrumps pritty bad jist now."

"We are pretty well accustomed to that," said the host, observing thatNigel turned to him for an explanation. "No doubt you are aware thatthis region is celebrated for earthquakes and volcanoes, so much so thatthe inhabitants pay little attention to them unless they becomeunusually violent. This island of Krakatoa is itself the fragment of anextinct volcano; but the term 'extinct' is scarcely applicable tovolcanoes, for it is well known that many which were for centuriessupposed to be extinct have awakened to sudden and violentactivity—'quiescent' might be a more appropriate term."

"Yes," said Moses, ceasing to masticate for purposes of speech; "dem'stinkt volcanoes hab got an okard habit ob unstinkin' dereselveshereabouts when you don' 'spect it of 'em. Go on, massa. I ax yerpard'n for 'truptin'."

The hermit's peculiar good-natured little smile played for a moment onhis massive features, and then faded away as he continued—

"Perhaps you may have heard that this is the very heart of the districtthat has long been recognised as the greatest focus of volcanic activityon the globe?"

"I have heard something of the sort," answered Nigel, "but I confessthat my knowledge is limited and my mind hazy on the subject."

"I doubt it not," returned his friend, "for geographical and scientifictraining in primary schools anywhere is not what it might be. The islandof Java, with an area about equal to that of England, contains no fewerthan forty-nine great volcanic mountains, some of which rise to 12,000feet above the sea-level. Many of these mountains are at the presenttime active ('Yes, much too active,' muttered the negro), and morethan half of them have been seen in eruption since Java was occupied byEuropeans. Hot springs, mud-volcanoes, and vapour-vents abound all overthe island, whilst earthquakes are by no means uncommon. There is adistinct line in the chain of these mountains which seems to point to agreat fissure in the earth's crust, caused by the subterranean fires.This tremendous crack or fissure crosses the Straits of Sunda, and inconsequence we find a number of these vents—as volcanic mountains maybe styled—in the Island of Sumatra, which you saw to the nor'ard as youcame along. But there is supposed to be another great crack in theearth's crust—indicated by several volcanic mountains—which crossesthe other fissure almost at right angles, and at the exact point wherethese two lines intersect stands this island of Krakatoa!

"I emphasise the fact," continued the hermit after a pause, "first,because, although this has been a quiescent volcano since the year 1680,and people have come to regard it as extinct, there are indications nowwhich lead me to believe that its energy is reviving; and, second,because this focus where fissures cross each other—this KrakatoaIsland—is in reality part of the crater of an older and much largervolcanic mountain, which must have been literally blown away inprehistoric times, and of which Krakatoa and the neighbouring islets ofVarlaten, Polish Hat, Lang Island, and the rest, are but the remnants ofthe great crater ring. If these rumblings and minor earthquakes, which Ihave noticed of late—and the latest of which you have justexperienced—are the precursors of another explosion, my home here maybe rendered untenable."

"Hi!" exclaimed Moses, who had been listening with open mouth and eyesto this discourse, which was obviously news to him, "I hope, massa, heain't a-gwine to 'splode to-day—anyhow, not till after breakfast!"

"You must have studied the subject of volcanoes a good deal, I suppose,from what you say," observed Nigel.

"Naturally; living as I do almost on the top of one. My library, which Iwill show you presently, contains many interesting works on the subject.But come, if you have finished we will ascend the Peak of Rakata and Iwill introduce you to my sunshine."

He rose and led his guest back to the outer cavern, leaving Moses stillbusy with knife and fork, apparently meditating on the pleasure ofbreakfasting with the prospect of a possible and immediate explosion.

In passing through the first chamber, Nigel observed, in a naturalrecess, the library just referred to. He also noted that, besidesstuffed birds and other specimens and sea-shells, there were chisels,saws, hammers, and other tools, besides something like a forge andcarpenter's bench in a side-chamber opening out of the large one, whichhe had not at first seen—from all which he concluded that the hermitwas imbued with mechanical as well as scientific and literary tastes.

At the further and darker end of the outer cave there was a staircase,partly natural, and partly improved by art, which led upward intoprofound darkness.

"Let me take your hand here," said the hermit, looking down upon hisguest with his slight but winning smile; "it is a rough and darkstaircase. You will be apt to stumble."

Nigel placed his hand in that of his host with perfect confidence, andwith a curious feeling—aroused, probably, by the action—of havingreturned to the days of childhood.

The stair was indeed rugged as well as winding, and so pitchy dark thatthe youth could not have advanced at all without stumbling, unless hishost had held him all the way. At last a glimmer of light was seen inthe distance. It seemed to increase suddenly, and in a few moments thetwo emerged from total darkness into dazzling sunshine.

When Nigel looked round him he saw that they had gained a plateau, highup on the very summit of the mountain, which appeared to be absolutelyinaccessible by any means save that by which they had reached it.

"This is what I call my observatory," said the hermit, turning to hisguest. "We have passed right through the peak of Rakata, and reached itsnorthern side, which commands, as you see, a view of all the northernpart of the island. I come here often in the night to study the face ofthe heavens, the moon, and stars, and meditate on their mysteriousMaker, whose ways are indeed wonderful and past finding out; but allwhich must, in the nature of things, be right."

As this was the first mention that the hermit had made of the Creator,and the reference was one requiring more thought than Nigel had yetbestowed on it, he made no rejoinder.

"Have you studied astronomy, Mr. Roy?"

"No—at least not more of it than was needful for navigation. But pray,sir, do not call me Mr. Roy," said the youth, with a somewhatembarrassed air. "If I am to be your assistant and familiar companionfor two or three months, I hope that you will agree to call me Nigel.Your man has done so already without asking leave!"

"I will, on one condition."

"And that is—?"

"That you also dispense with the 'Mr.' and 'sir,' and call me Van derKemp."

"Agreed," said Nigel, "though it does not seem so appropriate in me asin you, considering the difference of our years."

"Look here," said the hermit, turning abruptly to a small wooden shedwhich had hitherto escaped the youth's observation, so covered was itwith overhanging boughs and tropical creeping plants, "these are myastronomical instruments."

He pointed to a table in the hut on which stood several telescopes—andmicroscopes as well—one of the former being a large instrument,certainly not less than six feet long, with a diameter of apparently sixor eight inches.

"Here, you see, I have the means of investigating the wonders of Naturein her grandest as well as her minutest scales. And there," he added,pointing to a couple of large reflecting mirrors in strong woodenframes, erected on joints in such a way that they could be turned in anydirection,—"there you have the secret of my sunshine. One of thesemirrors catches the sunshine direct and reflects it on the other, which,as you see, is so arranged that it transmits the rays down the naturalfunnel or chimney into the cave. By means of chains connected with themechanism, and extending below, I can change the direction of themirrors as the sun changes its place in the sky, without requiring tocome up here."

"Very ingenious!" said Nigel; "but how do you manage when the mountaincomes between you and the sun, as I see it cannot fail to do during somepart of the day?"

"Simply enough," returned the hermit, pointing to a distant projectingcliff or peak. "On yon summit I have fixed four mirrors similar tothese. When the sun can no longer be reflected from this pair, the firstof the distant mirrors takes it up and shoots a beam of light over here.When the sun passes from that, the second mirror is arranged to catchand transmit it, and so on to the fourth. After that I bid good-bye tothe sun, and light my lamp!"

Nigel felt an almost irresistible tendency to smile at this, but thegrave simplicity of the man forbade such familiarity.

"Look yonder," continued the hermit, sweeping one of his long armstowards Sumatra, "in that direction runs the line of volcanicdisturbance—the fissure of which I have already spoken. Focus thistelescope to suit your sight. Now, do you see the little island awaythere to the nor'-west?"

"Yes."

"Well, that is Varlaten. I mentioned it when at breakfast. Sweep yourglass round to the nor'ard, the little island there is Polish Hat, andyou see Lang Island in the nor'-east. These, with Krakatoa, are merelythe higher parts still remaining above water of the ring or lip of theancient crater. This will give you some idea what an enormous mountainthe original of this old volcano must have been. This island-mountain isestimated to have been twenty-five miles in circumference, and 10,000 to12,000 feet high. It was blown into the air in 1680, and this island,with the few islets I have pointed out, is all that remains of it! Now,cast your eye down the centre of the island on which we stand; you seeseveral cones of various sizes. These are ancient vents, supposed to beextinct—"

"But one of them, the one furthest away," interrupted Nigel, steadyinghis telescope on the branch of a tree, "seems to be anything butextinct, for I see a thin column of white smoke or steam rising fromit."

"That is just what I was going to point out. They call that Perboewatan.It is the lowest peak on the island, about 400 feet high, and stands, Ishould say, in the very centre of the ancient crater, where are the twofissures I have mentioned. For two hundred years Perboewatan has notsmoked like that, and, slight though it is at present, I cannot helpthinking that it indicates an impending eruption, especially when Iconsider that earthquakes have become more numerous of late years, andthere was one in 1880 which was so violent as to damage seriously thelighthouse on Java's First Point."

"Then you have resided here for some time?" said Nigel.

"Yes, for many years," replied the hermit, in a low, sad tone.

"But is it wise in you to stay if you think an explosion so likely?Don't you needlessly run considerable risk?"

"I do not fear to die."

Nigel looked at his new friend in surprise, but there was not a shadowof boastfulness or affectation either in his look or tone.

"Besides," he continued, "the explosion may be but slight, andPerboewatan is, as you see, about four miles off. People in theneighbourhood of the straits and passing ships are so accustomed tovolcanic explosions on a more or less grand scale that they will nevernotice this little cloud hanging over Krakatoa. Those who, like myself,know the ancient history of the island, regard it in a more seriouslight, but we may be wrong. Come, now, we will descend again and have aramble over part of the island. It will interest you. Not many men havepenetrated its luxuriant forests or know their secrets. I have wanderedthrough them in all directions, and can guide you. Indeed, Moses coulddo that as well as I, for he has lived with me many years. Come."

Returning to the cavern they found that the active negro had not onlyfinished his breakfast, but had washed the dishes and cleared up thekitchen, so that he was quite ready to shoulder a wallet and a gun whenhis master bade him prepare for a day in the forest.

It is not, however, our intention to follow the trio thither. Mattersof greater interest, if not importance, claim our attention at present.Let it suffice to say, therefore, that after a most delightful day,spent in wandering amongst the luxuriant tropical vegetation with whichthe island was densely covered, visiting one of the extinct craters,bathing in one of the numerous hot springs, and collecting many objectsof interest to the hermit, in the shape of botanical and geologicalspecimens, they returned in the evening to their cavern-house not onlyready but eager for sustenance and repose.

CHAPTER VIII.

PERBOEWATAN BECOMES MODERATELY VIOLENT.

The cave was enshrouded in almost total darkness when they entered it,but this was quickly dispelled, to Nigel's no little surprise, by therays of a magnificent oil lamp, which Moses lighted and placed on thetable in the larger cave. A smaller one of the same kind alreadyilluminated the kitchen.

Not much conversation was indulged in during the progress of the supperthat was soon spread upon the rude table. The three men, beinguncommonly hungry and powerfully robust, found in food a sufficientoccupation for their mouths for some time.

After supper they became a little, but not much, more sociable, for,although Nigel's active mind would gladly have found vent inconversation, he experienced some difficulty in making headway againstthe discouragement of Van der Kemp's very quiet disposition, and thecavernous yawns with which Moses displayed at once his desire forslumber and his magnificent dental arrangements.

"We always retire early to rest after a day of this sort," said thehermit at last, turning to his guest. "Do you feel disposed for bed?"

"Indeed I do," said Nigel, with a half-suppressed yawn, that wasirresistibly dragged out of him by the sight of another earthquake onthe negro's face.

"Come, then, I will show you your berth; we have no bedrooms here," saidthe hermit, with a sort of deprecatory smile, as he led the way to thedarker end of the cavern, where he pointed to a little recess in whichthere was a pile of something that smelt fresh and looked like heather,spread on which there was a single blanket.

"Sailors are said to be indifferent to sheets. You won't miss them, Idaresay?"

"Not in the least," returned Nigel, with a laugh. "Good-night," headded, shaking hands with his host and suppressing another yawn, forMoses' face, even in the extreme distance, was irresistibly infectious!

Our hero was indifferent not only to sheets, but also, in certaincirc*mstances, to the usual habiliments of night. Indeed, whiletravelling in out-of-the-way regions he held it to be a duty to undressbut partially before turning in, so that he might be ready foremergencies.

On lying down he found his mattress, whatever it was, to be a springy,luxurious bed, and was about to resign himself to slumber when heobserved that, from the position in which he lay, he could see thecavern in all its extent. Opening his half-closed eyes, therefore, hewatched the proceedings of his host, and in doing so, as well as inspeculating on his strange character and surroundings, he becamesomewhat wakeful.

He saw that Van der Kemp, returning to the other end of the cave, satdown beside the lamp, the blaze of which fell full on his fine calmcountenance. A motion of his head brought Moses to him, who sat downbeside him and entered into earnest conversation, to judge from hisgestures, for nothing could be heard where Nigel lay save the monotonousmurmur of their voices. The hermit did not move. Except for anoccasional inclination of the head he appeared to be a grand classicstatue, but it was otherwise with the negro. His position in front ofthe lamp caused him to look if possible even blacker than ever, and theblackness was so uniform that his entire profile became stronglypronounced, thus rendering every motion distinct, and the varied poutingof his huge lips remarkably obvious. The extended left hand, too, withthe frequent thrusting of the index finger of the other into the palm,was suggestive of argument, and of much reasoning effort—if not power.

After about half-an-hour of conversation, Moses arose, shook his masterby the hand, appeared to say "Good-night" very obviously, yawned, andretired to the kitchen, whence, in five minutes or so, there issuedsounds which betokened felicitous repose.

Meanwhile his master sat motionless for some time, gazing at the flooras if in meditation. Then he rose, went to his book-case and took down alarge thick volume, which he proceeded to read.

Nigel had by that time dropped into a drowsy condition, yet his interestin the doings of his strange entertainer was so great that he struggledhard to keep awake, and partially succeeded.

"I wonder," he muttered, in sleepy tones, "if that's a f—fam—'ly Biblehe's reading—or—or—a vol'm o' the En—Encyclopida Brit—"

He dropped off at this point, but, feeling that he had given way to somesort of weakness, he struggled back again into wakefulness, and saw thatthe hermit was bending over the large book with his massive brow restingon the palms of both hands, and his fingers thrust into his iron-greyhair. It was evident, however, that he was not reading the book at thatmoment, for on its pages was lying what seemed to be a miniature orphotograph case, at which he gazed intently. Nigel roused himself toconsider this, and in doing so again dropped off—not yet soundly,however, for curiosity induced one more violent struggle, and he becameaware of the fact that the hermit was on his knees with his face buriedin his hands.

The youth's thoughts must have become inextricably confused at thispoint, yet their general drift was indicated by the muttered words:"I—I'm glad o' that—a good sign—an'—an' it's not th'Encyclop——." Here Morpheus finally conquered, and he sank intodreamless repose.

How long this condition lasted he could not tell, but he was awakenedviolently by sensations and feelings of dread, which were entirely newto him. The bed on which he rested seemed to heave under him, and hisears were filled by sharp rattling sounds, something like—yet verydifferent from—the continuous roll of musketry.

Starting up, he sprang into the large cavern where he found Van der Kempquietly tightening his belt and Moses hastily pulling on his boots.

"Sometin's bu'sted an' no mistake!" exclaimed the latter.

"An eruption from one of the cones," said the hermit. "I have been for along time expecting it. Come with us."

He went swiftly up the staircase and passages which led to theobservatory as he spoke.

The scene that met their eyes on reaching the ledge or plateau wassublime in the extreme, as well as terrific.

"As I thought," said Van der Kemp, in a low tone. "It is Perboewatanthat has broken out."

"The cone from which I observed smoke rising?" asked Nigel.

"The same. The one over the very centre of the old crater, showing thatwe were wrong in supposing it to be extinct: it was only slumbering. Itis in what vulcanologists term moderate eruption now, and, perhaps, mayprove a safety-valve which will prevent a more violent explosion."

That the cone of Perboewatan was indeed in a state of considerableactivity, worthy of a stronger term than "moderate," was very obvious.Although at a distance, as we have said, of four miles, the glare of itsfires on the three figures perched near the top of Rakata was veryintense, while explosion after explosion sent molten lava and red-hotrocks, pumice, and dust, high into the thickening air—clouds of smokeand steam being vomited forth at the same time. The wind, of which therewas very little, blew it all away from the position occupied by thethree observers.

"What if the wind were to change and blow it all this way?" asked Nigel,with very pardonable feelings of discomfort.

"We could return to the cavern," said the hermit.

"But what if Rakata itself should become active?"

It was evident from the very solemn expression on the negro's face thathe awaited the reply to Nigel's question with some anxiety.

"Rakata," answered the hermit thoughtfully, "although the highest cone,is the one most distant from the great centre of activity. It istherefore not likely that the volcanic energy will seek a vent herewhile there are other cones between us and Perboewatan. But we shallsoon see whether the one vent is likely to suffice. There is undoubtedlyno diminution in the explosions at present."

There certainly was not, for the voice of the speaker was almost drownedby the horrible din caused, apparently, by the hurtling of innumerablefragments of rock and stones in the air, while a succession of fieryflashes, each followed by a loud explosion, lit up the dome-shaped massof vapour that was mounting upwards and spreading over the sky. Vividflashes of lightning were also seen playing around the vapour-column. Atthe same time, there began a fall of fine white dust, resembling snow,which soon covered the foliage and the ground of all the lower part ofthe island. The sea around was also ere long covered with masses ofpumice, which, being very light, floated away into the Indian ocean, andthese were afterwards encountered in large quantities by various vesselspassing through Sunda Straits.

The Scientific Committee, which ultimately wrote on the details of thiseruption in Krakatoa, mention this first outburst as being a phase ofmoderate activity, similar to that which is said to have been exhibitedfor some months during the years 1680 and 1681, and they added that "theoutburst was one of considerable violence, especially at itscommencement," that falls of dust were noticed at the distance of threehundred miles, and that "the commander of the German war-vesselElizabeth estimated the height of the dust-column issuing from thevolcano at 11 kilometres (36,000 feet or about 7 miles)."[2]

To our hero, however, and to Moses, the outburst seemed anything but"moderate," and that night as they two sat together in the cave aftersupper, listening with awe-struck faces to the cannonading and wildmusketry going on as it seemed under their very feet, the negro solemnlyimparted to Nigel in a low whisper that he thought "de end ob de wurldhab come at last!"

Returning at that moment from his observatory, to which he had ascendedfor a few minutes to view the scene through one of his glasses, Van derKemp relieved their anxieties somewhat by remarking, in his quietmanner, that there was a distinct diminution in the violence of theexplosions, and that, from his knowledge and experience of othervolcanoes in Java, Sumatra, and elsewhere, he thought it probable theyhad seen the worst of it at that time, and that none of the other coneswould be likely to break out.

"I'm glad to hear you say so," observed Nigel, "for although the sightis extremely magnificent and very interesting, both from a scientificand artistic point of view, I cannot help thinking that we should besafer away from this island at present—at least while the volcano isactive."

The hermit smiled almost pitifully. "I do not apprehend danger," hesaid, "at least nothing unusual. But it happens that my businessrequires me to leave in the course of a few days at any rate, so,whether the eruption becomes fiercer or feebler, it will not matter tous. I have preparations to make, however, and I have no doubt you won'tobject to remain till all is ready for a start?"

"Oh, as to that," returned the youth, slightly hurt by the implied doubtas to his courage, "if you are willing to risk going off the earthlike a skyrocket, I am quite ready to take my chance of following you!"

"An' Moses am de man," said the negro, smiting his broad chest with hisfist, "what's ready to serve as a rocket-stick to bof, an' go up alongwid you!"

The hermit made the nearest approach to a laugh which Nigel had yetseen, as he left the cave to undertake some of the preparations abovereferred to.

CHAPTER IX.

DESCRIBES, AMONG OTHER THINGS, A SINGULAR MEETING UNDER PECULIARCIRc*msTANCES.

There is unquestionably a class of men—especially Englishmen—who aredeeply imbued with the idea that the Universe in general, and our worldin particular, has been created with a view to afford them what theycall fun.

"It would be great fun," said an English commercial man to a friend whosat beside him, "to go and have a look at this eruption. They say it isKrakatoa which has broken out after a sleep of two centuries, and as ithas been bursting away now for nearly a week, it is likely to hold onfor some time longer. What would you say to charter a steamer and have agrand excursion to the volcano?"

The friend said he thought it would indeed be "capital fun!"

We have never been able to ascertain who these Englishmen were, but theymust have been men of influence, or able to move men of influence, forthey at once set to work and organised an excursion.

The place where this excursion was organised was Batavia. Although thatcity was situated in Java, nearly a hundred miles distant from Krakatoa,the inhabitants had not only heard distinctly the explosions of thevolcano, but had felt some quakings of the earth and much rattling ofdoors and windows, besides a sprinkling of ashes, which indicated thatthe eruption, even in that eruptive region, was of unusual violence.They little imagined to what mighty throes the solid rocks of Krakatoawere yet to be subjected before those volcanic fires could find a vent.Meanwhile, as we have said, there was enough of the unusual in it towarrant our merchants in their anticipation of a considerable amount offun.

A steamer was got ready; a number of sightseeing enthusiasts werecollected, and they set forth on the morning of the 26th of May. Amongthese excursionists was our friend Captain David Roy—not that he wasaddicted to running about in search of "fun," but, being unavoidablythrown idle at the time, and having a poetical turn of mind—derivedfrom his wife—he thought he could not do better than take a run to thevolcano and see how his son was getting along.

The party reached the scene of the eruption on the morning of the 27th,having witnessed during the night several tolerably strong explosions,which were accompanied by earthquake shocks. It was found that Krakatoaand all the adjoining islands were covered with a fine white dust, likesnow, and that the trees on the northern part of the former island andVarlaten had been to a great extent deprived of their leaves andbranches by falling pumice, while those on Lang Island and Polish Hat,as well as those on the Peak of Rakata, had to a great extentescaped—no doubt owing to the prevailing direction of the wind.

It was soon seen that Perboewatan on Krakatoa was the cone in activeeruption, and the steamer made for its neighbourhood, landing her partywithin a short distance of its base. Explosions were occurring atintervals of from five to ten minutes. Each explosion being accompaniedby an uncovering of the molten lava in the vent, the overhangingsteam-cloud was lighted up with a grand glow for a few seconds. Some ofthe party, who seemed to be authorities on such matters, estimated thatthe vapour-column rose to a height of nearly 10,000 feet, and thatfragments of pumice were shot upwards to a height of 600 feet.

"That's a sign that the violence of the eruption is diminished,"remarked the young merchant, who was in search of fun, as he prepared towade ankle-deep in the loose pumice up the slopes of the cone.

"Diminished!" repeated our captain, who had fraternised much with thismerchant during their short voyage. "If that's what you calldiminishin', I shouldn't like to be here when it's increasin'."

"Pooh!" exclaimed the merchant, "that's nothing. I've seen, at othervolcanoes, pieces of pumice blown up so high that they've been caught bythe upper currents of the atmosphere and carried away in an oppositedirection to the wind that was blowing below at the time. Ay, I believethat dust is sometimes blown miles up into the air."

As Captain Roy thought that the merchant was drawing the long bow hemade no reply, but changed the subject by asking what was the height ofPerboewatan.

"Three hundred feet or thereabouts," replied his friend.

"I hope my son will have the sense to clear out of the island if thingslook like gittin' worse," muttered the captain, as an unusually violentexplosion shook the whole side of the cone.

"No fear of him," returned the merchant. "If he is visiting the hermitof Rakata, as you tell me, he'll be safe enough. Although something of adare-devil, the hermit knows how to take care of himself. I'm afraid,however, that you'll not find it so easy to 'look up' your son as youseem to think. Just glance round at these almost impenetrable forests.You don't know what part of the island he may be in just now; and youmight as well look for a needle in a bundle of hay as look for himthere. He is probably at the other end of Krakatoa—four or five milesoff—on the South side of Rakata, where the hermit's cave is supposed tobe, for no one seems to be quite sure as to its whereabouts. Besides,you'll have to stick by the excursionists if you wish to return toBatavia."

Captain Roy paused for a moment to recover breath, and looking down uponthe dense tropical forest that stretched between him and the Peak ofRakata, he shook his head, and admitted that the merchant was right.Turning round he addressed himself once more to the ascent of the cone,on the sides of which the whole excursion party now straggled andstruggled, remarking, as he panted along, that hill-climbing among ashesand cinders didn't "come easy to a sea-farin' man."

Now, nothing was more natural than that Van der Kemp and his guestshould be smitten with the same sort of desire which had brought theseexcursionists from Batavia. The only thing that we do not pretend toaccount for is the strange coincidence that they should have been sosmitten, and had so arranged their plans, that they arrived atPerboewatan almost at the same time with the excursionists—only abouthalf an hour before them!

Their preliminary walk, however, through the tangled, almostimpassable, forest had been very slow and toilsome, and having beeninvolved in its shadow from daybreak, they were, of course, quiteunaware of the approach of the steamer or the landing of the excursionparty.

"If the volcano seems quieting down," said Nigel to his host, "shall youstart to-morrow?"

"Yes; by daybreak. Even if the eruption does not quiet down I must setout, for my business presses."

Nigel felt much inclined to ask what his business was, but there was aquiet something in the air of the hermit, when he did not choose to bequestioned, which effectually silenced curiosity. Falling behind alittle, till the negro came up with him, Nigel tried to obtaininformation from him, for he felt that he had a sort of right to know atleast something about the expedition in which he was about to act apart.

"Do you know, Moses, what business your master is going about?" heasked, in a low voice.

"No more nor de man ob de moon, Massa Nadgel," said Moses, with an airat once so truthful and so solemn that the young man gave it up with alaugh of resignation.

On arriving at Perboewatan, and ascending its sides, they at last becameaware of the approach of the excursion steamer.

"Strange," muttered the hermit, "vessels don't often touch here."

"Perhaps they have run short of water," suggested Nigel.

"Even if they had it would not be worth their while to stop here forthat," returned the hermit, resuming the ascent of the cone after anintervening clump of trees had shut out the steamer from view.

It was with feelings of profound interest and considerable excitementthat our hero stood for the first time on the top of a volcanic cone andgazed down into its glowing vent.

The crater might be described as a huge basin of 3000 feet in diameter.From the rim of this basin on which the visitors stood the sides slopedso gradually inward that the flat floor at the bottom was not more thanhalf that diameter. This floor—which was about 150 feet below the upperedge—was covered with a black crust, and in the centre of it was thetremendous cavity—between one and two hundred feet in diameter—fromwhich issued the great steam-cloud. The cloud was mixed with quantitiesof pumice and fragments of what appeared to be black glass. The roar ofthis huge vent was deafening and stupendous. If the reader will reflecton the wonderful hubbub that can be created even by a kitchen kettlewhen superheated, and on the exasperating shrieks of a steamboat'ssafety-valve in action, or the bellowing of a fog-horn, he may form someidea of the extent of his incapacity to conceive the thunderous roar ofKrakatoa when it began to boil over.

When to this awful sound there were added the intermittent explosions,the horrid crackling of millions of rock-masses meeting in the air, andthe bubbling up of molten lava—verily it did not require theimagination of a Dante to see in all this the very vomiting of Gehenna!

So amazed and well-nigh stunned was Nigel at the sights and sounds thathe neither heard nor saw the arrival of the excursionists, until theequally awe-stricken Moses touched him on the elbow and drew hisattention to several men who suddenly appeared on the crater-brim notfifty yards off, but who, like themselves, were too much absorbed withthe volcano itself to observe the other visitors. Probably they tookthem for some of their own party who had reached the summit before them.

Nigel was yet looking at these visitors in some surprise, when anelderly nautical man suddenly stood not twenty yards off gazing inopen-mouthed amazement, past our hero's very nose, at the volcanicfires.

"Hallo, Father!" shouted the one.

"Zounds! Nigel!" exclaimed the other.

Both men glared and were speechless for several seconds. Then Nigelrushed at the captain, and the captain met him half-way, and they shookhands with such hearty goodwill as to arrest in his operations for a fewmoments a photographer who was hastily setting up his camera!

Yes, science has done much to reveal the marvellous and arouse exaltedthoughts in the human mind, but it has also done something to crushenthusiasts and shock the romantic. Veracity constrains us to state thatthere he was, with his tripod, and his eager haste, and his hideousblack cloth, preparing to "take" Perboewatan on a "dry plate"! And he"took" it too! And you may see it, if you will, as a marvellousfrontispiece to the volume by the "Krakatoa Committee"—a work which isapparently as exhaustive of the subject of Krakatoa as was the greatexplosion itself of those internal fires which will probably keep thatvolcano quiet for the next two hundred years.

But this was not the Great Eruption of Krakatoa—only a rehearsal, as itwere.

"What brought you here, my son?" asked the captain, on recoveringspeech.

"My legs, father."

"Don't be insolent, boy."

"It's not insolence, father. It's only poetical licence, meant to assureyou that I did not come by 'bus or rail though you did by steamer! Butlet me introduce you to my friend, Mr.——"

He stopped short on looking round, for Van der Kemp was not there.

"He goed away wheneber he saw de peepil comin' up de hill," said Moses,who had watched the meeting of father and son with huge delight. "Butyou kin interdooce me instead," he added, with a crater-like smile.

"True, true," exclaimed Nigel, laughing. "This is Moses, father, myhost's servant, and my very good friend, and a remarkably free-and-easyfriend, as you see. He will guide us back to the cave, since Van derKemp seems to have left us."

"Who's Van der Kemp?" asked the captain.

"The hermit of Rakata, father—that's his name. His father was aDutchman and his mother an English or Irish woman—I forget which. He'sa splendid fellow; quite different from what one would expect; no morelike a hermit than a hermit-crab, except that he lives in a cave underthe Peak of Rakata, at the other end of the island. But you must comewith us and pay him a visit. He will be delighted to see you."

"What! steer through a green sea of leaves like that?" said the captain,stretching his arm towards the vast forest that lay stretched out belowthem, "and on my legs, too, that have been used all their lives to aship's deck? No, my son. I will content myself with this lucky meetin'.But, I say, Nigel, lad," continued the old man, somewhat more seriously,"what if the Peak o' Ra—Ra, what's-'is-name, should take to spoutin'like this one, an' you, as you say, livin' under it?"

"Ha! das 'zackly what I say," interposed Moses. "Das what I oftin saysto massa, but he nebber answers. He only smile. Massa's not always sopurlite as he might be!"

"There is no fear," said Nigel, "not at present, anyhow, for Van derKemp says that the force of this eruption is diminishing—"

"It don't look much like it," muttered the captain, as the volcano atthat moment gave vent to a burst which seemed like a sarcastic laugh atthe hermit's opinion, and sent the more timid of the excursionistssprawling down the cinder-slope in great alarm.

"There's reason in what you say, father," said Nigel, when thediminution of noise rendered speech more easy; "and after all, as westart off on our travels to-morrow, your visit could not have been along one."

"Where do you go first?" asked the captain.

"Not sure. Do you know, Moses?"

"No; no more 'n de man ob de moon. P'r'aps Borneo. He go dar sometimes."

At this point another roar from the volcano, and a shout from theleader of the excursionists to return on board, broke up the conference.

"Well, lad, I'm glad I've seen you. Don't forget to write yourwhereabouts. They say there's a lot o' wild places as well as wild menand beasts among them islands, so keep your weather-eye open an' yourpowder dry. Good-bye, Nigel. Take care of him, Moses, and keep him outo' mischief if ye can—which is more than ever I could. Good-bye, myboy."

"Good-bye, father."

They shook hands vigorously. In another minute the old seaman wassailing down the cinder-cone at the rate of fourteen knots an hour,while his son, setting off under the guidance of Moses towards adifferent point of the compass, was soon pushing his way through thetangled forest in the direction of the hermit's cave.

CHAPTER X.

A CURIOUS SEA-GOING CRAFT—THE UNKNOWN VOYAGE BEGUN.

It was early next morning when Van der Kemp and his man left theircouches and descended to the shore, leaving their visitor enjoying thebenefit of that profound slumber which bids defiance to turmoil andnoise, however stupendous, and which seems to be the peculiar privilegeof healthy infants and youthful seamen.

Perboewatan had subsided considerably towards morning, and had taken tothat internal rumbling, which in the feline species indicates mitigatedindignation. The hermit had therefore come to the conclusion that theoutburst was over, and went with Moses to make arrangements for settingforth on his expedition after breakfast.

They had scarcely left the cave when Nigel awoke. Feeling indisposed forfurther repose, he got up and went out in that vague state of mind whichis usually defined as "having a look at the weather." Whether or not hegathered much information from the look we cannot tell, but, taking uphis short gun, which stood handy at the entrance of the cave, hesauntered down the path which his host had followed a short time before.Arrived at the shore, he observed that a branch path diverged to theleft, and appeared to run in the direction of a high precipice. Heturned into it, and after proceeding through the bushes for a short wayhe came quite unexpectedly on a cavern, the mouth of which resembled,but was much higher and wider than that which led to the hermit's home.

Just as he approached it there issued from its gloomy depths a strangerumbling sound which induced him to stop and co*ck his gun. A curiousfeeling of serio-comic awe crept over him as the idea of a fiery dragonleaped into his mind! At the same time, the fancy that the immense abyssof darkness might be one of the volcanic vents diminished the comic andincreased the serious feeling. Ere long the sound assumed the definitetone of footsteps, and the dragon fancy seemed about to become a realitywhen he beheld a long narrow thing of uncertain form emerging from thedarkness.

"It must be coming out tail-foremost!" he muttered, with a short laughat his semi-credulity.

Another instant and the hermit emerged into the blazing sunshine, andstood pictured against the intense darkness like a being ofsupernatural radiance, with the end of a long narrow canoe on hisshoulder.

As Nigel passed round a bush to reach him he perceived the dark form ofMoses emerging from the depths and supporting the body of the canoe.

"I see you are active and an early riser," said the hermit, with a nodof approval on seeing our hero.

"I almost took you for a Krakatoa monster!" said Nigel, as they came outin front of the cavern and laid the canoe on the ground. "Why, you'vegot here one of the craft which we in England call a Rob Roy canoe!"

"It is fashioned on the same pattern," said the hermit, "but with one ortwo alterations of my own devising, and an improvement—as Ithink—founded on what I have myself seen, when travelling with theEskimos of Greenland."

Van der Kemp here pointed out that the canoe was not only somewhatbroader than the kind used in England, but was considerably longer, andwith three openings or manholes in the deck, so that it was capable ofholding three persons. Also, that there was a large rounded mass of woodfixed in front of the three manholes.

"These saddles, as I call them," said the hermit, "have been suggestedto me by the Eskimos, who, instead of wearying their arms by supportingthe double-bladed paddle continuously, rest it on the saddle and let itslide about thereon while being used. Thus they are able to carry a muchlonger and heavier paddle than that used in the Rob Roy canoe, theweight of which, as it rests on the saddle, is not felt. Moreover itdoes not require nearly so much dip to put it in the water. I have heardof a sort of upright with a universal joint being applied to the Englishcanoe, but it seems to me a much more clumsy and much less effective,because rigid, contrivance than the Eskimo saddle. Inside, under thedeck, as I will show you by and by, I have lighter and shorter paddlesfor use when in narrow rivers, but I prefer the long heavy paddle whentraversing great stretches of ocean."

"You don't mean to say you ever go to sea in an eggshell like that!"exclaimed Nigel in surprise.

"Indeed we do," returned the hermit, "and we are fitted out for longishvoyages and rough weather. Besides, it is not so much of an eggshell asyou suppose. I made it myself, and took care that it should be fit forthe work required of it. The wood of which it is made, although light,is very tough, and it is lined with a skin of strong canvas which isfixed to the planks with tar. This makes the craft watertight as well asstrong. The ribs also are very light and close together, and every sixthrib is larger and stronger than the others and made of tougher wood.All these ribs are bound together by longitudinal pieces, or laths, ofvery tough wood, yet so thin that the whole machine is elastic withoutbeing weak. Besides this, there are two strong oiled-canvas partitions,which divide the canoe into three water-tight compartments, any two ofwhich will float it if the third should get filled."

"Is this then the craft in which you intend to voyage?" asked Nigel.

"It is. We shall start in an hour or two. I keep it in this cave becauseit is near the landing-place. But come, you will understand thingsbetter when you see us making our arrangements. Of course you understandhow to manage sails of every kind?"

"If I did not it would ill become me to call myself a sailor," returnedour hero.

"That is well, because you will sit in the middle, from which positionthe sail is partly managed. I usually sit in the bow to have free rangefor the use of my gun, if need be, and Moses steers."

Van der Kemp proceeded down the track as he said this, having, with thenegro, again lifted the canoe on his shoulder.

A few minutes' walk brought them to the beach at the spot where Nigelhad originally landed. Here a quantity of cargo lay on the rocks readyto be placed in the canoe. There were several small bags of pemmican,which Van der Kemp had learned to make while travelling on the prairiesof North America among the Red Indians,—for this singular being seemedto have visited most parts of the habitable globe during his not yetvery long life. There were five small casks of fresh water, two or threecanisters of gunpowder, a small box of tea and another of sugar, besidesseveral bags of biscuits. There were also other bags and boxes which didnot by their appearance reveal their contents, and all the articles wereof a shape and size which seemed most suitable for passing through themanholes, and being conveniently distributed and stowed in the threecompartments of the canoe. There was not very much of anything, however,so that when the canoe was laden and ready for its voyage, the hermitand his man were still able to raise and carry it on their shoulderswithout the assistance of Nigel.

There was one passenger whom we have not yet mentioned, namely, a smallmonkey which dwelt in the cave with the canoe, and which, althoughperfectly free to come and go when he pleased, seldom left the caveexcept for food, but seemed to have constituted himself the guardian ofthe little craft.

Spinkie, as Moses had named him, was an intensely affectionate creature,with a countenance of pathetic melancholy which utterly belied hischaracter, for mischief and fun were the dominating qualities of thatmonkey. He was seated on a water-cask when Nigel first caught sight ofhim, holding the end of his long tail in one hand, and apparently wipinghis nose with it.

"Is that what he is doing?" asked Nigel of the negro.

"Oh no, Massa Nadgel," said Moses. "Spinkie nebber ketch cold an' hab noneed ob a pocket-hangkitcher. He only tickles his nose wid 'is tail. Buthe's bery fond ob doin' dat."

Being extremely fond of monkeys, Nigel went forward to fondle him, andSpinkie being equally fond of fondling, resigned himself placidly—afterone interrogative gaze of wide-eyed suspicion—into the stranger'shands. A lifelong friendship was cemented then and there.

After stowing the cargo the party returned to the upper cavern, leavingthe monkey to guard the canoe.

"An' he's a good defender ob it," said Moses, "for if man or beasthappen to come near it when Spinkie's in charge, dat monkey sets up askriekin' fit to cause a 'splosion ob Perboewatan!"

Breakfast over, the hermit put his cave in order for a pretty longabsence, and they again descended to the shore, each man carrying hisbed on his shoulder. Each bed, however, was light and simple. Itconsisted merely of one blanket wrapped up in an oil-cloth sheet.Besides, an old-fashioned powder-flask and shot belt. Van der Kemp andNigel had slung a bullet-pouch on their shoulders, and carried smallhatchets and hunting-knives in their belts. Moses was similarly armed,with this difference, that his couteau de chasse bore strongerresemblance to an ancient Roman sword than a knife, and his axe was oflarger size than the hatchets of his companions.

Launching the canoe, the hermit and his man held it fast at either endwhile Nigel was directed to take his place in the central of the threeopenings or manholes. He did so and found himself seated on a flat boardon the bottom of the canoe, which was so shallow that the deck scarcelyrose as high as his waist.

Round the manhole there was a ledge of thin wood, about three incheshigh, to which a circular apron of oiled canvas was attached.

"Yes, you'd better understand that thing before we start," said Van derKemp, observing that Nigel was examining the contrivance with somecuriosity. "It's an apron to tie round you in bad weather to keep thewater out. In fine weather it is rolled as you see it now round theledge. Undo the buckle before and behind and you will see how it is tobe used."

Acting as directed, Nigel unbuckled the roll and found that he wassurrounded by a sort of petticoat of oil-skin which could be drawn upand buckled round his chest. In this position it could be kept by a loopattached to a button, or a wooden pin, thrust through the coat.

"You see," explained the hermit, "the waves may wash all over our deckand round our bodies without being able to get into the canoe while wehave these things on—there are similar protections round the otherholes."

"I understand," said Nigel. "But how if water gets in through a leakbelow?"

"Do you see that brass thing in front of you?" returned the hermit."That is a pump which is capable of keeping under a pretty extensiveleak. The handle unships, so as to be out of the way when not wanted. Ikeep it here, under the deck in front of me, along with mast and sailsand a good many other things."

As he spoke he raised a plank of the deck in front of the foremost hole,and disclosed a sort of narrow box about six feet long by six inchesbroad. The plank was hinged at one end and fastened with a hook at theother so as to form a lid to the box. The hole thus disclosed was not anopening into the interior of the canoe, but was a veritable watertightbox just under the deck, so that even if it were to get filled withwater not a drop could enter the canoe itself. But the plank-lid was sobeautifully fitted, besides shutting tightly down on indiarubber, thatthe chance of leakage through that source was very remote. Although verynarrow, this box was deep, and contained a variety of useful implements;among them a slender mast and tiny sail, which could be rendered stillsmaller by means of reef points. All these things were fitted into theirrespective places with so keen an eye to economy of space that thearrangement cannot be better described than by the familiarphrase—multum, in parvo.

"We don't use the sails much; we depend chiefly on this," said thehermit, as he seated himself in the front hole and laid the long, heavy,double-bladed paddle on the saddle in front of him. Moses uses a singleblade, partly because it is handier for steering and partly because hehas been accustomed to it in his own land. You are at liberty to usewhich you prefer."

"Thanks, I will follow the lead of Moses, for I also have beenaccustomed to the single blade and prefer it—at least while I am one ofthree. If alone, I should prefer the double blade."

"Now, Moses, are you ready?" asked the hermit.

"All ready, massa."

"Get in then and shove off. Come along, Spinkie."

The monkey, which all this time had been seated on a rock looking onwith an expression of inconsolable sorrow, at once accepted theinvitation, and with a lively bound alighted on the deck close to thelittle mast, which had been set up just in front of Nigel, and to whichit held on when the motions of the canoe became unsteady.

"You need not give yourself any concern about Spinkie," said the hermit,as they glided over the still water of the little cove in which thecanoe and boat were harboured. "He is quite able to take care ofhimself."

Bounding the entrance to the cove and shooting out into the ocean underthe influence of Van der Kemp's powerful strokes, they were soon clearof the land, and proceeded eastward at a rate which seemed unaccountableto our hero, for he had not sufficiently realised the fact that inaddition to the unusual physical strength of Van der Kemp as well asthat of Moses, to say nothing of his own, the beautiful fish-likeadaptation of the canoe to the water, the great length and leverage ofthe bow paddle, and the weight of themselves as well as the cargo, gavethis canoe considerable advantage over other craft of the kind.

About a quarter of an hour later the sun arose in cloudless splendour ona perfectly tranquil sea, lighted up the shores of Java, glinted overthe mountains of Sumatra, and flooded, as with a golden haze, theforests of Krakatoa—emulating the volcanic fires in gilding the volumesof smoke that could be seen rolling amid fitful mutterings fromPerboewatan, until the hermit's home sank from view in the westernhorizon.

CHAPTER XI.

CANOEING ON THE SEA—A MYSTERIOUS NIGHT-SURPRISE AND SUDDEN FLIGHT.

At first the voyagers paddled over the glassy sea in almost totalsilence.

Nigel was occupied with his own busy thoughts; speculating on theprobable end and object of their voyage, and on the character, themysterious life, and unknown history of the man who sat in front of himwielding so powerfully the great double-bladed paddle. Van der Kemphimself was, as we have said, naturally quiet and silent, save whenroused by a subject that interested him. As for Moses, although quiteready at any moment to indulge in friendly intercourse, he seldominitiated a conversation, and Spinkie, grasping the mast and leaningagainst it with his head down, seemed to be either asleep or broodingover his sorrows. Only a few words were uttered now and then when Nigelasked the name of a point or peak which rose in the distance on eitherhand. It seemed as if the quiescence of sea and air had fallen like asoft mantle on the party and subdued them into an unusually sluggishframe of mind.

They passed through the Sunda Straits between Sumatra and Java—not moreat the narrowest part than about thirteen miles wide—and, in course oftime, found themselves in the great island-studded archipelago beyond.

About noon they all seemed to wake up from their lethargic state. Vander Kemp laid down his paddle, and, looking round, asked Nigel if hefelt tired.

"Not in the least," he replied, "but I feel uncommonly hungry, and Ihave just been wondering how you manage to feed when at sea in so smalla craft."

"Ho! ho!" laughed Moses, in guttural tones, "you soon see dat—I 'sposeit time for me to get out de grub, massa?"

"Yes, Moses—let's have it."

The negro at once laid down his steering paddle and lifted a smallsquare hatch or lid in the deck which was rendered watertight by thesame means as the lid in front already described. From the depths thusrevealed he extracted a bird of some sort that had been shot and bakedthe day before. Tearing off a leg he retained it and handed theremainder to Nigel.

"Help you'self, Massa Nadgel, an' pass 'im forid."

Without helping himself he passed it on to Van der Kemp, who drew hisknife, sliced off a wing with a mass of breast, and returned the rest.

"Always help yourself before passing the food in future," said thehermit; "we don't stand on ceremony here."

Nigel at once fell in with their custom, tore off the remainingdrumstick and began.

"Biskit," said Moses, with his mouth full, "an' look out for Spinkie."

He handed forward a deep tray of the sailor's familiar food, but Nigelwas too slow to profit by the warning given, for Spinkie darted bothhands into the tray and had stuffed his mouth and cheeks full almostbefore a man could wink! The negro would have laughed aloud, but thedanger of choking was too great; he therefore laughed internally—anoperation which could not be fully understood unless seen. "'Splosionsof Perboewatan," may suggest the thing.

Sorrow, grief—whatever it was that habitually afflicted thatmonkey—disappeared for the time being, while it devoted itself heartand soul to dinner.

Feelings of a somewhat similar kind animated Nigel as he sat leaningback with his mouth full, a biscuit in one hand, and a drumstick in theother, and his eyes resting dreamily on the horizon of the stilltranquil sea, while the bright sun blazed upon his already bronzed face.

To many men the fierce glare of the equatorial sun might have provedtrying, but Nigel belonged to the salamander type of humanity andenjoyed the great heat. Van der Kemp seemed to be similarly moulded, andas for Moses, he was in his native element—so was Spinkie.

Strange as it may seem, sea-birds appeared to divine what was going on,for several specimens came circling round the canoe with greatoutstretched and all but motionless wings, and with solemn sidelongglances of hope which Van der Kemp evidently could not resist, for heflung them scraps of his allowance from time to time.

"If you have plenty of provisions on board, I should like to do thattoo," said Nigel.

"Do it," returned the hermit. "We have plenty of food for some days, andour guns can at any time replenish the store. I like to feed thesecreatures," he added, "they give themselves over so thoroughly to theenjoyment of the moment, and seem to be grateful. Whether they are soor not, of course, is matter of dispute. Cynics will tell us that theyonly come to us and fawn upon us because of the memory of past favoursand the hope of more to come. I don't agree with them."

"Neither do I," said Nigel, warmly. "Any man who has ever had to dowith dogs knows full well that gratitude is a strong element of theirnature. And it seems to me that the speaking eyes of Spinkie, to whom Ihave just given a bit of biscuit, tell of a similar spirit."

As he spoke, Nigel was conveying another piece of biscuit to his ownmouth, when a small brown hand flashed before him, and the morsel, inthe twinkling of an eye, was transferred to the monkey's already swollencheek—whereat Moses again became suddenly "'splosive" and red, as wellas black in the face, for his capacious mouth was inordinately full asusual.

Clear water, from one of the casks, and poured into a tin mug, washeddown their cold collation, and then, refreshed and reinvigorated, thetrio resumed their paddles, which were not again laid down till the sunwas descending towards the western horizon. By that time they were notfar from a small wooded islet near the coast of Java, on which Van derKemp resolved to spend the night.

During the day they had passed at some distance many boats and prausand other native vessels, the crews of which ceased to row for a fewmoments, and gazed with curiosity at the strange craft which glidedalong so swiftly, and seemed to them little more than a long plank onthe water, but these took no further notice of our voyagers. They alsopassed several ships—part of that constant stream of vessels which passwestward through those straits laden with the valuable teas and richsilks of China and Japan. In some cases a cheer of recognition, as beingan exceptional style of craft, was accorded them, to which the hermitreplied with a wave of the hand—Moses and Nigel with an answeringcheer.

There is something very pleasant in the rest which follows a day of hardand healthful toil. Our Maker has so ordained it as well as stated it,for is it not written, "The sleep of the labouring man is sweet"? andour travellers experienced the truth of the statement that night in veryromantic circ*mstances.

The small rocky islet, not more than a few hundred yards in diameter,which they now approached had several sheltered sandy bays on its shore,which were convenient for landing. The centre was clothed withpalm-trees and underwood, so that fuel could be procured, andcocoa-nuts.

"Sometimes," said the hermit, while he stooped to arrange the fire,after the canoe and cargo had been carried to their camping-place at theedge of the bushes,—"sometimes it is necessary to keep concealed whiletravelling in these regions, and I carry a little spirit-lamp whichenables me to heat a cup of tea or coffee without making a dangerousblaze; but here there is little risk in kindling a fire."

"I should not have thought there was any risk at all in these peacefultimes," said Nigel, as he unstrapped his blanket and spread it on theground under an overhanging bush.

"There are no peaceful times among pirates," returned the hermit; "andsome of the traders in this archipelago are little better than pirates."

"Where I puts your bed, massa?" asked Moses, turning his huge eyes onhis master.

"There—under the bush, beside Nigel."

"An' where would you like to sleep, Massa Spinkie?" added the negro,with a low obeisance to the monkey, which sat on the top of what seemedto be its favourite seat—a watercask.

Spinkie treated the question with calm contempt, turned his headlanguidly to one side, and scratched himself.

