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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blown to Bits, by R.M. Ballantyne
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Blown to Bits
+       The Lonely Man of Rakata, the Malay Archipelago
+
+Author: R.M. Ballantyne
+
+Release Date: November 6, 2007 [EBook #23371]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLOWN TO BITS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+Blown to Bits, A tale of the Krakatoa Volcanic Explosion, by R.M.
+Ballantyne.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+This book is a most enjoyable read.  We can, however, detect that
+Ballantyne had been reading up various works by W.H.G. Kingston and by
+G. Manville Fenn.  It's just the knowledge of forest life in Java and
+Sumatra that makes us think that.  But that knowledge is good, for it
+makes those parts of the book that take place in these forests ring all
+the more true.
+
+As so often with Victorian authors writing for teenagers there is a
+delightful coloured auxiliary hero.  But there is another even more
+important auxiliary hero, van der Kemp, and it is this man and his
+doings that form the real interest of this story.  He had made himself a
+home in an island of the Krakatoa group, and a very interesting home it
+is, too.  He travels about, mostly, in a three-seater canoe of the Rob
+Roy type, that seems able to travel great distances over the sea,
+sailing some of the way, and to withstand heavy weather, in a most
+surprising manner.
+
+There is a good description of the eruption, or rather explosion, of
+Krakatoa.  This was one of the major geological events of the century,
+and might well have been taken for granted, with the author assuming
+that his youthful readers knew all about it, but, thank Goodness, he
+does not.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+BLOWN TO BITS, A TALE OF THE KRAKATOA VOLCANIC EXPLOSION, BY R.M.
+BALLANTYNE.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+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 large
+brig lay becalmed on the Indian Ocean, not far from that region of the
+Eastern 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 quarterdeck for some time in silence, as
+if the elemental quietude which prevailed above and below had infected
+them.  Both men were broad, and apparently strong.  One of them was
+tall; the other short.  More than this the feeble light of the
+binnacle-lamp failed to reveal.
+
+"Father," said the tall man to the short one, "I do like to hear the
+gentle pattering of the reef-points on the sails; it is so suggestive of
+peace 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 and
+gruff 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 with
+the scene and hour.
+
+"Why, father," he resumed after a brief pause, "you are so sternly
+practical that you drive all the sentiment out of a fellow.  I had
+almost risen to the regions of poetry just now, under the pleasant
+influences of nature."
+
+"Glad I got hold of 'ee, lad, before you rose," growled the captain of
+the brig--for such the short man was.  "When a young fellow like you
+gets up into the clouds o' poetry, he's like a man in a balloon--scarce
+knows how he got there; doesn't know very well how he's to get down, an'
+has no more idea where he's goin' to, or what he's drivin' at, than the
+man in the moon.  Take my advice, lad, an' get out o' poetical regions
+as fast as ye can.  It don't suit a young fellow who has got to do duty
+as first mate of his father's brig and push his way in the world as a
+seaman.  When I sent you to school an' made you a far better scholar
+than myself, I had no notion they was goin' to teach you poetry."
+
+The captain delivered the last word with an emphasis which was meant to
+convey the idea of profound but not ill-natured scorn.
+
+"Why, father," returned the young man, in a tone which plainly told of a
+gleeful laugh within him, which was as yet restrained, "it was not
+school 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't
+object to poetry in _her_."
+
+"Object!" cried the captain, as though speaking in the teeth of a
+Nor'wester.  "Of course not.  But then, Nigel, poetry in your mother
+_is_ poetry, an' she can _do_ it, lad--screeds of it--equal to anything
+that Dibdin, or, or,--that other fellow, you know, I forget his name--
+ever put pen to--why, your mother is herself a poem! neatly made up,
+rounded off at the corners, French-polished and all shipshape.  Ha! you
+needn't go an' shelter yourself under _her_ wings, wi' your inflated, up
+in the clouds, 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 give
+mother her right position.  We won't disagree about that, but I suspect
+that 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 quite
+evident to you by this time, I should think, that I am not cut out for a
+sailor.  After all your trouble, and my own efforts during this long
+voyage round the Cape, I'm no better than an amateur.  I told you that a
+youth taken fresh from college, without any previous experience of the
+sea 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
+reality Mr 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 'ee
+that 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 all
+over the ocean, an' finally to take command o' this here brig, an' let
+your 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.  Now
+it 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 examine
+the compass, and the flood of light from its lamp revealed a smooth but
+manly and handsome face which seemed quite to harmonise with the cheery
+voice that belonged to it.
+
+"Nor'-east-and-by-east," he said.
+
+"Are 'ee sure, lad?"
+
+"Your doubting me, father, does not correspond with your lately
+expressed opinion of my seamanship; does it?"
+
+"Let me see," returned the captain, taking no notice of the remark, and
+stooping to look at the compass with a critical eye.
+
+The flood of light, in this case, revealed a visage in which good-nature
+had evidently struggled for years against the virulent opposition of
+wind and weather, and had come off victorious, though not without
+evidences of the conflict.  At the same time it revealed features
+similar to those of the son, though somewhat rugged and red, besides
+being smothered in hair.
+
+"Vulcan must be concoctin' a new brew," he muttered, as he gazed
+inquiringly 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 neighbourhood
+o' Sunda Straits," answered the Captain, directing attention to that
+point of the compass towards which the ship's head was turned.
+"Darkness like this don't happen without a cause.  I've had some
+experience o' them seas 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 Straits Settlements."
+
+"By which you mean, I suppose, that one of the numerous volcanoes in the
+Malay Archipelago has become active," said Nigel; "but are we not some
+five or six hundred miles to the sou'-west of Sunda?  Surely the
+influence of volcanic action could scarcely reach so far."
+
+"So far!" repeated the captain, with a sort of humph which was meant to
+indicate mild contempt; "that shows how little you know, with all your
+book-learnin', about volcanoes."
+
+"I don't profess to know much, father," retorted Nigel in a tone of
+cheery defiance.
+
+"Why, boy," continued the other, resuming his perambulation of the deck,
+"explosions have sometimes been heard for hundreds, ay _hundreds_, of
+miles.  I thought I heard one just now, but no doubt the unusual
+darkness works up my imagination and makes me suspicious, for it's
+wonderful what fools the imag--.  Hallo!  D'ee feel _that_?"
+
+He went smartly towards the binnacle-light, as he spoke, and, holding an
+arm close to it, found that his sleeve was sprinkled with a thin coating
+of fine dust.
+
+"Didn't I say so?" he exclaimed in some excitement, as he ran to the
+cabin skylight and glanced earnestly at the barometer.  That glance
+caused him to shout a sudden order to take in all sail.  At the same
+moment a sigh of wind swept over the sleeping sea as if the storm-fiend
+were expressing regret at having been so promptly discovered and met.
+
+Seamen are well used to sudden danger--especially in equatorial seas--
+and to prompt, unquestioning action.  Not many minutes elapsed before
+the _Sunshine_ was under the smallest amount of sail she could carry.
+Even before this had been well accomplished a stiff breeze was tearing
+up the surface of the sea into wild foam, which a furious gale soon
+raised into raging billows.
+
+The storm came from the Sunda Straits about which the captain and his
+son had just been talking, and was so violent that they could do nothing
+but scud before it under almost bare poles.  All that night it raged.
+Towards morning it increased to such a pitch that one of the backstays
+of the foremast gave way.  The result was that the additional strain
+thus thrown on the other stays was too much for them.  They also parted,
+and the foretop-mast, snapping short off with a report like a
+cannon-shot, went over the side, carrying the main-topgallant-mast and
+all its gear along with it.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+THE HAVEN IN THE CORAL RING.
+
+It seemed as if the storm-fiend were satisfied with the mischief he had
+accomplished, for immediately after the disaster just described, the
+gale began to moderate, and when the sun rose it had been reduced to a
+stiff but steady breeze.
+
+From the moment of the accident onward, the whole crew had been exerting
+themselves to the utmost with axe and knife to cut and clear away the
+wreck of the masts, and repair damages.
+
+Not the least energetic among them was our amateur first mate, Nigel
+Roy.  When all had been made comparatively snug, he went aft to where
+his father stood beside the steersman, with his legs nautically wide
+apart, his sou'-wester pulled well down over his frowning brows, and his
+hands in 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 on
+the point of my nose, for the inspection of all and sundry.  Besides,
+you can't tell whether it's a bad or a good endin', for it has not ended
+yet one way or another.  Moreover, what appears bad is often found to be
+good, an' what seems good is pretty often uncommon bad."
+
+"You are a walking dictionary of truisms, father!  I suppose you mean to
+take 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 on
+nearly all occasions that young man's dark, brown eyes twinkled, in
+spite of him, as vigorously as any "little star" that was ever told in
+prose or song to do so--and much more expressively, too, because of the
+eyebrows of which little stars appear to be destitute.
+
+"No, lad," retorted the captain; "I take a common-sense view--not a
+philosophical one; an' when you've bin as long at sea as I have, you'll
+call nothin' a misfortune until it's proved to be such.  The only
+misfortune I have at present is a son who cannot see things in the same
+light as his father sees 'em."
+
+"Well, then, according to your own principle that is the reverse of a
+misfortune, 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 to reason me
+out of error, or convince me of truth.  Take the subject of poetry,
+now--"
+
+"Luff;" said Captain Roy, sternly, to the man at the wheel.
+
+When the man at the wheel had gone through the nautical evolution
+involved 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.
+Sit down here an' I'll tell 'ee about 'em."
+
+Nigel shut up the telescope through which he had been examining the
+thin, 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 set
+like a gem on the bosom of the deep blue sea."
+
+"Come, father, you're drifting out of your true course--that's
+poetical!"