"Unpurliteness is your k'racter from skin to marrow, you son of ainsolent mother!" said Moses, shaking his fist, whereat Spinkie,promptly making an O of his mouth, looked fierce.

The sagacious creature remained where he was till after supper, whichconsisted of another roast fowl—hot this time—and ship's-biscuitwashed down with coffee. Of course Spinkie's portion consisted only ofthe biscuit with a few scraps of cocoa-nut. Having received it hequietly retired to his native wilds, with the intention of sleepingthere, according to custom, till morning; but his repose was destined tobe broken, as we shall see.

After supper, the hermit, stretching himself on his blanket, filled anenormous meerschaum, and began to smoke. The negro, rolling up a littletobacco in tissue paper, sat down, tailor-wise, and followed hismaster's example, while our hero—who did not smoke—lay between them,and gazed contemplatively over the fire at the calm dark sea beyond,enjoying the aroma of his coffee.

"From what you have told me of your former trading expeditions," saidNigel, looking at his friend, "you must have seen a good deal of thisarchipelago before you took—excuse me—to the hermit life."

"Ay—a good deal."

"Have you ever travelled in the interior of the larger islands?" askedNigel, in the hope of drawing from him some account of his experienceswith wild beasts or wild men—he did not care which, so long as theywere wild!

"Yes, in all of them," returned the hermit, curtly, for he was not fondof talking about himself.

"I suppose the larger islands are densely wooded?" continued Nigelinterrogatively.

"They are, very."

"But the wood is not of much value, I fancy, in the way of trade,"pursued our hero, adopting another line of attack which provedsuccessful, for Van der Kemp turned his eyes on him with a look ofsurprise that almost forced him to laugh.

"Not of much value in the way of trade!" he repeated—"forgive me, if Iexpress surprise that you seem to know so little about us—but, afterall, the world is large, and one cannot become deeply versed ineverything."

Having uttered this truism, the hermit resumed his meerschaum andcontinued to gaze thoughtfully at the embers of the fire. He remained solong silent that Nigel began to despair, but thought he would try himonce again on the same lines.

"I suppose," he said in a careless way, "that none of the islands arebig enough to contain many of the larger wild animals."

"My friend," returned Van der Kemp, with a smile of urbanity, as herefilled his pipe, "it is evident that you do not know much about ourarchipelago. Borneo, to the woods and wild animals of which I hope erelong to introduce you, is so large that if you were to put your Britishislands, including Ireland, down on it they would be engulphed andsurrounded by a sea of forests. New Guinea is, perhaps, larger thanBorneo. Sumatra is only a little smaller. France is not so large assome of our islands. Java, Luzon, and Celebes are each about equal insize to Ireland. Eighteen more islands are, on the average, as large asJamaica, more than a hundred are as large as the Isle of Wight, and thesmaller isles and islets are innumerable. In short, our archipelago iscomparable with any of the primary divisions of the globe, being full4000 miles in length from east to west and about 1,300 in breadth fromnorth to south, and would in extent more than cover the whole ofEurope."

It was evident to Nigel that he had at length succeeded in opening thefloodgates. The hermit paused for a few moments and puffed at themeerschaum, while Moses glared at his master with absorbed interest, andpulled at the cigarette with such oblivious vigour that he drew it intohis mouth at last, spat it out, and prepared another. Nigel sat quitesilent and waited for more.

"As to trade," continued Van der Kemp, resuming his discourse in a lowertone, "why, of gold—the great representative of wealth—we export fromSumatra alone over 26,000 ounces annually, and among other gold regionswe have a Mount Ophir in the Malay Peninsula from which there is aconsiderable annual export."

Continuing his discourse, Van der Kemp told a great deal more about theproducts of these prolific islands with considerable enthusiasm—as onewho somewhat resented the underrating of his native land.

"Were you born in this region, Van der Kemp?" asked Nigel, during abrief pause.

"I was—in Java. My father, as my name tells, was of Dutch descent. Mymother was Irish. Both are dead."

He stopped. The fire that had been aroused seemed to die down, and hecontinued to smoke with the sad absent look which was peculiar to him.

"And what about large game?" asked Nigel, anxious to stir up hisfriend's enthusiasm again, but the hermit had sunk back into his usualcondition of gentle dreaminess, and made no answer till the question hadbeen repeated.

"Pardon me," he said, "I was dreaming of the days that are gone. Ah!Nigel; you are yet too young to understand the feelings of the old—thesad memories of happy years that can never return: of voices that arehushed for ever. No one can know till he has felt!"

"But you are not old," said Nigel, wishing to turn the hermit's mindfrom a subject on which it seemed to dwell too constantly.

"Not in years," he returned; "but old, very old in experience,and—stay, what was it that you were asking about? Ah, the big game.Well, we have plenty of that in some of the larger of the islands; wehave the elephant, the rhinoceros, the tiger, the puma, that greatman-monkey the orang-utan, or, as it is called here, the mias, besideswild pigs, deer, and innumerable smaller animals and birds—"

The hermit stopped abruptly and sat motionless, with his head bent onone side, like one who listens intently. Such an action is alwaysinfectious. Nigel and the negro also listened, but heard nothing.

By that time the fire had died down, and, not being required for warmth,had not been replenished. The faint light of the coming moon, which,however, was not yet above the horizon, only seemed to render darknessvisible, so that the figure of Moses was quite lost in the shadow of thebush behind him, though the whites of his solemn eyes appeared like twoglow-worms.

"Do you hear anything?" asked Nigel in a low tone.

"Oars," answered the hermit.

"I hear 'im, massa," whispered the negro, "but das notsu'prisin'—plenty boats about."

"This boat approaches the island, and I can tell by the sound that it isa large prau. If it touches here it will be for the purpose ofspending the night, and Malay boatmen are not always agreeableneighbours. However, it is not likely they will ramble far from wherethey land, so we may escape observation if we keep quiet."

As he spoke he emptied the remains of the coffee on the dying fire andeffectually put it out.

Meanwhile the sound of oars had become quite distinct, and, as had beenanticipated, the crew ran their boat into one of the sandy bays andleaped ashore with a good deal of shouting and noise. Fortunately theyhad landed on the opposite side of the islet, and as the bush on it wasvery dense there was not much probability of any one crossing over. Ourvoyagers therefore lay close, resolving to be off in the morning beforethe unwelcome visitors were stirring.

As the three lay there wrapped in their blankets and gazingcontemplatively at the now risen moon, voices were heard as if of menapproaching. It was soon found that two of the strangers had saunteredround by the beach and were slowly drawing near the encampment.

Nigel observed that the hermit had raised himself on one elbow andseemed to be again listening intently.

The two men halted on reaching the top of the ridges of rock whichformed one side of the little bay, and their voices became audiblethough too far distant to admit of words being distinguishable. At thesame time their forms were clearly defined against the sky.

Nigel glanced at Van der Kemp and was startled by the change that hadcome over him. The moonbeams, which had by that time risen above someintervening shrubs, shone full on him and showed that his usually quietgentle countenance was deadly pale and transformed by a frown of almosttiger-like ferocity. So strange and unaccountable did this seem to ourhero that he lay quite still, as if spell-bound. Nor did his companionsmove until the strangers, having finished their talk, turned to retracetheir steps and finally disappeared.

Then Van der Kemp rose with a sigh of relief. The negro and Nigel alsosprang up.

"What's wrong, massa?" asked Moses, in much anxiety.

"Nothing, nothing," said the hermit hurriedly. "I must cross over to seethese fellows."

"All right, massa. I go wid you."

"No, I go alone."

"Not widout arms?" exclaimed the negro, laying his hand on his master'sshoulder.

"Yes, without arms!" As he spoke he drew the long knife that usuallyhung at his girdle and flung it down. "Now attend, both of you," headded, with sudden and almost threatening earnestness.

"Do not on any account follow me. I am quite able to take care ofmyself."

Next moment he glided into the bushes and was gone.

"Can you guess what is the matter with him?" asked Nigel, turning to hiscompanion with a perplexed look.

"Not more nor de man ob de moon. I nebber saw'd 'im like dat before. It'ink he's go mad! I tell you what—I'll foller him wid a rifle an'knife and two revolvers."

"You'll do nothing of the sort," said Nigel, laying hold of the negro'swrist with a grip of iron; "when a man like Van der Kemp gives an orderit's the duty of inferior men like you and me strictly to obey."

"Well—p'raps you're right, Nadgel," returned Moses calmly. "If youwasn't, I'd knock you into de middle ob nixt week for takin' a grip o'me like dat."

"You'll wish yourself into the middle of next fortnight if you disobeyorders," returned our hero, tightening the grip.

Moses threw back his head, opened his cavern, and laughed silently; atthe same time he twisted his arm free with a sudden wrench.

"You's awrful strong, Nadgel, but you don't quite come up to nigg*rs!Howse'ber, you's right. I'll obey orders; neberdeless I'll get readyfor action."

So saying, the negro extracted from the canoe several revolvers, two ofwhich he handed to Nigel, two he thrust into his own belt, and two helaid handy for "massa" when he should return.

"Now, if you're smart at arit'metic, you'll see dat six time six amt'irty-six, and two double guns das forty—forty dead men's more 'nenuff—besides de knives."

Moses had barely finished these deadly preparations when Van der Kempreturned as quietly as he had gone. His face was still fierce andhaggard, and his manner hurried though quite decided.

"I have seen him," he said, in a low voice.

"Seen who?" asked Nigel.

"Him whom I had hoped and prayed never more to see. My enemy! Come,quick, we must leave at once, and without attracting their notice."

He gave his comrades no time to put further questions, but laid hold ofone end of the canoe; Moses took the other end and it was launched in afew seconds, while Nigel carried down such part of the lading as hadbeen taken out. Five minutes sufficed to put all on board, and thatspace of time was also sufficient to enable Spinkie to observe from hisretreat in the bushes that a departure was about to take place; hetherefore made for the shore with all speed and bounded to hisaccustomed place beside the mast.

Taking their places they pushed off so softly that they might well havebeen taken for phantoms. A cloud conveniently hid the moon at the time.Each man plied his paddle with noiseless but powerful stroke, and longbefore the cloud uncovered the face of the Queen of Night they wereshooting far away over the tranquil sea.

CHAPTER XII.

WEATHERING A STORM IN THE OPEN SEA.

In profound silence they continued to paddle until there was no chanceof their being seen by the party on the islet. Then Van der Kemp restedhis paddle in front of him and looked slowly round the horizon and up atthe sky as if studying the weather.

Nigel longed to ask him more about the men they had seen, and of this"enemy" whom he had mentioned, but there was that in the hermit's gravelook which forbade questioning, and indeed Nigel now knew fromexperience that it would be useless to press him to speak on any subjectin regard to which he chose to be reticent.

"I don't like the look of the sky," he said at last. "We are going tohave a squall, I fear."

"Had we not better run for the nearest land?" said Nigel, who, althoughnot yet experienced in the signs of the weather in those equatorialregions, had quite enough of knowledge to perceive that bad weather ofsome sort was probably approaching.

"The nearest island is a good way off," returned the hermit, "and wemight miss it in the dark, for daylight won't help us yet awhile. No, wewill continue our course and accept what God sends."

This remark seemed to our hero to savour of unreasoning contempt ofdanger, for the facing of a tropical squall in such an eggshell appearedto him the height of folly. He ventured to reply, therefore, in a toneof remonstrance—

"God sends us the capacity to appreciate danger, Van der Kemp, and thepower to take precautions."

"He does, Nigel—therefore I intend to use both the capacity and thepower."

There was a tone of finality in this speech which effectually sealedNigel's lips, and, in truth, his ever-increasing trust in the wisdom,power, and resource of his friend indisposed him to further remark.

The night had by this time become intensely dark, for a bank of blackcloud had crept slowly over the sky and blotted out the moon. This cloudextended itself slowly, obliterating, ere long, most of the stars also,so that it was scarcely possible to distinguish any object more than ayard or two in advance of them. The dead calm, however, continuedunbroken, and the few of heaven's lights which still glimmered throughthe obscurity above were clearly reflected in the great black mirrorbelow. Only the faint gleam of Krakatoa's threatening fires was visibleon the horizon, while the occasional boom of its artillery sounded intheir ears.

It was impossible for any inexperienced man, however courageous, toavoid feelings of awe, almost amounting to dread, in the circ*mstances,and Nigel—as he tried to penetrate the darkness around him and glancedat the narrow craft in which he sat and over the sides of which he coulddip both hands at once into the sea—might be excused for wishing, withall his heart, that he were safely on shore, or on the deck of hisfather's brig. His feelings were by no means relieved when Van der Kempsaid, in a low soliloquising tone—

"The steamers will constitute our chief danger to-night. They come onwith such a rush that it is not easy to make out how they are steering,so as to get out of their way in time."

"But should we not hear them coming a long way off?" asked Nigel.

"Ay. It is not during a calm like this that we run risk, but when thegale begins to blow we cannot hear, and shall not, perhaps, see verywell."

As he spoke the hermit lifted the covering of the forehatch and took outa small sail which he asked Nigel to pass aft to the negro.

"Close-reef it, Moses; we shall make use of the wind as long aspossible. After that we will lay-to."

"All right, massa," said the negro, in the same cheerful free-and-easytone in which he was wont to express his willingness to obey orderswhether trifling or important. "Don' forgit Spinkie, massa."

"You may be sure I won't do that," replied the hermit. "Come along,monkey!"

Evidently Van der Kemp had trained his dumb companion as thoroughly toprompt obedience as his black follower, for the little creatureinstantly bounded from its place by the mast on to the shoulder of itsmaster, who bade it go into the place from which he had just extractedthe sail. Nigel could not see this—not only because of the darkness,but because of the intervention of the hermit's bulky person, but heunderstood what had taken place by the remark—"That's a good littlefellow. Keep your head down, now, while I shut you in!"

From the same place Van der Kemp had drawn a small triangular foresail,which he proceeded to attach to the bow of the canoe—running its pointout by means of tackle laid along the deck—while Moses was busy reefingthe mainsail.

From the same repository were extracted three waterproof coats, which,when put on by the canoe-men, the tails thrust below-deck, and theaprons drawn over them and belted round their waists, protected theirpersons almost completely from water.

"Now, Nigel," said the hermit, "unship the mast, reeve the halyard ofthis foresail through the top and then re-ship it. Moses will give youthe mainsail when ready, and you can hook the halyards on to it. Thething is too simple to require explanation to a sailor. I attend to theforesail and Moses manages the mainsheet, but you have to mind thehalyards of both, which, as you would see if it were light enough, rundown alongside the mast. All I ask you to remember is to be smart inobeying orders, for squalls are sometimes very sudden here—but I doubtnot that such a caution is needless."

"I'll do my best," said Nigel.

By this time a slight puff of air had ruffled the sea, therebyintensifying, if possible, the blackness which already prevailed. Thetiny sails caught the puff, causing the canoe to lean slightly over, andglide with a rippling sound through the water, while Moses steered bymeans of his paddle.

"You have put Spinkie down below, I think," said Nigel, who had beenstruck more than once with the hermit's extreme tenderness and care ofthe little creature.

"Yes, to prevent it from being washed overboard. I nearly lost the poorlittle thing once or twice, and now when we are likely to be caught inbad weather I put him below."

"Is he not apt to be suffocated?" asked Nigel. "With everything made sotight to prevent water getting into the canoe, you necessarily preventair entering also."

"I see you have a mechanical turn of mind," returned the hermit. "Youare right. Yet in so large a canoe the air would last a considerabletime to satisfy a monkey. Nevertheless, I have made provision for that.There is a short tube alongside the mast, and fixed to it, which runs alittle below the deck and rises a foot above it so as to be well abovethe wash of most waves, and in the deck near the stern there is a smallhole with a cap fitted so as to turn the water but admit the air. Thusfree circulation of air is established below deck."

Suddenly a hissing sound was heard to windward.

"Look out, Moses," said Van der Kemp. "There it comes. Let go the sheet.Keep good hold of your paddle, Nigel."

The warning was by no means unnecessary, for as the canoe's head wasturned to meet the blast, a hissing sheet of white water swept rightover the tiny craft, completely submerging it, insomuch that the threemen appeared to be sitting more than waist-deep in the water.

"Lower the mainsail!" shouted the hermit, for the noise of wind and seahad become deafening.

Nigel obeyed and held on to the flapping sheet. The hermit had at thesame moment let go the foresail, the flapping of which he controlled bya rope-tackle arranged for the purpose. He then grasped his single-bladepaddle and aided Moses in keeping her head to wind and sea. For a fewminutes this was all that could be done. Then the first violence of thesquall passed off, allowing the deck of the little craft to appear abovethe tormented water. Soon the waves began to rise.

The mere keeping of the canoe's head to wind required all the attentionof both master and man, while Nigel sat waiting for orders and lookingon with mingled feelings of surprise and curiosity. Of course they wereall three wet to the skin, for the water had got up their sleeves anddown their necks; but, being warm, that mattered little, and the oiledaprons before mentioned, being securely fastened round their waists,effectually prevented any of it from getting below save the little thatpassed through the thickness of their own garments.

No word was spoken for at least a quarter of an hour, during which time,although they rose buoyantly on the water, the waves washed continuallyover the low-lying deck. As this deck was flush with the gunwale, orrather, had no gunwale at all, the water ran off it as it does off awhale's back.

Then there came a momentary lull.

"Now, Moses—'bout ship!" shouted Van der Kemp. "Stand by, Nigel!"

"Ay, ay, sir."

Although the canoe was long—and therefore unfitted to turn quickly—thepowerful strokes of the two paddles in what may be calledcounteracting-harmony brought the little craft right round with herstern to the waves.

"Hoist away, Nigel! We must run right before it now."

Up went the mainsail, the tiny foresail bulged out at the same moment,and away they went like the driving foam, appearing almost to leap fromwave to wave. All sense of danger was now overwhelmed in Nigel's mind bythat feeling of excitement and wild delight which accompanies some kindsof rapid motion. This was, if possible, intensified by the crashingthunder which now burst forth and the vivid lightning which began toplay, revealing from time to time the tumultuous turmoil as if inclearest moonlight, only to plunge it again in still blacker night.

By degrees the gale increased in fury, and it soon became evident thatneither sails nor cordage could long withstand the strain to which theywere subjected.

"A'most too much, massa," said the negro in a suggestive shout.

"Right, Moses," returned his master. "I was just thinking we must riskit."

"Risk what? I wonder," thought Nigel.

He had not long to wait for an answer to his thought.

"Down wi' the mainsail," was quickly followed by the lowering of theforesail until not more than a mere corner was shown, merely to keep thecanoe end-on to the seas. Soon even this was lowered, and Van der Kempused his double-blade paddle to keep them in position, at the same timetelling Nigel to unship the mast.

"And plug the hole with that," he added, handing him a bit of wood whichexactly fitted the hole in the deck.

Watching for another lull in the blast, the hermit at last gave theorder, and round they came as before, head to wind, but not quite soeasily, and Nigel felt that they had narrowly escaped overturning in theoperation.

"Keep her so, Moses. You can help with your paddle, Nigel, while I getready our anchor."

"Anchor!" exclaimed our hero in amazement—obeying orders, however, atthe same moment.

The hermit either did not hear the exclamation or did not care tonotice it. He quickly collected the mast and sails, with a couple ofboat-hooks and all the paddles excepting two single ones. These he boundtogether by means of the sheets and halyards, attached the whole to ahawser,—one end of which passed through an iron ring at the bow—andtossed it into the sea—paying out the hawser rapidly at the same timeso as to put a few yards between them and their floating anchor—if itmay be so called—in the lee of which they prepared to ride out thegale.

It was well that they had taken the precaution to put on theirwaterproofs before the gale began, because, while turned head to windevery breaking wave swept right over their heads, and even now whileunder the lee of the floating anchor they were for some time almostcontinually overwhelmed by thick spray. Being, however, set free fromthe necessity of keeping their tiny craft in position, they all bowedtheir heads on the deck, sheltered their faces in their hands andawaited the end!

Whilst in this attitude—so like to that of prayer—Nigel almostnaturally thought of Him who holds the water in the hollow of His hand,and lifted his soul to God; for, amid the roaring of the gale, theflashes of lightning, the appalling thunder, the feeling that he was inreality all but under the waves and the knowledge that the proverbialplank between him and death was of the very thinnest description, asensation of helplessness and of dependence on the Almighty, such as hehad never before experienced, crept over him. What the thoughts of thehermit were he could not tell, for that strange man seldom spoke abouthimself; but Moses was not so reticent, for he afterwards remarked thathe had often been caught by gales while in the canoe, and had beenattached for hours to their floating anchor, but that "dat was out obsight de wust bust ob wedder dey'd had since dey come to lib atKrakatoa, an' he had bery nigh giben up in despair!"

The use of the floating breakwater was to meet the full force of theseas and break them just before they reached the canoe. In spite of thissome of them were so tremendous that, broken though they were, theswirling foam completely buried the craft for a second or two, but thesharp bow cut its way through, and the water poured off the deck and offthe stooping figures like rain from a duck's back. Of course a good dealgot in at their necks, sleeves, and other small openings, and wet themconsiderably, but that, as Moses remarked, "was not'ing to speak ob."

Thus they lay tossing in the midst of the raging foam for several hours.Now and then each would raise his head a little to see that the ropeheld fast, but was glad to lower it again. They hardly knew when daybroke. It was so slow in coming, and so gloomy and dark when it didcome, that the glare of the lightning-flash seemed more cheerful.

It may be easily believed that there was no conversation during thosehours of elemental strife, though the thoughts of each were busy enough.At last the thunder ceased, or, rather, retired as if in growlingdefiance of the world which it had failed to destroy. Then the sky beganto lighten a little, and although the wind did not materially abate inforce it became more steady and equal. Before noon, however, it hadsubsided so much that Moses suggested the propriety of continuing thevoyage. To this Van der Kemp agreed, and the floating anchor was hauledin; the large paddle was resumed by the hermit, and the dangerousprocess of turning the canoe was successfully accomplished.

When the mast was again set up and the close-reefed main and foresailswere hoisted, the light craft bounded away once more before the windlike a fleck of foam. Then a gleam of sunshine forced its way throughthe driving clouds, and painted a spot of emerald green on the heavingsea. Soon after that Van der Kemp opened the lid, or hatch, of theforehold, and Spinkie, jumping out with alacrity, took possession of hisusual seat beside the mast, to which he clung with affectionatetenacity. Gradually the wind went down. Reef after reef of the two sailswas shaken out, and for several hours thereafter our travellers spedmerrily on, plunging into the troughs and cutting through the crests ofthe stormy sea.

CHAPTER XIII.

FRIENDS ARE MET WITH, ALSO PIRATES, AND A LIFE-OR-DEATH PADDLE ENSUES.

In physics, as in morals, a storm is frequently the precursor of a deadcalm.

Much to the monkey's joy, to say nothing of the men, the sun erelongasserted its equatorial power, and, clearing away the clouds, allowedthe celestial blue to smile on the turmoil below. The first result ofthat smile was that the wind retired to its secret chambers, leaving theships of men to flap their idle sails. Then the ocean ceased to fume,though its agitated bosom still continued for some time to heave.Gradually the swell went down and soon the unruffled surface reflected adimpling smile to the sky.

When this happy stage had been reached our voyagers lowered and stowedthe canoe-sails, and continued to advance under paddles.

"We get along wonderfully fast, Van der Kemp," said Nigel, while restingafter a pretty long spell; "but it seems to me, nevertheless, that weshall take a considerable time to reach Borneo at this rate, seeingthat it must be over two hundred miles away, and if we have much badweather or contrary wind, we shan't be able to reach it for weeks—if atall."

"I have been thrown somewhat out of my reckoning," returned the hermit,"by having to fly from the party on the islet, where I meant to remaintill a steamer, owned by a friend of mine, should pass and pick us up,canoe and all. The steamer is a short-voyage craft, and usually sopunctual that I can count on it to a day. But it may have passed us inthe gale. If so, I shall take advantage of the first vessel that willagree to lend us a hand."

"How!—Do you get them to tow you?"

"Nay, that were impossible. A jerk from the tow-rope of a steamer atfull speed would tear us asunder. Have you observed these two strongropes running all round our gunwale, and the bridles across withring-bolts in them?"

"I have, and did not ask their use, as I thought they were merely meantto strengthen the canoe."

"So they are," continued the hermit, "but they have other usesbesides—"

"Massa," cried Moses, at this point. "You'll 'scuse me for 'truptin'you, but it's my opinion dat Spinkie's sufferin' jus' now from a emptystummik!"

The hermit smiled and Nigel laughed. Laying down his paddle the formersaid—

"I understand, Moses. That speech means that you are suffering from thesame complaint. Well—get out the biscuit."

"Jus' de way oh de wurld," muttered the negro with a bland smile. "If apoor man obsarves an' feels for de sorrows ob anoder, he allers gitscredit for t'inkin' ob hisself. Neber mind, I's used to it!"

Evidently the unjust insinuation did not weigh heavily on the negro'sspirit, for he soon began to eat with the appetite of a healthyalligator.

While he was thus engaged, he chanced to raise his eyes towards thesouth-western horizon, and there saw something which caused him tosplutter, for his mouth was too full to speak, but his speaking eyes andpointing finger caused his companions to turn their faces quickly to thequarter indicated.

"A steamer!" exclaimed the hermit and Nigel in the same breath.

The vessel in question was coming straight towards them, and a veryshort time enabled Van der Kemp to recognise with satisfaction thesteamer owned by his friend.

"Look here, run that to the mast-head," said Van der Kemp, handing a redflag to Nigel. "We lie so low in the water that they might pass quiteclose without observing us if we showed no signal."

An immediate though slight change in the course of the steamer showedthat the signal had been seen. Hereupon the hermit and Moses performedan operation on the canoe which still further aroused Nigel's surpriseand curiosity. He resolved to ask no questions, however, but to awaitthe issue of events.

From the marvellous hold of the canoe, which seemed to be a magazine forthe supply of every human need, Moses drew a short but strong rope orcable, with a ring in the middle of it, and a hook at each end. Hepassed one end along to his master who hooked it to the bridle-rope atthe bow before referred to. The other end was hooked to the bridle inthe stern, so that the ring in the centre came close to Nigel's elbow.

This arrangement had barely been completed when the steamer was withinhail, but no hail was given, for the captain knew what was expected ofhim. He reduced speed as the vessel approached the canoe, and finallycame almost to a stop as he ranged alongside.

"What cheer, Van der Kemp? D'ye want a lift to-day?" shouted theskipper, looking over the side.

A nod and a wave of the hand was the hermit's reply.

"Heave a rope, boys—bow and stern—and lower away the tackle," was theskipper's order.

A coil was flung to Van der Kemp, who deftly caught it and held ontight. Another was flung to Moses, who also caught it and heldon—slack. At the same moment, Nigel saw a large block with a hookattached descending towards his head.

"Catch it, Nigel, and hook it to the ring at your elbow," said thehermit.

Our hero obeyed, still in surprise, though a glimmer of what was tofollow began to dawn.

"Haul away!" shouted the skipper, and next moment the canoe was swingingin the air, kept in position by the lines in the hands of Van der Kempand Moses. At the same time another order was given, and the steamerwent ahead full speed.

It was all so suddenly done, and seemed such a reckless proceeding, thatNigel found himself on the steamer's deck, with the canoe reposingbeside him, before he had recovered from his surprise sufficiently toacknowledge in suitable terms the welcome greeting of the hospitableskipper.

"You see, Nigel," said Van der Kemp that night, as the two friends pacedthe deck together after supper, "I have other means, besides paddles andsails, of getting quickly about in the Java seas. Many of the tradersand skippers here know me, and give me a lift in this way when I requireit."

"Very kind of them, and very convenient," returned Nigel. He feltinclined to add: "But why all this moving about?" for it was quiteevident that trade was not the hermit's object, but the question, asusual, died on his lips, and he somewhat suddenly changed the subject.

"D'ye know, Van der Kemp, that I feel as if I must have seen yousomewhere or other before now, for your features seem strangely familiarto me. Have you ever been in England?"

"Never. As I have told you, I was born in Java, and was educated inHongkong at an English School. But a fancy of this sort is not veryuncommon. I myself once met a perfect stranger who bore so strong aresemblance to an old friend, that I spoke to him as such, and onlyfound out from his voice that I was mistaken."

The captain of the steamer came on deck at that moment and cut short theconversation.

"Are you engaged, Van der Kemp?" he asked.

"No—I am at your service."

"Come below then, I want to have a talk with you."

Thus left alone, and overhearing a loud burst of laughter at the forepart of the steamer, Nigel went forward to see what was going on. Hefound a group of sailors round his comrade Moses, apparently engaged ingood-natured "chaff."

"Come, now, blackey," said one; "be a good fellow for once in your lifean' tell us what makes your master live on a desert island like RobinsonCrusoe, an' go about the ocean in a canoe."

"Look 'ere now, whitey," returned Moses, "what you take me for?"

"A nigg*r, of course."

"Ob course, an' you're right for once, which is sitch an unusual t'ingdat I 'dvise you go an' ax de cappen to make a note ob it in de log. I'sa nigg*r, an' a nigg*r's so much more 'cute dan a white man dat youshouldn't ought to expect him to blab his massa's secrets."

"Right you are, Moses. Come, then, if you won't reweal secrets, give usa song."

"Couldn't t'ink ob such a t'ing," said the negro, with a solemn,remonstrant shake of the head.

"Why not?"

"'Cause I neber sing a song widout a moral, an' I don't like to hurtyour feelin's by singin' a moral dat would be sure to waken up some o'your consciences."

"Never mind that, darkey. Our consciences are pretty tough. Heaveahead."

"But dere's a chorus," said Moses, looking round doubtfully.

"What o' that? We'll do our best with it—if it ain't too difficult."

"Oh, it's not diffikilt, but if de lazy fellers among you sings dechorus dey'll be singin' lies, an' I don't 'zackly like to help men totell lies. Howseber, here goes. It begins wid de chorus so's you mayknow it afore you has to sing it."

So saying, Moses struck two fingers on the capstan after the manner of atuning-fork, and, holding them gravely to his ear as if to get the rightpitch, began in a really fine manly voice to chant the followingditty:—

"GO TO WORK."

The sailors, who were evidently much pleased, took up the chorusmoderately at the second verse, came out strong at the third, and sangwith such genuine fervour at the last that it was quite evident, asMoses remarked, there was not a lazy man amongst them—at least, if theyall sang conscientiously!

The weather improved every hour, and after a fine run of abouttwenty-four hours over that part of the Malay Sea, our three voyagerswere lowered over the steamer's side in their canoe when within sight ofthe great island of Borneo.

"I'm sorry," said the captain at parting, "that our courses divergehere, for I would gladly have had your company a little longer.Good-bye. I hope we'll come across you some other time when I'm in theseparts."

"Thanks—thanks, my friend,'" replied Van der Kemp, with a warm grip ofthe hand, and a touch of pathos in his tones. "I trust that we shallmeet again. You have done me good service by shortening my voyageconsiderably.—Farewell."

"I say, Moses," shouted one of the seamen, as he looked down on the tinycanoe while they were pushing off.

"Hallo?"

"Keep your heart up, for—we'll try to 'do to oders all around de t'ingwhat's good an' true!'"

"Das de way, boy—'an' oders, 'turning tit for tat, will do de same toyou!'"

He yelled rather than sang this at the top of his tuneful voice, andwaved his hand as the sharp craft shot away over the sea.

Fortunately the sea was calm, for it was growing dark when they reachedthe shores of Borneo and entered the mouth of a small stream, up whichthey proceeded to paddle. The banks of the stream were clothed withmangrove trees. We have said the banks, but in truth the mouth of thatriver had no distinguishable banks at all, for it is the nature of themangrove to grow in the water—using its roots as legs with which, as itwere, to wade away from shore. When darkness fell suddenly on thelandscape, as it is prone to do in tropical regions, the gnarled rootsof those mangroves assumed the appearance of twining snakes in Nigel'seyes. Possessing a strongly imaginative mind he could with difficultyresist the belief that he saw them moving slimily about in the blackwater, and, in the dim mysterious light, tree stems and other objectsassumed the appearance of hideous living forms, so that he was enabledto indulge the uncomfortable fancy that they were traversing someterrestrial Styx into one of Dante's regions of horror.

In some respects this was not altogether a fancy, for they wereunwittingly drawing near to a band of human beings whose purposes, iffully carried out, would render the earth little better than a hell tomany of their countrymen.

It is pretty well known that there is a class of men in Borneo calledHead Hunters. These men hold the extraordinary and gruesome opinion thata youth has not attained to respectable manhood until he has taken thelife of some human being.

There are two distinct classes of Dyaks—those who inhabit the hills andthose who dwell on the sea-coast. It is the latter who recruit the ranksof the pirates of those eastern seas, and it was to the camp of a bandof such villains that our adventurers were, as already said, unwittinglydrawing near.

They came upon them at a bend of the dark river beyond which point themangroves gave place to other trees—but what sort of trees they were itwas scarcely light enough to make out very distinctly, except in thecase of the particular tree in front of which the Dyaks were encamped,the roots of which were strongly illuminated by their camp fire. We sayroots advisedly, for this singular and gigantic tree started itsbranches from a complexity of aërial roots which themselves formed apyramid some sixty feet high, before the branches proper of the treebegan.

If our voyagers had used oars the sharp ears of the pirates would haveinstantly detected them. As it was, the softly moving paddles and thesharp cutwater of the canoe made no noise whatever. The instant that Vander Kemp, from his position in the bow, observed the camp, he dipped hispaddle deep, and noiselessly backed water. There was no need to give anysignal to his servant. Such a thorough understanding existed betweenthem that the mere action of the hermit was sufficient to induce thenegro to support him by a similar movement on the opposite side, and thecanoe glided as quickly backward as it had previously advanced. Whenunder the deep shadow of the bank Moses thrust the canoe close in, andhis master, laying hold of the bushes, held fast and made a sign to himto land and reconnoitre.

Creeping forward to an opening in the bushes close at hand, Moses peepedthrough. Then he turned and made facial signals of a kind so complicatedthat he could not be understood, as nothing was visible save theflashing of his teeth and eyes. Van der Kemp therefore recalled him by asign, and, stepping ashore, whispered Nigel to land.

THEY DISCOVER A PIRATES' BIVOUAC

Another minute and the three travellers stood on the bank with theirheads close together.

"Wait here for me," said the hermit, in the lowest possible whisper. "Iwill go and see who they are."

"Strange," said Nigel, when he was gone; "strange that in so short atime your master should twice have to stalk strangers in this way.History repeats itself, they say. It appears to do so rather fast inthese regions! Does he not run a very great risk of being discovered?"

"Not de smallest," replied the negro, with as much emphasis as waspossible in a whisper. "Massa hab ride wid de Vaquieros ob Ameriky an'hunt wid de Injuns on de Rockies. No more fear ob deir ketchin' him danob ketchin' a streak o' lightnin'. He come back bery soon wid all denews."

Moses was a true prophet. Within half-an-hour Van der Kemp returned asnoiselessly as he had gone. He did not keep them long in uncertainty.

"I have heard enough," he whispered, "to assure me that a plot, of whichI had already heard a rumour, has nearly been laid. We fell in with thechief plotters on the islet the other night; the band here is inconnection with them and awaits their arrival before carrying out theirdark designs. There is nothing very mysterious about it. One tribeplotting to attack another—that is all; but as a friend of mine dwellsjust now with the tribe to be secretly attacked, it behoves me to dowhat I can to save him. I am perplexed, however. It would seem sometimesas if we were left in perplexity for wise purposes which are beyond ourknowledge."

"Perhaps to test our willingness to do right," suggested Nigel.

"I know not," returned the hermit, as if musing, but never raising hisvoice above the softest whisper. "My difficulty lies here; I must goforward to save the life of my friend. I must not leave you at themouth of a mangrove river to die or be captured by pirates, and yet Ihave no right to ask you to risk your life on my account!"

"You may dismiss your perplexities then," said Nigel, promptly, "for Idecline to be left to die here or to be caught by pirates, and I amparticularly anxious to assist you in rescuing your friend. Besides, amI not your hired servant?"

"The risk we run is only at the beginning," said Van der Kemp. "If wesucceed in passing the Dyaks unseen all will be well. If they see us,they will give chase, and our lives, under God, will depend on thestrength of our arms, for I am known to them and have thwarted theirplans before now. If they catch us, death will be our certain doom. Areyou prepared?"

"Ready!" whispered Nigel.

Without another word the hermit took his place in the bow of the canoe.Moses stepped into the stern, and our hero sat down in the middle.

Before pushing off, the hermit drew a revolver and a cutlass from hisstore-room in the bow and handed them to Nigel, who thrust the firstinto his belt and fastened the other to the deck by means of a strapfixed there on purpose to prevent its being rolled or swept off. Thiscontrivance, as well as all the other appliances in the canoe, hadpreviously been pointed out and explained to him. The hermit and negrohaving armed themselves in similar way, let go the bushes which heldthem close to the bank and floated out into the stream. They let thecanoe drift down a short way so as to be well concealed by the bend inthe river and a mass of bushes. Then they slowly paddled over to theopposite side and commenced to creep up as close to the bank aspossible, under the deep shadow of overhanging trees, and so noiselesslythat they appeared in the darkness like a passing phantom.

But the sharp eyes of the pirates were too much accustomed to phantomsof every kind to be easily deceived. Just as the canoe was about to passbeyond the line of their vision a stir was heard in their camp. Then astern challenge rolled across the river and awoke the slumbering echoesof the forest—perchance to the surprise and scaring away of someprowling beast of prey.

"No need for concealment now," said Van der Kemp, quietly; "we mustpaddle for life. If you have occasion to use your weapons, Nigel, takeno life needlessly. Moses knows my mind on this point and needs nowarning. Any fool can take away life. Only God can give it."

"I will be careful," replied Nigel, as he dipped his paddle with all themuscular power at his command. His comrades did the same, and the canoeshot up the river like an arrow.

A yell from the Dyaks, and the noise of jumping into and pushing offtheir boats told that there was no time to lose.

"They are strong men, and plenty of them to relieve each other," saidthe hermit, who now spoke in his ordinary tones, "so they have somechance of overhauling us in the smooth water; but a few miles further upthere is a rapid which will stop them and will only check us. If we canreach it we shall be safe."

While he was speaking every muscle in his broad back and arms wasstrained to the uttermost; so also were the muscles of his companions,and the canoe seemed to advance by a series of rapid leaps and bounds.Yet the sound of the pursuers' oars seemed to increase, and soon theproverb "it is the pace that kills" received illustration, for the speedof the canoe began to decrease a little—very little at first—while thepursuers, with fresh hands at the oars, gradually overhauled thefugitives.

"Put on a spurt!" said the hermit, setting the example.

The pirates heard the words and understood either them or the actionthat followed, for they also "put on a spurt," and encouraged each otherwith a cheer.

Moses heard the cheer, and at the same time heard the sound of the rapidto which they were by that time drawing near. He glanced over hisshoulder and could make out the dim form of the leading boat, with atall figure standing up in the bow, not thirty yards behind.

"Shall we manage it, Moses?" asked Van der Kemp, in that calm steadyvoice which seemed to be unchangeable either by anxiety or peril.

"No, massa. Unpossable—widout dis!"

The negro drew the revolver from his belt, slewed round, took rapid aimand fired.

The tall figure in the bow of the boat fell back with a crash and ahideous yell. Great shouting and confusion followed, and the boatdropped behind. A few minutes later and the canoe was leaping over thesurges of a shallow rapid. They dashed from eddy to eddy, takingadvantage of every stone that formed a tail of backwater below it, andgradually worked the light craft upward in a way that the hermit and hisman had learned in the nor'-western rivers of America.

"We are not safe yet," said the former, resting and wiping his brow asthey floated for a few seconds in a calm basin at the head of therapid.

"Surely they cannot take a boat up such a place as that!"

"Nay, but they can follow up the banks on foot. However, we will soonbaffle them, for the river winds like a serpent just above this, and bycarrying our canoe across one, two, or three spits of land we will gaina distance in an hour or so that would cost them nearly a day to ascendin boats. They know that, and will certainly give up the chase. I thinkthey have given it up already, but it is well to make sure."

"I wonder why they did not fire at us," remarked Nigel.

"Probably because they felt sure of catching us," returned the hermit,"and when they recovered from the confusion that Moses threw them intowe were lost to them in darkness, besides being pretty well beyondrange. I hope, Moses, that you aimed low."

"Yes, massa—but it's sca'cely fair when life an' def am in de balanceto expect me to hit 'im on de legs on a dark night. Legs is a badtargit. Bullet's apt to pass between 'em. Howseber, dat feller won't hopmuch for some time to come!"

A couple of hours later, having carried the canoe and baggage across thespits of land above referred to, and thus put at least half-a-day'sjourney between themselves and their foes, they came to a halt for thenight.

"It won't be easy to find a suitable place to camp on," remarked Nigel,glancing at the bank, where the bushes grew so thick that they overhungthe water, brushing the faces of our travellers and rendering thedarkness so intense that they had literally to feel their way as theyglided along.

"We will encamp where we are," returned the hermit. "I'll make fast to abush and you may get out the victuals, Moses."

"Das de bery best word you've said dis day, massa," remarked the negrowith a profound sigh. "I's pritty well tired now, an' de bery t'ought obgrub comforts me!"

"Do you mean that we shall sleep in the canoe?" asked Nigel.

"Ay, why not?" returned the hermit, who could be heard, though not seen,busying himself with the contents of the fore locker. "You'll find thecanoe a pretty fair bed. You have only to slip down and pull your headand shoulders through the manhole and go to sleep. You won't wantblankets in this weather, and, see—there is a pillow for you andanother for Moses."

"I cannot see, but I can feel," said Nigel, with a soft laugh, as hepassed the pillow aft.

"T'ank ee, Nadgel," said Moses; "here—feel behind you an' you'll findgrub for yourself an' some to pass forid to massa. Mind when you slipdown for go to sleep dat you don't dig your heels into massa's skull.Dere's no bulkhead to purtect it."

"I'll be careful," said Nigel, beginning his invisible supper with keenappetite. "But how about my skull, Moses? Is there a bulkhead betweenit and your heels?"

"No, but you don't need to mind, for I allers sleeps doubled up, wid myknees agin my chin. It makes de arms an' legs feel more sociable like."

With this remark Moses ceased to encourage conversation—his mouth beingotherwise engaged.

Thereafter they slipped down into their respective places, laid theirheads on their pillows and fell instantly into sound repose, while thedark waters flowed sluggishly past, and the only sound that disturbedthe universal stillness was the occasional cry of some creature of thenight or the flap of an alligator's tail.

CHAPTER XIV.

A NEW FRIEND FOUND—NEW DANGERS ENCOUNTERED AND HEW HOPES DELAYED.

When grey dawn began to dispel the gloom of night, Nigel Roy awoke withan uncomfortable sensation of having been buried alive. Stretchinghimself as was his wont he inadvertently touched the head of Van derKemp, an exclamation from whom aroused Moses, who, uncoiling himself,awoke Spinkie. It was usually the privilege of that affectionatecreature to nestle in the negro's bosom.

With the alacrity peculiar to his race, Spinkie sprang through themanhole and sat down in his particular place to superintend, perhaps toadmire, the work of his human friends, whose dishevelled heads emergedsimultaneously from their respective burrows.

Dawn is a period of the day when the spirit of man is calmly reflective.Speech seemed distasteful that morning, and as each knew what had to bedone, it was needless. The silently conducted operations of the menappeared to arouse fellow-feeling in the monkey, for its careworncountenance became more and more expressive as it gazed earnestly andalternately into the faces of its comrades. To all appearance it seemedabout to speak—but it didn't.

Pushing out from the shore they paddled swiftly up stream, and soon putsuch a distance between them and their late pursuers that all risk ofbeing overtaken was at an end.

All day they advanced inland without rest, save at the breakfast hour,and again at mid-day to dine. Towards evening they observed that thecountry through which they were passing had changed much in characterand aspect. The low and swampy region had given place to hillocks andundulating ground, all covered with the beautiful virgin forest with itspalms and creepers and noble fruit-trees and rich vegetation,conspicuous among which magnificent ferns of many kinds covered thesteep banks of the stream.

On rounding a point of the river the travellers came suddenly upon aninteresting group, in the midst of a most beautiful woodland scene.Under the trees on a flat spot by the river-bank were seated round afire a man and a boy and a monkey. The monkey was a tame orang-utan,youthful but large. The boy was a Dyak in light cotton drawers, with theupper part of his body naked, brass rings on his arms, heavy ornamentsin his ears, and a bright kerchief worn as a turban on his head. The manwas a sort of nondescript in a semi-European shooting garb, with awide-brimmed sombrero on his head, black hair, a deeply tanned face, asnub nose, huge beard and moustache, and immense blue spectacles.

Something not unlike a cheer burst from the usually undemonstrative Vander Kemp on coming in sight of the party, and he waved his hand as if inrecognition. The nondescript replied by starting to his feet, throwingup both arms and giving vent to an absolute roar of joy.

"He seems to know you," remarked Nigel, as they made for alanding-place.

"Yes. He is the friend I have come to rescue," replied the hermit in atone of quiet satisfaction. "He is a naturalist and lives with the Rajahagainst whom the pirates are plotting."

"He don't look z'if he needs much rescuin'," remarked Moses with achuckle, as they drew to land.

The man looked in truth as if he were well able to take care of himselfin most circ*mstances, being of colossal bulk although somewhat short oflimb.

"Ah! mein frond! mine brodder!" he exclaimed, in fairly idiomaticEnglish, but with a broken pronunciation that was a mixture of Dutch,American, and Malay. His language therefore, like himself, wasnondescript. In fact he was an American-born Dutchman, who had beentransported early in life to the Straits Settlements, had received mostof his education in Hongkong, was an old school-fellow of Van der Kemp,became an enthusiastic naturalist, and, being possessed of independentmeans, spent most of his time in wandering about the various islands ofthe archipelago, making extensive collections of animal and vegetablespecimens, which he distributed with liberal hand to whatever museums athome or abroad seemed most to need or desire them. Owing to his tastesand habits he had been dubbed Professor by his friends.

"Ach! Van der Kemp," he exclaimed, while his coal-black eyes glitteredas they shook hands, "vat a booterfly I saw to-day! It beat allcreation! The vay it flew—oh! But, excuse me—v'ere did you come from,and vy do you come? An' who is your frond?"

He turned to Nigel as he spoke, and doffed his sombrero with a graciousbow.

"An Englishman—Nigel Roy—who has joined me for a few months," said thehermit. "Let me introduce you, Nigel, to my good friend, ProfessorVerkimier."

Nigel held out his hand and gave the naturalist's a shake so hearty,that a true friendship was begun on the spot—a friendship which wasrapidly strengthened when the professor discovered that the Englishyouth had a strong leaning towards his own favourite studies.

"Ve vill hont an' shot togezzer, mine frond," he said, on making thisdiscovery, "ant I vill show you v'ere de best booterflies are to befount—Oh! sooch a von as I saw to—— but, excuse me, Van der Kemp. Vyyou come here joost now?"

"To save you" said the hermit, with a scintillation of hishalf-pitiful smile.

"To safe me!" exclaimed Verkimier, with a look of surprise which wasgreatly intensified by the rotundity of the blue spectacles. "Vell, Idon't feel to vant safing joost at present."

"It is not that danger threatens you so much as your friend theRajah," returned the hermit. "But if he falls, all under his protectionfall along with him. I happen to have heard of a conspiracy against him,on so large a scale that certain destruction would follow if he weretaken by surprise, so I have come on in advance of the conspirators towarn him in time. You know I have received much kindness from the Rajah,so I could do no less than warn him of impending danger, and then thefact that you were with him made me doubly anxious to reach you intime."

While the hermit was saying this, the naturalist removed his blueglasses, and slowly wiped them with a corner of his coat-tails.Replacing them, he gazed intently into the grave countenance of hisfriend till he had finished speaking.

"Are zee raskils near?" he asked, sternly.

"No. We have come on many days ahead of them. But we found a party atthe river's mouth awaiting their arrival."

"Ant zey cannot arrife, you say, for several veeks?"

"Probably not—even though they had fair and steady winds."

A sigh of satisfaction broke through the naturalist's moustache onhearing this.

"Zen I vill—ve vill, you and I, Mister Roy,—go after ze booterfliesto-morrow!"

"But we must push on," remonstrated Van der Kemp, "for preparations toresist an attack cannot be commenced too soon."

"You may push on, mine frond; go ahead if you vill, but I vill notleave zee booterflies. You know veil zat I vill die—if need be—for zeeRajah. Ve must all die vonce, at least, and I should like to die—if Imust die—in a goot cause. What cause better zan frondship? But you sayjoost now zere is no dancher. Vell, I vill go ant see zee booterfliesto-morrow. After zat, I will go ant die—if it must be—vith zee Rajah."

"I heartily applaud your sentiment," said Nigel, with a laugh, as hehelped himself to some of the food which the Dyak youth and Moses hadprepared, "and if Van der Kemp will give me leave of absence I willgladly keep you company."

"Zank you. Pass round zee victuals. My appetite is strong. It alvays vasmore or less strong. Vat say you, Van der Kemp?"

"I have no objection. Moses and I can easily take the canoe up theriver. There are no rapids, and it is not far to the Rajah's village; soyou are welcome to go, Nigel."

"Das de most 'straord'nary craze I eber know'd men inflicted wid!" saidMoses that night, as he sat smoking his pipe beside the Dyak boy. "Itpasses my compr'ension what fun dey find runnin' like child'n arterbutterflies, an' beetles, an' sitch like varmint. My massa am de wisestman on eart', yet he go a little wild dat way too—sometimes!"

Moses looked at the Dyak boy with a puzzled expression, but as the Dyakboy did not understand English, he looked intently at the fire, and saidnothing.

Next morning Nigel entered the forest under the guidance of Verkimierand the Dyak youth, and the orang-utan, which followed like a dog, andsometimes even took hold of its master's arm and walked with him as ifit had been a very small human being. It was a new experience to Nigelto walk in the sombre shade beneath the tangled arches of thewilderness. In some respects it differed entirely from his expectations,and in others it surpassed them. The gloom was deeper than he hadpictured it, but the shade was not displeasing in a land so close to theequator. Then the trees were much taller than he had been led tosuppose, and the creeping plants more numerous, while, to his surprise,the wild-flowers were comparatively few and small. But the scarcity ofthese was somewhat compensated by the rich and brilliant colouring ofthe foliage.

The abundance and variety of the ferns also struck the youthparticularly.

"Ah! zey are magnificent!" exclaimed Verkimier with enthusiasm. "Look atzat tree-fern. You have not'ing like zat in England—eh! I have foundnearly von hoondred specimens of ferns. Zen, look at zee fruit-trees. Vehave here, you see, zee Lansat, Mangosteen, Rambutan, Jack, Jambon,Blimbing ant many ozers—but zee queen of fruits is zee Durian. Have youtasted zee Durian?"

"No, not yet."

"Ha! a new sensation is before you! Stay, you vill eat von by ant by.Look, zat is a Durian tree before you."

He pointed as he spoke to a large and lofty tree, which Mr. A.R.Wallace, the celebrated naturalist and traveller, describes asresembling an elm in general character but with a more smooth and scalybark. The fruit is round, or slightly oval, about the size of a man'shead, of a green colour, and covered all over with short spines whichare very strong and so sharp that it is difficult to lift the fruit fromthe ground. Only the experienced and expert can cut the tough outerrind. There are five faint lines extending from the base to the apex ofthe fruit, through which it may be divided with a heavy knife and astrong hand, so as to get to the delicious creamy pulp inside.

There is something paradoxical in the descriptions of this fruit byvarious writers, but all agree that it is inexpressibly good! Saysone—writing of the sixteenth century—"It is of such an excellent tastethat it surpasses in flavour all the other fruits of the world." Anotherwrites: "This fruit is of a hot and humid nature. To those not used toit, it seems at first to smell like rotten onions! but immediately theyhave tasted it they prefer it to all other food." Wallace himself saysof it: "When brought into the house, the smell is so offensive that somepersons can never bear to taste it. This was my own case in Malacca, butin Borneo I found a ripe fruit on the ground, and, eating it out ofdoors, I at once became a confirmed Durian-eater!"

This was exactly the experience of Nigel Roy that day, and the way inwhich the fruit came to him was also an experience, but of a verydifferent sort. It happened just as they were looking about for asuitable spot on which to rest and eat their mid-day meal. Verkimier wasin front with the orang-utan reaching up to his arm and hobblingaffectionately by his side—for there was a strong mutual affectionbetween them. The Dyak youth brought up the rear, with a sort ofgame-bag on his shoulders.

Suddenly Nigel felt something graze his arm, and heard a heavy thud athis side. It was a ripe Durian which had fallen from an immense heightand missed him by a hairbreadth.

"Zank Got, you have escaped!" exclaimed the professor, looking back witha solemn countenance.

"I have indeed escaped what might have been a severe blow," said Nigel,stooping to examine the fruit, apparently forgetful that more mightfollow.

"Come—come avay. My boy vill bring it. Men are sometimes killed by zisfruit. Here now ve vill dine."

They sat down on a bank which was canopied by ferns. While the boy wasarranging their meal, Verkimier drew a heavy hunting-knife from his beltand applying it with an unusually strong hand to the Durian laid itopen. Nigel did not at all relish the smell, but he was not fastidiousor apt to be prejudiced. He tasted—and, like Mr. Wallace, "became aconfirmed Durian eater" from that day.

"Ve draw near to zee region vere ve shall find zee booterflies," saidthe naturalist, during a pause in their luncheon.

"I hope we shall be successful," said Nigel, helping himself to somemore of what may be styled Durian cream. "To judge from the weight andhardness of this fruit, I should think a blow on one's head from itwould be fatal."

"Sometimes, not alvays. I suppose zat Dyak skulls are strong. But zeewound is terrible, for zee spikes tear zee flesh dreadfully. Zee Dyakchief, Rajah, vith whom I dwell joost now, was floored once by one, andhe expected to die—but he did not. He is alife ant vell, as you shallsee."

As he spoke a large butterfly fluttered across the scene of theirfestivities. With all the energy of his enthusiastic spirit and strongmuscular frame the naturalist leaped up, overturned his dinner, rushedafter the coveted specimen, tripped over a root, and measured hislength on the ground.

"Zat comes of too much horry!" he remarked, as he picked up his glasses,and returned, humbly, to continue his dinner. "Mine frond, learn alesson from a foolish man!"

"I shall learn two lessons," said Nigel, laughing—"first, to avoidyour too eager haste, and, second, to copy if I can your admirableenthusiasm."

"You are very goot. Some more cheekin' if you please. Zanks. Ve mostmake haste viz our meal ant go to vork."

The grandeur and novelty of the scenery through which they passed whenthey did go to work was a source of constant delight and surprise to ourhero, whose inherent tendency to take note of and admire the wonderfulworks of God was increased by the unflagging enthusiasm and interestingrunning commentary of his companion, whose flow of language and eagersympathy formed a striking contrast to the profound silence and gravityof the Dyak youth, as well as to the pathetic and affectionateselfishness of the man-monkey.

It must not, however, be supposed that the young orang-utan was unworthyof his victuals, for, besides being an amusing and harmless companion,he had been trained to use his natural capacity for climbing trees inthe service of his master. Thus he ascended the tall Durian trees, whenordered, and sent down some of the fruit in a few minutes—an operationwhich his human companions could not have accomplished without tediousdelay and the construction of an ingenious ladder having slender bamboosfor one of its sides, and the tree to be ascended for its other side,with splinters of bamboo driven into it by way of rounds.

"Zat is zee pitcher-plant," said Verkimier, as Nigel stopped suddenlybefore a plant which he had often read of but never seen. He was told byhis friend that pitcher-plants were very numerous in that region; thatevery mountain-top abounded with them; that they would be found trailingalong the ground and climbing over shrubs and stunted trees, with theirelegant pitchers hanging in every direction. Some of these, he said,were long and slender, others broad and short. The plant at which theywere looking was a broad green one, variously tinted and mottled withred, and was large enough to hold two quarts of water.

Resuming the march Nigel observed that the group of orchids wasabundant, but a large proportion of the species had small inconspicuousflowers. Some, however, had large clusters of yellow flowers which had avery ornamental effect on the sombre forest. But, although theexceptions were striking, he found that in Borneo, as elsewhere, flowerswere scarcer than he had expected in an equatorial forest. There were,however, more than enough of striking and surprising things to engagethe attention of our hero, and arouse his interest.

One tree they came to which rendered him for some moments absolutelyspeechless! to the intense delight of the professor, who marched hisnew-found sympathiser from one object of interest to another with thesecret intention of surprising him, and when he had got him to the pointof open-mouthed amazement he was wont to turn his spectacles full on hisface, like the mouths of a blue binocular, in order to witness and enjoyhis emotions!

Nigel found this out at last and was rather embarrassed in consequence.

"Zat," exclaimed the naturalist, after gazing at his friend for sometime in silence, "zat is a tree vitch planted itself in mid-air and zensent its roots down to zee ground and its branches up to zee sky!"

"It looks as if it had," returned Nigel; "I have seen a tree of the samekind near the coast. How came it to grow in this way?"

"I know not. It is zought zat zey spring from a seed dropped by a birdinto zee fork of anozer tree. Zee seed grows, sends his roots down anthis branches up. Ven his roots reach zee ground he lays hold, ant, venstrong enough, kills his support—zus returning efil for good, like azankless dependent. Ah! zere is much resemblance between plants andanimals! Com', ve must feed here," said the professor, resting his gunagainst one of the roots, "I had expected to find zee booterfliessooner. It cannot be helped. Let us make zis our banqueting-hall. Vevill have a Durian to refresh us, ant here is a bandy tree which seemsto have ripe vones on it.—Go," he added, turning to the orang-utan,"and send down von or two."

The creature looked helplessly incapable, pitifully unwilling,scratching its side the while. Evidently it was a lazy monkey.

"Do you hear?" said Verkimier, sternly.

The orang moved uneasily, but still declined to go.

Turning sharply on it, the professor bent down, placed a hand on each ofhis knees and stared through the blue goggles into the animal's face.

This was more than it could stand. With a very bad grace it hobbled offto the Durian tree, ascended it with a sort of lazy, lumbering facility,and hurled down some of the fruit without warning those below to lookout.

"My little frond is obstinate sometimes," remarked the naturalist,picking up the fruit, "but ven I bring my glasses to bear on him healvays gives in. I never found zem fail. Come now; eat, an' ve vill goto vork again. Ve must certainly find zee booterflies somevere beforenight."

"DO YOU HEAR?" SAID VERKIMIER, STERNLY

But Verkimier was wrong. It was his destiny not to find the butterfliesthat night, or in that region at all, for he and his companion had notquite finished their meal when a Dyak youth came running up to themsaying that he had been sent by the Rajah to order their immediatereturn to the village.

"Alas! ve most go. It is dancherous to disobey zee Rajah—ant I amsorry—very sorry—zat I cannot show you zee booterflies to-day. Nomatter.—Go" (to the Dyak youth), "tell your chief ve vill come. Betterlock zee next time!"

CHAPTER XV.

HUNTING THE GREAT MAN-MONKEY.

Although Professor Verkimier had promised to return at once, he wascompelled to encamp in the forest, being overtaken by night before hecould reach the river and procure a boat.

Next morning they started at daybreak. The country over which theypassed had again changed its character and become more hilly. On thesummits of many of the hills Dyak villages could be seen, and ricefields were met with as they went along. Several gullies and rivuletswere crossed by means of native bamboo bridges, and the professorexplained as he went along the immense value of the bamboo to thenatives. With it they make their suspension bridges, build their houses,and procure narrow planking for their floors. If they want broaderplanks they split a large bamboo on one side and flatten it out to aplank of about eighteen inches wide. Portions of hollow bamboo serve asreceptacles for milk or water. If a precipice stops a path, the Dyakswill not hesitate to construct a bamboo path along the face of it, usingbranches of trees wherever convenient from which to hang the path, andevery crevice or notch in the rocks to receive the ends of the bamboosby which it is supported.

Honey-bees in Borneo hang their combs, to be out of danger no doubt,under the branches of the Tappan, which towers above all the other treesof the forest. But the Dyaks love honey and value wax as an article oftrade; they therefore erect their ingenious bamboo ladder—which can beprolonged to any height on the smooth branchless stem of the Tappan—andstorm the stronghold of the bees with much profit to themselves, forbees'-wax will purchase from the traders the brass wire, rings,gold-edged kerchiefs and various ornaments with which they decoratethemselves. When travelling, the Dyaks use bamboos as cooking vessels inwhich to boil rice and other vegetables; as jars in which to preservehoney, sugar, etc., or salted fish and fruit. Split bamboos formaqueducts by which water is conveyed to the houses. A small neatlycarved piece of bamboo serves as a case in which are carried thematerials used in the disgusting practice of betel-nut chewing—whichseems to be equivalent to the western tobacco-chewing. If a pipe iswanted the Dyak will in a wonderfully short space of time make a hugehubble-bubble out of bamboos of different sizes, and if his long-bladedknife requires a sheath the same gigantic grass supplies one almostready-made. But the uses to which this reed may be applied are almostendless, and the great outstanding advantage of it is that it needs noother tools than an axe and a knife to work it.

At about mid-day the river was reached, and they found a native boat, orprau, which had been sent down to convey them to the Rajah's village.Here Nigel was received with the hospitality due to a friend of Van derKemp, who, somehow—probably by unselfish readiness, as well as ability,to oblige—had contrived to make devoted friends in whatever part of theMalay Archipelago he travelled.

Afterwards, in a conversation with Nigel, the professor, referring tothose qualities of the hermit which endeared him to men everywhere,said, with a burst of enthusiasm, which almost outdid himself—

"You cannot oonderstant Van der Kemp. No man can oonderstant him. He isgoot, right down to zee marrow—kind, amiable, oonselfish, obliging,nevair seems to zink of himself at all, ant, abof all zings, is capable.Vat he vill do, he can do—vat he can do he vill do. But he is sad—verysad."

"I have observed that, of course," said Nigel. "Do you know what makeshim so sad?"

The professor shook his head.

"No, I do not know. Nobody knows. I have tried to find out, but he villnot speak."

The Orang-Kaya, or rich man, as this hill chief was styled, had providedlodgings for his visitors in the "head-house." This was a large circularbuilding erected on poles. There is such a house in nearly all Dyakvillages. It serves as a trading-place, a strangers' room, asleeping-room for unmarried youths, and a general council-chamber. HereNigel found the hermit and Moses enjoying a good meal when he arrived,to which he and the professor sat down after paying their respects tothe chief.

"The Orang-Kaya hopes that we will stay with him some time and help todefend the village," said Van der Kemp, when they were all seated.

"Of course you have agreed?" said Nigel.

"Yes; I came for that purpose."

"We's allers ready to fight in a good cause," remarked Moses, justbefore filling his mouth with rice.

"Or to die in it!" added Verkimier, engulfing the breast of a chicken ata bite. "But as zee pirates are not expected for some days, ve may asveil go after zee mias—zat is what zee natifs call zee orang-utan. Itis a better word, being short."

Moses glanced at the professor out of the corners of his black eyes andseemed greatly tickled by his enthusiastic devotion to business.

"I am also," continued the professor, "extremely anxious to go at zeebooterflies before—"

"You die," suggested Nigel, venturing on a pleasantry, whereat Mosesopened his mouth in a soundless laugh, but, observing the professor'sgoggles levelled at him, he transformed the laugh into an astoundingsneeze, and immediately gazed with pouting innocence and interest at hisplate.

"Do you alvays sneeze like zat?" asked Verkimier.

"Not allers," answered the negro simply, "sometimes I gibs way a gooddeal wuss. Depends on de inside ob my nose an' de state ob de wedder."

What the professor would have replied we cannot say, for just then aDyak youth rushed in to say that an unusually large and gorgeousbutterfly had been seen just outside the village!

No application of fire to gunpowder could have produced a more immediateeffect. The professor's rice was scattered on the floor, and himself wasoutside the head-house before his comrades knew exactly what was thematter.

"He's always like that," said the hermit, with a slight twinkle in hiseyes. "Nothing discourages—nothing subdues him. Twice I pulled him outof deadly danger into which he had run in his eager pursuit ofspecimens. And he has returned the favour to me, for he rescued me oncewhen a mias had got me down and would certainly have killed me, for mygun was empty at the moment, and I had dropped my knife."

"Is, then, the orang-utan so powerful and savage?"

"Truly, yes, when wounded and driven to bay," returned the hermit. "Youmust not judge of the creature by the baby that Verkimier has tamed. Afull-grown male is quite as large as a man, though very small in thelegs in proportion, so that it does not stand high. It is also very muchstronger than the most powerful man. You would be quite helpless in itsgrip, I assure you."

"I hope, with the professor," returned Nigel, "that we may have a huntafter them, either before or after the arrival of the pirates. I know heis very anxious to secure a good specimen for some museum in which he isinterested—I forget which."

As he spoke, the youth who had brought information about the butterflyreturned and said a few words to Moses in his native tongue.

"What does he say?" asked Nigel.

"Dat Massa Verkimier is in full chase, an' it's my opinion dat when hecomes back he'll be wet all ober, and hab his shins and elbows barked."

"Why d'you think so?"

"'Cause dat's de way he goed on when we was huntin' wid him last year.He nebber larns fro' 'sperience."

"That's a very fine-looking young fellow," remarked Nigel, referring tothe Dyak youth who had just returned, and who, with a number of othernatives, was watching the visitors with profound interest while theyate.

As the young man referred to was a good sample of the youth of histribe, we shall describe him. Though not tall, he was well and stronglyproportioned, and his skin was of a reddish-brown colour. Like all hiscomrades, he wore little clothing. A gay handkerchief with a gold laceborder encircled his head, from beneath which flowed a heavy mass ofstraight, jet-black hair. Large crescent-shaped ornaments hung from hisears. His face was handsome and the expression pleasing, though themouth was large and the lips rather thick. Numerous brass ringsencircled his arms above and below the elbows. His only other piece ofcostume was a waist-cloth of blue cotton, which hung down before andbehind. It ended in three bands of red, blue, and white. There were alsorows of brass rings on his legs, and armlets of white shells. At hisside he wore a long slender knife and a little pouch containing thematerials for betel-chewing.

"Yes, and he is as good as he looks," said the hermit. "His name isGurulam, and all the people of his tribe have benefited by the presencein Borneo of that celebrated Englishman Sir James Brooke,—Rajah Brookeas he was called,—who did so much to civilise the Dyaks of Borneo andto ameliorate their condition."

The prophecy of Moses about the professor was fulfilled. Just as it wasgrowing dark that genial scientist returned, drenched to the skin andcovered with mud, having tumbled into a ditch. His knuckles also wereskinned, his knees and shins damaged, and his face scratched, but he wasperfectly happy in consequence of having secured a really splendidspecimen of a "bootterfly" as big as his hand; the scientific name ofwhich, for very sufficient reasons, we will not attempt to inflict onour readers, and the description of which may be shortly stated by thesingle word—gorgeous!

Being fond of Verkimier, and knowing his desire to obtain a full-grownorang-utan, Gurulam went off early next morning to search for one.Half-a-dozen of his comrades accompanied him armed only with nativespears, for their object was not to hunt the animal, but to discover oneif possible, and let the professor know so that he might go after itwith his rifle, for they knew that he was a keen sportsman as well as aman of science.

They did not, indeed, find what they sought for, but they were told bynatives with whom they fell in that a number of the animals had beenseen among the tree-tops not more than a day's march into the forest.They hurried home therefore with this information, and thatday—accompanied by the Dyak youths, Nigel, the hermit, andMoses—Verkimier started off in search of the mias; intending to campout or to take advantage of a native hut if they should chance to benear one when night overtook them.

Descending the hill region, they soon came to more level ground, wherethere was a good deal of swamp, through which they passed on Dyak roads.These roads consisted simply of tree-trunks laid end to end, along whichthe natives, being barefooted, walk with ease and certainty, but ourbooted hunters were obliged to proceed along them with extreme caution.The only one who came to misfortune was, as usual, the professor; and inthe usual way! It occurred at the second of these tree-roads.

"Look, look at that remarkable insect!" exclaimed Nigel, eagerly, in theinnocence of his heart. The professor was in front of him; he obedientlylooked, saw the insect, made an eager step towards it, and next momentwas flat on the swamp, while the woods rang with his companions'laughter. The remarkable insect, whatever it was, vanished from thescene, and the professor was dragged, smiling though confused, out ofthe bog. These things affected him little. His soul was large and rosesuperior to such trifles.

The virgin forest into which they penetrated was of vast extent;spreading over plain, mountain, and morass in every direction forhundreds of miles, for we must remind the reader that the island ofBorneo is considerably larger than all the British islands put together,while its inhabitants are comparatively few. Verkimier had beenabsolutely revelling in this forest for several months—ranging itsglades, penetrating its thickets, bathing (inadvertently) in itsquagmires, and maiming himself generally, with unwearied energy andunextinguishable enthusiasm; shooting, skinning, stuffing, preserving,and boiling the bones of all its inhabitants—except the human—to thegreat advantage of science and the immense interest and astonishment ofthe natives. Yet with all his energy and perseverance the professor hadfailed, up to that time, to obtain a large specimen of a maleorang-utan, though he had succeeded in shooting several small specimensand females, besides catching the young one which he had tamed.

It was therefore with much excitement that he learned from a party ofbees'-wax hunters, on the second morning of their expedition, that alarge male mias had been seen that very day. Towards the afternoon theyfound the spot that had been described to them, and a carefulexamination began.

"You see," said Verkimier, in a low voice, to Nigel, as he went a stepin advance peering up into the trees, with rifle at the "ready" andbending a little as if by that means he better avoided the chance ofbeing seen. "You see, I came to Borneo for zee express purpose ofobtaining zee great man-monkey and vatching his habits.—Hush! Do I nothear somet'ing?"

"Nothing but your own voice, I think," said Nigel, with a twinkle in hiseye.

"Vell—hush! Keep kviet, all of you."

As the whole party marched in single file after the professor, and wereat the moment absolutely silent, this order induced the display of agood many teeth.

Just then the man of science was seen to put his rifle quickly to theshoulder; the arches of the forest rang with a loud report; varioushorrified creatures were seen and heard to scamper away, and next momenta middle-sized orang-utan came crashing through the branches of a talltree and fell dead with a heavy thud on the ground.

The professor's rifle was a breechloader. He therefore lost no time inre-charging, and hurried forward as if he saw other game, while the restof the party—except Van der Kemp, Nigel, and Gurulam—fell behind tolook at and pick up the fallen animal.

"Look out!" whispered Nigel, pointing to a bit of brown hair that he sawamong the leaves high overhead.

"Vere? I cannot see him," whispered the naturalist, whose eyes blazedenough almost to melt his blue glasses. "Do you fire, Mr. Roy?"

"My gun is charged only with small-shot, for birds. It is useless forsuch game," said Nigel.

"Ach! I see!"

Up went the rifle and again the echoes were startled and the animalkingdom astounded, especially that portion at which the professor hadfired, for there was immediately a tremendous commotion among the leavesoverhead, and another orang of the largest size was seen to cross anopen space and disappear among the thick foliage. Evidently the creaturehad been hit, but not severely, for it travelled among the tree-tops atthe rate of full five miles an hour, obliging the hunters to run at arapid pace over the rough ground in order to keep up with it. In itspassage from tree to tree the animal showed caution and foresight,selecting only those branches that interlaced with other boughs, so thatit made uninterrupted progress, and also had a knack of always keepingmasses of thick foliage underneath it so that for some time noopportunity was found of firing another shot. At last, however, it cameto one of those Dyak roads of which we have made mention, so that itcould not easily swing from one tree to another, and the stoppage ofrustling among the leaves told that the creature had halted. For sometime they gazed up among the branches without seeing anything, but atlast, in a place where the leaves seemed to have been thrust aside nearthe top of one of the highest trees, a great red hairy body was seen,and a huge black face gazed fiercely down at the hunters.

Verkimier fired instantly, the branches closed, and the monster movedoff in another direction. In desperate anxiety Nigel fired both barrelsof his shot-gun. He might as well have fired at the moon. Gurulam wasarmed only with a spear, and Van der Kemp, who was not much of asportsman, carried a similar weapon. The rest of the party were stillout of sight in rear looking after the dead mias.

It was astonishing how little noise was made by so large an animal as itmoved along. More than once the hunters had to halt and listen intentlyfor the rustling of the leaves before they could make sure of being onthe right track.

At last they caught sight of him again on the top of a very high tree,and the professor got two more shots, but without bringing him down.Then he was seen, quite exposed for a moment, walking in a stoopingposture along the large limb of a tree, but the hunter was loading atthe time and lost the chance. Finally he got on to a tree whose top wascovered with a dense mass of creepers which completely hid him fromview. Then he halted and the sound of snapping branches was heard.

"You've not much chance of him now," remarked the hermit, as they allstood in a group gazing up into the tree-top. "I have often seen themias act thus when severely wounded. He is making a nest to lie down anddie in."

"Zen ve must shoot again," said the professor, moving round the tree andlooking out for a sign of the animal. At last he seemed to have foundwhat he wanted, for raising his rifle he took a steady aim and fired.

A considerable commotion of leaves and fall of broken branches followed.Then the huge red body of the mias appeared falling through, but it wasnot dead, for it caught hold of branches as it fell and hung on as longas it could; then it came crashing down, and alighted on its face withan awful thud.

After firing the last shot Verkimier had not reloaded, being too intenton watching the dying struggles of the creature, and when it fell withsuch violence he concluded that it was dead. For the same reason Nigelhad neglected to reload after firing. Thus it happened that when theenormous brute suddenly rose and made for a tree with the evidentintention of climbing it, no one was prepared to stop it except the Dyakyouth Gurulam. He chanced to be standing between the mias and the tree.

Boldly he levelled his spear and made a thrust that would probably havekilled the beast, if it had not caught the point of the spear and turnedit aside. Then with its left paw it caught the youth by the neck, seizedhis thigh with one of its hind paws, and fixed its teeth in his rightshoulder.

Never was man rendered more suddenly and completely helpless, and deathwould have been his sure portion before the hunters had reloaded if Vander Kemp had not leaped forward, and, thrusting his spear completelythrough the animal's body, killed it on the spot.

CHAPTER XVI.

BEGINS WITH A TERRIBLE FIGHT AND ENDS WITH A HASTY FLIGHT.

The hunt, we need scarcely say, was abruptly terminated, and immediatepreparations were made for conveying the wounded man and the two orangsto the Dyak village. This was quickly arranged, for the convenientbamboo afforded ready-made poles wherewith to form a litter on which tocarry them.

The huge creature which had given them so much trouble, and so nearlycost them one human life, was found to be indeed of the largest size. Itwas not tall but very broad and large. The exact measurements, taken bythe professor, who never travelled without his tape measure, were asfollows:—

The muscular power of such a creature is of course immense, as Nigel andthe professor had a rare chance of seeing that very evening—of which,more presently.

On careful examination by Nigel, who possessed some knowledge ofsurgery, it was found that none of Gurulam's bones had been broken, andthat although severely lacerated about the shoulders and right thigh, novery serious injury had been done—thanks to the promptitude and vigourof the hermit's spear-thrust. The poor youth, however, was utterlyhelpless for the time being, and had to be carried home.

That afternoon the party reached a village in a remote part of theforest where they resolved to halt for the night, as no otherresting-place could be reached before dark.

While a supper of rice and fowl was being cooked by Moses, Van der Kempattended to the wounded man, and Nigel accompanied the professor alongthe banks of the stream on which the village stood. Having merely goneout for a stroll they carried no weapons except walking-sticks,intending to go only a short distance. Interesting talk, however, on thecharacter and habits of various animals, made them forget time until thediminution of daylight warned them to turn. They were about to do sowhen they observed, seated in an open place near the stream, the largestorang they had yet seen. It was feeding on succulent shoots by thewater-side: a fact which surprised the professor, for his inquiries andexperience had hitherto taught him that orangs never eat such foodexcept when starving. The fat and vigorous condition in which thisanimal was forbade the idea of starvation. Besides, it had brought aDurian fruit to the banks of the stream and thrown it down, so thateither taste or eccentricity must have induced it to prefer the shoots.Perhaps its digestion was out of order and it required a tonic.

Anyhow, it continued to devour a good many young shoots while ourtravellers were peeping at it in mute surprise through the bushes. Thatthey had approached so near without being observed was due to the factthat a brawling rapid flowed just there, and the mias was on the otherside of the stream. By mutual consent the men crouched to watch itsproceedings. They were not a little concerned, however, when the bruteseized an overhanging bough, and, with what we may style sluggishagility, swung itself clumsily but lightly to their side of the stream.It picked up the Durian which lay there and began to devour it. Bitingoff some of the strong spikes with which that charming fruit is covered,it made a small hole in it, and then with its powerful fingers tore offthe thick rind and began to enjoy a feast.

Now, with monkeys, no less than with men, there is many a slip 'twixtthe cup and the lip, for the mias had just begun its meal, or, rather,its dessert, when a crocodile, which the professor had not observed andNigel had mistaken for a log, suddenly opened its jaws and seized thebig monkey's leg. The scene that ensued baffles description! Graspingthe crocodile with its other three hands by nose, throat, and eyes, themias almost performed the American operation of gouging—digging itspowerful thumbs and fingers into every crevice and tearing open itsassailant's jaws. The crocodile, taken apparently by surprise, went intodire convulsions, and making for deep water, plunged his foe thereinover head and ears. Nothing daunted, the mias regained his footing,hauled his victim on to a mudbank, and, jumping on his back began totear and pommel him. There was nothing of the prize-fighter in the mias.He never clenched his fist—never hit straight from the shoulder, butthe buffeting and slapping which he gave resounded all over the place.At last he caught hold of a fold of his opponent's throat, which hebegan to tear open with fingers and teeth. Wrenching himself free with asupreme effort the crocodile shot into the stream and disappeared with asounding splash of its tail, while the mias waded lamely to the shorewith an expression of sulky indignation on its great black face.

Slowly the creature betook itself to the shelter of the forest, and weneed scarcely add that the excited observers of the combat made noattempt to hinder its retreat.

It is said that the python is the only other creature that dares toattack the orang-utan, and that when it does so victory usually declaresfor the man-monkey, which bites and tears it to death.

The people of the village in which the hunters rested that night wereevidently not accustomed to white men—perhaps had never seen thembefore—for they crowded round them while at supper and gazed in silentwonder as if they were watching a group of white-faced baboons feeding!They were, however, very hospitable, and placed before their visitorsabundance of their best food without expecting anything in return. Brassrings were the great ornament in this village—as they are, indeed,among the Dyaks generally. Many of the women had their arms completelycovered with them, as well as their legs from the ankle to the knee.Their petticoats were fastened to a coil of rattan, stained red, roundtheir bodies. They also wore coils of brass wire, girdles of smallsilver coins, and sometimes broad belts of brass ring-armour.

It was break of dawn next morning when our hunters started, bearingtheir wounded comrade and the dead orangs with them.

Arrived at the village they found the people in great excitementpreparing for defence, as news had been brought to the effect that thepirates had landed at the mouth of the river, joined the disaffectedband which awaited them, and that an attack might be expected withoutdelay, for they were under command of the celebrated Malay pirateBaderoon.

Nigel observed that the countenance of his friend Van der Kemp underwenta peculiar change on hearing this man's name mentioned. There was acombination of anxiety, which was unnatural to him, and of resolution,which was one of his chief characteristics.

"Is Baderoon the enemy whom you saw on the islet on our first nightout?" asked Nigel, during a ramble with the hermit that evening.

"Yes, and I fear to meet him," replied his friend in a low voice.

Nigel was surprised. The impression made on his mind since theirintercourse was that Van der Kemp was incapable of the sensation offear.

"Is he so very bitter against you?" asked Nigel.

"Very," was the curt reply.

"Have you reason to think he would take your life if he could?"

"I am sure he would. As I told you before, I have thwarted his plansmore than once. When he hears that it is I who have warned theOrang-Kaya against him he will pursue me to the death—and—and I mustnot meet him."

"Indeed!" exclaimed Nigel, with renewed surprise.

But the hermit took no note of the exclamation. Anxiety had given placeto a frown, and his eyes were fixed on the ground. It seemed to Nigel soevident that he did not wish to pursue the subject, that he slightlychanged it.

"I suppose," he said, "that there is no fear of the Dyaks of the villagebeing unable to beat off the pirates now that they have been warned?"

"None whatever. Indeed, this is so well known to Baderoon that I thinkhe will abandon the attempt. But he will not abandon his designs on me.However, we must wait and see how God will order events."

Next morning spies returned to the village with the information that thepirates had taken their departure from the mouth of the river.

"Do you think this is an attempt to deceive us?" asked the chief,turning to Van der Kemp, when he heard the news.

"I think not. And even should it be so, and they should return, you areready and well able to meet them."

"Yes, ready—and well able to meet them," replied the Orang-Kaya,drawing himself up proudly.

"Did they all go in one direction?" asked Van der Kemp of the youthswho had brought the news.

"Yes, all went in a body to the north—except one boat which rowedsouthward."

"Hm! I thought so. My friends, listen to me. This is no pretence. Theydo not mean to attack you now you are on your guard; but that boat whichwent south contains Baderoon, and I feel certain that he means to hangabout here till he gets the chance of killing me."

"That is well," returned the chief, calmly. "My young men will hunt tillthey find where he is. Then they will bring us the information and Vander Kemp will go out with a band and slay his enemy."

"No, my friend," said the hermit, firmly; "that shall not be. I must getout of his way, and in order to do so will leave you at once, for therewill be no further need for my services here."

The chief looked at his friend in surprise. "Well," he said, "you have agood judgment, and understand your own affairs. But you have alreadyrendered me good service, and I will help you to fly—though such is notthe habit of the Dyaks! There is a trader's vessel to start for Sumatraby the first light of day. Will my friend go by that?"

"I am grateful," answered the hermit, "but I need no help—save someprovisions, for I have my little canoe, which will suffice."

As this colloquy was conducted in the native tongue it wasunintelligible to Nigel, but after the interview with the chief thehermit explained matters to him, and bade Moses get ready for a startseveral hours before dawn.

"You see we must do the first part of our trip in the dark, for Baderoonhas a keen eye and ear. Then we will land and sleep all day where thesharpest eye will fail to find us—and, luckily, pirates have beendenied the power of scenting out their foes. When night comes we willstart again and get out of sight of land before the next dawn."

"Mine frond," said the professor, turning his moon-like goggles full onthe hermit. "I vill go viz you."

"I should be only too happy to have your company," returned the hermit,"but my canoe cannot by any contrivance be made to hold more thanthree."

"Zat is no matter to me," rejoined Verkimier; "you forget zee trader'sboat. I vill go in zat to Sumatra. Ve vill find out zee port he is goingto, ant you vill meet me zere. Vait for me if I have not arrived—or Ivill vait for you. I have longed to visit Sumatra, ant vat better frondscould I go viz zan yourselfs?"

"But, my good friend," returned the hermit, "my movements may notexactly suit yours. Here they are,—you can judge for yourself. First Iwill, God permitting, cross over to Sumatra in my canoe."

"But it is t'ree hoondert miles across, if not more!"

"No matter—there are plenty of islands on the way. Besides, somepassing vessel will give me a lift, no doubt. Then I will coast along toone of the eastern ports, where I know there is a steamboat loading upabout this time. The captain is an old friend of mine. He brought me andmy companions the greater part of the way here. If I find him I will askhim to carry my canoe on his return voyage through Sunda Straits, andleave it with another friend of mine at Telok Betong on the south coastof Sumatra—not far, as you know, from my home in Krakatoa. Then I willproceed overland to the same place, so that my friend Nigel Roy may seea little of the country."

"Ant vat if you do not find your frond zee captain of zee steamer?"

"Why, then I shall have to adopt some other plan. It is the uncertaintyof my movements that makes me think you should not depend on them."

"Zat is not'ing to me, Van der Kemp; you joost go as you say. I villfollow ant take my chance. I am use' to ooncertainties antdifficoolties. Zey can not influence me."

After a good deal of consideration this plan was agreed to. Theprofessor spent part of the night in giving directions about thepreserving of his specimens, which he meant to leave at the village incharge of a man whom he had trained to assist him, while Van der Kempwith his companions lay down to snatch a little sleep before setting outon their voyage, or, as the Dyak chief persisted in calling it, theirflight!

When Nigel had slept about five minutes—as he thought—he was awakenedby Moses.

"Don't make a noise, Massa Nadgel! Dere may be spies in de camp for allwe knows, so we mus' git off like mice. Canoe's ready an' massa waitin';we gib you to de last momint."

In a few minutes our hero was sleepily following the negro through thewoods to the spot where the canoe was in waiting.

The night was very dark. This was in their favour,—at least as regardeddiscovery.

"But how shall we ever see to make our way down stream?" asked Nigel ofthe hermit in a whisper on reaching the place of embarkation.

"The current will guide us. Besides, I have studied the river with aview to this flight. Be careful in getting in. Now, Moses, are youready?"

"All right, massa."

"Shove off, then."

There was something so eerie in the subdued tones, and stealthymotions, and profound darkness, that Nigel could not help feeling as ifthey were proceeding to commit some black and criminal deed!

Floating with the current, with as little noise as possible, and havingmany a narrow escape of running against points of land and sandbanks,they flew swiftly towards the sea, so that dawn found them among the mudflats and the mangrove swamps. Here they found a spot where mangroveroots and bushes formed an impenetrable screen, behind which they spentthe day, chiefly in sleep, and in absolute security.

When darkness set in they again put forth, and cautiously clearing theriver's mouth, were soon far out on the open sea, which was fortunatelycalm at the time, the slight air that blew being in their favour.

"We are safe from pursuit now," said Van der Kemp in a tone ofsatisfaction, as they paused for a breathing spell.

"O massa!" exclaimed Moses at that moment, in a voice of consternation;"we's forgotten Spinkie!"

"So we have!" returned the hermit in a voice of regret so profound thatNigel could scarce restrain a laugh in spite of his sympathy.

But Spinkie had not forgotten himself. Observing probably, that thesenight expeditions were a change in his master's habits, he had kept anunusually watchful eye on the canoe, so that when it was put in thewater, he had jumped on board unseen in the darkness, and had retired tothe place where he usually slept under hatches when the canoe travelledat night.

Awakened from refreshing sleep at the sound of his name, Spinkie emergedsuddenly from the stern-manhole, right under the negro's nose, and witha sleepy "oo, oo!" gazed up into his face.

"Ho! Dare you is, you mis'rible hyperkrite!" exclaimed Moses, kissingthe animal in the depth of his satisfaction. "He's here, massa, allright. Now, you go to bed agin, you small bundle ob hair."

The creature retired obediently to its place, and laying its littlecheek on one of its small hands, committed itself to repose.

Van der Kemp was wrong when he said they were safe. A pirate scout hadseen the canoe depart. Being alone and distant from the rendezvous ofhis commander, some time elapsed before the news could be conveyed tohim. When Baderoon was at length informed and had sailed out to sea inpursuit, returning daylight showed him that his intended victim hadescaped.

CHAPTER XVII.

TELLS OF THE JOYS, ETC., OF THE PROFESSOR IN THE SUMATRAN FORESTS, ALSOOF A CATASTROPHE AVERTED.

Fortunately the weather continued fine at first, and the light windfair, so that the canoe skimmed swiftly over the wide sea that separatesBorneo from Sumatra. Sometimes our travellers proceeded at night whenthe distance between islets compelled them to do so. At other times theylanded on one of these isles when opportunity offered to rest andreplenish the water-casks.

We will not follow them step by step in this voyage, which occupied morethan a week, and during which they encountered without damage severalsqualls in which a small open boat could not have lived. Beaching atlast the great island of Sumatra—which, like its neighbour Borneo, islarger in extent than the British Islands—they coasted alongsouthwards, without further delay than was absolutely necessary for restand refreshment, until they reached a port where they found the steamerof which they were in search just about to start on its return voyage.Van der Kemp committed his little craft to the care of the captain, who,after vainly advising his friend to take a free passage with him to theStraits of Sunda, promised to leave the canoe in passing at TelokBetong. We may add that Spinkie was most unwillingly obliged toaccompany the canoe.

"Now, we must remain here till our friend Verkimier arrives," said thehermit, turning to Nigel after they had watched the steamer out ofsight.

"I suppose we must," said Nigel, who did not at all relish thedelay—"of course we must," he added with decision.

"I sees no 'ob course' about it, Massa Nadgel," observed Moses, whonever refrained from offering his opinion from motives of humility, orof respect for his employer. "My 'dvice is to go on an' let de purfesserfoller."

"But I promised to wait for him," said the hermit, with one of hiskindly, half-humorous glances, "and you know I never break mypromises."

"Das true, massa, but you di'n't promise to wait for him for eber an'eber!"

"Not quite; but of course I meant that I would wait a reasonable time."

The negro appeared to meditate for some moments on the extent of a"reasonable" time, for his huge eyes became huger as he gazedfrowningly at the ground. Then he spoke.

"A 'reasonable' time, massa, is such an oncertain time—wariable, so tospeak, accordin' to the mind that t'inks upon it! Hows'eber, if you'spromised, ob coorse dat's an end ob it; for w'en a man promises, he'sbound to stick to it."

Such devotion to principle was appropriately rewarded the very next dayby the arrival of the trading prau in which the professor had embarked.

"We did not expect you nearly so soon," said Nigel, as they heartilyshook hands.

"It vas because zee vind freshen soon after ve set sail—ant, zen, vemade a straight line for zis port, w'ereas you possibly crossed over,ant zen push down zee coast."

"Exactly so, and that accounts for your overtaking us," said the hermit."Is that the lad Baso I see down there with the crew of the prau?"

"It is. You must have some strainch power of attracting frondship, Vander Kemp, for zee poor yout' is so fond of you zat he beg ant entreat meto take him, ant he says he vill go on vit zee traders if you refuse tolet him follow you."

"Well, he may come. Indeed, we shall be the better for his services, forI had intended to hire a man here to help to carry our things. Much ofour journeying, you see, must be done on foot."

Baso, to his great joy, thus became one of the party.

We pass over the next few days, which were spent in arranging andpacking their provisions, etc., in such a way that each member of theparty should carry on his shoulders a load proportioned to his strength.In this arrangement the professor, much against his will, was compelledto accept the lightest load in consideration of his liability to dartoff in pursuit of creeping things and "bootterflies" at a moment'snotice. The least damageable articles were also assigned to him inconsideration of his tendency at all times to tumble into bogs andstumble over fallen trees, and lose himself, and otherwise get intodifficulties.

We also pass over part of the journey from the coast, and plunge withour travellers at once into the interior of Sumatra.

One evening towards sunset they reached the brow of an eminence which,being rocky, was free from much wood, and permitted of a wide view ofthe surrounding country. It was covered densely with virgin forest, andthey ascended the eminence in order that the hermit, who had been therebefore, might discover a forest road which led to a village some milesoff, where they intended to put up for the night. Having ascertained hisexact position, Van der Kemp led his followers down to this footpath,which led through the dense forest.

The trees by which they were surrounded were varied andmagnificent—some of them rising clear up seventy and eighty feetwithout a branch, many of them had superb leafy crowns, under any one ofwhich hundreds of men might have found shelter. Others had trunks andlimbs warped and intertwined with a wild entanglement of huge creepers,which hung in festoons and loops as if doing their best to strangletheir supports, themselves being also encumbered, or adorned, with fernsand orchids, and delicate twining epiphytes. A forest of smaller treesgrew beneath this shade, and still lower down were thorny shrubs,rattan-palms, broad-leaved bushes, and a mass of tropical herbage whichwould have been absolutely impenetrable but for the native road orfootpath along which they travelled.

"A most suitable abode for tigers, I should think," remarked Nigel tothe hermit, who walked in front of him—for they marched in single file."Are there any in these parts?"

"Ay, plenty. Indeed, it is because I don't like sleeping in theircompany that I am so anxious to reach a village."

"Are zey dangerows?" asked the professor, who followed close on Nigel.

"Well, they are not safe!" replied the hermit. "I had an adventure withone on this very road only two years ago."

"Indeed! vat vas it?" asked the professor, whose appetite for anecdotewas insatiable. "Do tell us about it."

"With pleasure. It was on a pitch-dark night that it occurred. I hadoccasion to go to a neighbouring village at a considerable distance, andborrowed a horse from a friend——"

"Anozer frond!" exclaimed the professor; "vy, Van der Kemp, zee countryseems to be svarming vid your fronds."

"I have travelled much in it and made many friends," returned thehermit. "The horse that I borrowed turned out to be a very poor one, andwent lame soon after I set out. Business kept me longer than I expected,and it was getting dark before I started to return. Erelong the darknessbecame so intense that I could scarcely see beyond the horse's head, andcould not distinguish the path. I therefore let the animal find his ownway—knowing that he would be sure to do so, for he was going home. Aswe jogged along, I felt the horse tremble. Then he snorted and came to adead stop, with his feet planted firmly on the ground. I was quiteunarmed, but arms would have been useless in the circ*mstances.Suddenly, and fortunately, the horse reared, and next moment a huge darkobject shot close past my face—so close that its fur brushed mycheek—as it went with a heavy thud into the jungle on the other side.I knew that it was a tiger and felt that my life, humanly speaking, wasdue to the rearing of the poor horse."

"Are ve near to zee spote?" asked the professor, glancing from side toside in some anxiety.

"Not far from it!" replied the hermit, "but there is not much fear ofsuch an attack in broad daylight and with so large a party."

"Ve are not a very large party," returned the professor. "I do not zinkI would fear much to face a tiger vid my goot rifle, but I do not relishhis choomping on me unavares. Push on, please."

They pushed on and reached the village a little before nightfall.

Hospitality is a characteristic of the natives of Sumatra. Thetravellers were received with open arms, so to speak, and escorted tothe public building which corresponds in some measure to our westerntown-halls. It was a huge building composed largely of bamboowooden-planks and wicker-work, with a high thatched roof, and it stood,like all the other houses, on posts formed of great tree-stems whichrose eight or ten feet from the ground.

"You have frunds here too, I zink," said Verkimier to the hermit, asthey ascended the ladder leading to the door of the hall.

"Well, yes—I believe I have two or three."

There could be no doubt upon that point, unless the natives wereconsummate hypocrites, for they welcomed Van der Kemp and his party witheffusive voice, look and gesture, and immediately spread before thempart of a splendid supper which had just been prepared; for they hadchanced to arrive on a festive occasion.

"I do believe," said Nigel in some surprise, "that they are lighting upthe place with petroleum lamps!"

"Ay, and you will observe that they are lighting the lamps with Congrevematches—at least with matches of the same sort, supplied by the Dutchand Chinese. Many of their old customs have passed away (among othersthat of procuring fire by friction), and now we have the appliances ofwestern civilisation to replace them."

"No doubt steam is zee cause of zee change," remarked the professor.

"That," said Nigel, "has a good deal to do with most things—from thesinging of a tea-kettle to the explosion of a volcano; though,doubtless, the commercial spirit which is now so strong among men is theproximate cause."

"Surely dese people mus' be reech," said the professor, looking roundhim with interest.

"They are rich enough—and well off in every respect, save that theydon't know very well how to make use of their riches. As you see, muchof their wealth is lavished on their women in the shape of ornaments,most of which are of solid gold and silver."

There could be little doubt about that, for, besides the ornamentsproper, such as the bracelets and rings with which the arms of the youngwomen were covered, and earrings, etc.,—all of solid gold andnative-made—there were necklaces and collars composed of Spanish andAmerican dollars and British half-crowns and other coins. In short,these Sumatran young girls carried much of the wealth of their parentson their persons, and were entitled to wear it until they should berelegated to the ranks of the married—the supposed-to-be unfrivolous,and the evidently unadorned!

As this was a region full of birds, beasts, and insects of many kinds,it was resolved, for the professor's benefit, that a few days should bespent in it. Accordingly, the village chief set apart a newly-builthouse for the visitors' accommodation, and a youth named Grogo wasappointed to wait on them and act as guide when they wished to traverseany part of the surrounding forest.

The house was on the outskirts of the village, a matter of satisfactionto the professor, as it enabled him at once to plunge into his belovedwork unobserved by the youngsters. It also afforded him a betteropportunity of collecting moths, etc., by the simple method of openinghis window at night. A mat or wicker-work screen divided the hut intotwo apartments, one of which was entirely given over to the naturalistand his matériel.

"I vil begin at vonce," said the eager man, on taking possession.

And he kept his word by placing his lamp on a table in a conspicuousposition, so that it could be well seen from the outside. Then he threwhis window wide open, as a general invitation to the insect world toenter!

Moths, flying beetles, and other creatures were not slow to accept theinvitation. They entered by twos, fours, sixes—at last by scores,insomuch that the room became uninhabitable except by the man himself,and his comrades soon retired to their own compartment, leaving him tocarry on his work alone.

"You enjoy this sort of thing?" said Nigel, as he was about to retire.

"Enchoy it? yes—it is 'paradise regained'!" He pinned a giant moth atthe moment and gazed triumphant through his blue glasses.

"'Paradise lost' to the moth, anyhow," said Nigel with a nod, as he badehim good-night, and carefully closed the wicker door to check theincursions of uncaptured specimens. Being rather tired with the day'sjourney, he lay down on a mat beside the hermit, who was already soundasleep.

But our hero found that sleep was not easily attainable so close to aninexhaustible enthusiast, whose every step produced a rattling of thebamboo floor, and whose unwearied energy enabled him to hunt during thegreater part of the night.

At length slumber descended on Nigel's spirit, and he lay for some timein peaceful oblivion, when a rattling crash awoke him. Sitting up helistened, and came to the conclusion that the professor had upset somepiece of furniture, for he could hear him distinctly moving about in astealthy manner, as if on tip-toe, giving vent to a grumble ofdissatisfaction every now and then.

"What can he be up to now, I wonder?" murmured the disturbed youth,sleepily.

The hermit, who slept through all noises with infantine simplicity, madeno answer, but a peculiar snort from the negro, who lay not far off onhis other side, told that he was struggling with a laugh.

"Hallo, Moses! are you awake?" asked Nigel, in a low voice.

"Ho yes, Massa Nadgel. I's bin wakin' a good while, larfin fit to bu'stmy sides. De purfesser's been agoin' on like a mad renoceros for more 'nan hour. He's arter suthin, which he can't ketch. Listen! You hear 'imgoin' round an' round on his tip-toes. Dere goes anoder chair. I onlyhope he won't smash de lamp an' set de house a-fire."

"Veil, veil; I've missed him zee tence time. Nevair mind. Have at youvonce more, you aggravating leetle zing!"

Thus the unsuccessful man relieved his feelings, in a growling tone, ashe continued to move about on tip-toe, rattling the bamboo flooring inspite of his careful efforts to move quietly.

"Why, Verkimier, what are you after?" cried Nigel at last, loud enoughto be heard through the partition.

"Ah! I am sorry to vake you," he replied, without, however, suspendinghis hunt. "I have tried my best to make no noice, but zee bamboo flooris—hah! I have 'im at last!"

"What is it?" asked Nigel, becoming interested.

"Von leetle bat. He come in vis a moss——"

"A what?"

"A moss—a big, beautiful moss."

"Oh! a moth—well?"

"Vell, I shut zee window, capture zee moss, ant zen I hunt zee bat vithmy bootterfly-net for an hour, but have only captured him zis moment.Ant he is—sooch a—sooch a splendid specimen of a very rar' species,zee Coelops frizii—gootness! Zere goes zee lamp!"

The crash that followed told too eloquently of the catastrophe, andbroke the slumbers even of the hermit. The whole party sprang up, andentered the naturalist's room with a light, for the danger from firewas great. Fortunately the lamp had been extinguished in its fall, sothat, beyond an overpowering smell of petroleum and the destruction of agood many specimens, no serious results ensued.

After securing the Coelops frithii, removing the shattered glass,wiping up the oil, and putting chairs and tables on their legs, theprofessor was urged to go to bed,—advice which, in his excitement, herefused to take until it was suggested that, if he did not, he would betotally unfit for exploring the forest next day.

"Vy, it is next day already!" he exclaimed, consulting his watch.

"Just so. Now do turn in."

"I vill."

And he did.

CHAPTER XVIII.