+
+"I know it, lad, but I'm only quotin' your mother.  Well, you must know
+that the Keelin' Islands--we call them Keelin' for short--were
+uninhabited between fifty and sixty years ago, when a Scotsman named
+Ross, thinking them well situated as a port of call for the repair and
+provisioning of vessels on their way to Australia and China, set his
+heart on them and quietly took possession in the name of England.  Then
+he went home to fetch his wife and family of six children, intendin' to
+settle on the islands for good.  Returning in 1827 with the family and
+fourteen adventurers, twelve of whom were English, one a Portugee and
+one a Javanee, he found to his disgust that an Englishman named Hare had
+stepped in before him and taken possession.  This Hare was a very bad
+fellow; a rich man who wanted to live like a Rajah, with lots o' native
+wives and retainers, an' be a sort of independent prince.  Of course he
+was on bad terms at once with Ross, who, finding that things were going
+badly, felt that it would be unfair to hold his people to the agreement
+which was made when he thought the whole group was his own, so he
+offered to release them.  They all, except two men and one woman,
+accepted the release and went off in a gun-boat that chanced to touch
+there at the time.  For a good while Hare and his rival lived there--the
+one tryin' to get the Dutch, the other to induce the English Government
+to claim possession.  Neither Dutch nor English would do so at first,
+but the English did it at long last--in 1878--and annexed the islands to
+the Government of Ceylon.
+
+"Long before that date, however--before 1836--Hare left and went to
+Singapore, where he died, leaving Ross in possession--the `King of the
+Cocos Islands' as he came to be called.  In a few years--chiefly through
+the energy of Ross's eldest son, to whom he soon gave up the management
+of affairs--the Group became a prosperous settlement.  Its ships traded
+in cocoa-nuts, (the chief produce of the islands), throughout all the
+Straits Settlements, and boatbuildin' became one of their most important
+industries.  But there was one thing that prevented it from bein' a very
+happy though prosperous place, an' that was the coolies who had been
+hired in Java, for the only men that could be got there at first were
+criminals who had served their time in the chain-gangs of Batavia.  As
+these men were fit for anything--from pitch-and-toss to murder--and soon
+outnumbered the colonists, the place was kept in constant alarm and
+watchfulness.  For, as I dare say you know, the Malays are sometimes
+liable to have the spirit of _amok_ on them, which leads them 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 is goin' about
+loose in this state o' mind, it's about as bad as havin' a tiger
+prowlin' in one's garden.
+
+"Well, sometimes two or three o' these coolies would mutiny and bide in
+the woods o' one o' the smaller uninhabited islands.  An' the colonists
+would have no rest till they hunted them down.  So, to keep matters
+right, they had to be uncommon strict.  It was made law that no one
+should spend the night on any but what was called the Home Island
+without permission.  Every man was bound to report himself at the
+guard-house at a fixed hour; every fire to be out at sunset, and every
+boat was numbered and had to be in its place before that time.  So they
+went on till the year 1862, when a disaster befell them that made a
+considerable change--at first for the worse, but for the better in the
+long-run.  Provin' the truth, my lad, of what I was--well, no--I was
+goin' to draw a moral here, but I won't!
+
+"It was a cyclone that did the business.  Cyclones have got a
+free-an'-easy way of makin' a clean sweep of the work of years in a few
+hours.  This cyclone completely wrecked the homes of the Keelin'
+Islanders, and Ross--that's the second Ross, the son of the first one--
+sent home for _his_ son, who was then a student of engineering in
+Glasgow, to come out and help him to put things to rights.  Ross the
+third 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 a
+first-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 engineer
+to do it.  He got rid o' the chain-gang men altogether, and hired none
+but men o' the best character in their place.  He cleared off the
+forests and planted the ground with cocoa-nut palms.  Got out steam
+mills, circular saws, lathes, etcetera, and established a system of
+general education 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
+in brass, iron, and wood, and his wife--a Cocos girl that he married
+after comin' out--taught all the women and girls to sew, cook, and
+manage the house.  In short, everything went on in full swing of
+prosperity, till the year 1876, when the island-born inhabitants were
+about 500, as contented and happy as could be.
+
+"In January of that year another cyclone paid them a visit.  The
+barometer gave them warning, and, remembering the visit of fourteen
+years before, they made ready to receive the new visitor.  All the boats
+were hauled up to places of safety, and every other preparation was
+made.  Down it came, on the afternoon o' the 28th--worse than they had
+expected.  Many of the storehouses and mills had been lately renewed or
+built.  They were all gutted and demolished.  Everything movable was
+swept away like bits of paper.  Lanes, hundreds of yards in length, were
+cleared among the palm-trees by the whirling wind, which seemed to
+perform a demon-dance of revelry among them.  In some cases it snapped
+trees off close to the ground.  In others it seemed to swoop down from
+above, lick up a patch of trees bodily and carry them clean away,
+leaving the surrounding trees untouched.  Sometimes it would select a
+tree of thirty years growth, seize it, spin it round, and leave it a
+permanent spiral screw.  I was in these regions about the time, and had
+the account from a native who had gone through it all and couldn't speak
+of it except with glaring eyeballs and gasping breath.
+
+"About midnight of the 28th the gale was at its worst.  Darkness that
+could be felt between the flashes of lightning.  Thunder that was nearly
+drowned by the roaring of the wind an' the crashing of everything all
+round.  To save their lives the people had to fling themselves into
+ditches and hollows of the ground.  Mr Ross and some of his people were
+lying in the shelter of a wall near his house.  There had been a
+schooner lying not far off.  When Mr Ross raised his head cautiously
+above the wall to have a look to wind'ard he saw the schooner comin'
+straight for him 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 over the wall, roared on up to the garden, 150 yards above
+high-water mark, and swept his house clean away!  By good fortune the
+wall stood the shock, and the schooner stuck fast just before reachin'
+it, but so near that the end of the jib-boom passed right over the place
+where the household lay holdin' on for dear life and half drowned.  It
+was a tremendous night," concluded the captain, "an' nearly everything
+on the islands was wrecked, but they've survived it, as you'll see.
+Though it's seven years since that cyclone swep' over them, they're all
+right and goin' ahead again, full swing, as if nothin' had happened."
+
+"And is Ross the Third still king?" asked Nigel with much interest.
+
+"Ay--at least he was king a few years ago when I passed this way and had
+occasion 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 gazing
+steadily at the _atoll_ or group of islets enclosed within a coral ring
+which they were gradually approaching.
+
+Night had descended, however, and the gale had decreased almost to a
+calm, ere they steered through the narrow channel--or what we may call a
+broken part of the ring--which led to the calm lagoon inside.  Nigel Roy
+leaned over the bow, watching with profound attention the numerous
+phosphorescent fish and eel-like creatures which darted hither and
+thither like streaks of silver from beneath their advancing keel.  He
+had enough of the naturalist in him to arouse in his mind keen interest
+in the habits and action of the animal life around him, and these
+denizens of the coral-groves were as new to him as their appearance was
+unexpected.
+
+"You'll find 'em very kind and hospitable, lad," said the captain to his
+son.
+
+"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 of
+the brig, told that they had come to an anchor in the lagoon of the
+Cocos-Keeling Islands.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+INTERESTING PARTICULARS OF VARIOUS KINDS.
+
+By the first blush of dawn Nigel Roy hastened on deck, eager to see the
+place in regard to which his father's narrative had awakened in him
+considerable interest.
+
+It not only surpassed but differed from all his preconceived ideas.  The
+brig floated on the bosom of a perfectly calm lake of several miles in
+width, the bottom of which, with its bright sand and brilliant
+coral-beds, could be distinctly seen through the pellucid water.  This
+lake was encompassed by a reef of coral which swelled here and there
+into tree-clad islets, and against which the breakers of the Indian
+Ocean were dashed into snowy foam in their vain but ceaseless efforts to
+invade the calm serenity of the lagoon.  Smaller islands, rich with
+vegetation, were scattered here and there within the charmed circle,
+through which several channels of various depths and sizes connected the
+lagoon with the ocean.
+
+"We shall soon have the king himself off to welcome us," said Captain
+Roy as he came on deck and gave a sailor-like glance all round the
+horizon and then up at the sky from the mere force of habit.  "Visitors
+are not numerous here.  A few scientific men have landed now and again;
+Darwin the great naturalist among others in 1836, and Forbes in 1878.
+No doubt they'll be very glad to welcome Nigel Roy in this year of grace
+1883."
+
+"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 may
+count 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, no
+doubt."
+
+He was right.  Mr Ross, the appointed governor, and "King of the Cocos
+Islands," was soon on deck, heartily shaking hands with and welcoming
+Captain Roy as an old friend.  He carried him and his son off at once to
+breakfast in his island-home; introduced Nigel to his family, and then
+showed them round the settlement, assuring them at the same time that
+all its resources were at their disposal for the repair of the
+_Sunshine_.
+
+"Thank 'ee kindly," said the captain in reply, "but I'll only ask for a
+stick to rig up a fore-topmast to carry us to Batavia, where we'll give
+the old craft a regular overhaul--for it's just possible she may have
+received some damage below the water-line, wi' bumpin' on the mast and
+yards."
+
+The house of the "King" was a commodious, comfortable building in the
+midst of a garden, in which there were roses in great profusion, as well
+as fruit-trees and flowering shrubs.  Each Keeling family possessed a
+neat well-furnished plank cottage enclosed in a little garden, besides a
+boat-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 everything
+connected with the sea.  There was about them a good deal of that kindly
+innocence which one somehow expects to find associated with a mild
+paternal government and a limited intercourse with the surrounding
+world, and Nigel was powerfully attracted by them from the first.
+
+After an extensive ramble, during which Mr Ross plied the captain with
+eager questions as to the latest news from the busy centres of
+civilisation--especially with reference to new inventions connected with
+engineering--the island king left them to their own resources till
+dinner-time, saying that he had duties to attend to connected with the
+kingdom!
+
+"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 a
+family I'm particularly fond of, an' who are uncommon fond of _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 stood
+on the highest ridge of the island, so that from the front windows it
+commanded a view of the great blue ocean with its breakers that fringed
+the reef as with a ring of snow, while, on the opposite side, lay the
+peaceful waters and islets of the lagoon.
+
+A shout of joyful surprise was uttered by several boys and girls at
+sight of the captain, for during his former visit he had won their
+hearts by telling them wild stories of the sea, one-half of each story
+being founded on fact and personal experience, the other half on a vivid
+imagination!
+
+"We are rejoiced to see you," said the mother of the juveniles, a stout
+woman of mixed nationality--that of Dutch apparently predominating.  She
+spoke English, however, remarkably well, as did many of the Cocos
+people, though Malay is the language of most of them.
+
+The boys and girls soon hauled the captain down on a seat and began to
+urge him to tell them stories, using a style of English that was by no
+means 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 years
+of 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 and
+sisters in forcing the captain into a seat and demanding a story on the
+spot.
+
+"Stop, stop!" cried the captain, grasping round their waists a small boy
+and girl who had already clambered on his knees.  "Let me inquire about
+my old friends first--and let me introduce my son to you--you've taken
+no notice of _him_ yet!  That's not hospitable."
+
+All eyes were turned at once on Nigel, some boldly, others with a shy
+inquiring look, as though to say, "Can _you_ tell stories?"
+
+"Come, now," said Nigel, advancing, "Since you are all so fond of my
+father, I must shake hands with you all round."
+
+The hearty way in which this was done at once put the children at their
+ease.  They admitted him, as it were, into their circle, and then
+turning again 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, who
+in England would have been styled cheeky.
+
+"Yes," lisped a very little girl; "one of 'e doors in 'e house too small
+for she."
+
+"Why, Gerchin, you've learned to speak English like the rest," said the
+captain.
+
+"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; "you
+means Johnson?  He hoed away nobody know whar'."
+
+"And little Kelly Drew, what of her?"
+
+A sudden silence fell on the group, and solemn eyes were turned on
+sister Kathy, who was evidently expected to answer.
+
+"Not dead?" said the captain earnestly.
+
+"No, but very _very_ ill," replied the girl.
+
+"Dear Kelly have never git over the loss of her brother, who--."
+
+At this point they were interrupted by another group of the captain's
+little admirers, who, having heard of his arrival, ran forward to give
+him a noisy welcome.  Before stories could be commenced, however, the
+visitors were summoned to Mr Ross's house to dinner, and then the
+captain had got into such an eager talk with the king that evening was
+upon them before they knew where they were, as Nigel expressed it, and
+the stories had to be postponed until the following day.
+
+Of course beds were offered, and accepted by Captain Roy and Nigel.
+Just before retiring to them, father and son went out to have a stroll
+on the margin of the lagoon.
+
+"Ain't it a nice place, Nigel?" asked the former, whose kindly spirit
+had been stirred up to quite a jovial pitch by the gushing welcome he
+had received alike from old and young.
+
+"It's charming, father.  Quite different from what you had led me to
+expect."
+
+"My boy," returned the captain, with that solemn deliberation which he
+was wont to assume when about to deliver a palpable truism.  "W'en
+you've come to live as long as me you'll find that everything turns out
+different from what people have bin led to expect.  Leastways that's
+_my_ experience."
+
+"Well, in the meantime, till I have come to your time of life, I'll take
+your 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 to
+study it and them, and to sketch the scenery."
+
+"Business before pleasure, my lad," said the captain with a grave shake
+of the head.  "You know we've bin blown out of our course, and have no
+business here at all.  I'll only wait till the carpenter completes his
+repairs, and then be off for Batavia.  Duty first; everything else
+afterwards."
+
+"But you being owner as well as commander, there is no one to insist on
+duty being done," objected Nigel.
+
+"Pardon me," returned the captain, "there is a certain owner named
+Captain David Roy, a very stern disciplinarian, who insists on the
+commander o' this here brig performin' his duty to the letter.  You may
+depend upon it that if a man ain't true to himself he's not likely to be
+true to any one else.  But it's likely that we may be here for a couple
+of days, so I release _you_ from duty that you may make the most o' your
+time and enjoy yourself.  By the way, it will save you wastin' time if
+you ask that little girl, Kathy Holbein, to show you the best places to
+sketch, for she's a born genius with her pencil and brush."
+
+"No, thank you, father," returned Nigel.  "I want no little girl to
+bother me while I'm sketching--even though she be a born genius--for I
+think I possess genius enough myself to select the best points for
+sketching, and to get along fairly well without help.  At least I'll try
+what I can do."
+
+"Please yourself, lad.  Nevertheless, I think you wouldn't find poor
+Kathy a bother; she's too modest for that--moreover, she could manage a
+boat and pull a good oar when I was here last, and no doubt she has
+improved since."
+
+"Nevertheless, I'd rather be alone," persisted Nigel.  "But why do you
+call her _poor_ Kathy?  She seems to be quite as strong and as jolly as
+the rest of her brothers and sisters."
+
+"Ah, poor thing, these are not her brothers and sisters," returned the
+captain in a gentler tone.  "Kathy is only an adopted child, and an
+orphan.  Her name, Kathleen, is not 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 up
+on the beach during some heavy gale, and for a few minutes gazed in
+silence on the beautiful lagoon, in which not only the islets, but the
+brilliant moon and even the starry hosts were mirrored faithfully.
+
+"About thirteen years ago," said the captain, "two pirate junks in the
+Sunda Straits attacked a British barque, and, after a fight, captured
+her.  Some o' the crew were killed in action, some were taken on board
+the junks to be held to ransom, I s'pose, and some, jumping into the sea
+to escape if possible by swimming, were probably drowned, for they were
+a 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 dead than alive.  He gave information about the affair, and was the
+cause of a gun-boat, that was in these waters at the time, bein' sent
+off in chase o' the pirate junks.
+
+"This man who swam ashore was a Lascar.  He said that the chief o' the
+pirates, who seemed to own both junks, was a big ferocious Malay with
+only one eye--he might have added with no heart at all, if what he said
+o' the scoundrel was true, for he behaved with horrible cruelty to the
+crew o' the barque.  After takin' all he wanted out of his prize he
+scuttled her, and then divided the people that were saved alive between
+the two junks.  There were several passengers in the vessel; among them
+a young man--a widower--with a little daughter, four year old or so.  He
+was bound for Calcutta.  Being a very powerful man he fought like a lion
+to beat the pirates off, but he was surrounded and at last knocked down
+by 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 were
+dividin' the prisoners among them.  He seemed dazed at first, so said
+the Lascar, but as he must have bin in a considerable funk himself I
+suspect his observations couldn't have bin very correct.  Anyhow, he
+said he was sittin' near the side o' the junk beside this poor man,
+whose name he never knew, but who seemed to be an Englishman from his
+language, when a wild scream was heard in the other junk.  It was the
+little girl who had caught sight of her father and began to understand
+that she was going to be 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 the deck o' the other junk, just as they were hoistin'
+sail to take advantage of a breeze that had sprung up.
+
+"Whether it was that they had bound the man with a piece o' bad rope, or
+that the strength o' Samson had been given to him, the Lascar could not
+tell, 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 little
+girl was.  If he had possessed the strength of a dozen Samsons it would
+have availed him nothin', for the big sail had caught the breeze and got
+way on her.  At the same time the other junk lay over to the same breeze
+and the two separated.  At first the one-eyed pirate jumped up with an
+oath and fired a pistol shot at the Englishman, but missed him.  Then he
+seemed to change his mind and shouted in bad English, with a diabolical
+laugh--`Swim away; swim hard, p'raps you kitch 'im up!'  Of course the
+two junks were soon out of sight o' the poor swimmer--and that was the
+end of _him_, for, of course, he must have been drowned."
+
+"But what of the poor little girl?" asked Nigel, whose feelings were
+easily touched by the sorrows of children, and who began to have a
+suspicion of what was coming.
+
+"I'm just comin' to that.  Well, the gun-boat that went to look for the
+pirates sighted one o' the junks out in the Indian Ocean after a long
+search and captured her, but not a single one o' the barque's crew was
+to be found in her, and it was supposed they had been all murdered and
+thrown overboard wi' shots tied to their feet to sink them.  Enough o'
+the cargo o' the British barque was found, however, to convict her, and
+on a more careful search bein' made, the little girl was discovered, hid
+away in the hold.  Bein' only about four year old, the poor little thing
+was too frightened to understand the questions put to her.  All she
+could say 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 some
+slight repairs done, and Kathy was landed.  She seemed to take at once
+to motherly Mrs Holbein, who offered to adopt her, and as the captain
+of the gun-boat had no more notion than the man-in-the-moon who the
+child belonged to, or what to do with her, he gladly handed her over, so
+here she has been livin' ever since.  Of coarse attempts have been made
+to discover her friends, but without success, and now all hope has been
+given up.  The poor girl herself never speaks on the subject, but old
+Holbein and his wife tell me she is sure that Kathy has never forgotten
+her father.  It may be so; anyhow, she has forgotten his name--if she
+ever knew it."
+
+Next day Nigel made no objections to being guided to the most
+picturesque spots among the coral isles by the interesting orphan girl.
+If she had been older he might even have fallen in love with her, an
+event which would have necessitated an awkward modification of the
+ground-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 on
+the subject of art, but--recognising also her extreme youth and
+ignorance--volunteered a good deal of advice in exchange, quite in a
+paternal way!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+NIGEL UNDERGOES SOME QUITE NEW AND INTERESTING EXPERIENCES.
+
+The arrangements made on the following day turned out to be quite in
+accordance with the wishes and tastes of the various parties concerned.
+
+The ship's carpenter having been duly set to work on the repairs, and
+being inspected in that serious piece of prosaic business by the second
+mate, our captain was set free to charm the very souls of the juveniles
+by wandering for miles along the coral strand inventing, narrating,
+exaggerating to his heart's content.  Pausing now and then to ask
+questions irrelevant to the story in hand, like a wily actor, for the
+purpose of intensifying the desire for more, he would mount a block of
+coral, and thence, sometimes as from a throne, or platform, or pulpit,
+impress some profound piece of wisdom, or some thrilling point, or some
+exceedingly obvious moral on his followers open-mouthed and open-eyed.