A TRYING ORDEAL—DANGER THREATENS AND FLIGHT AGAIN RESOLVED ON.

When the early birds are singing, and the early mists are scattering,and the early sun is rising to gladden, as with the smile of God, allthings with life in earth and sea and sky—then it is that early-risingman goes forth to reap the blessings which his lazy fellow-man fails toappreciate or enjoy.

Among the early risers that morning was our friend Moses. Gifted with aninquiring mind, the negro had proceeded to gratify his propensities bymaking inquiries of a general nature, and thus had acquired, among otherthings, the particular information that the river on the banks of whichthe village stood was full of fish. Now, Moses was an ardent angler.

"I lub fishing," he said one day to Nigel when in a confidential mood;"I can't tell you how much I lub it. Seems to me dat der's nuffin' likeit for proggin' a man!"

When Nigel demanded an explanation of what proggin' meant, Moses saidhe wasn't quite sure. He could "understand t'ings easy enough though hecouldn't allers 'splain 'em." On the whole he thought that prog had acompound meaning—it was a combination of poke and pull "wid a flavourob ticklin' about it," and was rather pleasant.

"You see," he continued, "when a leetle fish plays wid your hook, itprogs your intellec' an' tickles up your fancy a leetle. When he grabsyou, dat progs your hopes a good deal. When a big fish do de same, datprogs you deeper. An' when a real walloper almost pulls you into deribber, dat progs your heart up into your t'roat, where it stick tillyou land him."

With surroundings and capacities such as we have attempted to describe,it is no wonder that Moses sat down on the river-bank and enjoyedhimself, in company with a little Malay boy, who lent him his bamboo rodand volunteered to show him the pools.

But there were no particular pools in that river It was a succession ofpools, and fish swarmed in all of them. There were at least fifteendifferent species which nothing short of an ichthyologist couldenumerate correctly. The line used by Moses was a single fibre of barkalmost as strong as gut; the hook was a white tinned weapon like a smallanchor, supplied by traders, and meant originally for service in thedeep sea. The bait was nothing in particular, but as the fish were notparticular that was of no consequence. The reader will not be surprised,then, when we state that in an hour or so Moses had had his heartprogged considerably and had filled a large bag with superb fish, withwhich he returned, perspiring, beaming, and triumphant to breakfast.

After breakfast the whole party went forth for what Verkimier styled"zee business of zee day," armed with guns, spears, botanical boxes,bags, wallets, and butterfly nets.

In the immediate neighbourhood of the village large clearings in theforest were planted as coffee gardens, each separated from the other forthe purpose of isolation, for it seems that coffee, like the potato, issubject to disease. Being covered with scarlet flowers these gardens hada fine effect on the landscape when seen from the heights behind thevillage. Passing through the coffee grounds the party was soon in thetangled thickets of underwood through which many narrow paths had beencut.

We do not intend to drag our readers through bog and brake during thewhole of this day's expedition; suffice it to say that the collection ofspecimens made, of all kinds, far surpassed the professor's mostsanguine expectations, and, as for the others, those who could more orless intelligently sympathise did so, while those who could not werecontent with the reflected joy of the man of science.

At luncheon—which they partook of on the river-bank, under amagnificently umbrageous tree—plans for the afternoon were fixed.

"We have kept together long enough, I think," said Van der Kemp. "Thoseof us who have guns must shoot something to contribute to the nationalfeast on our return."

"Vell, let us divide," assented the amiable naturalist. Indeed he was sohappy that he would have assented to anything—except giving up thehunt. "Von party can go von vay, anoder can go anoder vay. I villcontinue mine business. Zee place is more of a paradise zan zee last. Vemust remain two or tree veeks."

The hermit glanced at Nigel.

"I fear it is impossible for me to do so," said the latter. "I ampledged to return to Batavia within a specified time, and from thenature of the country I perceive it will take all the time at mydisposal to reach that place so as to redeem my pledge."

"Ha! Zat is a peety. Vell, nevair mind. Let us enchoy to-day. Com', vemust not vaste more of it in zee mere gratification of our animalnatures."

Acting on this broad hint they all rose and scattered in differentgroups—the professor going off ahead of his party in his eager haste,armed only with a butterfly net.

Now, as the party of natives,—including Baso, who carried theprofessor's biggest box, and Grogo, who bore his gun,—did not overtaketheir leader, they concluded that he must have joined one of the otherparties, and, as it was impossible to ascertain which of them, theycalmly went hunting on their own account! Thus it came to pass that theman of science was soon lost in the depths of that primeval forest! Butlittle cared the enthusiast for that—or, rather, little did he realiseit. With perspiration streaming from every pore—except where the poreswere stopped by mud—he dashed after "bootterflies" with the wisdom ofSolomon and the eagerness of a school-boy, and not until the shades ofevening began to descend did his true position flash upon him. Then,with all the vigour of a powerful intellect and an enlightened mind, hetook it in at a glance—and came to a sudden halt.

"Vat shall I do?" he asked.

Not even an echo answered, and the animal kingdom was indifferent.

"Lat me see. I have been vandering avay all dis time. Now, I havenot'ing to do but right-about-face and vander back."

Could reasoning be clearer or more conclusive? He acted on it at once,but, after wandering back a long time, he did not arrive at any placeor object that he had recognised on the outward journey.

Meanwhile, as had been appointed, the rest of the party met a short timebefore dark at the rendezvous where they had lunched.

"Where is the professor, Baso?" asked Van der Kemp as he came up.

Baso did not know, and looked at Grogo, who also professed ignorance,but both said they thought the professor had gone with Nigel.

"I thought he was with you," said the latter, looking anxiously at thehermit.

"He's goed an' lost hisself!" cried Moses with a look of concern.

Van der Kemp was a man of action. "Not a moment to lose," he said, andorganised the band into several smaller parties, each led by a nativefamiliar with the jungle.

"Let this be our meeting-place," he said, as they were on the point ofstarting off together; "and let those of us who have fire-arms dischargethem occasionally."

Meanwhile, the professor was walking at full speed in what he supposedto be—and in truth was—"back."

He was not alone, however. In the jungle close beside him a tigerprowled along with the stealthy, lithe, sneaking activity of a cat. Bythat time it was not absolutely dark, but the forest had assumed a verysombre appearance. Suddenly the tiger made a tremendous bound on to thetrack right in front of the man. Whether it had miscalculated theposition of its intended victim or not we cannot say, but it crouchedfor another spring. The professor, almost instinctively, crouched also,and, being a brave man, stared the animal straight in the face withoutwinking! and so the two crouched there, absolutely motionless and with afixed glare, such as we have often seen in a couple of tom-cats who weremutually afraid to attack each other.

What the tiger thought at that critical and crucial moment we cannottell, but the professor's thoughts were swift, varied,tremendous—almost sublime, and once or twice even ridiculous!

"Vat shall I do? Deaf stares me in zee face! No veapons! only a net, anthe is not a bootterfly! Science, adieu! Home of my chilthood,farevell! My moder—Hah! zee fusees!"

Such were a few of the thoughts that burned but found no utterance. Thelast thought however led to action. Verkimier, foolish man! was asmoker. He carried fusees. Slowly, with no more apparent motion than thehour-hand on the face of a watch, he let his hand glide into hiscoat-pocket and took out the box of fusees. The tiger seemed uneasy, butthe bold man never for one instant ceased to glare, and no disturbedexpression or hasty movement gave the tiger the slightest excuse for aspring. Bringing the box up by painfully slow degrees in front of hisnose the man opened it, took out a fusee, struck it, and revealed theblue binoculars!

The effect on the tiger was instantaneous and astounding. With ademi-volt or backward somersault it hurled itself into the jungle whenceit had come with a terrific roar of alarm, and its tail—undoubtedlythough not evidently—between its legs!

Heaving a deep, long-drawn sigh, the professor stood up and wiped hisforehead. Then he listened intently.

"A shote, if mine ears deceive me not!" he said, and listened again.

He was right. Another shot, much nearer, was heard, and he replied witha shout to which joy as much as strength of lung gave fervour. Hurryingalong the track—not without occasional side-glances at the jungle—thehero was soon again in the midst of his friends; and it was not untilhis eyes refused to remain open any longer that he ceased to entertainan admiring circle that night with the details of his face-to-facemeeting with a tiger.

But Verkimier's anticipations in regard to that paradise were not to berealised. The evil passions of a wicked man, with whom he had personallynothing whatever to do, interfered with his plans. In the middle of thenight a native Malay youth named Babu arrived at the village anddemanded an interview with the chief. That worthy, after the interview,conducted the youth to the hut where his visitors lived, and, rousingVan der Kemp without disturbing the others, bade him listen to what theyoung man had to say. An expression of great anxiety overspread thehermit's usually placid countenance while Babu was speaking.

"It is fate!" he murmured, as if communing with himself—then, after apause—"no, there is no such thing as fate. It is, it must be, the willof God. Go, young man, mention this to no one. I thank you for thekindness which made you take so long a journey for my sake."

"It is not kindness, it is love that makes me serve you," returned thelad earnestly. "Every one loves you, Van der Kemp, because that curse ofmankind, revenge, has no place in your breast."

"Strange! how little man does know or guess the secret thoughts of hisfellow!" said the hermit with one of his pitiful smiles. "Revenge noplace in me!—but I thank you, boy, for the kind thought as well as theeffort to save me. My life is not worth much to any one. It will notmatter, I think, if my enemy should succeed. Go now, Babu, and God bewith you!"

"He will surely succeed if you do not leave this place at once,"rejoined the youth, in a tone of decision. "Baderoon is furious at alltimes. He is worse than ever just now, because you have thwarted hisplans—so it is said—very often. If he knew that I am now thwartingthem also, he would hunt me to death. I will not leave you till you aresafe beyond his reach."

The hermit looked at the lad with kindly surprise.

"How comes it," he said, "that you are so much interested in me? Iremember seeing you two years ago, but have no recollection of havingdone you any service."

"Do you not remember that my mother was ill when you spent a night inour hut, and my little sister was dying? You nursed her, and tried yourbest to save her, and when you could not save her, and she died, youwept as if the child had been your own. I do not forget that, Van derKemp. Sympathy is of more value than service."

"Strangely mistaken again!" murmured the hermit. "Who can know theworkings of the human mind! Self was mixed with myfeelings—profoundly—yet my sympathy with you and your mother wassincere."

"We never doubted that," returned Babu with a touch of surprise in histone.

"Well now, what do you propose to do, as you refuse to leave me?" askedthe hermit with some curiosity.

"I will go on with you to the next village. It is a large one. The chiefman there is my uncle, who will aid me, I know, in any way I wish. Iwill tell him what I know and have heard of the pirate's intention, ofwhich I have proof. He will order Baderoon to be arrested on suspicionwhen he arrives. Then we will detain him till you are beyond his reach.That is not unjust."

"True—and I am glad to know by your last words that you are sensitiveabout the justice of what you propose to do. Indifference to pure andsimple justice is the great curse of mankind. It is not indeed the root,but it is the fruit of our sins. The suspicion that detains Baderoon ismore than justified, for I could bring many witnesses to prove that hehas vowed to take my life, and I know him to be a murderer."

At breakfast-time Van der Kemp announced to his friends his intention ofquitting the village at once, and gave an account of his interview withthe Malay lad during the night. This, of course, reconciled them toimmediate departure,—though, in truth, the professor was the only onewho required to be reconciled.

"It is very misfortunate," he remarked with a sigh, which haddifficulty in escaping through a huge mass of fish and rice. "You seezee vonderful variety of ornizological specimens I could find here, antzee herbareum, not to mention zee magnificent Amblypodia eumolpus antozer bootterflies—ach!-a leetle mor' feesh if you please. Zanks. Myfrond, it is a great sacrifice, but I vill go avay viz you, for I couldnot joostify myself if I forzook you, ant I cannot ask you to remainvile your life is in dancher."

"I appreciate your sentiments and sacrifice thoroughly," said thehermit.

"So does I," said Moses, helping himself to coffee; "but ob course if Ididn't it would be all de same. Pass de venison, Massa Nadgel, an' don'tlook as if you was goin' to gib in a'ready. It spoils my appetite."

"You will have opportunities," continued Van der Kemp, addressing theprofessor, "to gather a good many specimens as we go along. Besides, ifyou will consent to honour my cave in Krakatoa with a visit, I promiseyou a hearty welcome and an interesting field of research. You have noidea what a variety of species in all the branches of natural history mylittle island contains."

Hereupon the hermit proceeded to enter into details of the flora, fauna,and geology of his island-home, and to expatiate in such glowinglanguage on its arboreal and herbal wealth and beauty, that theprofessor became quite reconciled to immediate departure.

"But how," he asked, "am I to get zere ven ve reach zee sea-coast? foryour canoe holds only t'ree, as you have told me."

"There are plenty of boats to be had. Besides, I can send over my ownboat for you to the mainland. The distance is not great."

"Goot. Zat vill do. I am happay now."

"So," remarked Nigel as he went off with Moses to pack up, "his'paradise regained' is rather speedily to be changed into paradiseforsaken! 'Off wi' the old love and on wi' the new.' 'The expulsivepower of a new affection!'"

"Das true, Massa Nadgel," observed Moses, who entertained profoundadmiration for anything that sounded like proverbial philosophy. "Depurfesser am an affectionit creeter. 'Pears to me dat he lubs de wholecreation. He kills an' tenderly stuffs 'most eberyt'ing he kin lay handson. If he could only lay hold ob Baderoon an' stuff an' stick him in amoozeum, he'd do good service to my massa an' also to de whole obmankind."

CHAPTER XIX.

A TERRIBLE MURDER AND A STRANGE REVELATION.

After letting the chief of the village know that the news just receivedrendered it necessary that they should proceed at once to the nexttown—but carefully refraining from going into particulars lest Baderoonshould by any means be led to suspect their intentions—the partystarted off about daybreak under the guidance of the Malay youth Babu.

Anxious as he was that no evil should befall his friend, Nigel could nothelp wondering that a man of such a calm spirit, and such unquestionablecourage, should be so anxious to escape from this pirate.

"I can't understand it at all," he said to Moses, as they walked throughthe forest together a little in rear of the party.

"No more kin I, Massa Nadgel," answered the negro, with one of thoseshakes of the head and glares of solemn perplexity with which he waswont to regard matters that were too deep for him.

"Surely Van der Kemp is well able to take care of himself against anysingle foe."

"Das true, Massa Nadgel,—'gainst any half-dozen foes as well."

"Fear, therefore, cannot be the cause."

The negro received this with a quiet chuckle.

"No," said he. "Massa nebber knowed fear, but ob dis you may be berysure, massa's allers got good reasons for what he does. One t'ing'ssartin, I neber saw him do nuffin for fear, nor revenge, nor anger, no,nor yet for fun; allers for lub—and," added Moses, after a moment'sthought, "sometimes for money, when we goes on a tradin' 'spidition—buthe don't make much account ob dat."

"Well, perhaps the mystery may be cleared up in time," said Nigel, asthey closed up with the rest of the party, who had halted for a shortrest and some refreshment.

This last consisted largely of fruit, which was abundant everywhere, anda little rice with water from sparkling springs to wash it down.

In the afternoon they reached the town—a large one, with a sort ofmarket-place in the centre, which at the time of their arrival wascrowded with people. Strangers, especially Europeans, were not oftenseen in that region, so that Van der Kemp and his friends at onceattracted a considerable number of followers. Among these was one manwho followed them about very unobtrusively, usually hanging well inrear of the knot of followers whose curiosity was stronger than theirsense of propriety. This man wore a broad sun-hat and had a bandageround his head pulled well over one eye, as if he had recently met withan accident or been wounded. He was unarmed, with the exception of thekriss, or long knife, which every man in that region carries.

This was no other than Baderoon himself, who had outwitted his enemies,had somehow discovered at least part of their plans, and had hurried onin advance of them to the town, where, disguising himself as described,he awaited their arrival.

Babu conducted his friends to the presence of his kinsman the chief manof the town, and, having told his story, received a promise that thepirate should be taken up when he arrived and put in prison. Meanwhilehe appointed to the party a house in which to spend the night.

Baderoon boldly accompanied the crowd that followed them, saw the house,glanced between the heads of curious natives who watched the travellerswhile eating their supper, and noted the exact spot on the floor of thebuilding where Van der Kemp threw down his mat and blanket, thus takingpossession of his intended couch! He did not, however, see that thehermit afterwards shifted his position a little, and that Babu,desiring to be near his friend, lay down on the vacated spot.

In the darkest hour of the night, when even the owls and bats had soughtrepose, the pirate captain stole out of the brake in which he hadconcealed himself, and, kriss in hand, glided under the house in whichhis enemy lay.

Native houses, as we have elsewhere explained, are usually built onposts, so that there is an open space under the floors, which isavailable as a store or lumber-room. It is also unfortunately availablefor evil purposes. The bamboo flooring is not laid so closely but thatsounds inside may be heard distinctly by any one listening below. Voiceswere heard by the pirate as he approached, which arrested his steps.They were those of Van der Kemp and Nigel engaged in conversation.Baderoon knew that as long as his enemy was awake and conversing hemight probably be sitting up and not in a position suitable to his fellpurpose. He crouched therefore among some lumber like a tiger abidingits time.

"Why are you so anxious not to meet this man?" asked Nigel, who wasresolved, if possible without giving offence, to be at the bottom of themystery.

For some moments the hermit was silent, then in a constrained voice hesaid slowly—

"Because revenge burns fiercely in my breast. I have striven to crush*t, but cannot. I fear to meet him lest I kill him."

"Has he, then, done you such foul wrong?"

"Ay, he has cruelly—fiendishly—done the worst he could. He robbed meof my only child—but I may not talk of it. The unholy desire forvengeance burns more fiercely when I talk. 'Vengeance is mine, saith theLord.' My constant prayer is that I may not meet him. Good-night."

As the hermit thus put an abrupt end to the conversation he lay down anddrew his blanket over him. Nigel followed his example, wondering at whathe had heard, and in a few minutes their steady regular breathing toldthat they were both asleep. Then Baderoon advanced and counted thebamboo planks from the side towards the centre of the house. Whenlooking between the heads of the people he had counted the same planksabove. Standing under one he looked up, listened intently for a fewseconds, and drew his kriss. The place was almost pitch dark, yet theblade caught a faint gleam from without, which it reflected on thepirate's face as he thrust the long keen weapon swiftly, yetdeliberately, between the bamboos.

A shriek, that filled those who heard it with a thrill of horror, rangout on the silent night. At the same moment a gush of warm blood pouredover the murderer's face before he could leap aside. Instant uproar andconfusion burst out in the neighbourhood, and spread like wildfire untilthe whole town was aroused. When a light was procured and the peoplecrowded into the hut where the strangers lay, Van der Kemp was found onhis knees holding the hand of poor Babu, who was at his last gasp. Afaint smile, that yet seemed to have something of gladness in it,flitted across his pale face as he raised himself, grasped the hermit'shand and pressed it to his lips. Then the fearful drain of blood tookeffect and he fell back—dead.

One great convulsive sob burst from the hermit as he leaped up, drew hisknife, and, with a fierce glare in his blue eyes, rushed out of theroom.

Vengeance would indeed have been wreaked on Baderoon at that moment ifthe hermit had caught him, but, as might have been expected, themurderer was nowhere to be found. He was hid in the impenetrable jungle,which it was useless to enter in the darkness of night. When daybreakenabled the townspeople to undertake an organised search, no trace ofhim could be discovered.

Flight, personal safety, formed no part of the pirate's plan. The guiltyman had reached that state of depravity which, especially among thenatives of that region, borders close on insanity. While the inhabitantsof the village were hunting far a-field for him, Baderoon lay concealedamong some lumber in rear of a hut awaiting his opportunity. It was notvery long of coming.

Towards afternoon the various searching parties began to return, and allassembled in the market-place, where the chief man, with the hermit andhis party, were assembled discussing the situation.

"I will not now proceed until we have buried poor Babu," said Van derKemp. "Besides, Baderoon will be sure to return. I will meet him now."

"I do not agree viz you, mine frond," said the professor. "Zee man isnot a fool zough he is a villain. He knows vat avaits him if he comes."

"He will not come openly," returned the hermit, "but he will not nowrest till he has killed me."

Even as he spoke a loud shouting, mingled with shrieks and yells, washeard at the other end of the main street. The sounds of uproar appearedto approach, and soon a crowd of people was seen rushing towards themarket-place, uttering cries of fear in which the word "a-mok" washeard. At the sound of that word numbers of people—specially women andchildren—turned and fled from the scene, but many of the men stoodtheir ground, and all of them drew their krisses. Among the latter ofcourse were the white men and their native companions.

We have already referred to that strange madness, to which the Malaysseem to be peculiarly liable, during the paroxysms of which thoseaffected by it rush in blind fury among their fellows, slaying right andleft. From the terrified appearance of some of the approaching crowd andthe maniac shouts in rear, it was evident that a man thus possessed ofthe spirit of amok was venting his fury on them.

Another minute and he drew near, brandishing a kriss that dripped withthe gore of those whom he had already stabbed. Catching sight of thewhite men he made straight for them. He was possessed of only one eye,but that one seemed to concentrate and flash forth the fire of a dozeneyes, while his dishevelled hair and blood-stained face and person gavehim an appalling aspect.

"It is Baderoon!" said Van der Kemp in a subdued but stern tone.

Nigel, who stood next to him, glanced at the hermit. His face was deadlypale; his eyes gleamed with a strange, almost unearthly light, and hislips were firmly compressed. With a sudden nervous motion, unlike hisusually calm demeanour, he drew his long knife, and to Nigel's surprisecast it away from him. At that moment a woman who came in the madman'sway was stabbed by him to the heart and rent the air with her dyingshriek as she fell. No one could have saved her, the act was so quicklydone. Van der Kemp would have leaped to her rescue, but it was too late;besides, there was no need to do so now, for the maniac, recognisinghis enemy, rushed at him with a shout that sounded like a triumphantyell. Seeing this, and that his friend stood unarmed, as well asunmoved, regarding Baderoon with a fixed gaze, Nigel stepped a pace inadvance to protect him, but Van der Kemp seized his arm and thrust himviolently aside. Next moment the pirate was upon him with upliftedknife, but the hermit caught his wrist, and with a heave worthy ofSamson hurled him to the ground, where he lay for a moment quitestunned.

Before he could recover, the natives, who had up to this moment heldback, sprang upon the fallen man with revengeful yells, and a dozenknives were about to be buried in his breast when the hermit sprangforward to protect his enemy from their fury. But the man whose wife hadbeen the last victim came up at the moment, and led an irresistible rushwhich bore back the hermit as well as his comrades, who had crowdedround him, and in another minute the maniac was almost hacked to pieces.

"I did not kill him—thank God!" muttered Van der Kemp as he left themarket-place, where the relatives of those who had been murdered werewailing over their dead.

After this event even the professor was anxious to leave the place, sothat early next morning the party resumed their journey, intending tomake a short stay at the next village. Failing to reach it that night,however, they were compelled to encamp in the woods. Fortunately theycame upon a hill which, although not very high, was sufficiently so,with the aid of watch-fires, to protect them from tigers. From thesummit, which rose just above the tree-tops, they had a magnificent viewof the forest. Many of the trees were crowned with flowers among whichthe setting sun shone for a brief space with glorious effulgence.

Van der Kemp and Nigel stood together apart from the others,contemplating the wonderful scene.

"What must be the dwelling-place of the Creator Himself when hisfootstool is so grand?" said the hermit in a low voice.

"That is beyond mortal ken," said Nigel.

"True—true. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor mind conceived it.Yet, methinks, the glory of the terrestrial was meant to raise our soulsto the contemplation of the celestial."

"And yet how signally it has failed in the case of Baderoon," returnedNigel, with a furtive glance at the hermit, whose countenance had quiterecovered its look of quiet simple dignity. "Would it be presumptuous ifI were to ask why it is that this pirate had such bitter enmity againstyou?"

"It is no secret," answered the hermit, in a sad tone. "The truth is, Ihad discovered some of his nefarious plans, and more than once have beenthe means of preventing his intended deeds of violence—as in the caseof the Dyaks whom we have so lately visited. Besides, the man had doneme irreparable injury, and it is one of the curious facts of humanexperience that sometimes those who injure us hate us because they havedone so."

"May I venture to ask for a fuller account of the injury he did you?"said Nigel with some hesitancy.

For some moments the hermit did not answer. He was evidently strugglingwith some suppressed feeling. Turning a look full upon his young friend,he at length spoke in a low sad voice—

"I have never mentioned my grief to mortal man since that day when itpleased God to draw a cloud of thickest darkness over my life. But,Nigel, there is that in you which encourages confidence. I confess thatmore than once I have been tempted to tell you of my grief—for humanhearts crave intelligent sympathy. My faithful servant and friend Mosesis, no doubt, intensely sympathetic, but—but—well, I cannotunderstand, still less can I explain, why I shrink from making aconfidant of him. Certainly it is not because of his colour, for I holdthat the souls of men are colourless!

"I need not trouble you with the story of my early life," continued thehermit. "I lost my dear wife a year after our marriage, and was leftwith a little girl whose lovely face became more and more like that ofher mother every day she lived. My soul was wrapped up in the child.After three years I went with her as a passenger to Batavia. On the waywe were attacked by a couple of pirate junks. Baderoon was the piratecaptain. He killed many of our men, took some of us prisoners, sank thevessel, seized my child, and was about to separate us, putting my childinto one junk while I was retained, bound, in the other."

He paused, and gazed over the glowing tree-tops into the golden horizon,with a longing, wistful look. At the same time something like anelectric shock passed through Nigel's frame, for was not this narrativestrangely similar in its main features to that which his own father hadtold him on the Keeling Islands about beautiful little Kathleen Holbeinand her father? He was on the point of seizing the hermit by the handand telling him what he knew, when the thought occurred that attacks bypirates were common enough in those seas, that other fathers might havelost daughters in this way, and that, perhaps, his suspicion might bewrong. It would be a terrible thing, he thought, to raise hope in hispoor friend's breast unless he were pretty sure of the hope being wellfounded. He would wait and hear more. He had just come to thisconclusion, and managed to subdue the feelings which had been aroused,when Van der Kemp turned to him again, and continued his narrative—

"I know not how it was, unless the Lord gave me strength for a purposeas he gave it to Samson of old, but when I recovered from the stingingblow I had received, and saw the junk hoist her sails and heard my childscream, I felt the strength of a lion come over me; I burst the bondsthat held me and leaped into the sea, intending to swim to her. But itwas otherwise ordained. A breeze which had sprung up freshened, and thejunk soon left me far behind. As for the other junk, I never saw itagain, for I never looked back or thought of it—only, as I left it, Iheard a mocking laugh from the one-eyed villain, who, I afterwards foundout, owned and commanded both junks."

Nigel had no doubt now, but the agitation of his feelings still kept himsilent.

"Need I say," continued the hermit, "that revenge burned fiercely in mybreast from that day forward? If I had met the man soon after that, Ishould certainly have slain him. But God mercifully forbade it. Sincethen He has opened my eyes to see the Crucified One who prayed for Hisenemies. And up till now I have prayed most earnestly that Baderoon andI might not meet. My prayer has not been answered in the way Iwished, but a better answer has been granted, for the sin of revengewas overcome within me before we met."

Van der Kemp paused again.

"Go on," said Nigel, eagerly. "How did you escape?"

"Escape! Where was I—Oh! I remember," said the hermit, awaking as ifout of a dream "Well, I swam after the junk until it was out of sight,and then I swam on in silent despair until so completely exhausted thatI felt consciousness leaving me. Then I knew that the end must be nearand I felt almost glad; but when I began to sink, the natural desire toprolong life revived, and I struggled on. Just as my strength began asecond time to fail, I struck against something. It was a dead cocoa-nuttree. I laid hold of it and clung to it all that night. Next morning Iwas picked up by some fishermen who were going to Telok Betong by theouter passage round Sebesi Island, and were willing to land me there.But as my business connections had been chiefly with the town of Anjer,I begged of them to land me on the island of Krakatoa. This they did,and it has been my home ever since. I have been there many years."

"Have you never seen or heard of your daughter since?" asked Nigeleagerly, and with deep sympathy.

"Never—I have travelled far and near, all over the archipelago; intothe interior of the islands, great and small, but have failed to findher. I have long since felt that she must be dead—for—for she couldnot live with the monsters who stole her away."

A certain contraction of the mouth, as he said this, and a gleam of theeyes, suggested to Nigel that revenge was not yet dead within thehermit's breast, although it had been overcome.

"What was her name?" asked Nigel, willing to gain time to think how heought to act, and being afraid of the effect that the suddencommunication of the news might have on his friend.

"Winnie—darling Winnie—after her mother," said the hermit with deeppathos in his tone.

A feeling of disappointment came over our hero. Winnie bore not the mostdistant resemblance to Kathleen!

"Did you ever, during your search," asked Nigel slowly, "visit theCocos-Keeling Islands?"

"Never. They are too far from where the attack on us was made."

"And you never heard of a gun-boat having captured a pirate junkand——"

"Why do you ask, and why pause?" said the hermit, looking at his friendin some surprise.

Nigel felt that he had almost gone too far.

"Well, you know—" he replied in some confusion, "you—you are rightwhen you expect me to sympathise with your great sorrow, which I do mostprofoundly, and—and—in short, I would give anything to be able tosuggest hope to you, my friend. Men should never give way to despair."

"Thank you. It is kindly meant," returned the hermit, looking at theyouth with his sad smile. "But it is vain. Hope is dead now."

They were interrupted at this point by the announcement that supper wasready. At the same time the sun sank, like the hermit's hope, anddisappeared beyond the dark forest.

CHAPTER XX.

NIGEL MAKES A CONFIDANT OF MOSES—UNDERTAKES A LONELY WATCH AND SEESSOMETHING WONDERFUL.

It was not much supper that Nigel Roy ate that night. The excitementresulting from his supposed discovery reduced his appetite seriously,and the intense desire to open a safety-valve in the way of confidentialtalk with some one induced a nervously absent disposition which at lastattracted attention.

"You vant a goot dose of kvinine," remarked Verkimier, when, havingsatiated himself, he found time to think of others—not that theprofessor was selfish by any means, only he was addicted toconcentration of mind on all work in hand, inclusive of feeding.

The hermit paid no attention to anything that was said. His recentconversation had given vent to a flood of memories and feelings that hadbeen pent up for many years.

After supper Nigel resolved to make a confidant of Moses. The negro'sfidelity to and love for his master would ensure his sympathy at least,if not wise counsel.

"Moses," he said, when the professor had raised himself to the seventhheaven by means of tobacco fumes, "come with me. I want to have a talk."

"Das what I's allers wantin', Massa Nadgel; talkin's my strong point ifI hab a strong point at all."

They went together to the edge of a cliff on the hill-top, whence theycould see an almost illimitable stretch of tropical wilderness bathed ina glorious flood of moonlight, and sat down.

On a neighbouring cliff, which was crowned with a mass of grasses andshrubs, a small monkey also sat down, on a fallen branch, and watchedthem with pathetic interest, tempered, it would seem, by cutaneousirritation.

"Moses, I am sorely in need of advice," said Nigel, turning suddenly tohis companion with ill-suppressed excitement.

"Well, Massa Nadgel, you does look like it, but I'm sorry I ain't adoctor. Pra'ps de purfesser would help you better nor me."

"You misunderstand me. Can you keep a secret, Moses?"

"I kin try—if—if he's not too diffikilt to keep."

"Well, then; listen."

The negro opened his eyes and his mouth as if these were the chieforifices for the entrance of sound, and advanced an ear. The distantmonkey, observing, apparently, that some unusual communication was aboutto be made, also stretched out its little head, co*cked an ear, andsuspended its other operations.

Then, in low earnest tones, Nigel told Moses of his belief that Van derKemp's daughter might yet be alive and well, and detailed the recentconversation he had had with his master.

"Now, Moses; what d' ye think of all that?"

Profundity unfathomable sat on the negro's sable brow as he replied,"Massa Nadgel, I don't bery well know what to t'ink."

"But remember, Moses, before we go further, that I tell you all this instrict confidence; not a word of it must pass your lips."

The awful solemnity with which Nigel sought to impress this on hiscompanion was absolutely trifling compared with the expression of thatcompanion's countenance, as, with a long-drawn argumentative andremonstrative Oh! he replied:—"Massa—Nadgel. Does you really t'ink Iwould say or do any mortal t'ing w'atsumiver as would injure mymassa?"

"I'm sure, you would not," returned Nigel, quickly. "Forgive me,Moses, I merely meant that you would have to be very cautious—verycareful—that you do not let a word slip—by accident, you know. Ibelieve you'd sooner die than do an intentional injury to Van der Kemp.If I thought you capable of that, I think I would relieve my feelingsby giving you a good thrashing."

The listening monkey co*cked its ear a little higher at this, and Moses,who had at first raised his flat nose indignantly in the air, graduallylowered it, while a benignant smile supplanted indignation.

"You're right dere, Massa Nadgel. I'd die a t'ousand times sooner daninjure massa. As to your last obserwation, it rouses two idees in mymind. First, I wonder how you'd manidge to gib me a t'rashin', an'second, I wonder if your own moder would rikognise you arter you'd triedit."

At this the monkey turned its other ear as if to make quite sure that itheard aright. Nigel laughed shortly.

"But seriously, Moses," he continued; "what do you think I should do?Should I reveal my suspicions to Van der Kemp?"

"Cer'nly not!" answered the negro with prompt decision. "What! wake upall his old hopes to hab 'em all dashed to bits p'raps when you find datyou's wrong!"

"But I feel absolutely certain that I'm not wrong!" returned Nigel,excitedly. "Consider—there is, first, the one-eyed pirate; second,there is—"

"'Scuse me, Massa Nadgel, dere's no occasion to go all ober it again.I'll tell you what you do."

"Well?" exclaimed Nigel, anxiously, while his companion frowned savagelyunder the force of the thoughts that surged through his brain.

"Here's what you'll do," said Moses.

"Well?" (impatiently, as the negro paused.)

"We're on our way home to Krakatoa."

"Yes—well?"

"One ob our men leabes us to-morrer—goes to 'is home on de coast. Kitchone ob de steamers dat's allers due about dis time."

"Well, what of that?"

"What ob dat! why, you'll write a letter to your fadder. It'll go by desteamer to Batavia. He gits it long before we gits home, so dere'splenty time for 'im to take haction."

"But what good will writing to my father do?" asked Nigel in a somewhatdisappointed tone. "He can't help us."

"Ho yes, he can," said Moses with a self-satisfied nod. "See here, I'lltell you what to write. You begin, 'Dear fadder—or Dearest fadder—I'snot quite sure ob de strengt' ob your affection. P'raps de safestway—."

"Oh! get on, Moses. Never mind that."

"Ho! it's all bery well for you to say dat, but de ole gen'leman'll mindit. Hows'ever, put it as you t'ink best—'Dear fadder, victual yourship; up anchor; hois' de sails, an' steer for de Cocos-Keelin' Islands.Go ashore; git hold ob de young 'ooman called Kat'leen Hobbleben—'"

"Holbein, Moses."

"What! is she Moses too?"

"No, no! get on, man."

"Well, 'Dearest fadder, git a hold ob her, whateber her name is, an'carry her off body and soul, an' whateber else b'longs to her. Take herto de town ob Anjer an' wait dere for furder orders.' Ob course for dewindin' up o' de letter you must appeal agin to de state ob youraffections, for, as—"

"Not a bad idea," exclaimed Nigel. "Why, Moses, you're a genius! Ofcourse I'll have to explain a little more fully."

"'Splain what you please," said Moses. "My business is to gib you debones ob de letter; yours—bein' a scholar—is to clove it wid flesh."

"I'll do it, Moses, at once."

"I should like," rejoined Moses, with a tooth-and-gum-disclosing smile,"to see your fadder when he gits dat letter!"

The picture conjured up by his vivid imagination caused the negro togive way to an explosive laugh that sent the eavesdropping monkey like abrown thunderbolt into the recesses of its native jungle, while Nigelwent off to write and despatch the important letter.

Next day the party arrived at another village, where, the report oftheir approach having preceded them, they were received with muchceremony—all the more that the professor's power with the rifle hadbeen made known, and that the neighbourhood was infested by tigers.

There can be little doubt that at this part of the journey thetravellers must have been dogged all the way by tigers, and it wasmatter for surprise that so small a party should not have been molested.Possibly the reason was that these huge members of the feline race wereafraid of white faces, being unaccustomed to them, or, perchance, theappearance and vigorous stride of even a few stalwart and fearless menhad intimidated them. Whatever the cause, the party reached the villagewithout seeing a single tiger, though their footprints were observed inmany places.

The wild scenery became more and more beautiful as this village wasneared.

Although flowers as a rule were small and inconspicuous in many parts ofthe great forest through which they passed, the rich pink and scarlet ofmany of the opening leaves, and the autumn-tinted foliage which laststhrough all seasons of the year, fully made up for the want of them—atleast as regards colour, while the whole vegetation was intermingled ina rich confusion that defies description.

The professor went into perplexed raptures, his mind being distracted bythe exuberant wealth of subjects which were presented to it all at thesame time.

"Look zere!" he cried, at one turning in the path which opened up a newvista of exquisite beauty—"look at zat!"

"Ay, it is a Siamang ape—next in size to the orang-utan," said Van derKemp, who stood at his friend's elbow.

The animal in question was a fine full-grown specimen, with longjet-black glancing hair. Its height might probably have been a fewinches over three feet, and the stretch of its arms over rather thanunder five feet, but at the great height at which it was seen—not lessthan eighty feet—it looked much like an ordinary monkey. It was hangingin the most easy nonchalant way by one hand from the branch of a tree,utterly indifferent to the fact that to drop was to die!

The instant the Siamang observed the travellers it set up a loud barkinghowl which made the woods resound, but it did not alter its position orseem to be alarmed in any degree.

"Vat a 'straordinary noise!" remarked the professor.

"It is indeed," returned the hermit, "and it has an extraordinaryappliance for producing it. There is a large bag under its throatextending to its lips and cheeks which it can fill with air by means ofa valve in the windpipe. By expelling this air in sudden bursts it makesthe varied sounds you hear."

"Mos' vonderful! A sort of natural air-gun! I vill shoot it," said theprofessor, raising his deadly rifle, and there is no doubt that the poorSiamang would have dropped in another moment if Van der Kemp had notquietly and gravely touched his friend's elbow just as the explosiontook place.

"Hah! you tooched me!" exclaimed the disappointed naturalist, lookingfiercely round, while the amazed ape sent forth a bursting crack of itsair-gun as it swung itself into the tree-top and made off.

"Yes, I touched you, and if you will shoot when I am so close to you,you cannot wonder at it—especially when you intend to take lifeuselessly. The time now at the disposal of my friend Nigel Roy will notpermit of our delaying long enough to kill and preserve large specimens.To say truth, my friend, we must press on now, as fast as we can, for wehave a very long way to go."

Verkimier was not quite pleased with this explanation, but there was asort of indescribable power about the hermit, when he was resolved tohave his way, that those whom he led found it impossible to resist.

On arriving at the village they were agreeably surprised to find a grandbanquet, consisting chiefly of fruit, with fowl, rice, and Indian corn,spread out for them in the Balai or public hall, where also theirsleeping quarters were appointed. An event had recently occurred,however, which somewhat damped the pleasure of their reception. A youngman had been killed by a tiger. The brute had leaped upon him while heand a party of lads were traversing a narrow path through the jungle,and had killed him with one blow of its paw. The other youthscourageously rushed at the beast with their spears and axes, and,driving it off, carried the body of their comrade away.

"We have just buried the young man," said the chief of the village, "andhave set a trap for the tiger, for he will be sure to visit the grave."

"My friends would like to see this trap," said the hermit, who, ofcourse, acted the part of interpreter wherever they went, being wellacquainted with most of the languages and dialects of the archipelago.

"There will yet be daylight after you have finished eating," said thechief.

Although anxious to go at once to see this trap, they felt thepropriety of doing justice to what had been provided for them, and satdown to their meal, for which, to say truth, they were quite ready.

Then they went with a large band of armed natives to see this curioustiger-trap, the bait of which was the grave of a human being!

The grave was close to the outskirts of the village, and, on one side,the jungle came up to within a few yards of it. The spot was surroundedby a strong and high bamboo fence, except at one point where a narrowbut very conspicuous opening had been left. Here a sharp spear was soarranged beside the opening that it could be shot across it at a pointcorresponding with the height of a tiger's heart from the ground—aswell, at least, as that point could be estimated by men who were prettyfamiliar with tigers. The motive power to propel this spear was derivedfrom a green bamboo, so strong that it required several powerful men tobend it in the form of a bow. A species of trigger was arranged to letthe bent bow fly, and a piece of fine cord passed from this across theopening about breast-high for a tiger. The intention was that theanimal, in entering the enclosure, should become its ownexecutioner—should commit unintentional suicide, if we may so put it.

"I have an ambition to shoot a tiger," said Nigel to Van der Kemp thatevening. "Do you think the people would object to my getting up into atree with my rifle and watching beside the grave part of the night?"

"I am sure that they would not. But your watch will probably be in vain,for tigers are uncommonly sagacious creatures and seem to me to haveexceptional powers for scenting danger."

"No matter, I will try."

Accordingly, a little before dark that evening our hero borrowed theprofessor's double-barrelled rifle, being more suitable for large gamethan his own gun, and sauntered with Moses down to the grave where heensconced himself in the branches of a large tree about thirty feet fromthe ground. The form of the tree was such, that among its forks Nigelcould form a sort of nest in which he could sit, in full view of thepoor youth's grave, without the risk of falling to the ground even if heshould chance to drop asleep.

"Good-night, massa Nadgel," said Moses as he turned to leave hiscompanion to his solitary vigil. "See you not go to sleep."

"No fear of that!" said Nigel.

"An' whateber you do, don't miss."

"I'll do my best—Good-night."

While there was yet a little daylight, our hunter looked well about him;took note of the exact position of the fence, the entrance to theenclosure, and the grave; judged the various distances of objects, andarranged the sights of the rifle, which was already loaded with a braceof hardened balls. Then he looked up through the tree-tops and wishedfor darkness.

It came sooner than he expected. Night always descends more suddenly intropical than in temperate regions. The sun had barely dipped below thehorizon when night seemed to descend like a pall over the jungle, and anindescribable sensation of eerieness crept over Nigel's spirit. Objectsbecame very indistinct, and he fancied that he saw something moving onthe newly-made grave. With a startled feeling he grasped his weapon,supposing that the tiger must have entered the enclosure with cat-likestealth. On second thoughts, however, he discarded the idea, for theentrance was between him and the grave, and still seemed quite visible.Do what he would, however, the thought of ghosts insisted on intrudingupon him! He did not believe in ghosts—oh no!—had always scouted theidea of their existence. Why, therefore, did he feel uncomfortable? Hecould not tell. It must simply be the excitement natural to such a verynew and peculiar situation. He would think of something else. He woulddevote his mind to the contemplation of tigers! In a short time the moonwould rise, he knew—then he would be able to see better.

While he was in this very uncomfortable state of mind, with the junglewrapped in profound silence as well as gloom, there broke on the nightair a wail so indescribable that the very marrow in Nigel's bones seemedto shrivel up. It ceased, but again broke forth louder than before,increasing in length and strength, until his ears seemed to tingle withthe sound, and then it died away to a sigh of unutterable woe.

"I have always," muttered Nigel, "believed myself to be a man ofordinary courage, but now—I shall write myself a coward, if not anass!"

He attempted to laugh at this pleasantry, but the laugh was hollow andseemed to freeze in his gullet as the wail broke forth again, ten timesmore hideous than at first. After a time the wail became morecontinuous, and the watcher began to get used to it. Then a happythought flashed into his mind—this was, perhaps, some sort of mourningfor the dead! He was right. The duty of the father of the poor youth whohad been killed was, for several days after the funeral, to sit alone inhis house and chant from sunset till daybreak a death-dirge, or, as itis called, the Tjerita bari. It was not till next day that this wastold to him, but meanwhile the surmise afforded him instantaneousrelief.

As if nature sympathised with his feelings, the moon arose at the sametime and dispelled the thick darkness, though it was not till muchlater that, sailing across a clear sky, she poured her bright beamsthrough the tree-tops and finally rested on the dead man's grave.

By that time Nigel had quite recovered his equanimity, and mentallyblotted out the writing of "coward" and "ass" which he had writtenagainst himself. But another trouble now assailed him. He became sleepy!Half-a-dozen times at least within half-an-hour he started wide awakeunder the impression that he was falling off the tree.

"This will never do," he exclaimed, rising to his feet, resting hisrifle in a position of safety, and then stretching himself to his utmostextent so that he became thoroughly awake. After this "rouser," as hecalled it, he sat down again, and almost immediately fell fast asleep.

How long he sat in this condition it is impossible to say, but he openedhis eyes at length with an indescribable sensation that somethingrequired attention, and the first thing they rested on (for daylight wasdawning) was an enormous tiger not forty yards away from him, glidinglike a shadow and with cat-like stealth towards the opening of theenclosure. The sight was so sudden and so unexpected that, for themoment, he was paralysed. Perhaps he thought it was a dream. Before hecould recover presence of mind to seize his rifle, the breast of theanimal had touched the fatal line; the trigger was drawn; the stoutbamboo straightened with a booming sound, and the spear—or, rather, thegiant arrow—was shot straight through the tiger's side!

Then occurred a scene which might well have induced Nigel to imaginethat he dreamt, for the transfixed creature bounded into the enclosurewith a terrific roar that rang fearfully through the arches of thehitherto silent forest. Rushing across the grave, it sprang with onetremendous bound right over the high fence, carrying the spear alongwith it into the jungle beyond.

By that time Nigel was himself again, with rifle in hand, but too lateto fire. The moment he heard the thud of the tiger's descent, he sliddown the tree, and, forgetful or regardless of danger, went crashinginto the jungle, while the yells and shouts of hundreds of arousednatives suggested the peopling of the region with an army of fiends.

But our hero had not to go far. In his haste he almost tumbled over thetiger. It was lying stone dead on the spot where it had fallen!

A few minutes more and the natives came pouring round him, wild withexcitement and joy. Soon he was joined by his own comrades.

"Well, you've managed to shoot him, I see," said Van der Kemp as hejoined the group.

"Alas! no. I have not fired a shot," said Nigel, with a halfdisappointed look.

"You's got de better ob him anyhow," remarked Moses as he pushed to thefront.

"The spear got the better of him, Moses."

"Veil now, zat is a splendid animal. Lat me see," said the professor,pulling out his tape-measure.

It was with difficulty that the man of science made and noted hismeasurements, for the people were pressing eagerly round the carcase togratify their revenge by running their spears into the still warm body.They dipped the points in the blood and passed their krisses broadsideover the creature that they might absorb the courage and boldness whichwere supposed to emanate from it! Then they skinned it, and pieces ofthe heart and brain were eaten raw by some of those whose relatives hadbeen killed by tigers. Finally the skull was hacked to pieces for thepurpose of distributing the teeth, which are used by the natives ascharms.

CHAPTER XXI.

IN WHICH THE PROFESSOR DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF.

Leaving this village immediately after the slaying of the tiger, theparty continued to journey almost by forced marches, for not only wasNigel Roy very anxious to keep tryst with his father, and to settle thequestion of Kathleen's identity by bringing father and daughtertogether, but Van der Kemp himself, strange to say, was filled withintense and unaccountable anxiety to get back to his island home.

"I don't know how it is," he said to Nigel as they walked side by sidethrough the forest, followed by Moses and the professor, who had becomevery friendly on the strength of a certain amount of vacant curiositydisplayed by the former in regard to scientific matters—"I don't knowhow it is, but I feel an unusually strong desire to get back to my cave.I have often been absent from home for long periods at a time, but havenever before experienced these strange longings. I say strange, becausethere is no such thing as an effect without a cause."

"May not the cause be presentiment?" suggested Nigel, who, knowing whata tremendous possibility for the hermit lay in the future, felt a littleinclined to be superstitious. It did not occur to him just then that anequally, if not more, tremendous possibility lay in the future forhimself—touching his recent discovery or suspicion!

"I do not believe in presentiments," returned the hermit. "They areprobably the result of indigestion or a disordered intellect, fromneither of which complaints do I suffer—at least not consciously!"

"But you have never before left home in such peculiar circ*mstances,"said Nigel. "Have you not told me that this is the first time for abouttwo hundred years that Krakatoa has broken out in active eruption?"

"True, but that cannot be to me the cause of longings or anxieties, forI have seen many a long-dormant crater become active without anyimportant result either to me or to any one else."

"Stop, stop!" cried Professor Verkimier in a hoarse whisper at thatmoment; "look! look at zee monkeys!"

Monkeys are very abundant in Sumatra, but the nest of them which thetravellers discovered at that time, and which had called forth theprofessor's admiration, was enough—as Moses said—to make a "renoceruslaugh." The trees around absolutely swarmed with monkeys; those of aslender form and with very long tails being most numerous. They wereengaged in some sort of game, swinging by arms, legs, and tails frombranches, holding on to or chasing each other, and taking the mostastonishing leaps in circ*mstances where a slip would have no doubtresulted in broken limbs or in death.

"Stand still! Oh! do stand still—like you vas petrivied," said theprofessor in a low voice of entreaty.

Being quite willing to humour him, the whole party stood immovable, likestatues, and thus avoided attracting the attention of the monkeys, whocontinued their game. It seemed to be a sort of "follow my leader," forone big strong fellow led off with a bound from one branch to anotherwhich evidently tried the nerves of his more timid and less agilecompanions. They all succeeded, however, from the largest even to thesmallest—which last was a very tiny creature with a pink face, a sadexpression, and a corkscrew tail.

For a time they bounded actively among the branches, now high now low,till suddenly the big leader took a tremendous leap, as if for theexpress purpose of baffling or testing his companions. It was immenselyamusing to see the degrees of trepidation with which the othersfollowed. The last two seemed quite unable to make up their minds tothe leap, until the others seemed about to disappear, when one of themtook heart and bounded wildly across. Thus little pink-face with thecorkscrew tail was left alone! Twice did that little monkey make adesperate resolution to jump, and twice did its little heart fail as itmeasured the distance between the branches and glanced at the abyssbelow. Its companions seemed to entertain a feeling of pity for it.Numbers of them came back, as if to watch the jump and encourage thelittle one. A third time it made an abortive effort to spring, andlooked round pitifully, whereupon Moses gave vent to an uncontrollablesnort of suppressed laughter.