+
+These were by no means idlers, steeped in the too common business of
+having nothing to do.  No, they had regularly sought and obtained a
+holiday from work or school; for all the activities of social and
+civilised life were going on full swing--fuller, indeed, than the
+average swing--in that remote, scarcely known, and beautiful little gem
+of the Indian Ocean.
+
+Meanwhile Nigel and Kathy, with sketch-books under their arms, went down
+to where the clear waters of the lagoon rippled on the white sand, and,
+launching a cockleshell 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 would
+never do for a man, you know, to sit lazily down and let himself be
+rowed by a girl."
+
+"Very well," said Kathy, with a quiet and most contented smile, for she
+had not yet reached the self-conscious age--at least, as ages go in the
+Cocos-Keeling Islands!  Besides, Kathy was gifted with that charming
+disposition which never _objects_ to anything--anything, of course, that
+does not involve principle!
+
+But it was soon found that, as the cockleshell had no rudder, and the
+intricacies they had to wind among were numerous, frequent directions
+and corrections were called for from the girl.
+
+"D'you know," said Nigel at last, "as I don't know where you want me to
+go to, it may be as well, after all, that you should row!"
+
+"Very well," said Kathy, with another of her innocent smiles.  "I
+thinked it will be better so at first."
+
+Nigel could not help laughing at the way she said this as he handed her
+the sculls.
+
+She soon proved herself to be a splendid boat-woman, and although her
+delicate and shapely arms were as mere pipe-stems to the great brawny
+limbs of her companion, yet she had a deft, mysterious way of handling
+the sculls that sent the cockleshell faster over the lagoon than before.
+
+"Now, we go ashore here," said Kathy, turning the boat,--with a prompt
+backwater of the left scull, and a vigorous pull of the right one,--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 a
+forward thwart with his back landward, reversed the natural order of
+things by putting his back on the bottom of the boat and his heels in
+the air.
+
+To this day it is an unsettled question whether this was done on purpose
+by Kathy.  Certain it is that _she_ did not tumble, but burst into a
+hearty fit of laughter, while her large lustrous eyes half shut
+themselves up and twinkled.
+
+"Why, you don't even apologise, you dreadful creature!" exclaimed Nigel,
+joining in the laugh, as he picked himself up.
+
+"Why should I 'pologise?" asked the girl, in the somewhat broken English
+acquired from her adopted family.  "Why you not look out?"
+
+"Right, Kathy, right; I'll keep a sharp lookout next time.  Meanwhile I
+will 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, and
+alighted on the sand like a butterfly.
+
+A few minutes later and this little jesting fit had vanished, and they
+were both engaged with pencil and book, eagerly--for both were
+enthusiastic--sketching one of the most enchanting scenes that can well
+be imagined.  We will not attempt the impossible.  Description could not
+convey 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 opposite
+side of the lagoon the captain could be seen holding forth to his
+juvenile audience.
+
+When a pretty long time had elapsed in absolute silence, each sketcher
+being 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 I work
+at it, the more I find to admire.  May I look now at what you have
+done?"
+
+"Oh yes, but I have done not much.  I am slow," said the girl, as Nigel
+rose and looked over her shoulder.
+
+"Why!--what--how beautiful!--but--but--what do you mean?" exclaimed the
+youth.
+
+"I don't understand you," said the girl, looking up in surprise.
+
+"Why, Kathy, I had supposed you were drawing that magnificent landscape
+all 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 to
+hurt your feelings.  I was only surprised at your preference."
+
+"You have not hurt me," returned Kathy in a low voice, as she resumed
+her work, "but what you say calls back to me--my father was very fond of
+shells."
+
+She stopped, and Nigel, blaming himself for having inadvertently touched
+some 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 to
+his sketch, "and perhaps I may be able to give you a hint or two--
+especially in reference to perspective--for I've had regular training,
+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 in
+school, and _very_ much from Nature."
+
+"Well, you have been under the best of masters," returned Nigel, "if you
+have 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
+an engineer, and has explained to me the rules of perspective, and many
+other things which were at first very hard to understand.  But I do see
+them now."
+
+"Perhaps then, Kathleen," said Nigel, in that drawling, absent tone in
+which artists are apt to indulge when busy at work--"perhaps you may be
+already too far advanced to require instruction from me."
+
+"Perhaps--but I think no, for you seems to understand a great deal.  But
+why 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 like
+Kathleen best."
+
+"Then, may I call you Kathleen?"
+
+"If you like."
+
+At this point both artists had become so engrossed in their occupation
+that they ceased to converse, and for a considerable time profound
+silence reigned--at least on their part, though not as regarded others,
+for every now and then the faint sound of laughter came floating over
+the tranquil lagoon from that part of the coral strand where Captain Roy
+was still tickling the fancies and expanding the imaginations and
+harrowing or soothing the feelings of the Cocos-Keeling juveniles.
+
+Inferior animal life was also in ceaseless activity around the
+sketchers, filling the air with those indescribably quiet noises which
+are so suggestive of that general happiness which was originally in
+terrestrial paradise and is ultimately to be the lot of redeemed
+creation.
+
+Snipe and curlews were wading with jaunty step and absorbed inquiring
+gaze in the shallow pools.  Hermit-crabs of several species and sizes
+were scuttling about searching for convenient shells in which to deposit
+their naturally homeless and tender tails.  Overhead there was a sort of
+sea-rookery, the trees being tenanted by numerous gannets, frigate
+birds, and terns--the first gazing with a stupid yet angry air; the
+last--one beautiful little snow-white species in particular--hovering
+only a few feet above the sketchers' heads, while their large black eyes
+scanned the drawings with the owlish look of wisdom peculiar to
+connoisseurs.  Noddies also were there, and, on the ground, lizards and
+spiders and innumerable ants engaged in all the varied activities
+connected with their several domestic arrangements.
+
+Altogether it was a scene of bright peaceful felicity, which seemed to
+permeate Nigel's frame right inward to the spinal marrow, and would have
+kept him entranced there at his work for several hours longer if the
+cravings of a healthy appetite had not warned him to desist.
+
+"Now, Kathleen," he said, rising and stretching himself as one is apt to
+do after sitting long in a constrained position, "it seems to me about
+time 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 the
+overarching 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 poor
+weapon 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 cockleshell had been left.
+
+She returned immediately with several nuts divested of their thick outer
+covering, 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 sit
+down to lunch.
+
+"Here is one," said Kathy, handing a nut to Nigel, "that has got no meat
+yet in it--only milk.  Bore a hole in it and drink, but see you bore in
+the 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
+and has claws that can bore through the husk and shell.  We calls him
+coconut crawb."
+
+"Indeed!  That is strange; I never heard before of a crab that fed on
+cocoa-nuts."
+
+"This one do.  He is very big, and also climbs trees.  It goes about
+most at night.  Perhaps you see one before you go away."
+
+The crab to which Kathy referred is indeed a somewhat eccentric
+crustacean, besides being unusually large.  It makes deep tunnels in the
+ground larger than rabbit burrows, which it lines with cocoa-nut fibre.
+One of its claws is developed into an organ of extraordinary power with
+which it can break a cocoa-nut shell, and even, it is said, a man's
+limb!  It never takes all the husk off a cocoa-nut--that would be an
+unnecessary trouble--but only enough off the end where the three eyelets
+are, to enable it to get at the inside.  Having pierced the proper eye
+with one of its legs it rotates the nut round it until the hole is large
+enough to admit the point of its great claw, with which it continues the
+work.  This remarkable creature also climbs the palm-trees, but not to
+gather nuts; that is certain, for its habits have been closely watched
+and it has been ascertained that it feeds only on fallen nuts.  Possibly
+it climbs for exercise, or to obtain a more extended view of its
+charming habitat, or simply "for fun."  Why not?
+
+All this and a great deal more was told to Nigel by Kathleen, who was a
+bit of a naturalist in her tendencies--as they sat there under the
+graceful fronds of the palm-trees admiring the exquisite view, eating
+and drinking cocoa-nuts.
+
+"I suppose you have plenty of other kinds of food besides this?" said
+Nigel.
+
+"Oh yes, plenty.  Most of the fish in our lagoon be good for eating, and
+so also the crawbs, and we have turtle too."
+
+"Indeed!  How do you catch the turtle?  Another nut, please.--Thank
+you."
+
+"The way we gets turtle is by the men diving for them and catching them
+in the water.  We has pigs too--plenty, and the wild birds are some very
+nice."
+
+[See note.]
+
+When the artists had finished they proceeded to the shore, and to their
+surprise and amusement found the cockleshell in possession of a
+piratical urchin of about four years of age in a charmingly light state
+of clothing.  He was well-known to Kathleen, and it turned out that,
+having seen the cockle start at too great a distance to be hailed, and
+having set his heart on joining in the excursion, he had watched their
+movements, observed their landing on the islet--which was not far from
+the main circlet of land--and, running round till he came opposite to
+it, swam off and got into the boat.  Being somewhat tired he had lain
+down to rest and fallen sound asleep.
+
+On the way home this urchin's sole delight was to lean over the bow and
+watch the fish and coral-groves over which they skimmed.  In this he was
+imitated by Nigel who, ungallantly permitting his companion to row, also
+leaned over the side and gazed down into the clear crystal depths with
+unwearying delight.
+
+For the wonderful colours displayed in those depths must be seen to be
+believed.  Not only is the eye pleased with the ever-varying formations
+of the coral bowers, but almost dazzled with the glittering fish--blue,
+emerald, green, scarlet, orange, banded, spotted, and striped--that dart
+hither and thither among the rich-toned sea-weed and the variegated
+anemones which spread their tentacles upwards as if inviting the gazer
+to come down.  Among these, crabs could be seen crawling with undecided
+motion, as if unable to make up their minds, while in out of the way
+crevices clams of a gigantic size were gaping in deadly quietude ready
+to close with a snap on any unfortunate creature that should give them
+the slightest touch.
+
+Nigel was sharply awakened from his dream by a sudden splash.  Looking
+up he 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
+glance revealed 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 about
+like a galvanised tadpole, with a small harpoon in his hand.
+
+Next moment he appeared on the surface shouting and spluttering, with a
+splendid fish on the end of his harpoon!  Both were hauled into the
+boat, and very soon after they drew near to land.
+
+In the shallow water Nigel observed some remarkable creatures which
+resembled hedgehogs, having jaws armed with formidable teeth to enable
+them to feed, Kathy said, on coral insects.  File-fishes also drew his
+attention particularly.  These were magnificently striped and coloured,
+and apparently very fearless.
+
+"What convenient tails they have to lay hold of," remarked our hero, as
+they 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, and
+actually did grasp the fish by its tail, but dropped it again
+instantly--to the shrieking delight of the urchin and Kathy,--for the
+tail was armed with a series of sharp spines which ran into his hand
+like lancets.
+
+This was an appropriate conclusion to a day that would have been
+otherwise too enjoyable.  Poor Nigel's felicity was further diluted when
+he met his father.
+
+"We'll have to sleep aboard to-night," said the captain, "for there's a
+fair breeze outside which seems likely to hold, and the mast has been
+temporarily rigged up, so we'll have to up anchor, and away by break of
+day 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 leave
+such a heaven upon earth as this in such a hurry.  Besides, is it not
+unkind to such hospitable people to bolt off after you've got all that
+you want out of them?"
+
+"Can't help that, lad--
+
+  "Dooty first, an' fun to follow,
+  That's what beats creation hollow."
+
+"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 last
+night when I couldn't sleep for your snorin'."
+
+"Don't tell fibs, father.  You know I never snore.  But--really--are we
+to start at daylight?"
+
+"We are, if the wind holds.  But you may stay as late as you choose on
+shore to-night."
+
+Nigel availed himself of the opportunity to see as much of the place and
+people as was possible in the limited time.  Next morning the good
+though damaged brig was running in the direction of Sunda Straits before
+a stiff and steady breeze.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 1.  We recommend those who desire more curious information on the
+fauna and flora of the Keeling Islands to apply to Henry O. Forbes most
+interesting book, _A Naturalist's Wanderings in the Eastern
+Archipelago_, published by Sampson Low.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+CAPTAIN ROY SURPRISES AND GRATIFIES HIS SON, WHO SURPRISES A NEGRO, AND
+SUDDENLY FORMS AN ASTONISHING RESOLVE.
+
+Arrived in Batavia--the low-lying seaport and capital of the Dutch
+island of Java--Captain Roy had his brig examined, and found that the
+damage she had sustained was so serious that several months would
+probably elapse before she would be again ready for sea.
+
+"Now, Nigel, my lad," said the old gentleman, on the morning after the
+examination had been made, "come down below with me; I want to have a
+confabulation with 'ee."
+
+"Why, father," said the youth, when seated at the small cabin table
+opposite his rugged parent, "you seem to be in an unusually solemn frame
+of mind this morning.  Has anything happened?"
+
+"Nothin', boy--nothin'.  Leastwise nothin' in particular.  You know all
+about 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 over
+with 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' to
+keep 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 his
+parent with an amused look.  "I have no intention of acting such an
+ignoble part, and I'm surprised at you askin' the question, for you know
+I am not lazy--at least not more so than average active men--and there
+must be plenty of work for me to do in looking after the cargo,
+superintending repairs, taking care of the ship and men.  I wonder at
+you, father.  You must either have had a shock of dotage, or fallen into
+a poetical vein.  What is a first mate fit for if--"
+
+"Nigel," said Captain Roy, interrupting, "I'm the owner an' commander of
+the _Sunshine_, besides bein' the paternal parent of an impertinent son,
+and I claim to have the right to do as I please--therefore, hold your
+tongue 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 his
+elbows on the table and clasping his hands before him.  "As Mr Moor and
+I, with the stooard and men, are quite sufficient to manage the affairs
+o' the brig, and as we shall certainly be here for a considerable time
+to come, I've made up my mind to give you a holiday.  You're young, you
+see, an' foolish, and your mind needs improvin'.  In short, you want a
+good deal o' the poetry knocked out o' you, for it's not like your
+mother's poetry by any means, so you needn't flatter yourself--not built
+on 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 enable
+you to move about in this curious archipelago--not much, but enough to
+keep you from starvation if used with economy, so I recommend you to go
+into 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 to
+come."
+
+"Are you in earnest, father?" asked Nigel, who had become more
+interested while the captain unfolded his plan.
+
+"Never more in earnest in my life--except, p'raps, when I inquired over
+twenty years ago whether you was a boy or a girl."
+
+"Well, now, that _is_ good of you, father.  Of course I need not say
+that I am charmed at the prospect you open up to me.  And--and when may
+I start?"
+
+"At once.  Up anchor and away to-night if you choose."
+
+"But--where?"
+
+"Anywhere--everywhere, Java, Sumatra, Borneo--all Malaysia before you
+where to choose.  Now be off, and think over it, for I've got too much
+to do 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 said
+somewhere, 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--
+
+  "I'll flee Temptation's siren voice,
+  _Throw_ poesy to the _crows_
+  And let my soul's ethereal fire
+  Gush out in sober prose."
+
+It need scarcely be said that our hero was not slow to take advantage of
+the opportunity thus thrown in his way.  He went off immediately through
+the town, armed with the introduction of his father's well-known name,
+and made inquiries of all sorts of people as to the nature, the
+conditions, the facilities, and the prospects of travel in the Malay
+Archipelago.  In this quest he found himself sorely perplexed for the
+very good reason that "all sorts" of people, having all sorts of ideas
+and tastes, gave amazingly conflicting accounts of the region and its
+attractions.
+
+Wearied at last with his researches, he sauntered towards afternoon in
+the direction of the port, and began in a listless sort of way to watch
+the movements of a man who was busily engaged with a boat, as if he were
+making preparations to put to sea.
+
+Now, whatever philosophers may say to the contrary, we hold strongly to
+the opinion that likings and dislikings among men and women and children
+are the result of some profound occult cause which has nothing whatever
+to do with experience.  No doubt experience may afterwards come in to
+modify 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?  Beauty
+has nothing necessarily to do with it, for men fall in love at first
+sight with what the world calls plain women--happily!  Character is not
+the cause, for love assails the human breast, oft-times, before the
+loved object has uttered a word, or perpetrated a smile, or even
+fulminated a glance to indicate character.  So, in like manner,
+affection may arise between man and man.
+
+It was so on this occasion with Nigel Roy.  As he stood abstractedly
+gazing at the boatman he fell in love with him--at least he took a
+powerful fancy to him, and this was all the more surprising that the man
+was a negro,--a woolly-headed, flat-nosed, thick-lipped nigger!
+
+We would not for a moment have it supposed that it is unnatural to love
+such a man.  Quite the reverse.  But when such a man is a perfect
+stranger, has never uttered a word in one's presence, or vouchsafed so
+much as a glance, and is gravely, stolidly engaged in the unsavoury work
+of greasing some of the tackling of a boat, it does seem unaccountable
+that he should be unwittingly capable of stirring up in another man's
+bosom feelings of ardent goodwill, to put it mildly.
+
+After watching him for some time, Nigel, under an almost involuntary
+impulse, shouted "Hullo!"
+
+"Hullo!" replied the negro, looking up with a somewhat stern frown and a
+pout of his thick lips, as much as to say--"Who are _you_?"
+
+Nigel smiled, and made that suggestive motion with his forefinger which
+signifies "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 very well
+say.  I suppose something must have been in my mind, but--anyhow, I felt
+a desire to have a talk with you; that is, if you can spare the time."
+
+The first part of this reply induced a slight recurrence of the frown
+and pout, but at its conclusion the black brow cleared and the mouth
+expanded to such a gum-and-teeth-exposing extent that Nigel fairly burst
+into a laugh.
+
+"You's bery good, sar," said the man, "an' I's hab much pleasure to make
+your acquaintance.--Der an't no grease on 'em now."
+
+The last remark had reference to the enormous black paw which he held
+out.
+
+Nigel at once grasped it and shook it heartily.
+
+"I's bery fond ob a talk, sar," continued the negro, "so as you wants
+one, heabe ahead."
+
+Thus encouraged, our hero began by remarking that he seemed to be
+preparing 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,
+which p'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 on
+my way here, and saw no sign of inhabitants."
+
+"Dat's cause I was absint fro' home.  An' massa he keeps indoors a good
+deal."
+
+"And pray who is massa?" asked Nigel.
+
+"Sar," said the negro, drawing up his square sturdy frame with a look of
+dignity; "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 quite
+obvious, judging from the glittering eyes and mobile mouth, that he
+poured his tale into peculiarly sympathetic ears.  When he had finished,
+the negro stood for a considerable time gazing in meditative silence at
+the sky.
+
+"Yes," he said at last, as if communing with himself, "I t'ink--I ain't
+quite sure, but I t'ink--I may ventur'."
+
+"Whatever it is you are thinking about," remarked Nigel, "you may
+venture to say anything you like to _me_."
+
+The negro, who, although comparatively short of stature, was Herculean
+in build, looked at the youth with an amused expression.
+
+"You're bery good, sar, but dat'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 lately an' 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 as
+amused.
+
+"Fierce! no, he's gentle as a lamb, but he's awrful when he's roused--
+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 for
+nuffin'), close under de ole volcano ob Krakatoa.  Dey tink--some ob de
+foolish peepil--dat he hab sold his-self to de dibil, but I knows
+better.  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 main land--
+whar you please--an' you kin come back here or go whar you choose.  Its
+wort' your while to take your chance, anyhow."