"Vat you mean by zat?" growled the professor angrily.

The growl and snort together revealed the intruders, and all themonkeys, except pink-face, crowding the trees above the spot where theystood, gazed down upon them with expressions in which unparalleledindignation and inconceivable surprise struggled for the mastery.

Then, with a wild shriek, the whole troop fled into the forest.

This was too much for poor, half-petrified pink-face with the twistedtail. Seeing that its comrades were gone in earnest, it becamedesperate, flung itself frantically into the air with an agonisingsqueak, missed its mark, went crashing through the slender branches andfell to the ground.

Fortunately these branches broke its fall so that it arose unhurt,bounded into a bush, still squeaking with alarm, and made after itsfriends.

"Why did you not shoot it, professor?" asked Nigel, laughing as much atVerkimier's grave expression as at the little monkey's behaviour.

"Vy did I not shot it?" echoed the professor. "I vould as soon shot ababy. Zee pluck of zat leetle creature is admirable. It vould be ahorrible shame to take his life. No! I do love to see ploock vezer inman or beast! He could not shoomp zat. He knew he could not shoomp it,but he tried to shoomp it. He vould not be beat, an' I vould not killhim—zough I vant 'im very mooch for a specimen."

It seemed as if the professor was to be specially rewarded for hisgenerous self-denial on this occasion, for while he was yet speaking, asoft "hush!" from Van der Kemp caused the whole party to halt in deadsilence and look at the hermit inquiringly.

"You are in luck, professor," he murmured, in a soft, low voice—verydifferent from that hissing whisper which so many people seem to imagineis an inaudible utterance. "I see a splendid Argus pheasant over theremaking himself agreeable to his wife!"

"Vare? oh! vare?" exclaimed the enthusiast with blazing eyes, foralthough he had already seen and procured specimens of this mostbeautiful creature, he had not yet seen it engage in the strangelove-dance—if we may so call it—which is peculiar to the bird.

"You'll never get near enough to see it if you hiss like a serpent,"said the hermit. "Get out your binoculars, follow me, and hold yourtongue, all of you—that will be the safest plan. Tread lightly."

It was a sight to behold the professor crouching almost double in orderto render himself less conspicuous, with his hat pushed back, and theblue glasses giving him the appearance of a great-eyed seal. He carriedhis butterfly-net in one hand, and the unfailing rifle in the other.

Fortunately the hermit's sharp and practised eye had enabled him todistinguish the birds in the distance before their advance had alarmedthem, so that they were able to reach a mound topped with low bushesover which they could easily watch the birds.

"Zat is very koorious an' most interesting," murmured the professorafter a short silence.

He was right. There were two Argus pheasants, a male and female—themale alone being decorated superbly. The Argus belongs to the samefamily as the peaco*ck, but is not so gaudy in colouring, and therefore,perhaps, somewhat more pleasing. Its tail is formed chiefly by anenormous elongation of the two tail quills, and of the secondary wingfeathers, no two of which are exactly the same, and the closer they areexamined the greater is seen to be the extreme beauty of their markings,and the rich varied harmony of their colouring.

When a male Argus wishes to show off his magnificence to his spouse—orwhen she asks him to show it off, we know not which—he makes a circlein the forest some ten or twelve feet in diameter, which he clears ofevery leaf, twig, and branch. On the margin of this circus there isinvariably a projecting branch, or overarching root a few feet above theground, on which the female takes her place to watch the exhibition.This consists of the male strutting about, pluming his feathers, andgenerally displaying his gorgeous beauty.

"Vat ineffable vanity!" exclaimed the professor, after gazing for sometime in silence.

His own folly in thus speaking was instantly proved by the two birdsbringing the exhibition to an abrupt close and hastily taking wing.

Not long after seeing this they came to a small but deep and rapidriver, which for a time checked their progress, for there was no ford,and the porters who carried Verkimier's packages seemed to know nothingabout a bridge, either natural or artificial. After wandering for anhour or so along its banks, however, they found a giant tree which hadfallen across the stream and formed a natural bridge.

On the other side of the stream the ground was more rugged and theforest so dense that they had to walk in a sort of twilight—only aglimpse of blue sky being visible here and there through the tree-tops.In some places, however, there occurred bright little openings whichswarmed with species of metallic tiger-beetles and sand-bees, and wheresulphur, swallow-tailed, and other butterflies sported their brief lifeaway over the damp ground by the water's edge.

The native forest path which they followed was little better than atunnel cut through a grove of low rattan-palms, the delicate butexceedingly tough tendrils of which hung down in all directions. Thesewere fringed with sharp hooks which caught their clothing and tore it,or held on unrelentingly, so that the only way of escape was to stepquietly back and unhook themselves. This of itself would have renderedtheir progress slow as well as painful, but other things tended toincrease the delay. At one place they came to a tree about seven feet indiameter which lay across the path and had to be scrambled over, andthis was done with great difficulty. At another, a giganticmud-bath—the wallowing hole of a herd of elephants—obstructed theway, and a yell from one of the porters told that in attempting to crossit he had fallen in up to the waist. A comrade in trying to pull him outalso fell in and sank up to the armpits. But they got over it—asresolute men always do—somehow!

"Zis is horrible!" exclaimed the professor, panting from his exertions,and making a wild plunge with his insect-net at some living creature."Hah! zee brute! I have 'im."

The man of science was flat on his stomach as he spoke, with armoutstretched and the net pressed close to the ground, while a smile oftriumph beamed through the mud and scratches on his face.

"What have you got?" asked Nigel, doing his best to restrain a laugh.

"A splendid Ornit'optera a day-flying moss'," said Verkimier as hecautiously rose, "vich mimics zee Trepsichrois mulciber. Ant zis verymorning I caught von Leptocircus virescens, vich derives protectionfrom mimicking zee habits ant appearance of a dragon-fly."

"What rubbish dat purfesser do talk!" remarked Moses in an undertone tothe hermit as they moved on again.

"Not such rubbish as it sounds to you, Moses. These are the scientificnames of the creatures, and you know as well as he does that manycreatures think they find it advantageous to pretend to be what theyare not. Man himself is not quite free from this characteristic. Indeed,you have a little of it yourself," said the hermit with one of histwinkling glances. "When you are almost terrified of your wits don't youpretend that there's nothing the matter with you?"

"Nebber, massa, nebber!" answered the negro with remonstrative gravity."When I's nigh out ob my wits, so's my innards feels like nuffin' butwarmish water, I gits whitey-grey in de chops, so I's told, an' blue inde lips, an' I pretends nuffin'—I don't care who sees it!"

The track for some distance beyond this point became worse and worse.Then the nature of the ground changed somewhat—became more hilly, andthe path, if such it could be styled, more rugged in some places, moreswampy in others, while, to add to their discomfort, rain began to fall,and night set in dark and dismal without any sign of the village ofwhich they were in search. By that time the porters who carriedVerkimier's boxes seemed so tired that the hermit thought it advisableto encamp, but the ground was so wet and the leeches were so numerousthat they begged him to go on, assuring him that the village could notbe far distant. In another half-hour the darkness became intense, sothat a man could scarcely see his fellow even when within two paces ofhim. Ominous mutterings and rumblings like distant thunder also wereheard, which appeared to indicate an approaching storm. In thesecirc*mstances encamping became unavoidable, and the order was given tomake a huge fire to scare away the tigers, which were known to benumerous, and the elephants whose fresh tracks had been crossed andfollowed during the greater part of the day. The track of a rhinocerosand a tapir had also been seen, but no danger was to be anticipated fromthose creatures.

"Shall we have a stormy night, think you?" asked Nigel, as he assistedin striking a light.

"It may be so," replied the hermit, flinging down one after another ofhis wet matches, which failed to kindle. "What we hear may be distantthunder, but I doubt it. The sounds seem to me more like the mutteringsof a volcano. Some new crater may have burst forth in the Sumatranranges. This thick darkness inclines me to think so—especially afterthe new activity of volcanic action we have seen so recently atKrakatoa. Let me try your matches, Nigel, perhaps they haveescaped—mine are useless."

But Nigel's matches were as wet as those of the hermit. So were those ofthe professor. Luckily Moses carried the old-fashioned flint and steel,with which, and a small piece of tinder, a spark was at last kindled,but as they were about to apply it to a handful of dry bamboo scrapings,an extra spirt of rain extinguished it. For an hour and more they madeineffectual attempts to strike a light. Even the cessation of the rainwas of no avail.

"Vat must ve do now?" asked the professor in tones that suggested awo-begone countenance, though there was no light by which to distinguish*t.

"Grin and bear it," said Nigel, in a voice suggestive of a slightexpansion of the mouth—though no one could see it.

"Dere's nuffin' else left to do," said Moses, in a tone which betrayedsuch a very wide expansion that Nigel laughed outright.

"Hah! you may laugh, my yoong frond, hot if zee tigers find us out orzee elephants trample on us, your laughter vill be turned to veeping.Vat is zat? Is not zat vonderful?"

The question and exclamation were prompted by the sudden appearance offaint mysterious lights among the bushes. That the professor viewed themas unfriendly lights was clear from the click of his rifle-locks whichfollowed.

"It is only phosphoric light," explained Van der Kemp. "I have oftenseen it thus in electric states of the atmosphere. It will probablyincrease—meanwhile we must seat ourselves on our boxes and do the bestwe can till daylight. Are you there, boys?"

This question, addressed to the bearers in their native tongue, was notanswered, and it was found, on a feeling examination, that, in spiteof leeches, tigers, elephants, and the whole animal creation, theexhausted porters had flung themselves on the wet ground and gone tosleep while their leaders were discussing the situation.

Dismal though the condition of the party was, the appearances in theforest soon changed the professor's woe into eager delight, for thephosphorescence became more and more pronounced, until every tree-stemblinked with a palish green light, and it trickled like moonlight overthe ground, bringing out thick dumpy mushrooms like domes of light.Glowing caterpillars and centipedes crawled about, leaving a trail oflight behind them, and fireflies darting to and fro peopled the air andgave additional animation to the scene.

In the midst of the darkness, thus made singularly visible, the whitetravellers sat dozing and nodding on their luggage, while the cries ofmetallic-toned horned frogs and other nocturnal sounds peculiar to thatweird forest formed their appropriate lullaby.

But Moses neither dozed nor nodded. With a pertinacity peculiarly hisown he continued to play a running accompaniment to the lullaby with hisflint and steel, until his perseverance was rewarded with a spark whichcaught on a dry portion of the tinder and continued to burn. By thattime the phosphoric lights had faded, and his spark was the only onewhich gleamed through intense darkness.

How he cherished that spark! He wrapped it in swaddling clothes of drybamboo scrapings with as much care as if it had been the essence of hislife. He blew upon it tenderly as though to fan its delicate brow withthe soft zephyrs of a father's affection. Again he blew more vigorously,and his enormous pouting lips came dimly into view. Another blow and hisflat nose and fat cheeks emerged from darkness. Still another—withgrowing confidence—and his huge eyes were revealed glowing with hope.At last the handful of combustible burst into a flame, and was thrustinto a prepared nest of twigs. This, communicating with a heap of logs,kindled a sudden blaze which scattered darkness out of being, andconverted thirty yards of the primeval forest into a chamber of gloriouslight, round which the human beings crowded with joy enhanced by theunexpectedness of the event, and before which the wild things of thewilderness fled away.

When daylight came at last, they found that the village for which theyhad been searching was only two miles beyond the spot where they hadencamped.

Here, being thoroughly exhausted, it was resolved that they should spendthat day and night, and, we need scarcely add, they spent a considerableportion of both in sleep—at least such parts of both as were notdevoted to food. And here the professor distinguished himself in a waythat raised him greatly in the estimation of his companions and causedthe natives of the place to regard him as something of a demi-god. Ofcourse we do not vouch for the truth of the details of the incident, forno one save himself was there to see, and although we entertained theutmost regard for himself, we were not sufficiently acquainted with hismoral character to answer for his strict truthfulness. As to the mainevent, there was no denying that. The thing happened thus:—

Towards the afternoon of that same day the travellers began to wake up,stretch themselves, and think about supper. In the course ofconversation it transpired that a tiger had been prowling about thevillage for some days, and had hitherto successfully eluded all attemptsto trap or spear it. They had tethered a goat several times near a smallpond and watched the spot from safe positions among the trees, withspears, bows and arrows, and blow-pipes ready, but when they watched,the tiger did not come, and when they failed to watch, the tiger didcome and carried off the goat. Thus they had been baffled.

"Mine frond," said the professor to the hermit on hearing this. "I villshot zat tiger! I am resolved. Vill you ask zee chief to show me zeeplace ant zen tell his people, on pain of def, not to go near it allnight, for if zey do I vill certainly shot zem—by accident of course!"

The hermit did as he was bid, but advised his sanguine friend againstexposing himself recklessly. The chief willingly fell in with hiswishes.

"Won't you tell us what you intend to do, professor?" asked Nigel, "andlet us help you."

"No, I vill do it all by mineself—or die! I vill vant a shofel or aspade of some sort."

The chief provided the required implement, conducted his visitor alittle before sunset to the spot, just outside the village, and left himthere armed with his rifle, a revolver, and a long knife or kriss,besides the spade.

When alone, the bold man put off his glasses, made a careful inspectionof the ground, came to a conclusion—founded on scientific data nodoubt—as to the probable spot whence the tiger would issue from thejungle when about to seize the goat, and, just opposite that spot, onthe face of a slope about ten yards from the goat, he dug a hole deepenough to contain his own person. The soil was sandy easy to dig, andquite dry. It was growing dusk when the professor crept into thisrifle-pit, drew his weapons and the spade in after him, and closed themouth of the pit with moist earth, leaving only a very small eye-holethrough which he could see the goat standing innocently by the brink ofthe pool.

"Now," said he, as he lay resting on his elbows with the rifle laidready to hand and the revolver beside it; "now, I know not vezer you cansmell or not, but I have buried mineself in eart', vich is anon-conductor of smell. Ve shall see!"

It soon became very dark, for there was no moon, yet not so dark butthat the form of the goat could be seen distinctly reflected in thepond. Naturally the professor's mind reverted to the occasion when Nigelhad watched in the branches of a tree for another tiger. The conditionswere different, and so, he thought, was the man!

"Mine yoong frond," he said mentally, "is brav', oondoubtedly, but hisnerves have not been braced by experience like mine. It is vell, forzere is more dancher here zan in a tree. It matters not. I am resolf toshot zat tigre—or die!"

In this resolute and heroic frame of mind he commenced his vigil.

It is curious to note how frequently the calculations of men failthem—even those of scientific men! The tiger came indeed to the spot,but he came in precisely the opposite direction from that which thewatcher expected, so that while Verkimier was staring over the goat'shead at an opening in the jungle beyond the pond, the tiger wasadvancing stealthily and slowly through the bushes exactly behind thehole in which he lay.

Suddenly the professor became aware of something! He saw nothingconsciously, he heard nothing, but there stole over him, somehow, thefeeling of a dread presence!

Was he asleep? Was it nightmare? No, it was night-tiger! He knew it,somehow; he felt it—but he could not see it.

To face death is easy enough—according to some people—but to facenothing at all is at all times trying. Verkimier felt it to be so atthat moment. But he was a true hero and conquered himself.

"Come now," he said mentally, "don't be an ass! Don't lose your shanceby voomanly fears. Keep kviet."

Another moment and there was a very slight sound right over his head. Heglanced upwards—as far as the little hole would permit—and there, nota foot from him, was a tawny yellow throat! with a tremendous paw movingslowly forward—so slowly that it might have suggested the imperceptiblemovement of the hour-hand of a watch, or of a glacier. There was indeedmotion, but it was not perceptible.

The professor's perceptions were quick. He did not require to think. Heknew that to use the rifle at such close quarters was absolutelyimpossible. He knew that the slightest motion would betray him. He couldsee that as yet he was undiscovered, for the animal's nose was straightfor the goat, and he concluded that either his having buried himself wasa safeguard against being smelt, or that the tiger had a cold in itshead. He thought for one moment of bursting up with a yell that wouldscare the monster out of his seven senses—if he had seven—butdismissed the thought as cowardly, for it would be sacrificing successto safety. He knew not what to do, and the cold perspiration consequentupon indecision at a supreme moment broke out all over him. Suddenly hethought of the revolver!

Like lightning he seized it, pointed it straight up and fired. Thebullet—a large army revolver one—entered the throat of the animal,pierced the root of the tongue, crashed through the palate obliquely,and entered the brain. The tiger threw one indescribable somersault andfell—fell so promptly that it blocked the mouth of the pit, all thecovering earth of which had been blown away by the shot, and Verkimiercould feel the hairy side of the creature, and hear the beating of itsheart as it gasped its life away. But in his cramped position he couldnot push it aside. Well aware of the tenacity of life in tigers, hethought that if the creature revived it would certainly grasp him evenin its dying agonies, for the weight of its body and its struggles werealready crushing in the upper part of the hole.

To put an end to its sufferings and his own danger, he pointed therevolver at its side and again fired. The crash in the confined hole wastremendous—so awful that the professor thought the weapon must haveburst. The struggles of the, tiger became more violent than ever, andits weight more oppressive as the earth crumbled away. Again the coldperspiration broke out all over the man, and he became unconscious.

It must not be supposed that the professor's friends were unwatchful.Although they had promised not to disturb him in his operations, theyhad held themselves in readiness with rifle, revolver, and spear, andthe instant the first shot was heard, they ran down to the scene ofaction. Before reaching it the second shot quickened their pace as theyran down to the pond—a number of natives yelling and waving torches attheir heels.

"Here he is," cried Moses, who was first on the scene, "dead as mutton!"

"What! the professor?" cried Nigel in alarm.

"No; de tiger."

"Where's Verkimier?" asked the hermit as he came up.

"I dun know, massa," said Moses, looking round him vacantly.

"Search well, men, and be quick, he may have been injured," cried Vander Kemp, seizing a torch and setting the example.

"Let me out!" came at that moment from what appeared to be the bowels ofthe earth, causing every one to stand aghast gazing in wonder around andon each other.

"Zounds! vy don't you let me out?" shouted the voice again.

There was an indication of a tendency to flight on the part of thenatives, but Nigel's asking "Where are you?" had the effect ofinducing them to delay for the answer.

"Here—oonder zee tigre! Kveek, I am suffocat!"

Instantly Van der Kemp seized the animal by the 'tail, and, Avith aforce worthy of Hercules, heaved it aside as if it had been a dead cat,revealing the man of science underneath—alive and well, butdishevelled, scratched, and soiled—also, as deaf as a door-post!

CHAPTER XXII.

A PYTHON DISCOVERED AND A GEYSER INTERVIEWED.

"It never rains but it pours" is a well-known proverb which finds,frequent illustration in the experience of almost every one. At allevents Verkimier had reason to believe in the truth of it at that time,for adventures came down on him, as it were, in a sort of deluge, moreor less astounding, insomuch that his enthusiastic spirit, bathing, ifwe may say so, in an ocean of scientific delight, pronounced Sumatra tobe the very paradise of the student of nature.

We have not room in this volume to follow him in the details of hiswonderful experiences, but we must mention one adventure which he had onthe very day after the tiger-incident, because it very nearly had theeffect of separating him from his travelling companions.

Being deaf, as we have said—owing to the explosion of his revolver inthe hole—but not necessarily dumb, the professor, after one or twofutile attempts to hear and converse, deemed it wise to go to bed andspend the few conscious minutes that might precede sleep in watching Vander Kemp, who kindly undertook to skin his tiger for him. Soon theself-satisfied man fell into a sweet infantine slumber, and dreamed oftigers, in which state he gave vent to sundry grunts, gasps, andhalf-suppressed cries, to the immense delight of Moses, who sat watchinghim, indulging in a running commentary suggestive of the recent event,and giving utterance now and then to a few imitative growls by way ofenhancing the effect of the dreams!

"Look! look! Massa Nadgel, he's twitchin' all ober. De tiger's comin' tohim now."

"Looks like it, Moses."

"Yes—an', see, he grip de 'volver—no, too soon, or de tiger's goedaway, for he's stopped twichin'—dare; de tiger comes agin!"

A gasp and clenching of the right hand seemed to warrant thisassumption. Then a yell rang through the hut; Moses displayed all, andmore than all his teeth, and the professor, springing up on one elbow,glared fearfully.

"I'n't it awrful?" inquired Moses in a low tone.

The professor awoke mentally, recognised the situation, smiled animbecile smile, and sank back again on his pillow with a sigh of relief.

After that, when the skinning of the tiger was completed, the dreamsappeared to leave him, and all his comrades joined him in the land ofNod. He was first to awake when daylight entered their hut the followingmorning, and, feeling in a fresh, quiescent state of mind after theexcitement of the preceding night, he lay on his back, his eyes fixedcontentedly on the grand tiger-skin which hung on the opposite wall.

By degrees his eyes grew wearied of that object, and he allowed them totravel languidly upwards and along the roof until they rested on thespot directly over his head, where they became fixed, and, at the sametime, opened out to a glare, compared to which all his previous glaringwas as nothing—for there, in the thatch, looking down upon him, was theangular head of a huge python. The snake was rolled up in a tight coil,and had evidently spent the night within a yard of the professor's head!Being unable to make out what sort of snake it was, and fearing that itmight be a poisonous one, he crept quietly from his couch, keeping hiseyes fixed on the reptile as he did so. One result of this mode ofaction was that he did not see where he was going, and inadvertentlythrust one finger into Moses' right eye, and another into his openmouth. The negro naturally shut his mouth with a snap, while theprofessor opened his with a roar, and in another moment every man wason his feet blinking inquiringly.

"Look! zee snake!" cried the professor, when Moses released him.

"We must get him out of that," remarked Van der Kemp, as he quietly madea noose with a piece of rattan, and fastened it to the end of a longpole. With the latter he poked the creature up, and, when it haduncoiled sufficiently, he slipped the noose deftly over its head.

"Clear out, friends," he said, looking round.

All obeyed with uncommon promptitude except the professor, who valiantlystood his ground. Van der Kemp pulled the python violently down to thefloor, where it commenced a tremendous scuffle among the chairs andposts. The hermit kept its head off with the pole, and sought to catchits tail, but failed twice. Seeing this the professor caught the tail asit whipped against his legs, and springing down the steps so violentlythat he snapped the cord by which the hermit held it, and drew thecreature straight out—a thick monster full twelve feet long, andcapable of swallowing a dog or a child.

"Out of zee way!" shouted the professor, making a wild effort to swingthe python against a tree, but the tail slipped from his grasp, theprofessor fell, and the snake went crashing against a log, under whichit took refuge.

Nigel, who was nearest to it, sprang forward, fortunately caught itstail, and, swinging it and himself round with such force that it couldnot coil up at all, dashed it against a tree. Before it could recoverfrom the shock, Moses had caught up a hatchet and cut its head off withone blow. The tail wriggled for a few seconds, and the head gaped onceor twice, as if in mild surprise at so sudden a finale.

"Zat is strainch—very strainch," slowly remarked the professor, as,still seated on the ground, he solemnly noted these facts.

"Not so very strange, after all," said Van der Kemp; "I've seen thehead of many a bigger snake cut off at one blow."

"Mine frond, you mistake me. It is zee vorking of physical law in zeespiritual vorld zat perplexes me. Moses has cut zee brute intwo—physical fact, substance can be divided. Zee two parts are stillalife, zerfore, zee life—zee spirit—has also been divided!"

"It is indeed very strange," said Nigel, with a laugh. "Stranger stillthat you may cut a worm into several parts, and the life remains ineach, but, strangest of all, that you should sit on the ground,professor, instead of rising up, while you philosophise. You are nothurt, I hope—are you?"

"I razer zink I am," returned the philosopher with a faint smile; "mineonkle, I zink, is spraint."

This was indeed true, and it seemed as if the poor man's wanderingswere to be, for a time at least, brought to an abrupt close. Fortunatelyit was found that a pony could be procured at that village, and, as theyhad entered the borders of the mountainous regions, and the roads weremore open and passable than heretofore, it was resolved that theprofessor should ride until his ankle recovered.

We must now pass over a considerable portion of time and space, andconvey the reader, by a forced march, to the crater of an activevolcano. By that time Verkimier's ankle had recovered and the pony hadbeen dismissed. The heavy luggage, with the porters, had been left inthe low grounds, for the mountain they had scaled was over 10,000 feetabove the sea-level. Only one native from the plain below accompaniedthem as guide, and three of their porters whose inquiring minds temptedthem to make the ascent.

At about 10,000 feet the party reached what the natives called the dempoor edge of the volcano, whence they looked down into the sawah orancient crater, which was a level space composed of brown soilsurrounded by cliffs, and lying like the bottom of a cup 200 feet belowthem. It had a sulphurous odour, and was dotted here and there withclumps of heath and rhododendrons. In the centre of this was a conewhich formed the true—or modern—crater. On scrambling up to the lipof the cone and looking down some 300 feet of precipitous rock theybeheld what seemed to be a pure white lake set in a central basin of 200feet in diameter. The surface of this lakelet smoked, and although itreflected every passing cloud as if it were a mirror, it was in realitya basin of hot mud, the surface of which was about thirty feet below itsrim.

"You will soon see a change come over it," said the hermit, as the partygazed in silent admiration at the weird scene.

He had scarcely spoken, when the middle of the lake became intenselyblack and scored with dark streaks. This, though not quite obvious atfirst from the point where they stood, was caused by the slow formationof a great chasm in the centre of the seething lake of mud. The lake wassinking into its own throat. The blackness increased. Then a dull sullenroar was heard, and next moment the entire lake upheaved, not violently,but in a slow, majestic manner some hundreds of feet into the air,whence it fell back into its basin with an awful roar which reverberatedand echoed from the rocky walls of the caldron like the singing of anangry sea. An immense volume of steam—the motive power which had blownup the lake—was at the same time liberated and dissipated in the air.

The wave-circles died away on the margin of the lake, and the placid,cloud-reflecting surface was restored until the geyser had gatheredfresh force for another upheaval.

"Amazing!" exclaimed Nigel, who had gazed with feelings of awe at thiscurious exhibition of the tremendous internal forces with which theCreator has endowed the earth.

"Vonderful!" exclaimed the professor, whose astonishment was such, thathis eyebrows rose high above the rim of his huge blue binoculars.

Moses, to whom such an exhibition of the powers of nature was familiar,was, we are sorry to say, not much impressed, if impressed at all!Indeed he scarcely noticed it, but watched, with intense teeth-and-gumdisclosing satisfaction, the faces of two of the native porters who hadnever seen anything of the kind before, and whose terrified expressionssuggested the probability of a precipitate flight when their tremblinglimbs became fit to resume duty.

"Will it come again soon?" asked Nigel, turning to Van der Kemp.

"Every fifteen or twenty minutes it goes through that process all dayand every day," replied the hermit.

"But, if I may joodge from zee stones ant scoriae around," said theprofessor, "zee volcano is not alvays so peaceful as it is joost now."

"You are right. About once in every three years, and sometimes oftener,the crops of coffee, bananas, rice, etc., in this region are quitedestroyed by sulphur-rain, which covers everything for miles around thecrater."

"Hah! it vould be too hote a place zis for us, if zat vas to happinjoost now," remarked Verkimier with a smile.

"It cannot be far off the time now, I should think," said Yan der Kemp.

All this talk Moses translated, and embellished, to the native porterswith the solemn sincerity of a true and thorough-paced hypocrite. He hadscarcely finished, and was watching with immense delight the changefulaspect of their whitey-green faces, when another volcanic fit came on,and the deep-toned roar of the coming explosion was heard. It was soawesome that the countenance even of Van der Kemp became graver thanusual. As for the two native porters, they gazed and trembled. Nigel andthe professor also gazed with lively expectation. Moses—we grieve torecord it—hugged himself internally, and gloated over the two porters.

Another moment and there came a mighty roar. Up went the mud-lakehundreds of feet into the air; out came the steam with the sound of athousand trombones, and away went the two porters, head ever heels, downthe outer slope of the cone and across the sawah as if the spirit ofevil were after them.

There was no cause, however, for alarm. The mud-lake, falling back intoits native cup, resumed its placid aspect and awaited its next upheavalwith as much tranquillity as if it had never known disturbance in thepast, and were indifferent about the future.

That evening our travellers encamped in close proximity to the crater,supped on fowls roasted in an open crevice whence issued steam andsulphurous smells, and slept with the geyser's intermittent roarsounding in their ears and re-echoing in their dreams.

CHAPTER XXIII.

TELLS OF VOLCANIC FIRES AND A STRANGE RETURN "HOME."

This tremendous introduction to volcanic fires was but the prelude to aperiod of eruptive action which has not been paralleled in the world'shistory.

For a short time after this, indeed, the genial nature of the weathertended to banish from the minds of our travellers all thoughts ofviolence either in terrestrial or human affairs, and as the professordevoted himself chiefly to the comparatively mild occupation of catchingand transfixing butterflies and beetles during the march southward,there seemed to be nothing in the wide universe above or below savepeace and tranquillity—except, perhaps, in the minds of beetles andbutterflies!

Throughout all this period, nevertheless, there were ominous growlings,grumblings, and tremors—faint but frequent—which indicated acondition of mother earth that could not have been called easy.

"Some of the volcanoes of Java must be at work, I think," said Nigelone night, as the party sat in a small isolated wood-cutter's hutdiscussing a supper of rice and fowls with his friends, which they werewashing down with home-grown coffee.

"It may be so," said Van der Kemp in a dubious tone; "but the sounds,though faint, seem to me a good deal nearer. I can't help thinking thatthe craters which have so recently opened up in Krakatoa are stillactive, and that it may be necessary for me to shift my quarters, for mycave is little more, I suspect, than the throat of an ancient volcano."

"Hah! say you so, mine frond? Zen I vould advise you to make no delay,"said the professor, critically examining a well-picked drumstick. "Yousee, it is not pleasant to be blown up eizer by the terrestrialeruptions of zee vorld or zee celestial explosions of your vife.—Aleetle more rice, Moses if you please. Zanks."

"Now, mine fronds," he continued, after having disposed of a supperwhich it might have taxed a volcano's throat to swallow, "it is vizgreat sorrow zat I must part from you here."

"Part! Why?" asked the hermit in surprise.

"Vy, because I find zis contrie is heaven upon eart'. Zat is, of course,only in a scientific point of view. Zee voods are svarming, zee air isteeming, ant zee vaters are vallo'ing vit life. I cannot tear myselfavay. But ve shall meet again—at Telok Betong, or Krakatoa, or Anjer,or Batavia."

It was found that the man of science was also a man of decision. Nothingwould persuade him to go a step further. The wood-cutter's hut suitedhim, so did the wood-cutter himself, and so, as he said, did the regionaround him. With much regret, therefore, and an earnest invitation fromthe hermit to visit his cave, and range the almost unexplored woods ofhis island, the travellers parted from him; and our three adventurers,dismissing all attendants and hiring three ponies, continued theirjourney to the southern shores of Sumatra.

As they advanced it soon became evident that the scene of volcanicactivity was not so far distant as the island of Java, for the air wasfrequently darkened by the falling of volcanic dust which covered theland with a greyish powder. As, however, at least sixteen volcanoes havebeen registered in the island of Sumatra, and there are probably manyothers, it was impossible to decide where the scene of eruption was thatcaused those signs.

One afternoon the travellers witnessed a catastrophe which induced themto forego all idea of spending more time in examining the country. Theyhad arrived at a village where they found a traveller who appeared to begoing about without any special object in view. He spoke English, butwith a foreign accent. Nigel naturally felt a desire to become sociablewith him, but he was very taciturn and evidently wished to avoidintercourse with chance acquaintances. Hearing that there were curioushot-water and mud springs not far off, the stranger expressed a desireto visit them. Nigel also felt anxious to see them, and as one guide wassufficient for the party the stranger joined the party and they wenttogether.

The spot they were led to was evidently a mere crust of earth coveringfierce subterranean fires. In the centre of it a small pond of mud wasboiling and bubbling furiously, and round this, on the indurated clay,were smaller wells and craters full of boiling mud. The ground near themwas obviously unsafe, for it bent under pressure like thin ice, and atsome of the cracks and fissures the sulphurous vapour was so hot thatthe hand could not be held to it without being scalded.

Nigel and the stranger walked close behind the native guide, both,apparently, being anxious to get as near as possible to the centralpond. But the guide stopped suddenly, and, looking back, said to Van derKemp that it was not safe to approach nearer.

Nigel at once stopped, and, looking at the stranger, was struck by thewild, incomprehensible expression of his face as he continued toadvance.

"Stop! stop, sir!" cried the hermit on observing this, but the man paidno attention to the warning.

Another instant and the crust on which he stood gave way and he sankinto a horrible gulf from which issued a gust of sulphurous vapour andsteam. The horror which almost overwhelmed Nigel did not prevent himbounding forward to the rescue. Well was it for him at that time that acooler head than his own was near. The strong hand of the hermit seizedhis collar on the instant, and he was dragged backward out of danger,while an appalling shriek from the stranger as he disappeared told thatthe attempt to succour him would have been too late.

A terrible event of this kind has usually the effect of totallychanging, at least for a time, the feelings of those who witness it, soas to almost incapacitate them from appreciating ordinary events orthings. For some days after witnessing the sudden and awful fate of thisunknown man, Nigel travelled as if in a dream, taking little notice of,or interest in, anything, and replying to questions in meremonosyllables. His companions seemed to be similarly affected, for theyspoke very little. Even the volatile spirit of Moses appeared to besubdued, and it was not till they had reached nearly the end of theirjourney that their usual flow of spirits returned.

Arriving one night at a village not very far from the southern shoresof Sumatra they learned that the hermit's presentiments were justified,and that the volcano which was causing so much disturbance in theislands of the archipelago was, indeed, the long extinct one ofKrakatoa.

"I've heard a good deal about it from one of the chief men here," saidthe hermit as he returned to his friends that night about supper-time."He tells me that it has been more or less in moderate eruption eversince we left the island, but adds that nobody takes much notice of it,as they don't expect it to increase much in violence. I don't agree withthem in that," he added gravely.

"Why not?" asked Nigel.

"Partly because of the length of time that has elapsed since its lasteruption in 1680; partly from the fact that that eruption—judging fromappearances—must have been a very tremendous one, and partly because myknowledge of volcanic action leads me to expect it; but I could noteasily explain the reason for my conclusions on the latter point. I havejust been to the brow of a ridge not far off whence I have seen the glowin the sky of the Krakatoa fires. They do not, however, appear to bevery fierce at the present moment."

As he spoke there was felt by the travellers a blow, as if of anexplosion under the house in which they sat. It was a strong verticalbump which nearly tossed them all off their chairs. Van der Kemp and hisman, after an exclamation or two, continued supper like men who wereused to such interruptions, merely remarking that it was an earthquake.But Nigel, to whom it was not quite so familiar, stood up for a fewseconds with a look of anxious uncertainty, as if undecided as to thepath of duty and prudence in the circ*mstances. Moses relieved him.

"Sot down, Massa Nadgel," said that sable worthy, as he stuffed hismouth full of rice; "it's easier to sot dan to stand w'en itseart'quakin'."

Nigel sat down with a tendency to laugh, for at that moment he chancedto glance at the rafters above, where he saw a small anxious-facedmonkey gazing down at him.

He was commenting on this creature when another prolonged shock ofearthquake came. It was not a bump like the previous one, but a severevibration which only served to shake the men in their chairs, but itshook the small monkey off the rafter, and the miserable little thingfell with a shriek and a flop into the rice-dish!

"Git out o' dat—you scoundril!" exclaimed Moses, but the order wasneedless, for the monkey bounced out of it like indiarubber and soughtto hide its confusion in the thatch, while Moses helped himself to somemore of the rice, which, he said; was none the worse for beingmonkeyfied!

At last our travellers found themselves in the town of Telok Betong,where, being within forty-five miles of Krakatoa, the hermit could bothsee and hear that his island-home was in violent agitation; tremendousexplosions occurring frequently, while dense masses of smoke wereascending from its craters.

"I'm happy to find," said the hermit, soon after their arrival in thetown, "that the peak of Rakata, on the southern part of the island wheremy cave lies, is still quiet and has shown no sign of breaking out. Andnow I shall go and see after my canoe."

"Do you think it safe to venture to visit your cave?" asked Nigel.

"Well, not absolutely safe," returned the hermit with a peculiar smile,"but, of course, if you think it unwise to run the risk of—"

"I asked a simple question, Van der Kemp, without any thought ofmyself," interrupted the youth, as he flushed deeply.

"Forgive me, Nigel," returned the hermit quickly and gravely, "it is butmy duty to point out that we cannot go there without running somerisk."

"And it is my duty to point out," retorted his hurt friend, "that whenany man, worthy of the name, agrees to follow another, he agrees toaccept all risks."

To this the hermit vouchsafed no further reply than a slight smile andnod of intelligence. Thereafter he went off alone to inquire about hiscanoe, which, it will be remembered, his friend, the captain of thesteamer, had promised to leave for him at this place.

Telok Betong, which was one of the severest sufferers by the eruption of1883, is a small town at the head of Lampong Bay, opposite to the islandof Krakatoa, from which it is between forty and fifty miles distant. Itis built on a narrow strip of land at the base of a steep mountain, butlittle above the sea, and is the chief town of the Lampong Residency,which forms the most southerly province of Sumatra. At the time we writeof, the only European residents of the place were connected withGovernment. The rest of the population was composed of a heterogeneousmass of natives mingled with a number of Chinese, a few Arabs, and alarge fluctuating population of traders from Borneo, Celebes, NewGuinea, Siam, and the other innumerable isles of the archipelago. Thesewere more or less connected with praus laden with the rich and variedmerchandise of the eastern seas. As each man in the town had beenpermitted to build his house according to his own fancy, picturesqueirregularity was the agreeable result. It may be added that, as eachman spoke his own language in his own tones, Babel and noise were theconsequence.

In a small hut by the waterside the hermit found the friend—a Malay—towhom his canoe had been consigned, and, in a long low shed close by, hefound the canoe itself with the faithful Spinkie in charge.

"Don't go near the canoe till you've made friends with the monkey," saidthe Malay in his own tongue, as he was about to put the key in the door.

"Why not?" asked the hermit.

"Because it is the savagest brute I ever came across," said the man. "Itwon't let a soul come near the canoe. I would have killed it long ago ifthe captain of the steamer had not told me you wished it to be takengreat care of. There, look out! The vixen is not tied up."

He flung open the shed-door and revealed Spinkie seated in his oldplace, much deteriorated in appearance and scowling malevolently.

The instant the poor creature heard its master's voice and saw hisform—for his features must have been invisible against the stronglight—the scowl vanished from its little visage. With a shriek of joyit sprang like an acrobat from a spring-board and plunged into thehermit's bosom—to the alarm of the Malay, who thought this was afurious attack. We need not say that Van der Kemp received his faithfullittle servant kindly, and it was quite touching to observe the monkey'sintense affection for him. It could not indeed wag its tail like a dog,but it put its arms round its master's neck with a wondrously human air,and rubbed its little head in his beard and whiskers, drawing itselfback now and then, putting its black paws on his cheeks, turning hisface round to the light and opening its round eyes wide—as well as itsround little mouth—as if to make sure of his identity—then plunginginto the whiskers again, and sometimes, when unable to contain its joy,finding a safety-valve in a little shriek.

When the meeting and greeting were over, Van der Kemp explained that hewould require his canoe by daybreak the following morning, ordered a fewprovisions to be got ready, and turned to leave.

"You must get down, Spinkie, and watch the canoe for one night more,"said the hermit, quietly.

But Spinkie did not seem to perceive the necessity, for he clung closerto his master with a remonstrative croak.

"Get down, Spinkie," said the hermit firmly, "and watch the canoe."

The poor beast had apparently learned that Medo-Persic law was not moreunchangeable than Van der Kemp's commands! At all events it crept downhis arm and leg, waddled slowly over the floor of the shed with bentback and wrinkled brow, like a man of ninety, and took up its oldposition on the deck, the very personification of superannuated woe.

The hermit patted its head gently, however, thus relieving its feelings,and probably introducing hope into its little heart before leaving. Thenhe returned to his friends and bade them prepare for immediatedeparture.

It was the night of the 24th of August, and as the eruptions of thevolcano appeared to be getting more and more violent, Van der Kemp'sanxiety to reach his cave became visibly greater.

"I have been told," said the hermit to Nigel, as they went down withMoses to the place where the canoe had been left, "the history ofKrakatoa since we left. A friend informs me that a short time after ourdeparture the eruptions subsided a little, and the people here hadceased to pay much attention to them, but about the middle of June thevolcanic activity became more violent, and on the 19th, in particular,it was observed that the vapour column and the force of the explosionswere decidedly on the increase."

"At Katimbang, from which place the island can be seen, it was noticedthat a second column of vapour was ascending from the centre of theisland, and that the appearance of Perboewatan had entirely changed,its conspicuous summit having apparently been blown away. In July therewere some explosions of exceptional violence, and I have now no doubtthat it was these we heard in the interior of this island when we weretravelling hither, quite lately. On the 11th of this month, I believe,the island was visited in a boat by a government officer, but he did notland, owing to the heavy masses of vapour and dust driven about by thewind, which also prevented him from making a careful examination, but hecould see that the forests of nearly the whole island have beendestroyed—only a few trunks of blighted trees being left standing abovethe thick covering of pumice and dust. He reported that the dust nearthe shore was found to be twenty inches thick."

"If so," said Nigel, "I fear that the island will be no longer fit toinhabit."

"I know not," returned the hermit sadly, in a musing tone. "The officerreported that there is no sign of eruption at Rakata, so that my houseis yet safe, for no showers of pumice, however deep, can injure thecave."

Nigel was on the point of asking his friend why he was so anxious torevisit the island at such a time, but, recollecting his recent tiff onthat subject, refrained. Afterwards, however, when Van der Kemp wassettling accounts with the Malay, he put the question to Moses.

"I can't help wondering," he said, "that Van der Kemp should be soanxious to get back to his cave just now. If he were going in a big boatto save some of his goods and chattels I could understand it, but thecanoe, you know, could carry little more than her ordinary lading."

"Well, Massa Nadgel," said Moses, "it's my opinion dat he wants to goback 'cause he's got an uncommon affekshnit heart."

"How? Surely you don't mean that his love of the mere place is so strongthat—"

"No, no, Massa Nadgel—'s not dat. But he was awrful fond ob his wifean' darter, an' I know he's got a photogruff ob 'em bof togidder, an' It'ink he'd sooner lose his head dan lose dat, for I've seed him look at'em for hours, an' kiss 'em sometimes w'en he t'ought I was asleep."

The return of the hermit here abruptly stopped the conversation. Thecanoe was carried down and put into the water, watched with profoundinterest by hundreds of natives and traders, who were all more or lessacquainted with the hermit of Rakata.

It was still daylight when they paddled out into Lampong Bay, but thevolumes of dust which rose from Krakatoa—although nearly fifty milesoff—did much to produce an unusually early twilight.

"Goin' to be bery dark, massa," remarked Moses as they glided past theshipping. "Shall I light de lamp?"

"Do, Moses, but we shan't need it, for as we get nearer home thevolcanic fires will light us on our way."

"De volcanic dust is a-goin' to powder us on our way too, massa. Keepyour hands out o' the way, Spinkie," said the negro as he fixed a smalloil-lamp to the mast, and resumed his paddle.

"After we get out a bit the wind will help us," said the hermit.

"Yes, massa, if he don't blow too strong," returned Moses, as a squallcame rushing down the mountains and swept over the bay, ruffling its nowdark waters into foaming wavelets.

Altogether, what with the increasing darkness and the hissing squall,and the night-voyage before them, and the fires of Krakatoa which werenow clearly visible on the horizon, Nigel Boy felt a more eeriesensation in his breast than he ever remembered to have experienced inall his previous life, but he scorned to admit the fact—even tohimself, and said, mentally, that it was rather romantic than otherwise!

Just then there burst upon their ears the yell of a steam-whistle, and afew moments later a steamer bore straight down on them, astern.

"Steamer ahoy!" shouted Van der Kemp. "Will ye throw us a rope?"

"Ay! ay!—ease 'er!—stop 'er! where are 'ee bound for?" demanded anunmistakably English voice.

"Krakatoa!" replied the hermit. "Where are you?"

"Anjer, on the Java coast. Do 'ee want to be smothered, roasted, andblown up?" asked the captain, looking down on the canoe as it rangedalongside the dark hull.

"No, we want to get home."

"Home! Well, you're queer fellows in a queer eggshell for such waters.Every man to his taste. Look out for the rope!"

"All right, cappen," cried Moses as he caught the coil.

Next moment the steamer went ahead, and the canoe ploughed over theSunda Straits at the rate of thirteen miles an hour, with her sharp prowhigh out of the water, and the stern correspondingly low. The voyage,which would have otherwise cost our three travellers a long laboriousnight and part of next day, was by this means so greatly shortened thatwhen daybreak arrived they were not more than thirteen miles to the eastof Krakatoa. Nearer than this the steamboat could not take them withoutgoing out of her course, but as Van der Kemp and Nigel gratefullyacknowledged, it was quite near enough.

"Well, I should just think it was rather too near!" said the captainwith a grin.

And, truly, he was justified in making the remark, for the explosionsfrom the volcano had by that time become not only very frequent, buttremendously loud, while the dense cloud which hung above it and spreadfar and wide over the sky covered the sea with a kind of twilight thatstruggled successfully against the full advent of day. Lightning too wasplaying among the rolling black masses of smoke, and the roaringexplosions every now and then seemed to shake the very heavens.

Casting off the tow-rope, they turned the bow of their canoe to theisland. As a stiffish breeze was blowing, they set the sails,close-reefed, and steered for the southern shore at that part which layunder the shadow of Rakata.

CHAPTER XXIV.

AN AWFUL NIGHT AND TERRIBLE MORNING.

It was a matter of some satisfaction to find on drawing near to theshore that the peak of Rakata was still intact, and that, although mostother parts of the island which could be seen were blighted by fire andcovered deeply with pumice dust, much of the forest in the immediateneighbourhood of the cave was still undestroyed though considerablydamaged.

"D'you think our old harbour will be available, Moses?" asked Van derKemp as they came close to the first headland.

"Pr'aps. Bes' go an' see," was the negro's practical reply.

"Evidently Rakata is not yet active," said Nigel, looking up at the greydust-covered crags as the canoe glided swiftly through the dark water.

"That is more than can be said for the other craters," returned thehermit. "It seems to me that not only all the old ones are at work, buta number of new ones must have been opened."

The constant roaring and explosions that filled their ears and the rainof fine ashes bore testimony to the truth of this, though the solid andtowering mass of Rakata rose between them and the part of Krakatoa whichwas in eruption, preventing their seeing anything that was passingexcept the dense masses of smoke, steam, and dust which rose many milesinto the heavens, obstructing the light of day, but forming cloud-massesfrom which the lurid flames of the volcano were reflected downward.

On reaching the little bay or harbour it was found much as they had leftit, save that the rocks and bushes around were thickly covered withdust, and their boat was gone.

"Strange! at such a time one would scarcely have expected thieves tocome here," said the hermit, looking slowly round.

"No t'ief bin here, massa," said Moses, looking over the side of thecanoe. "I see de boat!"

He pointed downwards as he spoke, and on looking over the side they sawthe wreck of the boat at the bottom, in about ten feet of water, andcrushed beneath a ponderous mass of lava, which must have been ejectedfrom the volcano and afterwards descended upon the boat.

The destruction of the boat rendered it impossible to remove any of theproperty of the hermit, and Nigel now saw, from his indifference, thatthis could not have been the cause of his friend's anxiety anddetermination to reach his island home in spite of the danger that sucha course entailed. That there was considerable danger soon became veryobvious, for, having passed to some extent at this point beyond theshelter of the cliffs of Rakata, and come partly into view of the otherparts of the island, the real extent of the volcanic violence burst uponNigel and Moses as a new revelation. The awful sublimity of the scene atfirst almost paralysed them, and they failed to note that not only did aconstant rain of pumice dust fall upon them, but that there was also apretty regular dropping of small stones into the water around them.Their attention was sharply aroused to this fact by the fall of a lumpof semi-molten rock, about the size of a cannon shot, a short distanceoff, which was immediately followed by not less than a cubic yard oflava which fell close to the canoe and deluged them with spray.

"We must go," said the hermit quietly. "No need to expose ourselveshere, though the watching of the tremendous forces that our Creator hasat command does possess a wonderful kind of fascination. It seems to methe more we see of His power as exerted on our little earth, the more dowe realise the paltriness of our conception of the stupendous Might thatupholds the Universe."

While he was speaking, Van der Kemp guided the canoe into its littlehaven, and in a few minutes he and Moses had carried it into the shelterof the cave out of which Nigel had first seen it emerge. Then the ladingwas carried up, after which they turned into the track which led to thehermit's home.

The whole operation may be said to have been performed under fire, forsmall masses of rock kept pattering continually on the dust-coveredground around them, causing cloudlets, like smoke, to spring up whereverthey struck. Nigel and Moses could not resist glancing upward now andthen as they moved quickly to and fro, and they experienced a shrinkingsensation when a stone fell very near them, but each scorned to exhibitthe smallest trace of anxiety, or to suggest that the sooner they gotfrom under fire the better! As for Van der Kemp, he moved aboutdeliberately as if there was nothing unusual going on, and with anabsent look on his grave face as though the outbursts of smoke, andfire, and lava, which turned the face of day into lurid night, andcaused the cliffs to reverberate with unwonted thunders, had no effectwhatever on his mind.

A short walk, however, along the track, which was more than ankle-deepin dust, brought them under the sheltering sides of Rakata, up whichthey soon scrambled to the mouth of their cave. Here all was found asthey had left it, save that the entrance was knee-deep in pumice dust.

And now a new and very strange sensation was felt by each of them, forthe loud reports and crackling sounds which had assailed their earsoutside were reduced by the thick walls of the cave to a continuous dullgroan, as it were, like the soft but thunderous bass notes of astupendous organ. To these sounds were added others which seemed to bepeculiar to the cave itself. They appeared to rise from crevices in thefloor, and were no doubt due to the action of those pent-up subterraneanfires which were imprisoned directly, though it may be very far down,under their feet. Every now and then there came a sudden increase of theunited sounds as if the "swell" of the great organ had been opened, andsuch out-gushing was always accompanied with more or less ofindescribable shocks followed by prolonged tremors of the entiremountain.