+
+The negro said this with such an earnest look that Nigel made up his
+mind 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 sure
+he won't object, so you may look out for me here at daybreak.  Shall I
+have 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, for
+a man's no good widout dat."
+
+"I always carry that about with me," said the youth, "whatever else I
+may leave behind; and I'll see to the other things.--By the way, what's
+your 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 two
+names--Nigel Roy."
+
+"Well, I don't see much use ob two, but which does you like to be called
+by--Nadgel or Roy?"
+
+"Whichever you please, Moses; I'll answer to either.  So now, good-bye
+for 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, he
+resumed his greasing operations.
+
+Of course Captain Roy made no objection to his son's proposal, though he
+freely gave his opinion that it was a wild-goose chase.
+
+"However, lad, please yourself and you'll please me," he added; "and
+now, be particular to bear in mind that you've got to write to me every
+time you get within hail of a post-office or a passing ship or steamer
+that may chance to be comin' this way, and in each letter be sure to
+tell me where you're goin' to next, so as I may send a letter there to
+you in case I want you to return sudden or otherwise.  We mustn't lose
+touch, you see.  You needn't write long screeds.  I only want to know
+your whereabouts from time to time.  For the rest--you can spin it out
+in yarns when you come back."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX.
+
+THE HERMIT OF RAKATA INTRODUCED.
+
+Nothing worthy of particular note occurred during the boat-voyage along
+the northern shore of Java to Sunda Straits.  A fair, steady breeze
+wafted them westward, and, on the morning of the third day, they came in
+sight of the comparatively small uninhabited island of Krakatoa.
+
+The boat in which they voyaged, although a little one, had a small
+portion of the bow decked over, so that our hero and his sable friend
+could find shelter from the night air when disposed to sleep, and from
+the fierce rays of the sun at noon.
+
+By the advice of his father, Nigel had changed his sailor costume for
+the "shore-goin' toggery" in which he had landed on the Keeling Islands,
+as being more suitable to his new character as a traveller, namely, a
+white cloth cap with a peak in front and a curtain behind to protect his
+neck, a light-grey tunic belted at the waist, and a pair of strong
+canvas trousers.  He had also purchased an old-fashioned
+double-barrelled fowling-piece, muzzle-loading and with percussion
+locks.
+
+"For you see, Nigel," the captain had said, "it's all very well to use
+breech-loaders when you've got towns and railways and suchlike to supply
+you wi' cartridges, but when you've got to cruise in out-o'-the-way
+waters, there's nothin' like the old style.  It's not difficult to carry
+a few thousand percussion-caps an' a bullet-mould about wi' you wherever
+you 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
+you could shove a handful of gravel or a pen-knife or tooth-pick into
+your gun 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 been
+purchased.
+
+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 the
+horizon, and ere long the rich tropical verdure became distinguishable.
+
+Krakatoa--destined so soon to play a thrilling part in the world's
+history; to change the aspect of the heavens everywhere; to attract the
+wondering gaze of nearly all nations, and to devastate its immediate
+neighbourhood--is of volcanic origin, and, at the time we write of
+(1883) was beginning to awaken from a long, deep slumber of two hundred
+years.  Its last explosion occurred in the year 1680.  Since that date
+it had remained quiet.  But now the tremendous subterranean forces which
+had originally called it into being were beginning to reassert their
+existence and their power.  Vulcan was rousing himself again and
+beginning once more to blow his bellows.  So said some of the sailors
+who were constantly going close past the island and through Sunda
+Straits, which may be styled the narrows of the world's highway to the
+China seas.
+
+Subterranean forces, however, are so constantly at work more or less
+violently in those regions that people took little notice of these
+indications in the comparatively small island of Krakatoa, which was
+between five and six miles long by four broad.
+
+As we have said, it was uninhabited, and lying as it does between
+Sumatra and Java, about sixteen miles from the former and over twenty
+miles from the latter, it was occasionally visited by fishermen.  The
+hermit whom Nigel was about to visit might, in some sort, be counted an
+inhabitant, for he had dwelt there many years, but he lived in a cave
+which was difficult of access, and held communication with no one.  How
+he spent his time was a mystery, for although his negro servant went to
+the neighbouring town of Anjer in Java for supplies, and sometimes to
+Batavia, as we have seen, no piece of inanimate ebony from the forest
+could have been less communicative than he.  Indeed, our hero was the
+first to unlock the door of his lips, with that key of mysterious
+sympathy to which reference has already been made.  Some of the bolder
+of the young fishermen of the neighbouring coasts had several times made
+futile efforts to find out where and how the hermit lived, but the few
+who got a glimpse of him at a distance brought back such a report that a
+kind of superstitious fear of him was generated which kept them at a
+respectful distance.
+
+He was ten feet high, some romancers said, with shoulders four feet
+broad, a chest like a sugar-hogs-head, and a countenance resembling a
+compound of orang-utan and tiger.
+
+Of course our hero knew nothing of these rumours, and as Moses declined
+to 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
+in mystery.
+
+"You mus' know, Massa Nadgel," he said, as they slowly drew near to the
+island, "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's
+not 'fraid ob dat.  I's bin a slabe once, got used to lickin's.  Don't
+care nuffin' at all for a lickin'!"
+
+"Then it must be that you're afraid of hurting his feelings, Moses, for
+I know of no other kind of fear."
+
+"Pr'aps da's it!" said the negro with a bright look, "now I wouldn't
+wonder if you's right, Massa Nadgel.  It neber come into my head in dat
+light before.  I used to be t'ink, t'inkin' ob nights--when I's tired ob
+countin' my fingers an' toes.  But I couldn't make nuffin' ob it.  _Now_
+I knows!  It's 'fraid I am ob hurtin' his feelin's."
+
+In the excess of his satisfaction at the solution of this long-standing
+puzzle, Moses threw back his head, shut his eyes, opened his enormous
+mouth and chuckled.
+
+By the time he had reversed this process they were sufficiently near to
+Krakatoa to distinguish all its features clearly, and the negro began to
+point out to Nigel its various localities.  There were three prominent
+peaks on it, he said, named respectively, Perboewatan, about 400 feet
+high, at the northern end of the island; Danan, near the centre, 1500
+feet; and Rakata, at the southern end, over 2600 feet.  It was high up
+on the sides of the last cone that the residence of the hermit was
+situated.
+
+"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!
+I 'fraid ob hurtin' his feelin's!"
+
+"Well, never mind; I'll find it out from himself soon.  By the way, what
+were you telling me about explosions yesterday when that little white
+gull 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 b'low, an' massa he shook 'is head
+two or t'ree times an' look solemn.  He don't often do dat--shook 'is
+head, I mean--for he mostly always looks solemn."
+
+A few minutes later the boat, running through a narrow opening among the
+rocks into a small circular harbour not more than fifty yards in
+diameter, rested its keel gently on a little bed of pure yellow sand.
+The shore there was so densely covered with bushes that the harbour
+might 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 sprung on the beach and
+looked admiringly round.
+
+"Yes, an' not easy to find if you don't knows 'im.  We will leabe de
+boat here,--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, who looked
+at his companion somewhat uneasily.
+
+"Why, what's the matter, Moses?"
+
+"Nuffin'--oh! nuffin'--but--but when massa axes you who you is, an' what
+you bin up to, an' whar you're a-gwine to, an' what wages you want, jist
+you 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 of
+profound humility, "but my massa lost a old sarvint--a nigger like
+myself--only last munt', an' he wants to go on one ob his usual
+expeditions jus' now, so he sends me to Batavia to git anoder man--`a
+good one, you know,' says massa,--an' as you, sar, was good 'nuff to ax
+me what you should do, an' you looked a pritty smart man, I--"
+
+"You scoundrel!" cried Nigel, interrupting him, "do you really mean to
+tell me that you've brought me here as a hired servant?"
+
+"Well, not zackly," returned Moses, with solemn simplicity, "you needn't
+ax no wages unless you like."
+
+"But what if I don't want to take service?" demanded our hero, with a
+savage frown.
+
+"You kin go home agin," answered Moses, humbly.
+
+Nigel could contain himself no longer.  As he observed the man's
+deprecatory air, and thought of his own position, he burst into a fit of
+hearty laughter, whereupon the negro recovered himself and smiled the
+smile of the guiltless.
+
+"Come," said Nigel at last.  "Lead on, you rascal!  When I see your
+master I shall know what to say."
+
+"All right, Massa Nadgel, but mind what you say, else I won't answer for
+de consikences.  Foller me an' look arter your feet, for de road is
+roughish."
+
+The negro's last remark was unquestionably true, for the road--if a mere
+footpath merits the name--was rugged in the extreme--here winding round
+the base of steep cliffs, there traversing portions of luxuriant forest,
+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
+him to show the slightest sign of difficulty, and made him even converse
+now and then in tones of simulated placidity.  At last the path turned
+abruptly towards the face of a precipice and seemed to terminate in a
+small shallow cave.  Any one following the path out of mere curiosity
+would have naturally imagined that the cave was the termination of it;
+and a very poor termination too, seeing that it was a rather
+uninteresting cave, the whole of the interior of which could be seen at
+a single glance from its mouth.
+
+But this cave served in reality as a blind.  Climbing by one or two
+projecting points, the negro, closely followed by Nigel, reached a
+narrow ledge and walked along it a short distance.  On coming to the end
+of the ledge he jumped down into a mass of undergrowth, where the track
+again became visible--winding among great masses of weatherworn lava.
+Here the ascent became very steep, and Moses put on what sporting men
+call a spurt, which took him far ahead of Nigel, despite the best
+efforts of the latter to keep up.  Still our hero scorned to run or call
+out to his guide to wait, and thereby admit himself beaten.  He pushed
+steadily on, and managed to keep the active Moses in view.
+
+Presently the negro stepped upon a platform of rock high up on the
+cliffs, where his form could be distinctly seen against the bright sky.