If the three friends had been outside to observe what was taking place,they would have seen that these symptoms were simultaneous withoccasional and extremely violent outbursts from the crater ofPerboewatan and his compeers. Indeed they guessed as much, and two ofthem at least were not a little thankful that, awesome as their positionwas, they had the thick mountain between them and the fiery showersoutside.

Of all this the hermit took no notice, but, hastening into the innercavern, opened a small box, and took therefrom a bundle of papers and alittle object which, at a first glance, Nigel supposed to be a book, butwhich turned out to be a photograph case. These the hermit put carefullyinto the breastpocket of his coat and then turned to his companions witha sigh as if of relief.

"I think there is no danger of anything occurring at this part of theisland," he remarked, looking round the cave, "for there is no sign ofsmoke and no sulphurous smell issuing from any of the crevices in wallsor floor. This, I think, shows that there is no direct communicationwith Rakata and the active volcano—at least not at present."

"Do you then think there is a possibility of an outbreak at some futureperiod?" asked Nigel.

"Who can tell? People here, who don't study the nature of volcanoesmuch, though surrounded by them, will expect things ere long to resumetheir normal condition. I can never forget the fact that the greaterpart of Krakatoa stands, as you know, exactly above the spot where thetwo great lines of volcanic action cross, and right over the mouth ofthe immense crater to which Perboewatan and all the other craters serveas mere chimneys or safety-valves. We cannot tell whether a greateruption similar to that of 1680 may not be in store for us. The onlyreason that I can see for the quiescence of this peak of Rakata is, as Isaid to you once before, that it stands not so much above the old crateras above and on the safe side of its lip."

"I t'ink, massa, if I may ventur' to speak," said Moses, "dat de soonerwe git off his lip de better lest we tumble into his mout'."

"You may be right, Moses, and I have no objection to quit," returned thehermit, "now that I have secured the photograph and papers. At the sametime I fear the rain of stones and lava is growing worse. It might besafer to stay till there is a lull in the violence of the eruption, andthen make a dash for it. What say you, Nigel?"

"I say that you know best, Van der Kemp. I'm ready to abide by yourdecision, whatever it be."

"Well, then, we will go out and have a look at the state of matters."

The view from the entrance was not calculated to tempt them to forsakethe shelter of the cave, however uncertain that might be. The latestexplosions had enshrouded the island in such a cloud of smoke and dust,that nothing whatever was visible beyond a few yards in front, and eventhat space was only seen by the faint rays of the lamp issuing from theouter cave. This lamp-light was sufficient, however, to show that withinthe semicircle of a few yards there was a continuous rain of grey ashesand dust mingled with occasional stones of various sizes—some largerthan a man's fist.

"To go out in that would be simply to court death," said Nigel, whosevoice was almost drowned by the noise of the explosions and fall ofmaterial.

As it was manifest that nothing could be done at the moment except towait patiently, they returned to the cave, where they lighted theoil-stove, and Moses—who had taken the precaution to carry up someprovisions in a bag from the canoe—proceeded to prepare a meal.

"Stummicks must be attended to," he murmured to himself as he movedabout the cave-kitchen and shook his head gravely. "Collapses in datregion is wuss, a long way, dan 'splosion of the eart'!"

Meanwhile, Nigel and the hermit went to examine the passage leading tothe observatory. The eruption had evidently done nothing to it, for,having passed upwards without difficulty, they finally emerged upon thenarrow ledge.

The scene that burst upon their astonished gaze here was awful in theextreme. It will be remembered that while the hermit's cave was on thesouthern side of Krakatoa, facing Java, the stair and passage leading tothe observatory completely penetrated the peak of Rakata, so that whenstanding on the ledge they faced northward and were thus in full view ofall the craters between them and Perboewatan. These were in full blastat the time, and, being so near, the heat, as well as the dust, moltenlava, and other missiles, instantly drove them back under the protectionof the passage from which they had emerged.

Here they found a small aperture which appeared to have been recentlyformed—probably by a blow from a mass of falling rock—through whichthey were able to obtain a glimpse of the pandemonium that lay seethingbelow them. They could not see much, however, owing to the smoke whichfilled the air. The noise of the almost continuous explosions was soloud, that it was impossible to converse save by placing the mouth tothe ear and shouting. Fortunately soon after their ascent the windshifted and blew smoke, fire, and dust away to the northward, enablingthem to get out on the ledge, where for a time they remained incomparative safety.

"Look! look at your mirrors!" exclaimed Nigel suddenly, as his wanderinggaze happened to turn to the hermit's sun-guides.

And he might well exclaim, for not only was the glass of these ingeniousmachines shivered and melted, but their iron frameworks were twisted upinto fantastic shapes.

"Lightning has been at work here," said Van der Kemp.

It did not at the moment occur to either of them that the position onwhich they stood was peculiarly liable to attack by the subtle anddangerous fluid which was darting and zig-zagging everywhere among therolling clouds of smoke and steam.

A louder report than usual here drew their attention again to thetremendous scene that was going on in front of them. The extreme summitof Perboewatan had been blown into a thousand fragments, which werehurtling upwards and crackling loudly as the smaller masses wereimpelled against each other in their skyward progress. This cracklinghas been described by those who heard it from neighbouring shores as a"strange rustling sound." To our hermit and his friend, who were, so tospeak, in the very midst of it, the sound rather resembled thecontinuous musketry of a battle-field, while the louder explosions mightbe compared to the booming of artillery, though they necessarily lose bythe comparison, for no invention of man ever produced sounds equal tothose which thundered at that time from the womb of Krakatoa.

Immediately after this, a fountain of molten lava at white heat welledup in the great throat that had been so violently widened, and,overflowing the edges of the crater, rolled down its sides in fieryrivers. All the other craters in the island became active at the samemoment and a number of new ones burst forth. Indeed it seemed to thosewho watched them that if these had not opened up to give vent to thesuppressed forces the whole island must have been blown away. As it was,the sudden generation of so much excessive heat set fire to whatremained of trees and everything combustible, so that the islandappeared to be one vast seething conflagration, and darkness was for atime banished by a red glare that seemed to Nigel far more intense thanthat of noonday.

It is indeed the partiality (if we may say so) of conflagration-lightwhich gives to it the character of impressive power with which we areall so familiar—the intense lights being here cut sharply off byequally intense shadows, and then grading into dull reds and dullergreys. The sun, on the other hand, bathes everything in its genial glowso completely that all nature is permeated with it, and there are nointense contrasts, no absolutely black and striking shadows, except incaverns and holes, to form startling contrasts.

"These safety-valves," said the hermit, referring to the new craters,"have, under God, been the means of saving us from destruction."

"It would seem so," said Nigel, who was too overwhelmed by the sight tosay much.

Even as he spoke the scene changed as if by magic, for from the cone ofPerboewatan there issued a spout of liquid fire, followed by a roar sotremendous that the awe-struck men shrank within themselves, feeling asthough that time had really come when the earth is to melt with ferventheat! The entire lake of glowing lava was shot into the air, and lost inthe clouds above, while mingled smoke and steam went bellowing after it,and dust fell so thickly that it seemed as if sufficient to extinguishthe raging fires. Whether it did so or not is uncertain. It may havebeen that the new pall of black vapour only obscured them. At allevents, after the outburst the darkness of night fell suddenly on allaround.

Just then the wind again changed, and the whole mass of vapour, smoke,and ashes came sweeping like the very besom of destruction towards thegiddy ledge on which the observers stood. Nigel was so entranced that itis probable he might have been caught in the horrible tempest and losthad not his cooler companion grasped his arm and dragged him violentlyinto the passage—where they were safe, though half suffocated by theheat and sulphurous vapours that followed them.

At the same time the thunderous roaring became so loud that conversationwas impossible. Van der Kemp therefore took his friend's hand and ledhim down to the cave, where the sounds were so greatly subdued as toseem almost a calm by contrast.

"We are no doubt in great danger," said the hermit, gravely, as he satdown in the outer cave, "but there is no possibility of taking actionto-night. Here we are, whether wisely or unwisely, and here we mustremain—at least till there is a lull in the eruption. 'God is ourrefuge.' He ought to be so at all times, but there are occasions whenthis great, and, I would add, glorious fact is pressed upon ourunderstandings with unusual power. Such a time is this. Come—we willsee what His word says to us just now."

To Nigel's surprise, and, he afterwards confessed, to his comfort andsatisfaction, the hermit called the negro from his work, and, takingdown the large Bible from its shelf, read part of the 46th Psalm, "Godis our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Thereforewill not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountainsbe carried into the midst of the sea."

He stopped reading at the verse where it is written, "Be still, and knowthat I am God."

Then, going down on his knees,—without even the familiar formula, "Letus pray"—he uttered a brief but earnest prayer for guidance anddeliverance "in the name of Jesus."

Rising, he quietly put the Bible away, and, with the calmness of athoroughly practical man, who looks upon religion and ordinary mattersas parts of one grand whole, ordered Moses to serve the supper.

Thus they spent part of that memorable night of 26th August 1883 inearnest social intercourse, conversing chiefly and naturally about thecharacter, causes, and philosophy of volcanoes, while Perboewatan andhis brethren played a rumbling, illustrative accompaniment to theirdiscourse. The situation was a peculiar one. Even the negro was alive tothat fact.

"Ain't it koorious," he remarked solemnly in a moment of confidenceafter swallowing the last bite of his supper. "Ain't it koorious, MassaNadgel, dat we're a sottin' here comf'rably enjoyin' our wittles ober demout' ob a v'licano as is quite fit to blow us all to bits an' hois' usinto de bery middle ob next week—if not farder?"

"It is strange indeed, Moses," said Nigel, who however added nocommentary, feeling indisposed to pursue the subject.

Seeing this, Moses turned to his master.

"Massa," he said. "You don' want nuffin' more to-night, I s'pose?"

"No, Moses, nothing."

"An' is you quite easy in your mind?"

"Quite," replied the hermit with his peculiar little smile.

"Den it would be wuss dan stoopid for me to be oneasy, so I'll bid yebof good-night, an' turn in."

In this truly trustful as well as philosophical state of mind, the negroretired to his familiar couch in the inner cave, and went to sleep.

Nigel and the hermit sat up for some time longer.

"Van der Kemp," said the former, after a pause, "I—I trust you won'tthink me actuated by impertinent curiosity if I venture to ask you about—the—photograph that I think you——"

"My young friend!" interrupted the hermit, taking the case in questionfrom his breast pocket; "I should rather apologise to you for havingappeared to make any mystery of it—and yet," he added, pausing as hewas about to open the case, "I have not shown it to a living soul sincethe day that—Well, well,—why should I hesitate? It is all I haveleft of my dead wife and child."

He placed the case in the hands of Nigel, who almost sprang from hisseat with excitement as he beheld the countenance of a little child ofapparently three or four years of age, who so exactly resembled KathyHolbein—allowing of course for the difference of age—that he had nowno doubt whatever as to her being the hermit's lost daughter. He was onthe point of uttering her name, when uncertainty as to the effect thesudden disclosure might have upon the father checked him.

"You seem surprised, my friend," said Van der Kemp gently.

"Most beautiful!" said Nigel, gazing intently at the portrait. "Thatdear child's face seems so familiar to me that I could almost fancy Ihad seen it."

He looked earnestly into his friend's face as he spoke, but the hermitwas quite unmoved, and there was not a shadow of change in the sad lowtone of his voice as he said—

"Yes, she was indeed beautiful, like her mother. As to your fancy abouthaving seen it—mankind is formed in groups and types. We see many facesthat resemble others."

The absent look that was so common to the solitary man here overspreadhis massive features, and Nigel felt crushed, as it were, back intohimself. Thus, without having disclosed his belief, he retired to restin a very anxious state of mind, while the hermit watched.

"Don't take off your clothes," he said. "If the sounds outside lead meto think things are quieting down, I will rouse you and we shall startat once."

It was very early on the morning of the 27th when Van der Kemp rousedour hero.

"Are things quieter?" asked Nigel as he rose.

"Yes, a little, but not much—nevertheless we must venture to leave."

"Is it daylight yet?"

"No. There will be no daylight to-day!" with which prophecy the hermitleft him and went to rouse Moses.

"Massa," said the faithful negro. "Isn't you a goin' to take nuffin' widyou? None ob de books or t'ings?"

"No—nothing except the old Bible. All the rest I leave behind. Thecanoe could not carry much. Besides, we may have little time. Get ready;quick! and follow me."

Moses required no spur. The three men left the cave together. It was sointensely dark that the road could not be distinguished, but the hermitand his man were so familiar with it that they could have followed itblindfold.

On reaching the cave at the harbour, some light was obtained from thefitful outbursts of the volcano, which enabled them to launch the canoeand push off in safety. Then, without saying a word to each other, theycoasted along the shore of the island, and, finally, leaving its dangersbehind, them, made for the island of Java—poor Spinkie sitting in hisaccustomed place and looking uncommonly subdued!

Scarcely had they pushed off into Sunda Straits when the volcano burstout afresh. They had happily seized on the only quiet hour that the dayoffered, and had succeeded, by the aid of the sails, in getting severalmiles from the island without receiving serious injury, although showersof stones and masses of rock of all sizes were falling into the seaaround them.

Van der Kemp was so far right in his prophecy that there would be nodaylight that day. By that time there should have been light, as it wasnearly seven o'clock on the memorable morning of the 27th of August. Butnow, although the travellers were some miles distant from Krakatoa, thegloom was so impervious that Nigel, from his place in the centre of thecanoe, could not see the form of poor Spinkie—which sat clinging to themast only two feet in front of him—save when a blaze from Perboewatanor one of the other craters lighted up island and ocean with a vividglare.

At this time the sea began to run very high and the wind increased to agale, so that the sails of the canoe, small though they were, had to bereduced.

"Lower the foresail, Nigel," shouted the hermit. "I will close-reef it.Do you the same to the mainsail."

"Ay, ay, sir," was the prompt reply.

Moses and Nigel kept the little craft straight to the wind while theforesail was being reefed, Van der Kemp and the former performing thesame duty while Nigel reefed the mainsail.

Suddenly there came a brief but total cessation of the gale, though notof the tumultuous heaving of the waters. During that short intervalthere burst upon the world a crash and a roar so tremendous that for afew moments the voyagers were almost stunned!

It is no figure of speech to say that the world heard the crash.Hundreds, ay, thousands of miles did the sound of that mighty upheavalpass over land and sea to startle, more or less, the nations of theearth.

The effect of a stupendous shock on the nervous system is curiouslyvarious in different individuals. The three men who were so near to thevolcano at that moment involuntarily looked round and saw by the luridblaze that an enormous mass of Krakatoa, rent from top to bottom, wasfalling headlong into the sea; while the entire heavens were alive withflame, lightning, steam, smoke, and the upward-shooting fragments of thehideous wreck!

The hermit calmly rested his paddle on the deck and gazed around insilent wonder. Nigel, not less smitten with awe, held his paddle with aniron grasp, every muscle quivering with tension in readiness for instantaction when the need for action should appear. Moses, on the other hand,turning round from the sight with glaring eyes, resumed paddling withunreasoning ferocity, and gave vent at once to his feelings and hisopinion in the sharp exclamation—"Blown to bits!"

BLOWN TO BITS

CHAPTER XXV.

ADVENTURES OF THE "SUNSHINE" AND AN UNEXPECTED REUNION.

We must request the reader to turn back now for a brief period to a verydifferent scene.

A considerable time before the tremendous catastrophe described in thelast chapter—which we claim to have recorded without the slightestexaggeration, inasmuch as exaggeration were impossible—Captain DavidRoy, of the good brig Sunshine, received the letter which his sonwrote to him while in the jungles of Sumatra.

The captain was seated in the back office of a Batavian merchant at thetime, smoking a long clay pipe—on the principle, no doubt, thatmoderate poisoning is conducive to moderate health!

As he perused the letter, the captain's eyes slowly opened; so did hismouth, and the clay pipe, falling to the floor, was reduced to littlepieces. But the captain evidently cared nothing for that. He gave fortha prolonged whistle, got up, smote upon his thigh, and exclaimed withdeep-toned emphasis—

"The rascal!"

Then he sat down again and re-perused the letter, with a variety ofexpression on his face that might have recalled the typical April day,minus the tears.

"The rascal!" he repeated, as he finished the second reading of theletter and thrust it into his pocket. "I knew there was somethin' i' thewind wi' that little girl! The memory o' my own young days when Iboarded and captured the poetess is strong upon me yet. I saw it in therascal's eye the very first time they met—an' he thinks I'm as blind asa bat, I'll be bound, with his poetical reef-point-pattering sharpness.But it's a strange discovery he has made and must be looked into. Theyoung dog! He gives me orders as if he were the owner."

Jumping up, Captain Roy hurried out into the street. In passing theouter office he left a message with one of the clerks for his friend themerchant.

"Tell him," he said, "that I'll attend to that little business about thebill when I come back. I'm going to sail for the Keeling Islands thisafternoon."

"The Keeling Islands?" exclaimed the clerk in surprise.

"Yes—I've got business to do there. I'll be back, all bein' well, in aweek—more or less."

The clerk's eyebrows remained in a raised position for a few moments,until he remembered that Captain Roy, being owner of his ship andcargo, was entitled to do what he pleased with his own and himself. Thenthey descended, and he went on with his work, amusing himself with thethought that the most curious beings in the world were seafaring men.

"Mr. Moor," said the captain somewhat excitedly, as he reached the deckof his vessel, "are all the men aboard?"

"All except Jim Sloper, sir."

"Then send and hunt up Jim Sloper at once, for we sail this afternoonfor the Keeling Islands."

"Very well, sir."

Mr. Moor was a phlegmatic man; a self-contained and a reticent man. IfCaptain Roy had told him to get ready to sail to the moon thatafternoon, he would probably have said "Very well, sir," in the sametone and with the same expression.

"May I ask, sir, what sort of cargo you expect there?" said Mr. Moor;for to his practical mind some re-arrangement of the cargo already onboard might be necessary for the reception of that to be picked up atKeeling.

"The cargo we'll take on board will be a girl," said the captain.

"A what, sir?".

"A girl."

"Very well, sir."

This ended the business part of the conversation. Thereafter they wentinto details so highly nautical that we shrink from recording them. Anamateur detective, in the form of a shipmate, having captured JimSloper, the Sunshine finally cleared out of the port of Batavia thatevening, shortly before its namesake took his departure from that partof the southern hemisphere.

Favouring gales carried the brig swiftly through Sunda Straits and outinto the Indian Ocean. Two days and a half brought her to the desiredhaven. On the way, Captain Roy took note of the condition of Krakatoa,which at that time was quietly working up its subterranean forces with aview to the final catastrophe; opening a safety-valve now and then toprevent, as it were, premature explosion.

"My son's friend, the hermit of Rakata," said the captain to his secondmate, "will find his cave too hot to hold him, I think, when hereturns."

"Looks like it, sir," said Mr. Moor, glancing up at the vast cloudswhich were at that time spreading like a black pall over the re-awakenedvolcano. "Do you expect 'em back soon, sir?"

"Yes—time's about up now. I shouldn't wonder if they reach Bataviabefore us."

Arrived at the Keeling Islands, Captain Roy was received, as usual, withacclamations of joy, but he found that he was by no means as wellfitted to act the part of a diplomatist as he was to sail a ship. Itwas, in truth, a somewhat delicate mission on which his son had senthim, for he could not assert definitely that the hermit actually wasKathleen Holbein's father, and her self-constituted parents did notrelish the idea of letting slip, on a mere chance, one whom they lovedas a daughter.

"Why not bring this man who claims to be her father here?" asked theperplexed Holbein.

"Because—because, p'raps he won't come," answered the puzzled mariner,who did not like to say that he was simply and strictly obeying hisson's orders. "Besides," he continued, "the man does not claim to beanything at all. So far as I understand it, my boy has not spoken to himon the subject, for fear, I suppose, of raisin' hopes that ain't to berealised."

"He is right in that," said Mrs. Holbein, "and we must be just ascareful not to raise false hopes in dear little Kathy. As your son says,it may be a mistake after all. We must not open our lips to her aboutit."

"Right you are, madam," returned the captain. "Mum's the word; and we'veonly got to say she's goin' to visit one of your old friends inAnjer—which'll be quite true, you know, for the landlady o' the chiefhotel there is a great friend o' yours, and we'll take Kathy to herstraight. Besides, the trip will do her health a power o' good, thoughI'm free to confess it don't need no good to be done to it, bein' A.1 atthe present time. Now, just you agree to give the girl a holiday, an'I'll pledge myself to bring her back safe and sound—with her father, ifhe's him; without him if he isn't."

With such persuasive words Captain Roy at length overcame the Holbeinobjections. With the girl herself he had less difficulty, his chiefanxiety being, as he himself said, "to give her reasons for wishin' herto go without tellin' lies."

"Wouldn't you like a trip in my brig to Anjer, my dear girl?" He hadalmost said daughter, but thought it best not to be too precipitate.

"Oh! I should like it so much," said Kathleen, clasping her littlehands and raising her large eyes to the captain's face.

"Dear child!" said the captain to himself. Then aloud, "Well, I'lltake you."

"But I—I fear that father and mother would not like me to go—perhaps."

"No fear o' them, my girl," returned the captain, putting his huge roughhand on her pretty little head as if in an act of solemn appropriation,for, unlike too many fathers, this exemplary man considered only thesweetness, goodness, and personal worth of the girl, caring not a strawfor other matters, and being strongly of opinion that a man shouldmarry young if he possess the spirit of a man or the means to support awife. As he was particularly fond of Kathleen, and felt quite sure thathis son had deeper reasons than he chose to express for his course ofaction, he entertained a strong hope, not to say conviction, that shewould also become fond of Nigel, and that all things would thus worktogether for a smooth course to this case of true love.

It will be seen from all this that Captain David Roy was a sanguine man.Whether his hopes were well grounded or not remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, having, as Mr. Moor said, shipped the cargo, the Sunshineset sail once more for Sunda Straits in a measure of outward gloom thatformed a powerful contrast to the sunny hopes within her commander'sbosom, for Krakatoa was at that time progressing rapidly towards theconsummation of its designs, as partly described in the last chapter.

Short though that voyage was, it embraced a period of action sothrilling that ever afterwards it seemed a large slice of life's littleday to those who went through it.

We have said that the culminating incidents of the drama began on thenight of the 26th. Before that time, however, the cloud-pall was fastspreading over land and sea, and the rain of pumice and ashes had begunto descend.

The wind being contrary, it was several days before the brig reachedthe immediate neighbourhood of Krakatoa, and by that time the volcanohad begun to enter upon the stage which is styled by vulcanologists"paroxysmal," the explosions being extremely violent as well asfrequent.

"It is very awful," said Kathleen in a low voice, as she clasped thecaptain's arm and leaned her slight figure on it. "I have often heardthe thunder of distant volcanoes, but never been so near as to hear suchterrible sounds."

"Don't be frightened, my ducky," said the captain in a soothing tone,for he felt from the appearance of things that there was indeed someground for alarm. "Volcanoes always look worse when you're near them."

"I not frightened," she replied. "Only I got strange, solemn feelings.Besides, no danger can come till God allows."

"That's right, lass. Mrs. Holbein has been a true mother if she taughtyou that."

"No, she did not taught me that. My father taught me that."

"What! Old Holbein?"

"No—my father, who is dead," she said in a low voice.

"Oh! I see. My poor child, I should have understood you. Forgive me."

As the captain spoke, a tremendous outburst on Krakatoa turned theirminds to other subjects. They were by that time drawing near to theisland, and the thunders of the eruption seemed to shake not only theheavens but even the great ocean itself. Though the hour was not muchpast noon the darkness soon became so dense that it was difficult toperceive objects a few yards distant, and, as pieces of stone the sizeof walnuts, or even larger, began to fall on the deck, the captain sentKathleen below.

"There's no saying where or when a big stone may fall, my girl," hesaid, "and it's not the habit of Englishmen to let women come underfire, so you'll be safer below. Besides, you'll be able to see somethingof what's goin' on out o' the cabin windows."

With the obedience that was natural to her, Kathleen went down at once,and the captain made everything as snug as possible, battening down thehatches and shortening sail so as to be ready for whatever might befall.

"I don't like the look o' things, Mr. Moor," said the captain when thesecond mate came on deck to take his watch.

"No more do I, sir," answered Mr. Moor calmly.

The aspect of things was indeed very changeable. Sometimes, as we havesaid, all nature seemed to be steeped in thick darkness, at other timesthe fires of the volcano blazed upward, spreading a red glare on therolling clouds and over the heaving sea. Lightning also played its partas well as thunder, but the latter was scarcely distinguishable from thevolcano's roar. Three days before Sunday the 26th of August, CaptainRoy—as well as the crews of several other vessels that were in SundaStraits at the time—had observed a marked though gradual increase inthe violence of the eruption. On that day, as we read in the Report ofthe Krakatoa Committee of the Royal Society, about 1 P.M. thedetonations caused by the explosive action attained such violence as tobe heard at Batavia, about 100 English miles away. At 2 P.M. of the sameday, Captain Thompson of the Medea, when about 76 miles E.N.E. of theisland, saw a black mass rising like clouds of smoke to a height whichhas been estimated at no less than 17 miles! And the detonations were atthat time taking place at intervals of ten minutes. But, terrible thoughthese explosions must have been, they were but as the whisperings of thevolcano. An hour later they had increased so much as to be heard atBandong and other places 150 miles away, and at 5 P.M. they had becomeso tremendous as to be heard over the whole island of Java, the easternportion of which is about 650 miles from Krakatoa.

And the sounds thus heard were not merely like distant thunder. InBatavia—although, as we have said, 100 miles off—they were so violentduring the whole of that terrible Sunday night as to prevent the peoplefrom sleeping. They were compared to the "discharge of artillery closeat hand," and caused a rattling of doors, windows, pictures, andchandeliers.

Captain Watson of the Charles Bal, who chanced to be only 10 milessouth of the volcano, also compared the sounds to discharges ofartillery, but this only shows the feebleness of ordinary language inattempting to describe such extraordinary sounds, for if they werecomparable to close artillery at Batavia, the same comparison isinappropriate at only ten miles' distance. He also mentions thecrackling noise, probably due to the impact of fragments in theatmosphere, which were noticed by the hermit and Nigel while standingstunned and almost stupefied on the giddy ledge of Rakata that sameSunday.

About five in the evening of that day, the brig Sunshine drew stillnearer to the island, but the commotion at the time became so intense,and the intermittent darkness so profound, that Captain Roy was afraidto continue the voyage and shortened sail. Not only was there a heavyrolling sea, but the water was seething, as if about to boil.

"Heave the lead, Mr. Moor," said the captain, who stood beside thewheel.

"Yes, sir," answered the imperturbable second mate, who thereupon gavethe necessary order, and when the depth was ascertained, the report was"Ten fathoms, sand, with a 'ot bottom."

"A hot bottom! what do you mean?"

"The lead's 'ot, sir," replied the sailor.

This was true, as the captain found when he applied his hand to it.

"I do believe the world's going on fire," he muttered; "but it's acomfort to know that it can't very well blaze up as long as the sealasts!"

Just then a rain of pumice in large pieces, and quite warm, began tofall upon the deck. As most people know, pumice is extremely light, sothat no absolute injury was done to any one, though such rain wasexcessively trying. Soon, however, a change took place. The densevapours and dust-clouds which had rendered it so excessively dark wereentirely lighted up from time to time by fierce flashes of lightningwhich rent as well as painted them in all directions. At one time thisgreat mass of clouds presented the appearance of an immense pine-treewith the stem and branches formed of volcanic lightning.

Captain Roy, fearing that these tremendous sights and sounds wouldterrify the poor girl in the cabin, was about to look in and reassureher, when the words "Oh! how splendid!" came through the slightlyopened door. He peeped in and saw Kathleen on her knees on the sternlocker, with her hands clasped, gazing out of one of the stern windows.

"Hm! she's all right," he muttered, softly reclosing the door andreturning on deck. "If she thinks it's splendid, she don't need nocomfortin'! It's quite clear that she don't know what danger means—andwhy should she? Humph! there go some more splendid sights for her," headded, as what appeared to be chains of fire ascended from the volcanoto the sky.

Just then a soft rain began to fall. It was warm, and, on examination atthe binnacle lamp, turned out to be mud. Slight at first, it soon poureddown in such quantities that in ten minutes it lay six inches thick onthe deck, and the crew had to set to work with shovels to heave itoverboard. At this time there was seen a continual roll of balls ofwhite fire down the sides of the peak of Rakata, caused, doubtless, bythe ejection of white-hot fragments of lava. Then showers of masses likeiron cinders fell on the brig, and from that time onward till fouro'clock of the morning of the 27th, explosions of indescribable grandeurcontinually took place, as if the mountains were in a continuous roar ofterrestrial agony—the sky being at one moment of inky blackness, thenext in a blaze of light, while hot, choking, and sulphurous smellsalmost stifled the voyagers.

At this point the captain again became anxious about Kathleen and wentbelow. He found her in the same place and attitude—still fascinated!

"My child," he said, taking her hand, "you must lie down and rest."

"Oh! no. Do let me stay up," she begged, entreatingly.

"But you must be tired—sleepy."

"Sleepy! who could sleep with such wonders going on around? Pray don'ttell me to go to bed!"

It was evident that poor Kathy had the duty of obedience to authoritystill strong upon her. Perhaps the memory of the Holbein nursery had notyet been wiped out.

"Well, well," said the captain with a pathetic smile, "you are assafe—comfortable, I mean—here as in your berth or anywhere else."

As there was a lull in the violence of the eruption just then, thecaptain left Kathleen in the cabin and went on deck. It was not known atthat time what caused this lull, but as it preceded the first of thefour grand explosions which effectually eviscerated—emptied—theancient crater of Krakatoa, we will give, briefly, the explanation of itas conjectured by the men of science.

Lying as it did so close to the sea-level, the Krakatoa volcano, havingblown away all its cones, and vents, and safety-valves—from Perboewatansouthward, except the peak of Rakata—let the sea rush in upon itsinfernal fires. This result, ordinary people think, produced a gush ofsteam which caused the grand terminal explosions. Vulcanologists thinkotherwise, and with reason—which is more than can be said of ordinarypeople, who little know the power of the forces at work below the crustof our earth! The steam thus produced, although on so stupendous ascale, was free to expand and therefore went upwards, no doubt in asufficiently effective gust and cloud. But nothing worthy of being nameda blow-up was there.

The effect of the in-rushing water was to cool the upper surface of theboiling lava and convert it into a thick hard solid crust at the mouthof the great vent. In this condition the volcano resembled a boiler withall points of egress closed and the safety-valve shut down! Oceans ofmolten lava creating expansive gases below; no outlet possibleunderneath, and the neck of the bottle corked with tons of solid rock!One of two things must happen in such circ*mstances: the cork must go orthe bottle must burst! Both events happened on that terrible night. Allnight long the corks were going, and at last—Krakatoa burst!

In the hurly-burly of confusion, smoke, and noise, no eye could notethe precise moment when the island was shattered, but there were on themorning of the 27th four supreme explosions, which rang loud and highabove the horrible average din. These occurred—according to the carefulinvestigations made, at the instance of the Dutch Indian Government, bythe eminent geologist, Mr. R.D.M. Verbeek—at the hours of 5.30, 6.44,10.2, and 10.52 in the morning. Of these the third, about 10, was by farthe worst for violence and for the wide-spread devastation which itproduced.

At each of these explosions a tremendous sea-wave was created by thevolcano, which swept like a watery ring from Krakatoa as a centre to thesurrounding shores. It was at the second of these explosions—that of6.44—that the fall of the mighty cliff took place which was seen by thehermit and his friends as they fled from the island, and, on the crestof the resulting wave, were carried along they scarce knew whither.

As the previous wave—that of 5.30—had given the brig a tremendousheave upwards, the captain, on hearing the second, ran down below for amoment to tell Kathleen there would soon be another wave, but that sheneed fear no danger.

"The brig is deep and has a good hold o' the water," he said, "so thewave is sure to slip under her without damage. I wish I could hope itwould do as little damage when it reaches the shore."

As he spoke a strange and violent crash was heard overhead, quitedifferent from volcanic explosions, like the falling of some heavy bodyon the deck.

"One o' the yards down!" muttered the captain as he ran to the cabindoor. "Hallo, what's that, Mr. Moor?"

"Canoe just come aboard, sir."

"A canoe?"

"Yes, sir. Crew, three men and a monkey. All insensible—hallo!"

The "hallo!" with which the second mate finished his remark was sounlike his wonted tone, and so full of genuine surprise, that thecaptain ran forward with unusual haste, and found a canoe smashed topieces against the foremast, and the mate held a lantern close to theface of one of the men while the crew were examining the others.

A single glance told the captain that the mud-bespattered figure thatlay before him as if dead was none other than his own son! The greatwave had caught the frail craft on its crest, and, sweeping it alongwith lightning speed for a short distance, had hurled it on the deck ofthe Sunshine with such violence as to completely stun the whole crew.Even Spinkie lay in a melancholy little heap in the lee scuppers.

You think this a far-fetched coincidence, good reader! Well, all we cansay is that we could tell you of another—a double—coincidence, whichwas far more extraordinary than this one, but as it has nothing to dowith our tale we refrain from inflicting it on you.

CHAPTER XXVI.

A CLIMAX.

Three of those who had tumbled thus unceremoniously on the deck of theSunshine were soon sufficiently recovered to sit up and look around indazed astonishment—namely Nigel, Moses, and the monkey—but the hermitstill lay prone where he had been cast, with a pretty severe wound onhis head, from which blood was flowing freely.

"Nigel, my boy!"

"Father!" exclaimed the youth. "Where am I? What has happened?"

"Don't excite yourself, lad," said the mariner, stooping and whisperinginto his son's ear. "We've got her aboard!"

No treatment could have been more effectual in bringing Nigel to hissenses than this whisper.

"Is—is—Van der Kemp safe?" he asked anxiously.

"All right—only stunned, I think. That's him they're just goin' tocarry below. Put 'im in my bunk, Mr. Moor."

"Ay ay, sir."

Nigel sprang up. "Stay, father," he said in a low voice. "She must notsee him for the first time like this."

"All right, boy. I understand. You leave that to me. My bunk has binshifted for'id—more amidships—an' Kathy's well aft. They shan't be letrun foul of each other. You go an' rest on the main hatch till we gethim down. Why, here's a nigg*r! Where did you pick him—oh! I remember.You're the man we met, I suppose, wi' the hermit on Krakatoa that day o'the excursion from Batavia."

"Yes, das me. But we'll meet on Krakatoa no more, for dat place am blownto bits."

"I'm pretty well convinced o' that by this time, my man. Not hurt much,I hope?"

"No, sar—not more 'n I can stan'. But I's 'fraid dat poor Spinkie'sa'most used up—hallo! what you gwine to do with massa?" demanded thenegro, whose wandering faculties had only in part returned.

"He's gone below. All right. Now, you go and lie down beside my son onthe hatch. I'll see to Van der Kemp."

But Captain David Roy's intentions, like those of many men of greaternote, were frustrated by the hermit himself, who recovered consciousnessjust as the four men who carried him reached the foot of thecompanion-ladder close to the cabin door. Owing to the deeper thanmidnight darkness that prevailed a lamp was burning in the cabin—dimly,as if, infected by the universal chaos, it were unwilling to enlightenthe surrounding gloom.

On recovering consciousness Van der Kemp was, not unnaturally, under theimpression that he had fallen into the hands of foes. With one effectualconvulsion of his powerful limbs he scattered his bearers right andleft, and turning—like all honest men—to the light, he sprang into thecabin, wrenched a chair from its fastenings, and, facing round, stood atbay.

Kathleen, seeing this blood-stained giant in such violent action,naturally fled to her cabin and shut the door.

As no worse enemy than Captain Roy presented himself at the cabin door,unarmed, and with an anxious look on his rugged face, the hermit setdown the chair, and feeling giddy sank down on it with a groan.

"I fear you are badly hurt, sir. Let me tie a handkerchief round yourwounded head," said the captain soothingly.

"Thanks, thanks. Your voice is not unfamiliar to me," returned thehermit with a sigh, as he submitted to the operation. "I thought I hadfallen somehow into the hands of pirates. Surely an accident must havehappened. How did I get here? Where are my comrades—Nigel and thenegro?"

"My son Nigel is all right, sir, and so is your man Moses. Make yourmind easy—an' pray don't speak while I'm working at you. I'll explainit all in good time. Stay, I'll be with you in a moment."

The captain—fearing that Kathleen might come out from curiosity to seewhat was going on, and remembering his son's injunction—went to thegirl's berth with the intention of ordering her to keep close until heshould give her leave to come out. Opening the door softly and lookingin, he was startled, almost horrified, to see Kathleen standingmotionless like a statue, with both hands pressed tightly over herheart. The colour had fled from her beautiful face; her long hair wasflung back; her large lustrous eyes were wide open and her lips slightlyparted, as if her whole being had been concentrated in eager expectancy.

"What's wrong, my girl?" asked the captain anxiously. "You've no causefor fear. I just looked in to—."

"That voice!" exclaimed Kathleen, with something of awe in hertones—"Oh! I've heard it so often in my dreams."

"Hush! sh! my girl," said the captain in a low tone, looking anxiouslyround at the wounded man. But his precautions were unavailing,—Van derKemp had also heard a voice which he thought had long been silent indeath. The girl's expression was almost repeated in his face. Before thewell-meaning mariner could decide what to do, Kathleen brushed lightlypast him, and stood in the cabin gazing as if spell-bound at the hermit.

"Winnie!" he whispered, as if scarcely daring to utter the name.

"Father!"

She extended both hands towards him as she spoke. Then, with a piercingshriek, she staggered backward, and would have fallen had not thecaptain caught her and let her gently down.

Van der Kemp vaulted the table, fell on his knees beside her, and,raising her light form, clasped her to his heart, just as Nigel andMoses, alarmed by the scream, sprang into the cabin.

"Come, come; away wi' you—you stoopid grampuss*s!" cried the captain,pushing the intruders out of the cabin, following them, and closing thedoor behind him. "This is no place for bunglers like you an' me. Wemight have known that natur' would have her way, an' didn't need no helpfrom the like o' us. Let's on deck. There's enough work there to lookafter that's better suited to us."

Truly there was enough—and more than enough—to claim the mostanxious attention of all who were on board of the Sunshine thatmorning, for hot mud was still falling in showers on the deck, and thethunders of the great volcano were still shaking heaven, earth, and sea.

To clear the decks and sails of mud occupied every one for some time soearnestly that they failed to notice at first that the hermit had comeon deck, found a shovel, and was working away like the rest of them. Thefrequent and prolonged blazes of intense light that ever and anonbanished the darkness showed that on his face there sat an expression ofcalm, settled, triumphant joy, which was strangely mingled with a lookof quiet humility.

"I thank God for this," said Nigel, going forward when he observed himand grasping his hand.

"You knew it?" exclaimed the hermit in surprise.

"Yes. I knew it—indeed, helped to bring you together, but did not dareto tell you till I was quite sure. I had hoped to have you meet in verydifferent circ*mstances."

"'It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps,'" returned thehermit reverently. "God bless you, Nigel. If you have even aimed atbringing this about, I owe you more than my life."

"You must have lost a good deal of blood, Van der Kemp. Are you muchhurt?" asked Nigel, as he observed the bandage round his friend's head.

"Somewhat. Not much, I hope—but joy, as well as blood, gives strength,Nigel."

A report from a man who had just been ordered to take soundings inducedthe captain at this time to lay-to.

"It seems to me," he said to Nigel and the hermit who stood close besidehim, "that we are getting too near shore. But in cases o' this kind thebottom o' the sea itself can't be depended on."

"What part of the shore are we near, d' you think, father?"

"Stand by to let go the anchor!" roared the captain, instead ofanswering the question.

"Ay, ay, sir," replied the second mate, whose cool, sing-song,business-like tone at such a moment actually tended to inspire a measureof confidence in those around him.

Another moment, and the rattling chain caused a tremor through thevessel, which ceased when the anchor touched bottom, and they rode headto wind. Coruscations of bluish light seemed to play about the masts,and balls of electric fire tipped the yards, throwing for a short time aghastly sheen over the ship and crew, for the profound darkness hadagain settled down, owing, no doubt, to another choking of the Krakatoavent.

Before the light referred to went out, Moses was struck violently onthe chest by something soft, which caused him to stagger.

It was Spinkie! In the midst of the unusual horrors that surrounded him,while clinging to the unfamiliar mizzen shrouds on which in desperationthe poor monkey had found a temporary refuge, the electric fire showedhim the dark figure of his old familiar friend standing not far off.With a shriek of not quite hopeless despair, and an inconceivable bound,Spinkie launched himself into space. His early training in the foreststood him in good stead at that crisis! As already said he hit the markfairly, and clung to Moses with a tenacity that was born of mingled loveand desperation. Finding that nothing short of cruelty would unfix hislittle friend, Moses stuffed him inside the breast of his cotton shirt.In this haven of rest the monkey heaved a sigh of profound contentment,folded his hands on his bosom, and meekly went to sleep.

Two of the excessively violent paroxysms of the volcano, above referredto, had by that time taken place, but the third, and worst—that whichoccurred about 10 A.M.—was yet in store for them, though they knew itnot, and a lull in the roar, accompanied by thicker darkness than ever,was its precursor. There was not, however, any lull in the violence ofthe wind.

"I don't like these lulls," said Captain Roy to the hermit, as theystood close to the binnacle, in the feeble light of its lamp. "What isthat striking against our sides, Mr. Moor?"

"Looks like floating pumice, sir," answered the second mate, "and Ithink I see palm-trees amongst it."

"Ay, I thought so, we must be close to land," said the captain. "Wecan't be far from Anjer, and I fear the big waves that have alreadypassed us have done some damage. Lower a lantern over the side,—no,fetch an empty tar-barrel and let's have a flare. That will enable us tosee things better."

While the barrel was being fastened to a spar so as to be thrust wellout beyond the side of the brig, Van der Kemp descended the companionand opened the cabin door.

"Come up now, Winnie, darling."

"Yes, father," was the reply, as the poor girl, who had been anxiouslyawaiting the summons, glided out and clasped her father's arm with bothhands. "Are things quieting down?"

"They are, a little. It may be temporary, but—Our Father directs itall."

"True, father. I'm so glad of that!"

"Mind the step, we shall have more light on deck. There is a friendthere who has just told me he met you on the Cocos-Keeling Island, NigelRoy;—you start, Winnie?"

"Y—yes, father. I am so surprised, for it is his father who sailsthis ship! And I cannot imagine how he or you came on board."

"Well, I was going to say that I believe it is partly through Nigel thatyou and I have been brought together, but there is mystery about it thatI don't yet understand; much has to be explained, and this assuredly isnot the time or place. Here, Nigel, is your old Keeling friend."

"Ay—friend! humph!" said old Roy softly to himself.

"My dear—child!" said young Roy, paternally, to the girl as hegrasped her hand. "I cannot tell you how thankful I am that this hasbeen brought about, and—and that I have had some little hand in it."

"There's more than pumice floating about in the sea, sir," said Mr.Moor, coming aft at the moment and speaking to the captain in a lowtone. "You'd better send the young lady below—or get some one to takeup her attention just now."

"Here, Nigel. Sit down under the lee of the companion, an' tell Kathyhow this all came about," said the captain, promptly, as if issuingnautical orders. "I want you here, Van der Kemp."

So saying, the captain, followed by the hermit, went with the secondmate to the place where the flaming tar-barrel was casting a lurid glareupon the troubled sea.

CHAPTER XXVII.

"BLOWN TO BITS."

The sight that met their eyes was well calculated to shock and saddenmen of much less tender feeling than Van der Kemp and Captain Roy.

The water had assumed an appearance of inky blackness, and large massesof pumice were floating past, among which were numerous dead bodies ofmen, women, and children, intermingled with riven trees, fences, andother wreckage from the land, showing that the two great waves which hadalready passed under the vessel had caused terrible devastation on someparts of the shore. To add to the horror of the scene large sea-snakeswere seen swimming wildly about, as if seeking to escape from the noveldangers that surrounded them.

The sailors looked on in awe-stricken silence for some time.

"P'raps some of 'em may be alive yet!" whispered one. "Couldn't we lowera boat?"

"Impossible in such a sea," said the captain, who overheard the remark."Besides, no life could exist there."

"Captain Roy," said Van der Kemp earnestly, "let me advise you to getyour foresail ready to hoist at a moment's notice, and let them stand byto cut the cable."

"Why so? There seems no need at present for such strong measures."

"You don't understand volcanoes as I do," returned the hermit. "Thislull will only last until the imprisoned fires overcome the block in thecrater, and the longer it lasts the worse will be the explosion. From myknowledge of the coast I feel sure that we are close to the town ofAnjer. If another wave like the last comes while we are here, it willnot slip under your brig like the last one. It will tear her from heranchor and hurl us all to destruction. You have but one chance; that is,to cut the cable and run in on the top of it—a poor chance at the best,but if God wills, we shall escape."

"If we are indeed as near shore as you think," said the captain, "I knowwhat you say must be true, for in shoal water such a wave will surelycarry all before it. But are you certain there will be anotherexplosion?"

"No man can be sure of that. If the last explosion emptied the craterthere will be no more. If it did not, another explosion is certain. AllI advise is that you should be ready for whatever is coming, and readyto take your only chance."

"Right you are, sir. Send men to be ready to cut the cable, Mr. Moor.And stand by the topsail halyards."

"Ay, ay, sir."

During the anxious minutes that followed, the hermit rejoined Winnie andNigel on the quarter-deck, and conversed with the latter in a low voice,while he drew the former to his side with his strong arm. Captain Royhimself grasped the wheel and the men stood at their various stationsready for action.

"Let no man act without orders, whatever happens," said the captain in adeep powerful voice which was heard over the whole ship, for the lullthat we have mentioned extended in some degree to the gale as well as tothe volcano. Every one felt that some catastrophe was pending.

"Winnie, darling," said the hermit tenderly, as he bent down to see thesweet face that had been restored to him. "I greatly fear that there issure to be another explosion, and it may be His will that we shallperish, but comfort yourself with the certainty that no hair of yourdear head can fall without His permission—and in any event He will notfail us."

"I know it, father. I have no fear—at least, only a little!"

"Nigel," said the hermit, "stick close to us if you can. It may bethat, if anything should befall me, your strong arm may succour Winnie;mine has lost somewhat of its vigour," he whispered.

"Trust me—nothing but death shall sunder us," said the anxious youth ina burst of enthusiasm.

It seemed as if death were indeed to be the immediate portion of all onboard the Sunshine, for a few minutes later there came a crash,followed by a spout of smoke, fire, steam, and molten lava, compared towhich all that had gone before seemed insignificant!

The crash was indescribable! As we have said elsewhere, the sound of itwas heard many hundreds of miles from the seat of the volcano, and itseffects were seen and felt right round the world.

The numerous vents which had previously been noticed on Krakatoa must atthat moment have been blown into one, and the original crater of the oldvolcano—said to have been about six miles in diameter—must haveresumed its destructive work. All the eye-witnesses who were near thespot at the time, and sufficiently calm to take note of the terrificevents of that morning, are agreed as to the splendour of the electricalphenomena displayed during this paroxysmal outburst. One who, at thetime, was forty miles distant speaks of the great vapour-cloud looking"like an immense wall or blood-red curtain with edges of all shades ofyellow, and bursts of forked lightning at times rushing like largeserpents through the air." Another says that "Krakatoa appeared to bealight with flickering flames rising behind a dense black cloud." Athird recorded that "the lightning struck the mainmast conductor five orsix times," and that "the mud-rain which covered the decks wasphosphorescent, while the rigging presented the appearance of St. Elmo'sfire."

It may be remarked here, in passing, that giant steam-jets rushingthrough the orifices of the earth's crust constitute an enormoushydro-electric engine; and the friction of ejected materials strikingagainst each other in ascending and descending also generateselectricity, which accounts to some extent for the electrical conditionof the atmosphere.

In these final and stupendous outbursts the volcano was expending itsremaining force in breaking up and ejecting the solid lava whichconstituted its framework, and not in merely vomiting forth thelava-froth, or pumice, which had characterised the earlier stages of theeruption. In point of fact—as was afterwards clearly ascertained bycareful soundings and estimates, taking the average height of themissing portion at 700 feet above water, and the depth at 300 feet belowit—two-thirds of the island were blown entirely off the face of theearth. The mass had covered an area of nearly six miles, and isestimated as being equal to 1⅛ cubic miles of solid matter which, asMoses expressed it, was blown to bits!

If this had been all, it would have been enough to claim the attentionand excite the wonder of the intelligent world—but this was not nearlyall, as we shall see, for saddest of all the incidents connected withthe eruption is the fact that upwards of thirty-six thousand humanbeings lost their lives. The manner in which that terrible loss occurredshall be shown by the future adventures of the Sunshine.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE FATE OF THE "SUNSHINE."

Stunned at first, for a few minutes, by the extreme violence of theexplosion, no one on board the Sunshine spoke, though each man stoodat his post ready to act.

"Strange," said the captain at last. "There seems to be no big wave thistime."

"That only shows that we are not as near the island as we thought. Butit won't be long of——See! There it comes," said the hermit. "Now,Winnie, cling to my arm and put your trust in God."

Nigel, who had secured a life-buoy, moved close to the girl's side, andlooking anxiously out ahead saw a faint line of foam in the thickdarkness which had succeeded the explosion. Already the distant roar ofthe billow was heard, proving that it had begun to break.

"The wind comes with it," said Van der Kemp.

"Stand by!" cried the captain, gazing intently over the side. Nextmoment came the sharp order to hoist the foretopsail and jib, soonfollowed by "Cut the cable!"

There was breeze enough to swing the vessel quickly round. In a fewseconds her stern was presented to the coming wave, and her bow cleftthe water as she rushed upon what every one now knew was her doom.

To escape the great wave was no part of the captain's plan. To havereached the shore before the wave would have been fatal to all. Theironly hope lay in the possibility of riding in on the top of it, and thegreat danger was that they should be unable to rise to it stern firstwhen it came up, or that they should turn broadside on and be rolledover.

They had not long to wait. The size of the wave, before it came nearenough to be seen, was indicated by its solemn, deep-toned,ever-increasing roar. The captain stood at the wheel himself, guidingthe brig and glancing back from time to time uneasily.

Suddenly the volcano gave vent to its fourth and final explosion. It wasnot so violent as its predecessors had been, though more so than anythat had occurred on the day before, and the light of it showed them thefull terrors of their situation, for it revealed the mountains ofJava—apparently quite close in front, though in reality at aconsiderable distance—with a line of breakers beating white on theshore. But astern of them was the most appalling sight, for there,rushing on with awful speed and a sort of hissing roar, came themonstrous wave, emerging, as it were, out of thick darkness, like amighty wall of water with a foaming white crest, not muchless—according to an average of the most reliable estimates—than 100feet high.

Well might the seamen blanch, for never before in all their variedexperience had they seen the like of that.

On it came with the unwavering force of Fate. To the eye of Captain Royit appeared that up its huge towering side no vessel made by mortal mancould climb. But the captain had too often stared death in the face tobe unmanned by the prospect now. Steadily he steered the vessel straighton, and in a quiet voice said—

"Lay hold of something firm—every man!"

The warning was well timed. In the amazement, if not fear, caused by theunwonted sight, some had neglected the needful precaution.

As the billow came on, the bubbling, leaping, and seething of its crestwas apparent both to eye and ear. Then the roar became tremendous.

"Darling Winnie," said Nigel at that moment. "I will die for you or withyou!"

The poor girl heard, but no sign of appreciation moved her pale face asshe gazed up at the approaching chaos of waters.

Next moment the brig seemed to stand on its bows. Van der Kemp hadplaced his daughter against the mast, and, throwing his long arms roundboth, held on. Nigel, close to them, had grasped a handful of ropes, andevery one else was holding on for life. Another moment and the brig roseas if it were being tossed up to the heavens. Immediately thereafter itresumed its natural position in a perfect wilderness of foam. They wereon the summit of the great wave, which was so large that its crestseemed like a broad, rounded mass of tumbling snow with blackness beforeand behind, while the roar of the tumult was deafening. The brig rushedonward at a speed which she had never before equalled even in thefiercest gale—tossed hither and thither by the leaping foam, yet alwayskept going straight onward by the expert steering of her captain.

"Come aft—all of you!" he shouted, when it was evident that the vesselwas being borne surely forward on the wave's crest. "The masts will gofor certain when we strike."

The danger of being entangled in the falling spars and cordage was soobvious that every one except the hermit and Nigel obeyed.

"Here, Nigel," gasped the former. "I—I've—lost blood—faint!——"

Our hero at once saw that Van der Kemp, fainting from previous loss ofblood, coupled with exertion, was unable to do anything but hold on.Indeed, he failed even in that, and would have fallen to the deck hadNigel not caught him by the arm.

"Can you run aft, Winnie?" said Nigel anxiously.

"Yes!" said the girl, at once understanding the situation and darting tothe wheel, of which and of Captain Roy she laid firm hold, while Nigellifted the hermit in his arms and staggered to the same spot. Winnieknelt beside him immediately, and, forgetting for the moment all thehorrors around her, busied herself in replacing the bandage which hadbeen loosened from his head.

"Oh! Mr. Roy, save him!—save him!" cried the poor child, appealing inan agony to Nigel, for she felt instinctively that when the crash cameher father would be utterly helpless even to save himself.

Nigel had barely time to answer when a wild shout from the crew causedhim to start up and look round. A flare from the volcano had cast a redlight over the bewildering scene, and revealed the fact that the brigwas no longer above the ocean's bed, but was passing in its wild careerright through, or rather over, the demolished town of Anjer. A few ofthe houses that had been left standing by the previous waves were beingswept—hurled—away by this one, but the mass of rolling, rushing,spouting water was so deep, that the vessel had as yet struck nothingsave the tops of some palm-trees which bent their heads like strawsbefore the flood.

Even in the midst of the amazement, alarm, and anxiety caused by thesituation, Nigel could not help wondering that in this final andcomplete destruction of the town no sign of struggling human beingsshould be visible. He forgot at the moment, what was terribly provedafterwards, that the first waves had swallowed up men, women, andchildren by hundreds, and that the few who survived had fled to thehills, leaving nothing for the larger wave to do but complete the workof devastation on inanimate objects. Ere the situation had been wellrealised the volcanic fires went down again, and left the world, forover a hundred surrounding miles, in opaque darkness. Only the humbleflicker of the binnacle light, like a trusty sentinel on duty, continuedto shed its feeble rays on a few feet of the deck, and showed that thecompass at least was still faithful to the pole!

Then another volcanic outburst revealed the fact that the wave whichcarried them was thundering on in the direction of a considerable cliffor precipice—not indeed quite straight towards it, but sufficiently soto render escape doubtful.

At the same time a swarm of terror-stricken people were seen flyingtowards this cliff and clambering up its steep sides. They were probablysome of the more courageous of the inhabitants who had summoned courageto return to their homes after the passage of the second wave. Theirshrieks and cries could be heard above even the roaring of the water andthe detonations of the volcano.

"God spare us!" exclaimed poor Winnie, whose trembling form was nowpartially supported by Nigel.

As she spoke darkness again obscured everything, and they could donaught but listen to the terrible sounds—and pray.

On—on went the Sunshine, in the midst of wreck and ruin, on thisstrange voyage over land and water, until a check was felt. It was not acrash as had been anticipated, and as might have naturally beenexpected, neither was it an abrupt stoppage. There was first a hissing,scraping sound against the vessel's sides, then a steady checking—wemight almost say a hindrance to progress—not violent, yet so verydecided that the rigging could not bear the strain. One and another ofthe back-stays parted, the foretopsail burst with a cannon-like report,after which a terrible rending sound, followed by an indescribablecrash, told that both masts had gone by the board.

Then all was comparatively still—comparatively we say, for water stillhissed and leaped beneath them like a rushing river, though it no longerroared, and the wind blew in unfamiliar strains and laden with unwontedodours.

At that moment another outburst of Krakatoa revealed the fact that thegreat wave had borne the brig inland for upwards of a mile, and left herimbedded in a thick grove of cocoa-nut palms!

CHAPTER XXIX.

TELLS CHIEFLY OF THE WONDERFUL EFFECTS OF THIS ERUPTION ON THE WOULD AT LARGE.

The great explosions of that morning had done more damage and hadachieved results more astounding than lies in the power of languageadequately to describe, or of history to parallel.

Let us take a glance at this subject in passing.

An inhabitant of Anjer—owner of a hotel, a ship-chandler's store, twohouses, and a dozen boats—went down to the beach about six on themorning of that fateful 27th of August. He had naturally been impressedby the night of the 26th, though, accustomed as he was to volcaniceruptions, he felt no apprehensions as to the safety of the town. Hewent to look to the moorings of his boats, leaving his family of sevenbehind him. While engaged in this work he observed a wave of immensesize approaching. He leaped into one of his boats, which was caught upby the wave and swept inland, carrying its owner there in safety. Butthis was the wave that sealed the doom of the town and most of itsinhabitants, including the hotel-keeper's family and all that hepossessed.

This is one only out of thousands of cases of bereavement anddestruction.

A lighthouse-keeper was seated in his solitary watch-tower, speculating,doubtless, on the probable continuance of such a violent outbreak, whilehis family and mates—accustomed to sleep in the midst of elementalwar—were resting peacefully in the rooms below, when one of the mightywaves suddenly appeared, thundered past, and swept the lighthouse withall its inhabitants away.

This shows but one of the many disasters to lighthouses in SundaStraits.

A Dutch man-of-war—the Berouw—was lying at anchor in Lampong Bay,fifty miles from Krakatoa. The great wave came, tore it from itsanchorage, and carried it—like the vessel of our friend DavidRoy—nearly two miles inland!

Masses of coral of immense size and weight were carried four milesinland by the same wave. The river at Anjer was choked up; the conduitwhich used to carry water into the place was destroyed, and the townitself was laid in ruins.

But these are only a few of the incidents of the great catastrophe. Whocan conceive, much less tell of, those terrible details of sudden deathand disaster to thousands of human beings, resulting from an eruptionwhich destroyed towns like Telok Betong, Anjer, Tyringin, etc., besidesnumerous villages and hamlets on the shores of Java and Sumatra, andcaused the destruction of more than 36,000 souls?

But it is to results of a very different kind, and on a much moreextended scale, that we must turn if we would properly estimate themagnitude, the wide-spreading and far-reaching influences, and theextraordinary character, of the Krakatoa outburst of 1883.

In the first place, it is a fact, testified to by some of the best-knownmen of science, that the shock of the explosion extended appreciablyright round the world, and seventeen miles (some say even higher!) upinto the heavens.

Mr. Verbeek, in his treatise on this subject, estimates that a cubicmile of Krakatoa was propelled in the form of the finest dust into thehigher regions of the atmosphere—probably about thirty miles! The dustthus sent into the sky was of "ultra-microscopic fineness," and ittravelled round and round the world in a westerly direction, producingthose extraordinary sunsets and gorgeous effects and afterglows whichbecame visible in the British Isles in the month of November followingthe eruption; and the mighty waves which caused such destruction in thevicinity of Sunda Straits travelled—not once, but at least—six timesround the globe, as was proved by trustworthy and independentobservations of tide-gauges and barometers made and recorded at the sametime in nearly all lands—including our own.

Other volcanoes, it is said by those who have a right to speak in regardto such matters, have ejected more "stuff," but not one has equalledKrakatoa in the intensity of its explosions, the appalling results ofthe sea-waves, the wonderful effects in the sky, and the almostmiraculous nature of the sounds.

Seated on a log under a palm-tree in Batavia, on that momentous morningof the 27th, was a sailor who had been left behind sick by Captain Roywhen he went on his rather Quixotic trip to the Keeling Islands. He wasa somewhat delicate son of the sea. Want of self-restraint was hiscomplaint—leading to a surfeit of fruit and other things, whichterminated in a severe fit of indigestion and indisposition to life ingeneral. He was smoking—that being a sovereign and infallible cure forindigestion and all other ills that flesh is heir to, as every oneknows!

"I say, old man," he inquired, with that cheerful tone and air whichusually accompanies incapacity for food. "Do it always rain ashes here?"

The old man whom he addressed was a veteran Malay seaman.

"No," replied the Malay, "sometimes it rain mud—hot mud."

"Do it? Oh! well—anything for variety, I s'pose," returned the sailor,with a growl which had reference to internal disarrangements.

"Is it often as dark as this in the daytime, an' is the sun usuallygreen?" he asked carelessly, more for the sake of distracting the mindfrom other matters than for the desire of knowledge.

"Sometime it's more darker," replied the old man. "I've seed it so darkthat you couldn't see how awful dark it was."

As he spoke, a sound that has been described by ear-witnesses as"deafening" smote upon their tympanums, the log on which they satquivered, the earth seemed to tremble, and several dishes in aneighbouring hut were thrown down and broken.

"I say, old man, suthin' busted there," remarked the sailor, taking thepipe from his mouth and quietly ramming its contents down with the endof his blunt forefinger.

The Malay looked grave.

"The gasometer?" suggested the sailor.

"No, that never busts."

"A noo mountain come into action, p'raps, an' blow'd its top off?"

"Shouldn't wonder if that's it—close at hand too. We's used to thathere. But them's bigger cracks than or'nar'."

The old Malay was right as to the cause, but wrong as to distance.Instead of being a volcano "close at hand," it was Krakatoa evisceratingitself a hundred miles off, and the sound of its last grand effort"extended over 50 degrees = about 3000 miles."

On that day all the gas lights were extinguished in Batavia, and thepictures rattled on the walls as though from the action of anearthquake. But there was no earthquake. It was the air-wave fromKrakatoa, and the noise produced by the air-waves that followed wasdescribed as "deafening."

The effect of the sounds of the explosions on the Straits Settlementsgenerally was not only striking, but to some extent amusing. At Carimon,in Java—355 miles distant from Krakatoa—it was supposed that a vesselin distress was firing guns, and several native boats were sent off torender assistance, but no distressed vessel was to be found! At Acheen,in Sumatra—1073 miles distant—they supposed that a fort was beingattacked and the troops were turned out under arms. At Singapore—522miles off—they fancied that the detonations came from a vessel indistress and two steamers were despatched to search for it. And here theeffect on the telephone, extending to Ishore, was remarkable. On raisingthe tubes a perfect roar as of a waterfall was heard. By shouting atthe top of his voice, the clerk at one end could make the clerk at theother end hear, but he could not render a word intelligible. AtPerak—770 miles off—the sounds were thought to be distant salvos ofartillery, and Commander Hon. F. Vereker, R.N., of H.M.S. Magpie, when1227 miles distant (in lat. 5° 52' N. long. 118° 22' E.), states thatthe detonations of Krakatoa were distinctly heard by those on board hisship, and by the inhabitants of the coast as far as Banguey Island, onAugust 27th. He adds that they resembled distant heavy cannonading. In aletter from St. Lucia Bay—1116 miles distant—it was stated that theeruption was plainly heard all over Borneo. A government steamer wassent out from the Island of Timor—1351 miles off—to ascertain thecause of the disturbance! In South Australia also, at places 2250 milesaway, explosions were heard on the 26th and 27th which "awakened"people, and were thought worthy of being recorded and reported. FromTavoy, in Burmah—1478 miles away—the report came—"All day on August27th unusual sounds were heard, resembling the boom of guns. Thinkingthere might be a wreck or a ship in distress, the Tavoy Superintendentsent out the police launch, but they 'could see nothing.'" And so on,far and near, similar records were made, the most distant spot where thesounds were reported to have been heard being Rodriguez, in thePacific, nearly 3000 miles distant!

One peculiar feature of the records is that some ships in the immediateneighbourhood of Krakatoa did not experience the shock in proportionateseverity. Probably this was owing to their being so near that a greatpart of the concussion and sound flew over them—somewhat in the sameway that the pieces of a bomb-shell fly over men who, being too near toescape by running, escape by flinging themselves flat on the ground.

Each air-wave which conveyed these sounds, commencing at Krakatoa as acentre, spread out in an ever-increasing circle till it reached adistance of 180° from its origin and encircled the earth at its widestpart, after which it continued to advance in a contracting form until itreached the antipodes of the volcano; whence it was reflected orreproduced and travelled back again to Krakatoa. Here it was turnedright-about-face and again despatched on its long journey. In this wayit oscillated backward and forward not fewer than six times beforetraces of it were lost. We say "traces," because these remarkable factswere ascertained, tracked, and corroborated by independent barometricobservation in all parts of the earth.

For instance, the passage of the great air-wave from Krakatoa to itsantipodes, and from its antipodes back to Krakatoa, was registered sixtimes by the automatic barometer at Greenwich. The instrument at KewObservatory confirmed the records of Greenwich, and so did thebarometers of other places in the kingdom. Everywhere in Europe alsothis fact was corroborated, and in some places even a seventhoscillation was recorded. The Greenwich record shows that the air-wavestook about thirty-six hours to travel from pole to pole, thus provingthat they travelled at about the rate of ordinary sound-waves, which,roughly speaking, travel at the rate of between six and seven hundredmiles an hour.

The height of the sea-waves that devastated the neighbouring shores,being variously estimated at from 50 to 135 feet, is sufficientlyaccounted for by the intervention of islands and headlands, etc., which,of course, tended to diminish the force, height, and volume of waves invarying degrees.

These, like the air-waves, were also registered—by self-actingtide-gauges and by personal observation—all over the world, and theobservations coincided as to date with the great eruptions of the 26thand 27th of August. The influence of the sea-waves was observed andnoted in the Java sea—which is shallow and where there are innumerableobstructions—as far as 450 miles, but to the west they swept over thedeep waters of the Indian Ocean on to Cape Horn, and even, it is said,to the English Channel.

The unusual disturbance of ocean in various places was sufficientlystriking. At Galle, in Ceylon, where the usual rise and fall of the tideis 2 feet, the master-attendant reports that on the afternoon of the27th four remarkable waves were noticed in the port. The last of thesewas preceded by an unusual recession of the sea to such an extent thatsmall boats at their anchorage were left aground—a thing that had neverbeen seen before. The period of recession was only one-and-a-halfminutes; then the water paused, as it were, for a brief space, and,beginning to rise, reached the level of the highest high-water mark inless than two minutes, thus marking a difference of 8 feet 10 inchesinstead of the ordinary 2 feet.

At one place there was an ebb and flood tide, of unusual extent, withinhalf-an-hour. At another, a belt of land, including a burying-ground,was washed away, so that according to the observer "it appeared as ifthe dead had sought shelter with the living in a neighbouring cocoa-nutgarden!" Elsewhere the tides were seen to advance and recede ten ortwelve times—in one case even twenty times—on the 27th.

At Trincomalee the sea receded three times and returned with singularforce, at one period leaving part of the shore suddenly bare, with fishstruggling in the mud. The utilitarian tendency of mankind was at oncemade manifest by some fishermen who, seizing the opportunity, dashedinto the struggling mass and began to reap the accidental harvest,when—alas for the poor fishermen!—the sea rushed in again and drovethem all away.

In the Mauritius, however, the fishers were more fortunate, for whentheir beach was exposed in a similar manner, they succeeded in capturinga good many fish before the water returned.

Even sharks were disturbed in their sinister and slimy habits of life bythis outburst of Krakatoa—and no wonder, when it is recorded that insome places "the sea looked like water boiling heavily in a pot," andthat "the boats which were afloat were swinging in all directions." Atone place several of these monsters were flung out of their native homeinto pools, where they were left struggling till their enemy manterminated their career.

Everywhere those great waves produced phenomena which were so strikingas to attract the attention of all classes of people, to ensure recordin most parts of the world, and to call for the earnest investigation ofthe scientific men of many lands—and the conclusion to which such menhave almost universally come is, that the strange vagaries of the seaall over the earth, the mysterious sounds heard in so many widelydistant places, and the wonderful effects in the skies of every quarterof the globe, were all due to the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano in1883.

With reference to these last—the sky-effects-a few words may not be outof place here.

The superfine "ultra-microscopic" dust, which was blown by the volcanoin quantities so enormous to such unusual heights, was, after droppingits heavier particles back to earth, caught by the breezes which alwaysblow in the higher regions from east to west, and carried by them formany months round and round the world. The dust was thickly and notwidely spread at first, but as time went on it gradually extended itselfon either side, becoming visible to more and more of earth'sinhabitants, and at the same time becoming necessarily less dense.

Through this medium the sun's rays had to penetrate. In so far as thedust-particles were opaque they would obscure these rays; where theywere transparent or polished they would refract and reflect them. Thatthe material of which those dust-particles was composed was very varioushas been ascertained, proved, and recorded by the Krakatoa Committee.The attempt to expound this matter would probably overtax the enduranceof the average reader, yet it may interest all to know that thisdust-cloud travelled westward within the tropics at the rate of aboutdouble the speed of an express train—say 120 miles an hour; crossed theIndian Ocean and Africa in three days, the Atlantic in two, America intwo, and, in short, put a girdle round the world in thirteen days.Moreover, the cloud of dust was so big that it took two or three days topass any given point. During its second circumnavigation it wasconsiderably spread and thinned, and the third time still more so,having expanded enough to include Europe and the greater part of NorthAmerica. It had thinned away altogether and disappeared in the spring of1884.

Who has not seen—at least read or heard of—the gorgeous skies of theautumn of 1883? Not only in Britain, but in all parts of the world,these same skies were seen, admired, and commented on as marvellous. Andso they were. One of the chief peculiarities about them, besides theirsplendour, was the fact that they consisted chiefly of"afterglows"—that is, an increase of light and splendour after thesetting of the sun, when, in an ordinary state of things, the greyshadows of evening would have descended on the world. Greenish-bluesuns; pink clouds; bright yellow, orange, and crimson afterglows;gorgeous, magnificent, blood-red skies—the commentators seemed unableto find language adequately to describe them. Listen to a Germanobserver's remarks on the subject:—

"The display of November 29th was the grandest and most manifold. Igive a description as exactly; as possible, for its overwhelmingmagnificence still presents itself to me as if it had been yesterday.When the sun had set about a quarter of an hour, there was not muchafterglow, but I had observed a remarkably yellow bow in the south,about 10° above the horizon. In about ten minutes more this arc rosepretty quickly, extended itself all over the east and up to and beyondthe zenith. The sailors declared, 'Sir, that is the Northern Lights.' Ithought I had never seen Northern Lights in greater splendour. Afterfive minutes more the-light had faded, though not vanished, in the eastand south, and the finest purple-red rose up in the south-west; onecould imagine one's-self in Fairyland."

All this, and a great deal more, was caused by the dust of Krakatoa!

"But how—how—why?" exclaims an impatient and puzzled reader.

"Ay—there's the rub." Rubbing, by the way, may have had something to dowith it. At all events we are safe to say that whatever there was ofelectricity in the matter resulted from friction.

Here is what the men of science say—as far as we can gather andcondense.

The fine dust blown out of Krakatoa was found, under the microscope, toconsist of excessively thin, transparent plates or irregular specks ofpumice—which inconceivably minute fragments were caused by enormoussteam pressure in the interior and the sudden expansion of the massesblown out into the atmosphere. Of this glassy dust, that which was blowninto the regions beyond the clouds must have been much finer even thanthat which was examined. These glass fragments were said by Dr. Flügelto contain either innumerable air-bubbles or minute needle-likecrystals, or both. Small though these vesicles were when ejected fromthe volcano, they would become still smaller by bursting when theysuddenly reached a much lower pressure of atmosphere at a great height.Some of them, however, owing to tenacity of material and other causes,might have failed to burst and would remain floating in the upper air asperfect microscopic glass balloons. Thus the dust was a mass ofparticles of every conceivable shape, and so fine that no watches,boxes, or instruments were tight enough to exclude from their interioreven that portion of the dust which was heavy enough to remain on earth!

Now, to the unscientific reader it is useless to say more than that theinnumerable and varied positions of these glassy particles, sometransparent, others semi-transparent or opaque, reflecting the sun'srays in different directions, with a complex modification of colour andeffect resulting from the blueness of the sky, the condition of theatmosphere, and many other causes—all combined to produce theremarkable appearances of light and colour which aroused the admirationand wonder of the world in 1883.

The more one thinks of these things, and the deeper one dives into themysteries of nature, the more profoundly is one impressed at once with ahumbling sense of the limited amount of one's knowledge, and anawe-inspiring appreciation of the illimitable fields suggested by thatcomprehensive expression: "THE WONDERFUL WORKS OF GOD."

CHAPTER XXX.

COMING EVENTS, ETC.—WONDERFUL CHANGES AMONG THE ISLANDS.

Some days after the wreck of the Sunshine, as described in a previouschapter, Captain Roy and his son stood on the coast of Java not far fromthe ruins of Anjer. A vessel was anchored in the offing, and a littleboat lay on the shore.

All sign of elemental strife had passed, though a cloud of smoke hangingover the remains of Krakatoa told that the terrible giant below was notdead but only sleeping—to awake, perchance, after a nap of another 200years.

"Well, father," said our hero with a modest look, "it may be, as yousuggest, that Winnie Van der Kemp does not care for me more than for afathom of salt water——"

"I did not say salt water, lad, I said bilge—a fathom o' bilgewater," interrupted the captain, who, although secretly rejoiced at thefact of his son having fallen over head and ears in love with the prettylittle Cocos-Keeling islander, deemed it his duty, nevertheless, as asternly upright parent, to, make quite sure that the love was mutual aswell as deep before giving his consent to anything like courtship.

"It matters not; salt or bilge water makes little difference," returnedthe son with a smile. "But all I can say is that I care for Winnie somuch that her love is to me of as much importance as sunshine to theworld—and we have had some experience lately of what the want of thatmeans."

"Nonsense, Nigel," returned the captain severely. "You're workin'yourself into them up-in-the-clouds, reef-point-patterin' regionsagain—which, by the way, should be pretty well choked wi' Krakatoa dustby this time. Come down out o' that if ye want to hold or'naryintercourse wi' your old father. She's far too young yet, my boy. Youmust just do as many a young fellow has done before you, attend to yourdooties and forget her."

"Forget her!" returned the youth, with that amused, quiet expressionwhich wise men sometimes assume when listening to foolish suggestions."I could almost as easily forget my mother!"

"A very proper sentiment, Nigel, very—especially the 'almost' part ofit."

"Besides," continued the son, "she is not so very young—and thatdifficulty remedies itself every hour. Moreover, I too am young. I canwait."

"The selfishness of youth is only equalled by its presumption," saidthe captain. "How d'ee know she will wait?"

"I don't know, father, but I hope she will—I—I—think she will."

"Nigel," said the captain, in a tone and with a look that were meant toimply intense solemnity, "have you ever spoken to her about love?"

"No, father."

"Has she ever spoken to you?"

"No—at least—not with her lips."

"Come, boy, you're humbuggin' your old father. Her tongue couldn't welldo it without the lips lendin' a hand."

"Well then—with neither," returned the son. "She spoke with hereyes—not intentionally, of course, for the eyes, unlike the lips,refuse to be under control."

"Hm! I see—reef-point-patterin' poetics again! An' what did she saywith her eyes?"

"Really, father, you press me too hard; it is difficult to translateeye-language, but if you'll only let memory have free play and revert tothat time, nigh quarter of a century ago, when you first met with acertain real poetess, perhaps—"

"Ah! you dog! you have me there. But how dare you, sir, venture to thinkof marryin' on nothin'?"

"I don't think of doing so. Am I not a first mate with a handsomesalary?"

"No, lad, you're not. You're nothin' better than a seaman out o' work,with your late ship wrecked in a cocoa-nut grove!"

"That's true," returned Nigel with a laugh. "But is not the cargo of thesaid ship safe in Batavia? Has not its owner a good bank account inEngland? Won't another ship be wanted, and another first mate, and wouldthe owner dare to pass over his own son, who is such a competentseaman—according to your own showing? Come, father, I turn the tableson you and ask you to aid rather than resist me in this matter."

"Well, I will, my boy, I will," said the captain heartily, as he laidhis hand on his son's shoulder. "But, seriously, you must haul off thislittle craft and clap a stopper on your tongue—ay, and on your eyestoo—till three points are considered an' made quite clear. First, youmust find out whether the hermit would be agreeable. Second, you mustlook the matter straight in the face and make quite sure that you meanit. For better or for worse. No undoin' that knot, Nigel, once it'sfairly tied! And, third, you must make quite sure that Winnie is sure ofher own mind, an' that—that—"

"We're all sure all round, father. Quite right. I agree with you. 'Allfair an' aboveboard' should be the sailing orders of every man in suchmatters, especially of every seaman. But, will you explain how I am tomake sure of Winnie's state of mind without asking her about it?"

"Well, I don't exactly see my way," replied the captain slowly. "Whatd'ee say to my soundin' her on the subject?"

"Couldn't think of it! You may be first-rate at deep-sea soundings,father, but you couldn't sound the depths of a young girl's heart. Imust reserve that for myself, however long it may be delayed."

"So be it, lad. The only embargo that I lay upon you is—haul off, andmind you don't let your figurehead go by the board. Meanwhile, herecomes the boat. Now, Nigel, none o' your courtin' till everything issettled and the wind fair—dead aft my lad, and blowin' stiff. You andthe hermit are goin' off to Krakatoa to-day, I suppose?"

"Yes. I am just now waiting for him and Moses," returned Nigel.

"Is Winnie going?"

"Don't know. I hope so."

"Humph! Well, if we have a fair wind I shall soon be in Batavia," saidthe captain, descending to business matters, "and I expect withouttrouble to dispose of the cargo that we landed there, as well as thatpart o' the return cargo which I had bought before I left forKeeling—at a loss, no doubt, but that don't matter much. Then I'll comeback here by the first craft that offers—arter which——. Ay!—Ay!shove her in here. Plenty o' water."

The last remark was made to the seaman who steered the boat sent fromthe vessel in the offing.

A short time thereafter Captain Roy was sailing away for Batavia, whilehis son, with Van der Kemp, Moses, Winnie, and Spinkie, was making forKrakatoa in a native boat.

The hermit, in spite of his injuries, had recovered his wontedappearance, if not his wonted vigour. Winnie seemed to have suddenlydeveloped into a mature woman under her recent experiences, though shehad lost none of her girlish grace and attractiveness. As forMoses—time and tide seemed to have no effect whatever on his ebonyframe, and still less, if possible, on his indomitable spirit.

"Now you keep still," he said in solemn tones and with warning looks toSpinkie. "If you keep fidgitin' about you'll capsize de boat. You hear?"

Spinkie veiled his real affection for the negro under a look of supremeindifference, while Winnie went off into a sudden giggle at the idea ofsuch a small creature capsizing the boat.

Mindful of his father's warning, Nigel did his best to "haul off" and toprevent his "figurehead" from going "by the board." But he found ituncommonly hard work, for Winnie looked so innocent, so pretty, sounconscious, so sympathetic with everybody and everything, so veryyoung, yet so wondrously wise and womanly, that he felt an irresistibledesire to prostrate himself at her feet in abject slavery.

"Dear little thing," said Winnie, putting her hand on Spinkie's littlehead and smoothing him down from eyes to tail.

Spinkie looked as if half inclined to withdraw his allegiance from Mosesand bestow it on Winnie, but evidently changed his mind after a moment'sreflection.

"O that I were a monkey!" thought Nigel, paraphrasing Shakespeare, "thatI might——" but it is not fair to our hero to reveal him in hisweaker moments!

There was something exasperating, too, in being obliged, owing to thesize of the boat, to sit so close to Winnie without having a right totouch her hand! Who has not experienced this, and felt himself to be avery hero of self-denial in the circ*mstances?

"Mos' awrful hot!" remarked Moses, wiping his forehead with the sleeveof his shirt.

"You hot!" said Nigel in surprise. "I thought nothing on earth couldbe too hot for you."

"Dat's your ignerance," returned Moses calmly. "Us nigg*rs, you see,ought to suffer more fro' heat dan you whites."

"How so?"

"Why, don't your flossiphers say dat black am better dan white for'tractin' heat, an' ain't our skins black? I wish we'd bin' born whiteas chalk. I say, Massa Nadgel, seems to me dat dere's not much left obKrakatoa."

They had approached near enough to the island by that time to perceivethat wonderful changes had indeed taken place, and Van der Kemp, who hadbeen for some time silently absorbed in contemplation, at last turned tohis daughter and said—

"I had feared at first, Winnie, that my old home had been blown entirelyaway, but I see now that the Peak of Rakata still stands, so perhaps Imay yet show you the cave in which I have spent so many years."

"But why did you go to live in such a strange place, dear father?" askedthe girl, laying her hand lovingly on the hermit's arm.

Van der Kemp did not reply at once. He gazed in his child's face with anincrease of that absent air and far-away look which Nigel, ever since hemet him, had observed as one of his characteristics. At this time ananxious thought crossed him,—that perhaps the blows which his friendhad received on his head when he was thrown on the deck of theSunshine might have injured his brain.

"It is not easy to answer your question, dear one," he said after atime, laying his strong hand on the girl's head, and smoothing herluxuriant hair which hung in the untrammelled freedom of nature over hershoulders. "I have felt sometimes, during the last few days, as if Iwere awaking out of a long long dream, or recovering from a severeillness in which delirium had played a prominent part. Even now, thoughI see and touch you, I sometimes tremble lest I should really awake andfind that it is all a dream. I have so often—so very often—dreamedsomething like it in years gone by, but never so vividly as now! Icannot doubt—it is sin to doubt—that my prayers have been at lastanswered. God is good and wise. He knows what is best and does not failin bringing the best to pass. Yet I have doubted Him—again and again."

Van der Kemp paused here and drew his hand across his brow as if toclear away sad memories of the past, while Winnie drew closer to him andlooked up tenderly in his face.

"When your mother died, dear one," he resumed, "it seemed to me as ifthe sun had left the heavens, and when you were snatched from me, itwas as though my soul had fled and nought but animal life remained. Ilived as if in a terrible dream. I cannot recall exactly what I did orwhere I went for a long long time. I know I wandered through thearchipelago looking for you, because I did not believe at first that youwere dead. It was at this time I took up my abode in the cave of Rakata,and fell in with my good faithful friend Moses—"

"Your sarvint, massa," interrupted the negro humbly. "I's proud to becall your frind, but I's only your sarvint, massa."

"Truly you have been my faithful servant, Moses," said Van der Kemp,"but not the less have you been my trusted friend. He nursed me througha long and severe illness, Winnie. How long, I am not quite sure. Aftera time I nearly lost hope. Then there came a very dark period, when Iwas forced to believe that you must be dead. Yet, strange to say, evenduring this dark time I did not cease to pray and to wander about insearch of you. I suppose it was the force of habit, for hope seemed tohave died. Then, at last, Nigel found you. God used him as Hisinstrument. And now, praise to His name, we are reunited—for ever!"

"Darling father!" were the only words that Winnie could utter as shelaid her head on the hermit's shoulder and wept for joy.

Two ideas, which had not occurred to him before, struck Nigel with greatforce at that moment. The one was that whatever or wherever his futurehousehold should be established, if Winnie was to be its chief ornament,her father must of necessity become a member of it. The other idea wasthat he was destined to possess a negro servant with a consequent andunavoidable monkey attendant! How strange the links of which the chainof human destiny is formed, and how wonderful the powers of thought bywhich that chain is occasionally forecast! How to convey all thesepossessions to England and get them comfortably settled there was aproblem which he did not care to tackle just then.

"See, Winnie," said Van der Kemp, pointing with interest to a mark onthe side of Rakata, "yonder is the mouth of my cave. I never saw it soclearly before because of the trees and bushes, but everything seems nowto have been burnt up."

"Das so, massa, an' what hasn't bin bu'nt up has bin blow'd up!"remarked the negro.

"Looks very like it, Moses, unless that is a haze which enshrouds therest of the island," rejoined the other, shading his eyes with hishands.

It was no haze, however; for they found, on drawing nearer, that thegreater part of Krakatoa had, as we have already said, actuallydisappeared from the face of the earth.

When the boat finally rounded the point which hid the northern part ofthe island from view, a sight was presented which it is not often givento human eyes to look upon. The whole mountain named the Peak of Rakata(2623 feet high) had been split from top to bottom, and about one-halfof it, with all that part of the island lying to the northward, had beenblown away, leaving a wall or almost sheer precipice which presented agrand section of the volcano.

Pushing their boat into a creek at the base of this precipice, the partylanded and tried to reach a position from which a commanding view mightbe obtained. This was not an easy matter, for there was not a spot for afoot to rest on which was not covered deeply with pumice-dust and ashes.By dint of perseverance, however, they gained a ledge whence thesurrounding district could be observed, and then it was clearly seen howwide-spread and stupendous the effects of the explosion had been.

Where the greater part of the richly wooded island had formerlyflourished, the ocean now rippled in the sunshine, and of the smallerislands around it Lang Island had been considerably increased in bulkas well as in height. Verlaten Island had been enlarged to more thanthree times its former size and also much increased in height. Theisland named Polish Hat had disappeared altogether, and two entirelynew islets—afterwards named Steers and Calmeyer Islands—hadarisen to the northward.

"Now, friends," said Van der Kemp, after they had noted and commented onthe vast and wonderful changes that had taken place, "we will pull roundto our cave and see what has happened there."

Descending to the boat they rowed round the southern shores of Rakatauntil they reached the little harbour where the boat and canoe hadformerly been kept.

CHAPTER XXXI.

ENDS WITH A STRUGGLE BETWEEN INCLINATION AND DUTY.

"De cave's blowed away too!" was the first remark of Moses as they rowedinto the little port.

A shock of disappointment was experienced by Winnie, for she fanciedthat the negro had referred to her father's old home, but he only meantthe lower cave in which the canoe had formerly been kept. She was soonrelieved as to this point, however, but, when a landing was effected,difficulties that seemed to her almost insurmountable presentedthemselves, for the ground was covered knee-deep with pumice-dust, andthe road to the upper cave was blocked by rugged masses of lava andashes, all heaped up in indescribable confusion.

On careful investigation, however, it was found that after passing acertain point the footpath was almost unencumbered by volcanic débris.This was owing to the protection afforded to it by the cone of Rakata,and the almost overhanging nature of some of the cliffs on that side ofthe mountain; still the track was bad enough, and in places so rugged,that Winnie, vigorous and agile though she was, found it both difficultand fatiguing to advance. Seeing this, her father proposed to carry her,but she laughingly declined the proposal.

Whereupon Nigel offered to lend her a hand over the rougher places, butthis she also declined.

Then Moses, stepping forward, asserted his rights.

"It's my business," he said, "to carry t'ings w'en dey's got to becarried. M'r'over, as I's bin obleeged to leabe Spinkie in charge ob deboat, I feels okard widout somet'ing to carry, an' you ain't muchheavier dan Spinkie, Miss Winnie—so, come along."

He stooped with the intention of grasping Winnie as if she were a littlechild, but with a light laugh the girl sprang away and left Mosesbehind.

"'S'my opinion," said Moses, looking after her with a grin, "dat if depurfesser was here he 'd net her in mistook for a bufferfly. Dar!—she'sdown!" he shouted, springing forward, but Nigel was before him.

Winnie had tripped and fallen.

"Are you hurt, dear—child?" asked Nigel, raising her gently.

"Oh no! only a little shaken," answered Winnie, with a little laugh thatwas half hysterical. "I am strong enough to go on presently."

"Nay, my child, you must suffer yourself to be carried at this part,"said Van der Kemp. "Take her up, Nigel, you are stronger than I amnow. I would not have asked you to do it before my accident!"

Our hero did not need a second bidding. Grasping Winnie in his strongarms he raised her as if she had been a feather, and strode away at apace so rapid that he soon left Van der Kemp and Moses far behind.

"Put me down, now," said Winnie, after a little while, in a low voice."I'm quite recovered now and can walk."

"Nay, Winnie, you are mistaken. The path is very rough yet, and the dustgets deeper as we ascend. Do give me the pleasure of helping you alittle longer."

Whatever Winnie may have felt or thought she said nothing, and Nigel,taking silence for consent, bore her swiftly onward and upward,—with an"Excelsior" spirit that would have thrown the Alpine youth with thebanner and the strange device considerably into the shade,—until heplaced her at the yawning black mouth of the hermit's cave.

But what a change was there! The trees and flowering shrubs and fernswere all gone, lava, pumice, and ashes lay thick on everything around,and only a few blackened and twisted stumps of the larger treesremained to tell that an umbrageous forest had once flourished there.The whole scene might be fittingly described in the two words—greydesolation.

"That is the entrance to your father's old home," said Nigel, as he sethis fair burden down and pointed to the entrance.

"What a dreadful place!" said Winnie, peering into the black depths ofthe cavern.

"It was not dreadful when I first saw it, Winnie, with rich verdureeverywhere; and inside you will find it surprisingly comfortable. But wemust not enter until your father arrives to do the honours of the placehimself."

They had not to wait long. First Moses arrived, and, shrewdly suspectingfrom the appearance of the young couple that they were engaged inconversation that would not brook interruption, or, perhaps, judgingfrom what might be his own wishes in similar circ*mstances, he turnedhis back suddenly on them, and, stooping down, addressed himself to animaginary creature of the animal kingdom.

"What a bootiful bufferfly you is, to be sure! up on sitch a place too,wid nuffin' to eat 'cept Krakatoa dust. I wonder what your moder wouldsay if she know'd you was here. You should be ashamed ob yourself!"

"Hallo! Moses, what are you talking to over there?"

"Nuffin', Massa Nadgel. I was on'y habin' a brief conv'sation wid amember ob de insect wurld in commemoration ob de purfesser. Leastwise,if it warn't a insect it must hab bin suffm' else. Won't you go in, MissWinnie?"

"No, I'd rather wait for father," returned the girl, looking a littleflushed, for some strange and totally unfamiliar ideas had recentlyfloated into her brain and caused some incomprehensible flutterings ofthe heart to which hitherto she had been a stranger.

Mindful of his father's injunctions, however, Nigel had beenparticularly careful to avoid increasing these flutterings.

In a few minutes the hermit came up. "Ah! Winnie," he said, "there hasbeen dire devastation here. Perhaps inside things may look better. Come,take my hand and don't be afraid. The floor is level and your eyes willsoon get accustomed to the dim light."

"I's afeared, massa," remarked Moses, as they entered the cavern, "datyour sun-lights won't be wu'th much now."

"You are right, lad. Go on before us and light the lamps if they are notbroken."

It was found, as they had expected, that, the only light whichpenetrated the cavern was that which entered by the cave's mouth, whichof course was very feeble.

Presently, to Winnie's surprise, Moses was seen issuing from the kitchenwith a petroleum lamp in one hand, the brilliant light of which not onlyglittered on his expressive black visage but sent a ruddy glare all overthe cavern.

Van der Kemp seemed to watch his daughter intently as she gazed in abewildered way around. There was a puzzled look as well as mere surprisein her pretty face.

"Father," she said earnestly, "you have spoken more than once of livingas if in a dream. Perhaps you will wonder when I tell you that Iexperience something of that sort now. Strange though this place seems,I have an unaccountable feeling that it is not absolutely new tome—that I have seen it before."

"I do not wonder, dear one," he replied, "for the drawings that surroundthis chamber were the handiwork of your dear mother, and they decoratedthe walls of your own nursery when you were a little child at yourmother's knee. For over ten long years they have surrounded me and keptyour faces fresh in my memory—though, truth to tell, it needed no suchreminders to do that. Come, let us examine them."

It was pleasant to see the earnest face of Winnie as shehalf-recognised and strove to recall the memories of early childhood inthat singular cavern. It was also a sight worth seeing—the countenanceof Nigel, as well as that of the hermit, while they watched and admiredher eager, puzzled play of feature, and it was the most amazing sight ofall to see the all but superhuman joy of Moses as he held the lamp andlistened to facts regarding the past of his beloved master which werequite new to him—for the hermit spoke as openly about his past domesticaffairs as if he and Winnie had been quite alone.

"He either forgets that we are present, or counts us as part of hisfamily," thought Nigel with a feeling of satisfaction.

"What a dear comoonicative man!" thought Moses, with unconcealedpleasure.

"Come now, let us ascend to the observatory," said the hermit, when allthe things in the library had been examined. "There has been damage donethere, I know; besides, there is a locket there which belonged to yourmother. I left it by mistake one day when I went up to arrange themirrors, and in the hurry of leaving forgot to return for it. Indeed,one of my main objects in re-visiting my old home was to fetch thatlocket away. It contains a lock of hair and one of those miniatureswhich men used to paint before photography drove such work off thefield."

Winnie was nothing loth to follow, for she had reached a romantic periodof life, and it seemed to her that to be led through mysterious cavesand dark galleries in the very heart of a still active volcano by herown father—the hermit of Rakata—was the very embodiment of romanceitself.

But a disappointment awaited them, for they had not proceeded halfwaythrough the dark passage when it was found that a large mass of rock hadfallen from the roof and almost blocked it up.

"There is a space big enough for us to creep through at the right-handcorner above, I think," said Nigel, taking the lantern from Moses andexamining the spot.

"Jump up, Moses, and try it," said the hermit. "If your bulky shouldersget through, we can all manage it."

The negro was about to obey the order when Nigel let the lantern falland the shock extinguished it.

"Oh! Massa Nadgel; das a pritty business!"

"Never mind," said Van der Kemp. "I've got matches, I think, in my—no,I haven't. Have you, Moses?"

"No, massa, I forgit to remember him."

"No matter, run back—you know the road well enough to follow it in thedark. We will wait here till you return. Be smart, now!"

Moses started off at once and for some moments the sound of clatteringalong the passage was heard.

"I will try to clamber through in the dark. Look after Winnie,Nigel—and don't leave the spot where you stand, dear one, for there arecracks and holes about that might sprain your little ankles."

"Very well, father."

"All right. I've got through, Nigel; I'll feel my way on for a littlebit. Remain where you are."

"Winnie," said Nigel when they were alone, "doesn't it feel awesome andstrange to be standing here in such intense darkness?"

"It does—I don't quite like it."

"Whereabouts are you?" said Nigel.

He carefully stretched out his hand to feel, as he spoke, and laid afinger on her brow.

"Oh! take care of my eyes!" exclaimed Winnie with a little laugh.

"I wish you would turn your eyes towards me for I'm convinced theywould give some light—? to me at least. Here, do let me hold yourhand It will make you feel more confident."

To one who is at all familiar with the human frame, the way from thebrow to the hand is comparatively simple. Nigel soon possessed himselfof the coveted article. Like other things of great value the possessionturned the poor youth's head! He forgot his father's warnings for themoment, forgot the hermit and Moses and Spinkie, and the thickdarkness—forgot almost everything in the light of that touch!

"Winnie!" he exclaimed in a tone that quite alarmed her; "I—I—" Hehesitated. The solemn embargo of his father recurred to him.

"What is it! Is there danger?" exclaimed the poor girl, clasping hishand tighter and drawing nearer to him.

This was too much! Nigel felt himself to be contemptible. He was takingunfair advantage of her.

"Winnie," he began again, in a voice of forced calmness, "there is nodanger whatever. I'm an ass—a dolt—that's all! The fact is, I made myfather a sort of half promise that I would not ask your opinion on acertain subject until—until I found out exactly what you thought aboutit. Now the thing is ridiculous—impossible—for how can I know youropinion on any subject until I have asked you?"

"Quite true," returned Winnie simply, "so you better ask me."

"Ha! ha!" laughed Nigel, in a sort of desperate amusem*nt, "I—I—Yes,I will ask you, Winnie! But first I must explain——"

"Hallo! Nigel!" came at that moment from the other side of theobstruction, "are you there—all right?"

"Yes, yes—I'm here—not all right exactly, but I'll be all rightsome day, you may depend upon that!" shouted the youth, in a tone ofindignant exasperation.

"What said you?" asked Van der Kemp, putting his head through the hole.

"Hi! I's a-comin', look out, dar!" hallooed Moses in the oppositedirection.

"Just so," said Nigel, resuming his quiet tone and demeanour, "we'll beall right when the light comes. Here, give us your hand, Van der Kemp."

The hermit accepted the proffered aid and leaped down amongst hisfriends just as Moses arrived with the lantern.

"It's of no use going further," he said. "The passage is completelyblocked up—so we must go round to where the mountain has been split offand try to clamber up. There will be daylight enough yet if we arequick. Come."

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE LAST.

Descending to the boat they rowed round to the face of the great cliffwhich had been so suddenly laid bare when the Peak of Rakata was cleftfrom its summit to its foundations in the sea. It was a wonderfulsight—a magnificent section, affording a marvellous view of theinternal mechanism of a volcano.

But there was no time to spend in contemplation of this extraordinarysight, for evening approached and the hermit's purpose had to beaccomplished.

High up near the top of the mighty cliff could be seen a small hole inthe rock, which was all that remained of the observatory.

"It will be impossible, I fear, to reach that spot," said Nigel; "theredoes not appear to be foothold for a goat."

"I will reach it," said the hermit in a low voice, as he scanned theprecipice carefully.

"So will I," said the negro.

"No, Moses, I go alone. You will remain in the boat and watch. If Ifall, you can pick me up."

"Pick you up!" echoed Moses. "If you tumbles a t'ousand feet into dewater how much t'ink you will be lef to pick up?"

It was useless to attempt to dissuade Van der Kemp. Being well aware ofthis, they all held their peace while he landed on a spur of the rivencliff.

The first part of the ascent was easy enough, the ground having beenirregularly broken, so that the climber disappeared behind masses ofrock at times, while he kept as much as possible to the western edge ofthe mountain where the cleavage had occurred; but as he ascended he wasforced to come out upon narrow ledges that had been left here and thereon the face of the cliff, where he seemed, to those who were watchingfar below, like a mere black spot on the face of a gigantic wall. Stillupward he went, slowly but steadily, till he reached a spot nearly levelwith the observatory. Here he had to go out on the sheer precipice,where his footholds were invisible from below.

Winnie sat in the boat with blanched face and tightly clasped hands,panting with anxiety as she gazed upwards.

"It looks much more dangerous from here than it is in reality," saidNigel to her in a reassuring tone.

"Das true, Massa Nadgel, das bery true," interposed Moses, endeavouringto comfort himself as well as the others by the intense earnestness ofhis manner. "De only danger, Miss Winnie, lies in your fadder losin' hishead at sitch a t'riffic height, an' dar's no fear at all ob dat, forMassa neber loses his head—pooh! you might as well talk ob him losin'his heart. Look! look! he git close to de hole now—he put hisfoot—yes—next step—dar! he've done it!"

With the perspiration of anxiety streaming down his face the negrorelieved his feelings by a wild prolonged cheer. Nigel obtained the samerelief by means of a deep long-drawn sigh, but Winnie did not move; sheseemed to realise her father's danger better than her companions, andremembered that the descent would be much more difficult than theascent. They were not kept long in suspense. In a few minutes the hermitreappeared and began to retrace his steps—slowly but steadily—and thewatchers breathed more freely.

Moses was right; there was in reality little danger in the climb, forthe ledges which appeared to them like mere threads, and the footholdsthat were almost invisible, were in reality from a foot to three feetwide. The only danger lay in the hermit's head being unable to stand thetrial, but, as Moses had remarked, there was no fear of that.

The watchers were therefore beginning to feel somewhat relieved fromthe tension of their anxiety, when a huge mass of rock was seen to slipfrom the face of the cliff and descend with the thunderous roar of anavalanche. The incident gave those in the boat a shock, for the landslipoccurred not far from the spot which Van der Kemp had reached, but as hestill stood there in apparent safety there seemed no cause for alarmtill it was observed that the climber remained quite still for a longtime and, seemed to have no intention of moving.

"God help him!" cried Nigel in sudden alarm, "the ledge has been carriedaway and he cannot advance! Stay by the boat, Moses, I will run to helphim!"

"No, Massa Nadgel," returned the negro, "I go to die wid 'im. Boat kinlook arter itself."

He sprang on shore as he spoke, and dashed up the mountain-side like ahunted hare.

Our hero looked at Winnie for an instant in hesitation.

"Go!" said the poor girl. "You know I can manage a boat—quick!"