+There Nigel observed that he was joined by a man whose tall commanding
+figure seemed in such a position to be of gigantic proportions.
+
+The two stood engaged in earnest conversation while watching Nigel.  The
+latter immediately slackened his pace, in order at once to recover
+breath and approach with a leisurely aspect.
+
+"The wild man of the island, I suppose," he thought as he drew near; but
+on coming still nearer he saw that he must be mistaken, for the stranger
+who advanced to meet him with gracious ease and self-possession was
+obviously a gentleman, and dressed, not unlike himself, in a sort of
+mixed travelling and shooting costume.
+
+"I must apologise, Mr Roy, for the presumption of my man, in bringing
+you here under something like false pretences," said the stranger,
+holding out his hand, which Nigel shook heartily.  "Moses, I find, has
+failed to execute my commission, and has partially deceived you; but as
+you are now here, the least I can do is to bid you welcome, and offer
+you the hospitality of my roof."
+
+There was something so courteous and kindly in the tone and manner of
+the stranger, and something so winning in his soft gentle tones, which
+contrasted strangely with his grand towering figure and massive bearded
+countenance, that Nigel felt drawn to him instantly.  Indeed there was a
+peculiar and mysterious something about him which quite fascinated our
+hero as he looked up at him, for, bordering on six feet though Nigel
+was, the stranger stood several inches above him.
+
+"You are very kind," said the visitor, "and I don't think that Moses can
+fairly be charged with deceiving me, although he has been somewhat
+unwise in his way of going about this business, for I had told him I
+wanted to see something of these regions, and perhaps it may be to my
+advantage to travel in your service--that is, if I can be of any use to
+you; 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 the
+ground.  "We will talk of this hereafter."
+
+"But--excuse me," said Nigel, "your man spoke of you as a hermit--a sort
+of--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 flat
+contradiction was taken off by the extreme humility of his look.
+
+"Well," returned Nigel, with a laugh; "you at least gave me to
+understand 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.
+"But come, let me introduce you to my hermitage and you shall judge for
+yourself."
+
+So saying, this singular being turned and led the way further up the
+rugged side of the peak of Rakata.
+
+After about five minutes' walk in silence, the trio reached a spot where
+there was a clear view over the tree-tops, revealing the blue waters of
+the strait, with the Java shores and mountains in the distance.
+
+Behind them there yawned, dark and mysterious, a mighty cavern, so black
+and high that it might well suggest a portal leading to the regions
+below, where Vulcan is supposed to stir those tremendous fires which
+have moulded much of the configuration of the world, and which are ever
+seething--an awful Inferno--under the thin crust of the globe on which
+we stand.
+
+Curiously-formed and large-leaved trees of the tropics, with their
+pendent parasites, as well as rank grasses, sprouting from below and
+hanging from above, partially concealed this cavern from Nigel when he
+first turned towards it, but a few steps further on he could see it in
+all its rugged grandeur.
+
+"My home," said the hermit, with a very slight smile and the air of a
+prince, as he turned towards his visitor and waved his hand towards it.
+
+"A magnificent entrance at all events," said Nigel, returning the smile
+with something of dubiety, for he was not quite sure that his host was
+in earnest.
+
+"Follow me," said the hermit, leading the way down a narrow well-worn
+path which seemed to lose itself in profound darkness.  After being a
+few minutes within the cavern, however, Nigel's eyes became accustomed
+to the dim light, and he perceived that the roof rapidly lowered, while
+its walls narrowed until they reached a spot which was not much wider
+than an ordinary corridor.  Here, however, it was so dark that it was
+barely possible to see a small door in the right-hand wall before which
+they halted.  Lifting a latch the hermit threw the door wide open, and a
+glare of dazzling light almost blinded the visitor.
+
+Passing through the entrance, Nigel followed his guide, and the negro
+let the heavy door shut behind him with a clang that was depressingly
+suggestive of a prison.
+
+"Again I bid you welcome to my home," said the hermit, turning round and
+extending his hand, which Nigel mechanically took and pressed, but
+without very well knowing what he did, for he was almost dumfounded by
+what he saw, and for some minutes gazed in silence around him.
+
+And, truly, there was ground for surprise.  The visitor found himself in
+a small but immensely high and brilliantly lighted cavern or natural
+chamber, the walls of which were adorned with drawings of scenery and
+trees and specimens of plants, while on various shelves stood
+innumerable stuffed birds, and shells, and other specimens of natural
+history.
+
+A table and two chairs stood at one end of the cave, and, strangest of
+all, 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 rested
+at last on the door by which they had entered, beside which stood the
+negro with a broad grin on his sable visage.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN.
+
+WONDERS OF THE HERMIT'S CAVE AND ISLAND.
+
+The thing that perhaps surprised Nigel most in this strange cavern was
+the blaze of light with which it was filled, for it came down direct
+through a funnel-shaped hole in the high roof and bore a marvellous
+resemblance to natural sunshine.  He was well aware that unless the sun
+were shining absolutely in the zenith, the laws of light forbade the
+entrance of a _direct_ ray into such a place, yet there were the
+positive rays, although the sun was not yet high in the heavens,
+blinding him while he looked at them, and casting the shadows of himself
+and his new friends on the floor.
+
+There was the faintest semblance of a smile on the hermit's face as he
+quietly observed his visitor, and waited till he should recover
+self-possession.  As for Moses--words are wanting to describe the fields
+of teeth and gum which he displayed, but no sound was suffered to escape
+his magnificent lips, which closed like the slide of a dark lantern when
+the 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 looking
+earnestly at his host, "for you seem not only to have all the
+necessaries of life around you in your strange abode, but many of the
+luxuries; among them the cheering presence of sunshine--though how you
+manage to get it is beyond my powers of conception."
+
+"It is simple enough, as you shall see," returned the hermit.  "You have
+heard of the saying, no doubt, that `all things are possible to
+well-directed labour?'"
+
+"Yes, and that `nothing can be achieved without labour.'"
+
+"Well, I have proved that to some extent," continued the hermit.  "You
+see, by the various and miscellaneous implements on my shelves, that I
+am given to dabbling a little in science, and thus have made my lonely
+home as pleasant as such a home can be--but let us not talk of these
+matters just now.  You must be hungry.  Have you had breakfast?"
+
+"No, we have not--unless, at least, you count a sea biscuit dipped in
+salt water a breakfast.  After all, that may well be the case, for
+hermits are noted for the frugality of their fare."
+
+"I am not a genuine hermit," remarked his host gravely.  "Men do indeed
+call me the Hermit of Rakata, because I dwell alone here under the
+shadow of this particular cone of Krakatoa, but I do not ape the austere
+life of the conventional hermit, as you see, either in my domestic
+arrangements or food.  Come, your breakfast is ready.  From my outlook I
+saw your boat approaching some hours ago, and knew that it was mine, so
+I made ready for your arrival, though I did not guess that Moses was
+bringing me a guest instead of a servant!"
+
+So saying, he led the way through a short natural passage to an inner
+cave, the entrance to which, like the outer one, was boarded.  On
+opening a small door, Nigel was again greeted as before with brilliant
+rays of sunshine, and, in addition, with a gush of odours that were
+exceedingly grateful to a hungry man.  A low "Ho! ho!" behind him told
+that his black companion was equally gratified.
+
+The inner cave or mess-room, as the host styled it, combined dining-room
+and kitchen, for while in one corner stood a deal table with plates,
+cups, etcetera, but no tablecloth, in another stood a small stove,
+heated by an oil-lamp, from which issued puffing and sputtering sounds,
+and the savoury odours above referred to.
+
+Nigel now perceived that although his strange host necessarily spoke a
+good deal while welcoming him and offering him the hospitalities of his
+abode, he was by no means communicative.  On the contrary, it was
+evident that he was naturally reserved and reticent, and that although
+polite and gentle in the extreme, there was a quiet grave dignity about
+him which discouraged familiarity.  It must not be supposed, however,
+that he was in any degree morosely silent.  He was simply quiet and
+undemonstrative, said little except when asked questions, and spoke,
+alike to Nigel and Moses, in the soft, low, kindly tones with which one
+might address very young people.
+
+Going to the stove he took a coffee-pot therefrom and set it on the
+table.  At the same time, Moses, without requiring to be told, opened
+the oven and brought forth fried fish, meat of some kind, and cakes of
+he knew not what, but cared little, for their excellence was
+unquestionable.
+
+During the meal that followed, Nigel ventured as far as politeness
+permitted--indeed a little further, if truth must be told--to inquire
+into the circumstances and motives of his entertainer in taking up his
+abode in such a strange place, but he soon found that his eccentric
+friend was not one who could be "pumped."  Without a touch of rudeness,
+and in the sweetest of voices, he simply assumed an absent manner and
+changed the subject of discourse, when he did not choose to reply, by
+drawing attention to some irrelevant matter, or by putting a counter
+question which led away from the subject.  Nigel also found that his
+host never laughed and rarely smiled, though, when he did so, the smile
+was so slight 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, and somewhat constrained in consequence, but gradually he began
+to feel at ease.  Another discovery that he soon made was, that the
+hermit treated Moses not as a servant, but as if he were in all respects
+an equal and a comrade.
+
+After eating for some time in silence, and having tried to draw out his
+host without success, Nigel changed his tactics and said--
+
+"You were so kind as to speak of me as your guest, Mr--Mr--I beg
+pardon, 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 to
+accept the position for which Moses hired me--"
+
+"No, I didn't," contradicted the negro, flatly yet very gently, both in
+tone and manner, for long residence with the hermit had apparently
+imbued him with something of his spirit.
+
+"Well, then," said Nigel, "the position for which Moses _should have_
+hired some one else."  ("K'rect _now_," whispered Moses.) "Of course I
+do not intend to ask for or accept wages, and also, of course, I accept
+the position on the understanding that you think me fit for the service.
+May I 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 the
+floor as if pondering his reply, "is to accompany me as my attendant and
+companion, to take notes as occasion may serve, and to paddle a canoe."