Another moment and Nigel was following in the track of the negro. Theygained the broken ledge together, and then found that the space betweenthe point which they had reached and the spot on which the hermit stoodwas a smooth face of perpendicular rock—an absolutely impassable gulf!

Van der Kemp was standing with his back flat against the precipice andhis feet resting on a little piece of projecting rock not more thanthree inches wide. This was all that lay between him and the hideousdepth below, for Nigel found on carefully drawing nearer that theavalanche had been more extensive than was apparent from below, and thatthe ledge beyond the hermit had been also carried away—thus cuttingoff his retreat as well as his advance.

"I can make no effort to help myself," said Van der Kemp in a low butcalm voice, when our hero's foot rested on the last projecting pointthat he could gain, and found that with the utmost reach of his arm hecould not get within six inches of his friend's outstretched hand.Besides, Nigel himself stood on so narrow a ledge, and against so steepa cliff, that he could not have acted with his wonted power even if thehand could have been grasped. Moses stood immediately behind Nigel,where the ledge was broader and where a shallow recess in the rockenabled him to stand with comparative ease. The poor fellow seemed torealise the situation more fully than his companion, for despair waswritten on every feature of his expressive face.

"What is to be done?" said Nigel, looking back.

"De boat-rope," suggested the negro.

"Useless," said Van der Kemp, in a voice as calm and steady as if hewere in perfect safety, though the unusual pallor of his gravecountenance showed that he was fully alive to the terrible situation. "Iam resting on little more than my heels, and the strain is almost toomuch for me even now. I could not hold on till you went to the boat andreturned. No, it seems to be God's will—and," added he humbly, "Hiswill be done."

"O God, send us help!" cried Nigel in an agony of feeling that he couldnot master.

"If I had better foothold I might spring towards you and catch hold ofyou," said the hermit, "but I cannot spring off my heels. Besides, Idoubt if you could bear my weight."

"Try, try!" cried Nigel, eagerly extending his hand. "Don't fear for mystrength—I've got plenty of it, thank God! and see, I have my right armwedged into a crevice so firmly that nothing could haul it out."

But Van der Kemp shook his head. "I cannot even make the attempt," hesaid. "The slightest move would plunge me down. Dear boy! I know thatyou and your father and Moses will care for my Winnie, and—"

"Massa!" gasped Moses, who while the hermit was speaking had beenworking his body with mysterious and violent energy; "massa! couldn'tyou fall dis way, an' Nadgel could kitch your hand, an' I's got myleg shoved into a hole as nuffin' 'll haul it out ob. Dere's a hollerplace here. If Nadgel swings you into dat, an' I only once grab you byde hair—you're safe!"

"It might be done—tried at least," said the hermit, looking anxiouslyat his young friend.

"Try it!" cried Nigel, "I won't fail you."

It is not possible for any except those who have gone through a somewhatsimilar ordeal to understand fully the test of cool courage which Vander Kemp had to undergo on that occasion.

Shutting his eyes for a moment in silent prayer, he deliberately workedwith his shoulders upon the cliff against which he leaned until he felthimself to be on the point of falling towards his friend, and the twooutstretched hands almost touched.

"Now, are you ready?" he asked.

"Ready," replied Nigel, while Moses wound both his powerful arms roundhis comrade's waist and held on.

Another moment and the hands clasped, Nigel uttered an irrepressibleshout as the hermit swung off, and, coming round with great violence tothe spot where the negro had fixed himself, just succeeded in catchingthe edge of the cliff with his free hand.

"Let go, Nigel," he shouted;—"safe!"

The poor youth was only too glad to obey, for the tremendous pull hadwrenched his arm out of the crevice in which he had fixed it, and for amoment he swayed helplessly over the awful abyss.

"Don't let me go, Moses!" he yelled, as he made a frantic but futileeffort to regain his hold,—for he felt that the negro had loosened oneof his arms though the other was still round him like a hoop of iron.

"No fear, Nadgel," said Moses, "I's got you tight—only don' wriggle.Now, massa, up you come."

Moses had grasped his master's hair with a grip: that well-nigh scalpedhim, and he held on until the hermit had got a secure hold of the ledgewith both hands. Then he let the hair go, for he knew that to an athletelike his master the raising himself by his arms on to the ledge would bethe Work of a few seconds. Van der Kemp was thus able to assist inrescuing Nigel from his position of danger.

But the expressions of heartfelt thankfulness for this deliverance whichnaturally broke from them were abruptly checked when it was found thatMoses could by no means extract his leg out of the hole into which hehad thrust it, and that he was suffering great pain.

After some time, and a good deal of violent wrenching, during which oursable hero mingled a few groans in strange fashion with hiscongratulations, he was got free, and then it was found that the strainhad been too much for even his powerful bones and sinews, for the legwas broken.

"My poor fellow!" murmured Van der Kemp, as he went down on his knees toexamine the limb.

"Don' care a buttin for dat, massa. You're safe, an' Nadgel's safe—an'it only cost a broken leg! Pooh! das nuffin'!" said Moses, unable torepress a few tears in the excess of his joy and pain!

With considerable difficulty they carried the poor negro down to theboat, where they found Winnie, as might be supposed, in a half-faintingcondition from the strain of prolonged anxiety and terror to which shehad been subjected; but the necessity of attending to the case of theinjured Moses was an antidote which speedily restored her.

Do you think, good reader, that Nigel and Winnie had much difficulty incoming to an understanding after that, or that the hermit was disposedto throw any obstacles in the way of true love? If you do, let us assureyou that you are mistaken. Surely this is information enough for anyintelligent reader.

Still, it may be interesting to add, difficulties did not all at oncedisappear. The perplexities that had already assailed Nigel more thanonce assailed him again—perplexities about a negro man-servant, and ahousehold monkey, and a hermit father-in-law, and a small income—tosay nothing of a disconsolate mother-poetess in England and a fatherroving on the high seas! How to overcome these difficulties gave himmuch thought and trouble; but they were overcome at last. That whichseemed impossible to man proved to be child's-play in the hands ofwoman. Winnie solved the difficulty by suggesting that they should allreturn to the Cocos-Keeling Islands and dwell together there forevermore!

Let us drop in on them, good reader, at a later period, have a look atthem, and bid them all good-bye.

On a green knoll by the margin of the lagoon stands a beautiful cottagewith a garden around it, and a pleasure-boat resting on the white coralsand in front. From the windows of that cottage there is a mostmagnificent view of the lagoon with its numerous islets and itspicturesque palm-trees. Within that cottage dwell Nigel and Winnie, anda brown-eyed, brown-haired, fair-skinned baby girl who is "the mostextraordinary angel that ever was born." It has a nurse of its own, butis chiefly waited on and attended to by an antique poetess, who dwellsin another cottage, a stone's-cast off, on the same green knoll. Thereshe inspires an ancient mariner with poetical sentiments—not yourup-in-the-clouds, reef-point-pattering nonsense, observe; but the realgenuine article, superior to "that other fellow's," you know—when notactively engaged with the baby.

The first cottage is named Rakata, in honour of our hermit, who is oneof its inhabitants. The second is named Krakatoa by its eccentric owner,Captain Roy.

It must not be imagined, however, that our friends have settled downthere to spend their lives in idleness. By no means. This probably wouldnot be permitted by the "King of the Cocos Islands" even if they wishedto do so. But they do not wish that. There is no such condition asidleness in the lives of good men and women.

Nigel has taken to general superintendence of the flourishing communityin the midst of which he has cast his lot. He may be almost regarded asthe prime minister of the islands, in addition to which he has startedan extensive boat-building business and a considerable trade incocoa-nuts, etc., with the numerous islands of the Java Sea; also asaw-mill, and a forge, and a Sunday-school—in which last the pretty,humble-minded Winnie lends most efficient aid. Indeed it is said thatshe is the chief manager as well as the life and soul of that business,though Nigel gets all the credit.

Captain Roy sometimes sails his son's vessels, and sometimes looksafter the secular education of the Sunday-school children—the saideducation being conducted on the principle of unlimited story-tellingwith illimitable play of fancy. But his occupations areirregular—undertaken by fits and starts, and never to be counted on.His evenings he usually devotes to poetry and pipes—for the captain isobstinate, and sticks—like most of us—to his failings as well as hisfancies.

There is a certain eccentric individual with an enthusiastic temperamentand blue binoculars who pays frequent and prolonged visits to theKeeling Islands. It need scarcely be said that his name is Verkimier.There is no accounting for the tastes of human beings. Notwithstandingall his escapes and experiences, that indomitable man of science stillranges, like a mad philosopher, far and wide over the archipelago inpursuit of "booterflies ant ozer specimens of zee insect vorld." It isobserved, however, even by the most obtuse among his friends, thatwhereas in former times the professor's nights were centrifugal theyhave now become centripetal—the Keeling Islands being the great centretowards which he flies. Verkimier is, and probably will always be, asubject of wonder and of profound speculation to the youthfulinhabitants of the islands. They don't understand him and he does notunderstand them. If they were insects he would take deep andintelligent interest in them. As they are merely human beings, heregards them with that peculiar kind of interest with which men regardthe unknown and unknowable. He is by no means indifferent to them. He istoo kindly for that. He studies them deeply, though hopelessly, and whenhe enters the Sunday-school with his binoculars—which he often does, tolisten—a degree of awe settles down on the little ones which it isimpossible to evoke by the most solemn appeals to their spiritualnatures.

Nigel and Winnie have a gardener, and that gardener is black—as blackas the Ace of Spades or the King of Ashantee. He dwells in a corner ofthe Rakata Cottage, but is addicted to spending much of his spare timein the Krakatoa one. He is as strong and powerful as ever, but limpsslightly on his right leg—his "game" leg, as he styles it. He is, ofcourse, an immense favourite with the young people—not less than withthe old. He has been known to say, with a solemnity that might ticklethe humorous and horrify the timid, that he wouldn't "hab dat game legmade straight agin! no, not for a hundred t'ousand pounds. 'Cause why?—it was an eber-present visible reminder dat once upon a time he had delibes ob massa and Nadgel in his arms ahangin' on to his game leg, an'dat, t'rough Gracious Goodness, he sabe dem bof!"

Ha! You may smile at Moses if you will, but he can return the smilewith kindly interest, for he is actuated by that grand principle whichwill sooner or later transform even the scoffers of earth, and which isembodied in the words—"Love is the fulfilling of the law."

Even the lower animals testify to this fact when the dog licks the handthat smites it and accords instant forgiveness on the slightestencouragement. Does not Spinkie prove it also, when, issuing at call,from its own pagoda in the sunniest corner of the Rakata garden, itforsakes cocoa-nuts, sugar-cane, fruits, and other delights, to lay itslittle head in joyful consecration on the black bosom of its benignantfriend?

And what of Moses' opinion of the new home? It may be shortly expressedin his own words-"It's heaben upon eart', an' de most happiest time aseber occurred to me was dat time when Sunda Straits went into cumbusti'nan' Krakatoa was Blown to Bits."

THE END

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"There are few boys or girls to whom this story will not proveinteresting reading."—Court Circular.

KATHLEEN. 5s.

"Worthy of high praise, thoroughly good and very interesting."—ChurchBells.

"A fascinating tale."—Record.

OLD UMBRELLAS; or, Clarrie and her Mother. 2s.

"The book is bright and lively, and will be read with pleasure andprofit."—Christian.

MILES MURCHISON. Illustrated. Small crown 8vo. 1s. 6d.

By Dr. MACAULAY.

STRANGE YET TRUE. With many Illustrations. Extra crown 8vo. 5s.

By S.M.S. CLARKE (Mrs. Pereira).

BARON AND SQUIRE. A Story of the Thirty Years' War. From the German ofN. NOELDECHEN. With Sixteen Illustrations. Extra crown 8vo. 5s.

THE DUKE'S PAGE; or, "In the Days of Luther." A Story for Boys. From theGerman. Sixteen Illustrations. Extra crown 8vo. 5s.

"A spirited and attractive narrative."—Literary Churchman.

"A capital story for boys."—Guardian.

"This is one of the most fascinating historical tales we have everread."—British Weekly.

"Throughout incident succeeds incident, and the interest never flagsuntil the end is reached."—Public Opinion.

"A very good story.... Of sterling value."—Spectator.

THE TRIVIAL ROUND; or, Chapters of Village Life. With Illustrations.Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

"A book that will interest and refresh dwellers in cities with thisglimpse of a life in many respects different from theirown."—Academy.

"These scenes from village life will be a source of pleasure to verymany readers. The story is ably worked out and pleasantly told."—JohnBull.

By Rev. J. REID HOWATT.

THE CHILDREN'S PEW. Extra crown 8vo. 6s.

THE CHILDREN'S PULPIT. A Year's Sermons and Parables for the Young.Extra crown 8vo. 6s.

"The subjects are well selected; the style is always simple andforcible; and the lessons which the preacher desires to impress upon themind are such as every youthful reader may appreciate. The sermons haveanother merit—that of brevity."—Scotsman.

"Simple, suggestive, and singularly happy in illustration andtreatment."—Word and Work. ^

THE CHILDREN'S ANGEL. A Volume of Sermons to Children. Crown 8vo. 2s.6d.

"Fifty-three brief addresses to children. Direct, as such things shouldbe; clear, as they must always be; and interesting, as, if any good isto be done, they are bound to be—they contain a collection of truthswhich children ought to be taught, and the teacher is always bright andclear, which is saying a great deal."—Church Bells.

"These sermonettes are eminently practical, while their homely style andfreedom from cant are delightful."—Christian Commonwealth.

By Lady KENNETT-BARRINGTON.

BIBLE HISTORY FOR CHILDREN. With a Short History of Christianity afterthe Days of the Apostles. With Illustrations. Small crown 8vo. 1s. 6d.

"This book is eminently adapted for children's capabilities, and has thegreat advantage of keeping as nearly as possible to Bible language. Itis an excellent little book."—Christian Commonwealth.

"A little work that will commend itself to all who have to do with thereligious training of the young."—Church Bells.

"The work is well and carefully done, the main current of the Biblestory being rendered with point and brevity in the very spirit of theScriptures."—School Board Chronicle.

By WILLIAM CHARLES METCALFE.

STEADY YOUR HELM; or, Stowed Away. With Six Illustrations. Extra crown8vo. 5s.

ABOVEBOARD. A Tale of Adventure on the Sea. With Six Illustrations.Extra crown 8vo. 5s.

"This is a delightfully exciting tale of the adventures of two sailorlads, with icebergs, pirates, and similar horrors of the sea. Its chiefdefect is that it leaves off too soon, even at the end of more than 300pages."—Pall Mall Gazette.

"This story of a cruise is about as full of adventures as it can wellbe. There is plenty of 'go' in the narrative, and the incidents succeedeach other with a very plausible probability."—Spectator.

"It is a long time since we have read anything racier, breezier, morehealthful and invigorating than Mr. Metcalfe's fine seastory."—Methodist Recorder.

FRANK WEATHERALL; or, Life in the Merchant Marine. A Sea Story forYouth. Illustrated. Small crown 8vo. 2s.

By Mrs. SAXBY.

TOM AND HIS CROWS. Illustrated. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.

VIKING BOYS. With Four Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

"Wholesome and manly in tone, the book is thoroughly fresh and natural."—Morning Post.

"We prophesy that the tale of the Viking boys and their wild deeds willbecome as popular as 'The Lads of Lunda,' and all the other stories withwhich Mrs. Saxby has delighted us."—Athenæum.

THE LADS OF LUNDA. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.

"A perfect book for boys—generous, wholesome, manly in tone, and withalthoroughly young, fresh, and natural. We recommend the book heartily,not only to all boys, but to everybody who knows and likes braveboys."-Guardian.

"A capital book. The tales are full of fun and pathos."—Athenæum.

THE YARL'S YACHT. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.

"'The Yarl's Yacht' is even superior in interest to itspredecessor."-Standard.

"Mrs. Saxby knows young people as few know them, and they will in returnthoroughly appreciate her. As long as she writes such genuine,refreshing, happy family stories for them, they certainly will be mostfortunate."—Spectator.

"'The Yarl's Yacht' is a delightful sequel to the 'Lads ofLunda.'"—Times.

THE HOME OF A NATURALIST. By JESSIE M.E. SAXBY and the Rev. BIOTEDMONSTON. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

"We would fain linger long over the scenes which this excellent volumebrings up before us. The authors have put together a very refreshing setof memories."—Saturday Review.

By EVA TRAVERS EVERED POOLE.

LOTTA'S LIFE MISTAKE. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 1s.

GOLDEN LINKS IN A LIFE CHAIN. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.

"GOOD-NIGHT" THOUGHTS ABOUT GOD; or, Evening Readings for the Young.Small crown 8vo. 1s. 6d.

By BARLEY DALE.

A TALE OF OUGHTS AND CROSSES; or, Mr. Holland's Conquest. WithIllustrations. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

SPOILT GUY. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 1s. 6d. "A pretty tale, andcontains excellent religious teaching."—Church, Sunday-SchoolMagazine.

CISSY'S TROUBLES. With Illustrations. Small crown 8vo. 1s. 6d.

"A very charming story."—Yorkshire Post.

"The book will be a favourite with young people, especially with ourgirls."—Family Churchman.

LITTLE BRICKS. With Illustrations. Small crown 8vo. 1s. 6d. "The storyis fascinating from the interest which is excited and maintained It iswritten with power and insight."—Courant.

By ELLEN L. DAVIS.

HIGH AND LOWLY: A Story of Hearts and Homes. With Illustrations. Crown8vo. 1s. 6d.

YOKED TOGETHER: A Tale of Three Sisters. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo.2s.

"A quiet domestic story of deep interest-, with several strikingsituations, described with considerable power."—Leeds Mercury.

A BOY'S WILL. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 1s. 6d.

"The book is full of life and character, and would be a fitting giftalike to the Sunday-school teacher and the scholar."—BritishMessenger.

By the Rev. GEORGE EVERARD, M.A.

YOUR SUNDAYS: Fifty-Two Short Readings. Especially intended forSchoolboys. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.

"YOUR INNINGS:" A Book for Schoolboys. Sixth Thousand. Crown 8vo. 1s.6d.

EDIE'S LETTER; or, Talks with the Little Folks. 4to. 2s. 6d.

By Miss HAVERGAL.

STREAMLETS OF SONG FOR THE YOUNG. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

MORNING BELLS. Being Waking Thoughts for the Little Ones. Royal 32mo,9d.; paper cover, 6d.

LITTLE PILLOWS. Being Good Night Thoughts for the Little Ones. 32mo,9d.; paper cover, 6d.

MORNING STARS; or, Names of Christ for His Little Ones. 32mo. 9d.

THE FOUR HAPPY DAYS. 16mo. 1s.

BEN BRIGHTBOOTS, and Other True Stories. Crown 8vo. 1s.

BRUEY. A Little Worker for Christ. Crown 8vo. 1s. 6d.; paper cover, 1s.

MEMORIALS OF LITTLE NONY. A Biography of Nony Heywood, who was the FirstCollector for the Bruey Branch of the Irish Society. By her Mother. WithPreface by Miss HAVERGAL, and a Portrait. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.

By the Rev. J.B. MACDUFF, D.D.

PARABLES OF THE LAKE; or, The Seven Stories of Jesus by the Lake ofGalilee. A Sunday Book for Young Readers. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo.3s. 6d.

THE STORY OF A SHELL. A Romance of the Sea: with some Sea Teachings. ABook for Boys and Girls. With Coloured Frontispiece and OtherIllustrations. Small 4to. 6s. Cheaper Edition, paper cover, 1s.; limpcloth, 2s.

THE STORY OF BETHLEHEM. A Book for Children. With Illustrations byTHOMAS. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.

HOSANNAS OF THE CHILDREN. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 5s.

THE WOODCUTTER OF LEBANON. A Story Illustrative of a Jewish Institution.16mo. 2s.

TALES OF THE WARRIOR JUDGES. Fcap. 8vo. 2s. 6d.

THE CITIES OF REFUGE; or, The Name of Jesus. A Sunday Book for theYoung. 16mo. 1s. 6d.

FERGUS MORTON. A Tale of a Scottish Boy. 18mo. 9d.

THE EXILES OF LUCERNA; or, The Sufferings of the Waldenses during thePersecution of 1686. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.

THE FOOTSTEPS OF ST. PAUL. Being a Life of the Apostle designed forYouth. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 5s.

BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN; or, Christ the Light of the World. A Life of OurLord for the Young. With Illustrations by A. ROWAN. Post 4to. 3s. 6d.;in paper cover, 1s.; limp cloth, 2s.

WILLOWS BY THE WATERCOURSES; or, God's Promises to the Young. 64mo. 6d.;paper cover, 3d.

By Rev. J. JACKSON WRAY.

OLD CRUSTY'S NIECE. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

WILL IT LIFT? A Story of a London Fog. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo.3s. 6d.

JACK HORNER THE SECOND. With Illustrations. Cr. 8vo. 2s;

SIMON HOLMES, THE CARPENTER IF ASPENDALE. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo.3s. 6d.

THE SECRET OF THE MERE; or, Under the Surface. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.

GARTON ROWLEY; or, Leaves from the Log of a Master Mariner. WithIllustrations. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

HONEST JOHN STALLIBRASS. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

THE CHRONICLES OF CAPSTAN CABIN. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

MATTHEW MELLOWDEW. With Frontispiece. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

NESTLETON MAGNA. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

PETER PENGELLY. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 1s. 6d.

PAUL MEGGITT'S DELUSION. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

A MAN EVERY INCH OF HIM. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

THE "KNAPSACK" SERIES.

With Frontispiece. Small crown 8vo. 1s. each.

1. THE MAN WITH THE KNAPSACK; or, The Miller o Burnham Lee.

2. WIDOW WINPENNY'S WATCHWORD.

3. PRIMROSE GARTH.

4. "A SONG O' SIXPENCE" FOR THE BAIRNS.

5. GEOFFREY HALLAM; or, The Clerk of the Parish.

By Mrs. BARBOUR.

THE WAY HOME, AND HOW THE CHILDREN REACHED IT BY A RAILWAY ACCIDENT.With Illustrations. Eighteenth Thousand. 16mo. 1s. 6d. limp; 2s. 6d.boards.

THE IRISH ORPHAN IN A SCOTTISH HOME. A Sequel to "The Way Home." 16mo.1s. limp; 2s. 6d. boards.

THE CHILD OF THE KINGDOM. Twenty-second Thousand. With Illustrations.16mo. 1s. limp; 2s. 6d. boards.

THE SOUL-GATHERER. Seventeenth Thousand. 16mo. 1s. limp; cloth gilt, 2s.6d.

By Mrs. HAYCRAFT.

SUNWOOD GLORY; or, Through the Refiner's Fire. With Four Illustrations.Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

By ESMÉ STUART.

A BRAVE FIGHT, AND OTHER STOKIES. With Four Illustrations. Crown 8vo.2s. 6d.

By EDITH RALPH.

STEP BY STEP THROUGH THE BIBLE. Part I. A Scripture History for LittleChildren. With a Preface by CUNNINGHAM GEIKIE, D.D., LL.D., and TwelveIllustrations. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.

Part II. From Death of Joshua to end of the Old Testament. A ScriptureHistory for Little Children. Revised and recommended by CUNNINGHAMGEIKIE, D.D., LL.D. Twelve Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.

MRS. LESTER'S GIRLS AND THEIR SERVICE. By the Author of "Miss Marston'sGirls and their Confirmation." With Frontispiece. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.

"A good book for young servants, or for reading at a sewing-classattended by young women. Its tone and teaching are all we couldwish."—Record..

"Its evident truthfulness and fidelity to nature make us think that itis founded upon much experience of young girls in the working class. Tosuch it would, no doubt, be exceedingly interesting."—LiteraryChurchman.

MISS MARSTON'S GIRLS AND THEIR CONFIRMATION. With Frontispiece. Crown8vo. 1s.

By the Rev. DAVID MacEWAN, D.D.

THIS YEAR. Anniversary Addresses for the Young. Second Edition. Square16mo. 1s.

By the Rev. JAMES WELLS, M.A.

BIBLE OBJECT-LESSONS. Addresses to Children. With Illustrations. Crown8vo. 3s. 6d.

BIBLE ECHOES: Addresses to the Young. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

THE PARABLES OF JESUS. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 5s.

BIBLE CHILDREN. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

BIBLE IMAGES. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

"Mr. Wells has in these volumes been content to restrict himself to anendeavour to win and instruct the young. He has done this with admirableskill, with great transparency of meaning, vividness of treatment andnicety of discrimination, combined with a befitting freedom and animpressive earnestness."—Literary World.

"Mr. Wells contrives by a studied plainness of diction, by thesimplicity and directness of his style, by his evident earnestness andkindliness, and a wealth of illustrative anecdotes, to minimise thedifficulties which children have to encounter in grasping new andespecially abstract ideas."—Scotsman.

By Lady DUNBOYNE.

BREAKING OF THE CLOUDS. Crown 8vo. Illustrated. 2s.

CHARITY. A Tale. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 2s.

HER LIFE'S WORK. A Tale. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

"The story, which is pleasantly and touchingly told, is thoroughlysuitable for a gift-book for girls of the upper classes."—Guardian.

By the Rev. J.H. WILSON.

THE KING'S MESSAGE. A Book for the Young. With Illustrations. Smallcrown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

"The union of solid teaching and fervent appeal with a cheerful outlookon life we have seldom, if ever, seen more happily exemplified. Dr.Wilson's book is as winsome as it is wise, thoroughly human in itsspirit and robust in its tone and teaching."—Christian Leader.

"No better book than this very thoughtful, clearly and beautifullywritten and tastefully illustrated volume, could be put into the handsof the young."—Aberdeen Free Press.

THE GOSPEL AND ITS FRUITS. A Book for the Young. With Illustrations.Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

"Exceedingly plain, practical, and pointed, full of striking andingenious illustrations."—Aberdeen Journal.

OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN: The Lord's Prayer Familiarly Explained andIllustrated for the Young. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.

"Dr. Wilson graduated long since as a prophet of God who has a voice forthe young. His explanation of the Lord's Prayer has made him a dearfriend to many a parent as well as child."—Presbyterian Churchman.

"Dr. Wilson's addresses are admirable specimens of what productions ofthe kind should be, pithy, pointed, and practical, and abounding inanecdotes and illustrations."—Congregational Review.

By L.T. MEADE.

A LONDON BABY: The Story of King Roy. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 2s.

"Very touching and sad, though the end is happy."—Athenæum.

THE CHILDREN'S PILGRIMAGE. With Illustrations. Small Crown 8vo, 2s.;gilt edges, 2s. 6d.

"Displays vivid conception of character, and clear, graphic description.The story is full of incident and adventure."—Literary Churchman.

By Mrs. WINSCOM.

DEAR OLD ENGLAND. A Description of our Fatherland. Dedicated to allEnglish Children. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.

"English children will find much that is well worth knowing, and welltold, in this copiously illustrated volume."—Christian World.

By the Rev. W.W. TULLOCH, B.D.

THE STORY OF THE LIFE OF THE EMPEROR WILLIAM. Told for Boys and Girlsall over the World. With Frontispiece. Crown 8vo, 2s. 6d.; with giltedges, 3s. 6d.

REVISED BY THE QUEEN.

THE STORY OF THE LIFE OF THE PRINCE CONSORT. Told for Boys and Girls.Crown 8vo, 2s. 6d.; with gilt edges, 3s. 6d.

THE STORY OF THE LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA. Told for Boys and Girls allover the World. With Two Portraits. Crown 8vo, 2s. 6d.; with gilt edges,3s. 6d.

THE "CHIMES" SERIES.

Crown 8vo. Numerous Illustrations. 3s. 6d. each.

By Mrs. MARSHALL.

1. SILVER CHIMES; or, Olive.
2. DAPHNE'S DECISION; or, Which Shall it Be.
3. CASSANDRA'S CASKET.
4. POPPIES AND PANSIES.
5. REX AND REGINA; or, The Song of the River.
6. STORIES OF THE CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ENGLAND.
7. DEWDROPS AND DIAMONDS.
8. HEATHER AND HAREBELL.
9. THE ROSES OF RINGWOOD. A Story for Children.
10. IN THE PURPLE.

THE "LAUREL" SERIES.

Crown 8vo. Numerous Illustrations. 2s. 6d. each.

1. TOM AND HIS CROWS. By Mrs. SAXBY, Author of "Viking Boys," &c.
2. WATCH AND WATCH. By W.C. METCALFE, Author of "Frank Weatherall."
3. WINNING HIS LAURELS; or, The Boys of St. Raglan's. By F.M. HOLMES.
4. THAT AGGRAVATING SCHOOLGIRL. By GRACE STEBBING.
5. WHAT A MAN SOWETH. By GRACE STEBBING.
6. DULCIBEL'S DAY DREAMS; or, The Grand, Sweet Song. By Mrs. MARSHALL.
7. THE LADS OF LUNDA. By JESSIE M.E. SAXBY.
8. THE YARL'S YACHT. By JESSIE M.E. SAXBY.
9. A NEW EXODUS; or, The Exiles of the Zillerthal. A Story of theProtestants of the Tyrol. By CATHERINE RAY.
10. GRACE MURRAY. A Story. By ELLA STONE.
11. MR. ORDE'S GRANDCHILDREN. By CECILIA SELBY LOWNDES.
12. WHERE THE DEW FALLS IN LONDON. By SARAH DOUDNEY.

THE "SUNSHINE" SERIES.

Crown 8vo. Numerous Illustrations. 2s. each.

1. THE BREAKING OF THE CLOUDS. By Lady DUNBOYNE, Author of "Charity,"&c. &c.
2. THROUGH SHADOW TO SUNSHINE. By Mrs. HORNIBROOK.
3. A SUMMER IN THE LIFE OF TWO LITTLE CHILDREN. By Mrs. HOWARD.
4. OLIVER'S OLD PICTURES; or, The Magic Circle. By Mrs. MARSHALL.
5. RUBY AND PEARL; or, The Children at Castle Aylmer. By Mrs. MARSHALL.
6. LADY TEMPLE'S GRANDCHILDREN. By Miss EVERETT GREEN.
7. A LONDON BABY: The Story of King Roy. By L.T. MEADE.
8. HIDDEN HOMES; or, The Children's Discoveries. By M.A. PAULL RIPLEY.
9. AN UNWILLING WITNESS. By Miss LYSTER.
10. OUR NEIGHBOUR, WIDOW YATES. By GRACE STEBBING.
11. BIBLE PLANTS AND ANIMALS. Containing Illustrations of over 1000Passages of Scripture from the Works of Travellers and other Sources. ByALFRED E. KNIGHT.

THE "MARBECK" SERIES.

Crown 8vo. Numerous Illustrations. 1s. 6d. each

1. THE STORY OF JOHN MARBECK: A Windsor Organist of 300 Years Ago. ByMrs. MARSHALL.
2. MY GRANDMOTHER'S PICTURES. By Mrs. MARSHALL.
3. THE OLD VIOLIN; or, Charity Hope's Own Story. By EDITH C. KENYON.
4. A BOY'S WILL. By ELLEN L. DAVIS.
5. SPOILT GUY. By DARLEY DALE.
6. HIGH AND LOWLY: A Tale of Hearts and Homes. By ELLEN L. DAVIS.
7. PETER PENGELLY. By Rev. JACKSON WRAY.
8. NELLIE GRAHAM; or, The Story of a Commonplace Woman. By ELLA STONE.

THE "SWEETBRIAR" SERIES.

A New Series of Volumes. With Illustrations. Extra crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.each.

WORK, WAIT, WIN. By RUTH LAMB.

THE ANDERSONS. By Miss GIBERNE, Author of "The Dalrymples," &c.

SWEETBRIAR; or, Doings in Priorsthorpe Magna. By AGNES GIBERNE.

COULYING CASTLE; or, A Knight of the Olden Days. By AGNES GIBERNE.

AIMÉE: A Tale of the Days of James the Second. By AGNES GIBERNE.

LILLA THORNE'S VOYAGE; or, "That Far Remembrancer." By GRACE STEBBING.

THE "ROUNDABOUT" SERIES.

Extra crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. each.

THE RIGHT ROAD. A Manual for Parents and Teachers. By J. KRAMER.

THROUGH BIBLE LANDS. Notes of Travel in Egypt, the Desert, andPalestine. Profusely Illustrated. By PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., and an Essayon Egyptology and the Bible, by EDOUARD NAVILLE.

BIBLE HISTORY FOR THE YOUNG.

"THE WORD" SERIES.

By SUSAN and ANNA WARNER, Authors of "The Wide, Wide World," "Queechy,"&c.

With Illustrations, Plain and Coloured. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. each.

The aim of this Series of Volumes is so to set forth the Bible incidentsand course of history, with its train of actors, as to see them in thecirc*mstances and colouring, the light and shade, of their actualexistence.

The volumes embody, as far as possible, all the known facts, natural,social, and historical, which are required for the illustration andelucidation of the Bible narrative.

1. WALKS FROM EDEN: The Scripture Story from the Creation to the Deathof Abraham.
2. THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL: The Scripture Story from the Birth of Isaac tothe Death of Jacob.
3. THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH: The Scripture Story from the Death of Solomonto the Captivity.
4. THE BROKEN WALLS OF JERUSALEM AND THE REBUILDING OF THEM. Incontinuation of "The House of Israel" and "The Kingdom of Judah," andcompleting the work.
5. THE STAR OUT OF JACOB: The Scripture Story Illustrating the EarlierPortion of the Gospel Narrative.

"These five books form a most comprehensive and attractive commentary onthe Scriptures suited to the requirements of the young. More realknowledge in true child language, and within the understanding ofchildren, it has never been our privilege to meet with before. We aredisposed to envy those young friends who are fortunate enough to numberthem among their literary possessions, for although pre-eminentlychildren's books, they are yet well able to impart instruction tochildren of a larger growth."—Rock.

"There is a pleasant freshness and reality conveyed to the old,well-worn stories, which will make children understand the details ofEastern life and the manners and customs of the old pastoral times. 'TheWord' Series will be a charming gift to young people."—Athenæum.

"We doubt whether any one has ever told 'the old, old story' moreattractively, for children at least, than the author of 'The Wide, WideWorld.' Whatever fame she may have won by her works of fiction will begreatly increased by her success in writing these marvellousstories."—Christian World.

THE GOLDEN LADDER SERIES.

With Illustrations. Handsomely bound in cloth, gilt edges. Crown 8vo.3s. 6d. each.

"Children welcome with glee the volumes comprised in Nisbet's 'GoldenLadder Series,' for they are full of interest, even though they arestories with a moral, which is always a high-toned one."—LiverpoolCourier.

"'The Golden Ladder Series' of story-books, so much appreciated fortheir excellence. They can be all safely recommended to the notice ofteachers as being especially suitable as rewards, while no schoollibrary can be said to be complete without a selection fromthem."—Schoolmaster.

1. THE GOLDEN LADDER: Stories Illustrative of the Beatitudes. By SUSANand ANNA B. WARNER.
2. THE WIDE, WIDE WORLD. By SUSAN WARNER.
3. QUEECHY. By SUSAN WARNER.
4. MELBOURNE HOUSE. By SUSAN WARNER.
5. DAISY. By SUSAN WARNER.
6. DAISY IN THE FIELD. By SUSAN WARNER.
7. THE OLD HELMET. By SUSAN WARNER.
8. NETTIE'S MISSION: Stories Illustrative of the Lord's Prayer. By JULIAMATHEWS.
9. GLEN LUNA; or, Dollars and Cents. By ANNA B. WARNER.
10. DRAYTON HALL. Stories Illustrative of the Beatitudes. By JULIAMATHEWS.
11. WITHIN AND WITHOUT: A New England Story.
12. VINEGAR HILL STORIES: Illustrative of the Parable of the Sower. ByANNA B. WARNER.
13. LITTLE SUNBEAMS. By JOANNA MATHEWS.
14. WHAT SHE COULD AND OPPORTUNITIES. By SUSAN WARNER.
15. TRADING AND THE HOUSE IN TOWN.
16. DARE TO DO RIGHT. By JULIA MATHEWS.
17. HOLDEN WITH THE CORDS. By the Author of "Within and Without."
18. GIVING HONOUR: Containing "The Little Camp on Eagle Hill" and"Willow Brook." By SUSAN WARNER.
19. GIVING SERVICE: Containing "Sceptres and Crowns" and "The Flag ofTruce." By SUSAN WARNER.
20. GIVING TRUST: Containing "Bread and Oranges" and "The Rapids ofNiagara." By SUSAN WARNER.
*** The Tales in the last three Volumes are Illustrative of the LORD'SPRAYER.
21. WYCH HAZEL. A Tale. By SUSAN and ANNA WARNER.
22. THE GOLD OF CHICKAREE. A Sequel to "Wych Hazel." By SUSAN and ANNAB. WARNER.
23. DIANA. By SUSAN WARNER.
24. MY DESIRE. By SUSAN WARNER.
25. THE END OF A COIL. By SUSAN WARNER.
26. THE LETTER OF CREDIT. By SUSAN WARNER.
27. NOBODY. By SUSAN WARNER.
28. STEPHEN, M.D. By SUSAN WARNER.
29. A RED WALLFLOWER. By SUSAN WARNER.
30. DAISY PLAINS. By SUSAN WARNER.
31. CROSS CORNERS. By ANNA B. WARNER.
32. MISTRESS MATCHETT'S MISTAKE. By EMMA MARSHALL.
33. YOURS AND MINE. By ANNA B. WARNER.
34. ONE LITTLE VEIN OF DROSS. By Mrs. RUTH LAMB.
35. OAK BEND; or, Patience and her Schooling. By ANNA B. WARNER.
36. A CANDLE IN THE SEA; or, Winter at Seal's Head. A Book aboutLighthouses. By Rev. E.A. RAND.

THE "GOLDEN SILENCE" SERIES OF TALES.

With Illustrations.

Small Crown 8vo. Attractively bound in cloth. 1s. 6d. each.

GOLDEN SILENCE; or, Annals of the Birkett Family of Crawford-under-Wold.By Mrs. MARSHALL.

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LAND AND SEA. By P.H. GOSSE, F.R.S.

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5. THE PRINCE OF THE HOUSE OF DAVID; or, Three Years in the Holy City.By the Rev. J.H. INGRAHAM, LL.D.
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16. ROMANCE OF NATURAL HISTORY. By P.H. GOSSE.
17. GREAT MEN: A Series of Lectures. By the late Rev. FREDERIC MYERS, M.A.
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19. LITTLE WOMEN. By L.M. ALCOTT.
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32. A DREAM OF THE NORTH SEA. By J. RUNCIMAN.
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34. QUEECHY. By SUSAN WARNER.
35. DARE TO DO RIGHT. By JULIA MATHEWS.
36. NETTIE'S MISSION. By JULIA MATHEWS.
37. WANDERING HOMES AND THEIR INFLUENCES.
38. FRANK WEATHERALL. By W.C. METCALFE, Author of "Above Board," &c.
39. SHORT LIVES OF MEN WITH A MISSION: Charles Kingsley, Lord Lawrence,Henry M. Stanley. With Portraits.
40. EXPELLED. By the Author of "Dorrincourt."
41. YOKED TOGETHER. By ELLEN DAVIS.
42. BESSIE HARRINGTON'S VENTURE. By JULIA MATHEWS.
43. OPENING OF A CHESTNUT BURR. By E.P. ROE.
44. ST. ELMO. By A.J.E. WILSON.
45. THE CHILDREN'S PILGRIMAGE. By L.T. MEAD.
46. ROMANCE OF NATURAL HISTORY. Second Series. By P.H. GOSSE.
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LONDON: JAMES NISBET & CO., 21 BERNERS STREET, W.

WORKS BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.

"In his tales of the sea, of the forest and the flames, and in all thathe writes, there is a fidelity to nature and a knowledge of many pathsof life which are not surpassed by any author in his special field ofliterature."—Morning Post.

With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 5s. each.

NEW VOLUME.

THE BUFFALO RUNNERS.

A TALE OF THE RED RIVER PLAINS.

CHARLIE TO THE RESCUE.

A TALE or THE SEA AND THE ROCKIES.

"In 'Charlie to the Rescue' Mr. Ballantyne supplies his constituency—which is now a large and well-satisfied one—with a sufficiency ofbattles, sieges, and escapes; the troubles of ranchmen, whose lives arethreatened both by white and by black scoundrels, are admirablyreproduced. It is a capital story."—Spectator.

BLOWN TO BITS;

Or, THE LONELY MAN OF RAKATA. A TALE OF THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO.

"A capital story, written in the author's old style, and full of lifeand action from beginning to end."—Standard.

"The book abounds in matter of exceptional interest, and should find itsway into the hands of all young people who would properly estimate thewide-spreading and far-reaching influences and the extraordinarycharacter of the Krakatoa outburst."—Manchester Courier.

BLUE LIGHTS;

Or, HOT WORK IN THE SOUDAN. A TALE OF SOLDIER LIFE IN SEVERAL OF ITSPHASES.

"An exciting story, full of excellent moral lessons."—School BoardChronicle.

"We heartily recommend 'Blue Lights'."—Guardian.

"The soldier's career is graphically depicted, and the story is everyway a good one."—Literary Churchman.

Works by R.M. Ballantyne-continued.

With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 5s. each.

THE FUGITIVES;

Or, THE TYRANT QUEEN OF MADAGASCAR.

"There is plenty of adventure in the shape of imprisonment and combatswith men and animals, and a negro and a sailor between them supply acomic element of the best quality. Everything considered, this is one ofthe best stories even Mr. Ballantyne has published."—Academy.

RED ROONEY;

Or, THE LAST OF THE CREW.

THE ROVER OF THE ANDES.

A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN SOUTH AMERICA.

"We commend it to boys fond of adventure and of natural phenomena; avery fascinating book."—British Quarterly Review.

"An admirable boy's story."—Scotsman.

THE YOUNG TRAWLER.

A STORY OF LIFE AND DEATH AND RESCUE IN THE NORTH SEA.

"Few men have laboured so steadfastly in their generation to providesound wholesome fare for 'our boys' as Mr. Ballantyne, and the 'YoungTrawler' is worthy of his reputation. It is not a whit less spiritedthan his former tales, and conveys a large amount of useful informationon a highly important subject."—Academy.

DUSTY DIAMONDS, CUT AND POLISHED.

A TALE OF CITY-ARAB LIFE.

With Illustrations, Crown 8vo. 5s. each.

THE BATTERY AND THE BOILER;

Or, THE ELECTRICAL ADVENTURES OF A TELEGRAPH CABLE-LAYER.

"There is not a dull page in it."—Scotsman."The interest never flags."—Academy.

THE GIANT OF THE NORTH;

Or, POKINGS ROUND THE POLE.

"Of variety of perilous adventures and peril, ingeniously surmounted,there is no lack."—Daily News.

THE LONELY ISLAND;

Or, THE REFUGE OF THE MUTINEERS.

"Mr. Ballantyne weaves the romantic episode of the mutiny of the'Bounty' into a most effective narrative."—Graphic.

POST HASTE.

A TALE OF HER MAJESTY'S MAILS.

"The book should find a place in every boy's library; it is full ofinterest."—Leeds Mercury.

IN THE TRACK OF THE TROOPS.

A TALE OF MODERN WAR.

"Mr. Ballantyne has blended with the incidents of war on the Danube astory of personal adventure spiritedly told."—Daily News.

THE SETTLER AND THE SAVAGE.

A TALE OF PEACE AND WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA.

"A capital story of South African life. Mr. Ballantyne, through themedium of a thoroughly manly and healthy tale of sport and war, frolicand danger, full of stirring yet not exaggerated scenes, presents asketch of a very important period of the early history of our colony atthe Cape of Good Hope."—Times.

With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 5s. each.

UNDER THE WAVES;

Or, DIVING IN DEEP WATERS.

"Mr. Ballantyne enlarges the already gigantic debt due to him by theyoung, by his 'Under the Waves,' a story meant to illustrate thepractice and peril of diving in deep water, which it does in not only aninteresting, but often in amusing manner."—Times.

RIVERS OF ICE.

A TALE ILLUSTRATIVE OF ALPINE ADVENTURE AND GLACIER ACTION.

"A tale brimful of interest and stirring adventure."—Glasgow Herald.

THE PIRATE CITY.

AN ALGERINE TALE.

"The story is told with Mr. Ballantyne's usual felicity, and, as it isplentifully sprinkled with horrors, no doubt it will be greatly enjoyedby some boys."—Athenæum.

BLACK IVORY.

A TALE OF ADVENTURE AMONG THE SLAVERS OF EAST AFRICA.

"A captivating story. We heartily recommend it."—Record.

"Boys will find the book about as delightful a story of adventure as anyof them could possibly desire."—Scotsman.

THE NORsem*n IN THE WEST;

Or, AMERICA BEFORE COLUMBUS.

"This thoroughly delightful book is an adaptation of the Saga ofIceland, and also of Mr. Laing's 'Heimskingla; or Chronicles of theKings of Norway,' supplemented by Mr. Ballantyne's own experience andadventures in the wilderness of America. These ingredients are puttogether with the skill and spirit of an accomplished story-teller; andthe result is a book that cannot possibly be laid down till the verylast word of the last line has been read."—Athenæum.

THE IRON HORSE;

Or, LIFE ON THE LINE. A RAILWAY TALE.

"A captivating book for boys."—Guardian.

ERLING THE BOLD.

A TALE OF THE NORSE SEA KINGS.

"A capital tale of the Norse Sea Kings."—Times.

"The story is interesting and full of moving incidents by flood andfield, and it will therefore scarcely fail to be popular amonglads."—Scotsman.

"The story is clearly designed, and abounds with elements of romanticinterest; and the Author's illustrations are scarcely less vigorous thanhis text."—Athenæum.

FIGHTING THE FLAMES.

A TALE OF THE LONDON FIRE BRIGADE.

"Many a schoolboy will find keen enjoyment in the perusal of 'Fightingthe Flames,' and assure his little sisters with suitable emphasis thatMr. Ballantyne is 'a stunning good story-teller.'"—Athenæum.

DEEP DOWN.

A TALE OF THE CORNISH MINES.

"Mr. Ballantyne's book will not fail to delight boys, for it is full ofdeeds of daring and of 'hairbreadth escapes.'"—Scotsman.

"By reading Mr. Ballantyne's admirable story a very large amount ofknowledge concerning Cornish mines may be acquired; whilst from the factof the information being given in the form of a connected narrative, itis not likely very soon to be forgotten.... A book well worthy of beingextensively read."—Mining Journal.

THE FLOATING LIGHT OF THE GOODWIN SANDS.

"The tale will be especially interesting to adventure-lovingboys."—Record.

SHIFTING WINDS.

A TOUGH YARN.

"A hearty, vigorous, bracing story, fresh with the pure breezes, andsparkling with the bright waters of the everlasting seas.'"—Athenæum.

THE LIGHTHOUSE.

BEING THE STORY OF A GREAT FIGHT BETWEEN MAN AND THE SEA.

Extract Letter from the Secretary of Northern Lighthouses.

" ... They (the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses) have been so muchpleased with the way in which you have combined the fiction of a talewith the popular but correct account of the building of the Bell RockLighthouse, that they think it would be an interesting work to transmitto their Lightkeepers, and I have therefore to request that you willdirect your publishers to transmit me—copies. (Signed) ALEXR.CUNNINGHAM."

"Thoroughly at home in subjects of adventure, the Author has made this,like all his stories for boys, smart in style, thrilling in interest,and abounding in incidents of every kind."—Quiver.

THE LIFEBOAT.

A TALE OF OUR COAST HEROES.

"ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION.

"DEAR SIR,—I am directed by the Committee to request your acceptance ofthe accompanying Photograph of a Lifeboat proceeding off to a wreck, asa small permanent acknowledgment of the important service you haverendered to the Lifeboat cause by your very interesting work entitled'The Lifeboat: a Tale of our Coast Heroes." I remain, yours faithfully,

(Signed) "RICHARD LEWIS, Secretary."

THE GOLDEN DREAM.

A TALE OF THE DIGGINGS.

THE RED ERIC;

Or, THE WHALER'S LAST CRUISE.

GASCOYNE, THE SANDALWOOD TRADER.

A TALE OF THE PACIFIC.

"Full of cleverly and impressively drawn pictures of life and characterin the Pacific."—Caledonian Mercury.

FREAKS ON THE FELLS,

AND

WHY I DID NOT BECOME A SAILOR.

THE WILD MAN OF THE WEST.

With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.

BATTLES WITH THE SEA;

Or, HEROES OF THE LIFEBOAT AND THE ROCKET.

With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 2s.

THE KITTEN PILGRIMS;

Or, GREAT BATTLES AND GRAND VICTORIES.

"We have copied the title-page of this amusing and instructive quartofor little folks. Nothing further is necessary. Mr. Ballantyne stands atthe head of all our children's story-tellers facileprinceps."—Churchman.

With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. each.

NEW VOLUME.

A COXSWAIN'S BRIDE; Or, THE RISING TIDE: And other Tales.

THE GARRET AND THE GARDEN; Or, Low LIFE HIGH UP: And JEFF BENSON;Or, THE YOUNG COASTGUARDSMAN.

THE CREW OF THE WATER-WAGTAIL.A STORY OF NEWFOUNDLAND.

THE MIDDY AND THE MOORS.AN ALGERINE TALE.

THE PRAIRIE CHIEF.

LIFE IN THE RED BRIGADE.

A FIERY TALE. AND FORT DESOLATION; or, SOLITUDE IN THE WILDERNESS.

THE ISLAND QUEEN;

Or, DETHRONED BY FIRE AND WATER. A TALE OF THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE.

TWICE BOUGHT.

A TALE OF THE OREGON GOLD FIELDS.

THE MADMAN AND THE PIRATE.

PHILOSOPHER JACK.

A TALE OF THE SOUTHERN SEAS.

THE RED MAN'S REVENGE.

MY DOGGIE AND I.

SIX MONTHS AT THE CAPE.

LETTERS TO PERIWINKLE FROM SOUTH AFRICA. A RECORD OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCEAND ADVENTURE.

Crown 8vo. Price 3s. 6d. each.

TALES OF ADVENTURE BY FLOOD, FIELD, AND MOUNTAIN.

TALES OF ADVENTURE;

Or, WILD WORK IN STRANGE PLACES.

TALES OF ADVENTURE ON THE COAST.

LONDON: JAMES NISBET & Co., 21 BERNERS STREET, W.