+
+At this reply our hero almost laughed, but was prevented from doing so
+by his host asking abruptly if he understood canoeing.
+
+"Well, yes.  At least I can manage what in England is known as the Rob
+Roy 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, once
+gave me a few lessons, and, becoming fond of the subject, I followed it
+up."
+
+"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 shorthand
+with facility.  Especially useful is it in commerce.  I know that,
+having had some experience of commercial life."
+
+At this point in the conversation Nigel was startled by what was to him
+an absolutely new sensation, namely a shaking or trembling of the whole
+cavern, accompanied by faint rumbling sounds as if in deeper caverns
+below him.
+
+He glanced quickly at his host and at the negro, but to his surprise
+these remarkable men seemed not to be aware of the shaking, although it
+was severe enough to cause some of the furniture to rattle.  Observing
+his look of surprise, Moses remarked, with a benignant though capacious
+smile, "Mountain's got de mulligrumps pritty bad jist now."
+
+"We are pretty well accustomed to that," said the host, observing that
+Nigel turned to him for an explanation.  "No doubt you are aware that
+this region is celebrated for earthquakes and volcanoes, so much so that
+the inhabitants pay little attention to them unless they become
+unusually violent.  This island of Krakatoa is itself the fragment of an
+extinct volcano; but the term `extinct' is scarcely applicable to
+volcanoes, for it is well-known that many which were for centuries
+supposed to be extinct have awakened to sudden and violent
+activity--`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' dereselves
+hereabouts when you don' 'spect it of 'em.  Go on, massa.  I ax yer
+pard'n for 'truptin'."
+
+The hermit's peculiar good-natured little smile played for a moment on
+his massive features, and then faded away as he continued--
+
+"Perhaps you may have heard that this is the very heart of the district
+that has long been recognised as the greatest focus of volcanic activity
+on the globe?"
+
+"I have heard something of the sort," answered Nigel, "but I confess
+that my knowledge is limited and my mind hazy on the subject."
+
+"I doubt it not," returned his friend, "for geographical and scientific
+training in primary schools anywhere is not what it might be.  The
+island of Java, with an area about equal to that of England, contains no
+fewer than forty-nine great volcanic mountains, some of which rise to
+12,000 feet above the sea-level.  Many of these mountains are at the
+present time active."  ("Yes, much _too_ active," muttered the negro),
+"and more than half of them have been seen in eruption since Java was
+occupied by Europeans.  Hot springs, mud-volcanoes, and vapour-vents
+abound all over the island, whilst earthquakes are by no means uncommon.
+There is a distinct line in the chain of these mountains which seems to
+point to a great fissure in the earth's crust, caused by the
+subterranean fires.  This tremendous crack or fissure crosses the
+Straits of Sunda, and in consequence we find a number of these vents--as
+volcanic mountains may be styled--in the Island of Sumatra, which you
+saw to the nor'ard as you came along.  But there is supposed to be
+another great crack in the earth's crust--indicated by several volcanic
+mountains--which crosses the other fissure almost at right angles, and
+at the exact point where these 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 now
+which lead me to believe that its energy is reviving; and, second,
+because this focus where fissures cross each other--this Krakatoa
+Island--is in reality part of the crater of an older and much larger
+volcanic mountain, which must have been literally blown away in
+prehistoric times, and of which Krakatoa and the neighbouring islets of
+Varlaten, Polish Hat, Lang Island, and the rest, are but the remnants of
+the great crater ring.  If these rumblings and minor earthquakes, which
+I have noticed of late--and the latest of which you have just
+experienced--are the precursors of another explosion, my home here may
+be rendered untenable."
+
+"Hi!" exclaimed Moses, who had been listening with open mouth and eyes
+to this discourse, which was obviously news to him, "I hope, massa, he
+ain't a-gwine to 'splode to-day--anyhow, not till arter 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
+I will show you presently, contains many interesting works on the
+subject.  But come, if you have finished we will ascend the Peak of
+Rakata and I will introduce you to my sunshine."
+
+He rose and led his guest back to the outer cavern, leaving Moses still
+busy with knife and fork, apparently meditating on the pleasure of
+breakfasting with the prospect of a possible and immediate explosion.
+
+In passing through the first chamber, Nigel observed, in a natural
+recess, the library just referred to.  He also noted that, besides
+stuffed birds and other specimens and sea-shells, there were chisels,
+saws, hammers, and other tools, besides something like a forge and
+carpenter's bench in a side-chamber opening out of the large one, which
+he had not at first seen--from all which he concluded that the hermit
+was 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 into
+profound darkness.
+
+"Let me take your hand here," said the hermit, looking down upon his
+guest with his slight but winning smile; "it is a rough and dark
+staircase.  You will be apt to stumble."
+
+Nigel placed his hand in that of his host with perfect confidence, and
+with a curious feeling--aroused, probably, by the action--of having
+returned to the days of childhood.
+
+The stair was indeed rugged as well as winding, and so pitchy dark that
+the youth could not have advanced at all without stumbling, unless his
+host had held him all the way.  At last a glimmer of light was seen in
+the distance.  It seemed to increase suddenly, and in a few moments the
+two emerged from total darkness into dazzling sunshine.
+
+When Nigel looked round him he saw that they had gained a plateau, high
+up on the very summit of the mountain, which appeared to be absolutely
+inaccessible by any means save that by which they had reached it.
+
+"This is what I call my observatory," said the hermit, turning to his
+guest.  "We have passed right through the peak of Rakata, and reached
+its northern side, which commands, as you see, a view of all the
+northern part of the island.  I come here often in the night to study
+the face of the heavens, the moon, and stars, and meditate on their
+mysterious Maker, whose ways are indeed wonderful and past finding out;
+but all which 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 yet
+bestowed 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 somewhat
+embarrassed air.  "If I am to be your assistant and familiar companion
+for 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 der
+Kemp."
+
+"Agreed," said Nigel, "though it does not seem so appropriate in me as
+in you, considering the difference of our years."
+
+"Look here," said the hermit, turning abruptly to a small wooden shed
+which had hitherto escaped the youth's observation, so covered was it
+with overhanging boughs and tropical creeping plants, "these are my
+astronomical instruments."
+
+He pointed to a table in the hut on which stood several telescopes--and
+microscopes as well--one of the former being a large instrument,
+certainly not less than six feet long, with a diameter of apparently six
+or eight inches.
+
+"Here, you see, I have the means of investigating the wonders of Nature
+in her grandest as well as her minutest scales.  And there," he added,
+pointing to a couple of large reflecting mirrors in strong wooden
+frames, erected on joints in such a way that they could be turned in any
+direction,--"there you have the secret of my sunshine.  One of these
+mirrors catches the sunshine direct and reflects it on the other, which,
+as you see, is so arranged that it transmits the rays down the natural
+funnel or chimney into the cave.  By means of chains connected with the
+mechanism, and extending below, I can change the direction of the
+mirrors as the sun changes its place in the sky, without requiring to
+come up here."
+
+"Very ingenious!" said Nigel; "but how do you manage when the mountain
+comes between you and the sun, as I see it cannot fail to do during some
+part of the day?"
+
+"Simply enough," returned the hermit, pointing to a distant projecting
+cliff or peak.  "On yon summit I have fixed four mirrors similar to
+these.  When the sun can no longer be reflected from this pair, the
+first of 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
+catch and transmit it, and so on to the fourth.  After that I bid
+good-bye to the sun, and light my lamp!"
+
+Nigel felt an almost irresistible tendency to smile at this, but the
+grave simplicity of the man forbade such familiarity.
+
+"Look yonder," continued the hermit, sweeping one of his long arms
+towards Sumatra, "in that direction runs the line of volcanic
+disturbance--the fissure of which I have already spoken.  Focus this
+telescope to suit your sight.  Now, do you see the little island away
+there to the nor'-west?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, that is _Varlaten_.  I mentioned it when at breakfast.  Sweep
+your glass round to the nor'ard, the little island there is _Polish
+Hat_, and you see _Lang Island_ in the nor'-east.  These, with Krakatoa,
+are merely the higher parts still remaining above water of the ring or
+lip of the ancient crater.  This will give you some idea what an
+enormous mountain the original of this old volcano must have been.  This
+island-mountain is estimated to have been twenty-five miles in
+circumference, and 10,000 to 12,000 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 see several cones of various sizes.  These
+are ancient vents, supposed to be extinct--"
+
+"But one of them, the one furthest away," interrupted Nigel, steadying
+his telescope on the branch of a tree, "seems to be anything but
+extinct, for I see a thin column of white smoke or steam rising from
+it."
+
+"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, I should say, in the very centre of the ancient crater,
+where are the two fissures I have mentioned.  For two hundred years
+Perboewatan has not smoked like that, and, slight though it is at
+present, I cannot help thinking that it indicates an impending eruption,
+especially when I consider that earthquakes have become more numerous of
+late years, and there was one in 1880 which was so violent as to damage
+seriously the lighthouse 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 shadow
+of boastfulness or affectation either in his look or tone.
+
+"Besides," he continued, "the explosion may be but slight, and
+Perboewatan is, as you see, about four miles off.  People in the
+neighbourhood of the straits and passing ships are so accustomed to
+volcanic explosions on a more or less grand scale that they will never
+notice this little cloud hanging over Krakatoa.  Those who, like myself,
+know the ancient history of the island, regard it in a more serious
+light, but we may be wrong.  Come, now, we will descend again and have a
+ramble over part of the island.  It will interest you.  Not many men
+have penetrated its luxuriant forests or know their secrets.  I have
+wandered through them in all directions, and can guide you.  Indeed,
+Moses could do 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 only
+finished his breakfast, but had washed the dishes and cleared up the
+kitchen, so that he was quite ready to shoulder a wallet and a gun when
+his master bade him prepare for a day in the forest.
+
+It is not, however, our intention to follow the trio thither.  Matters
+of 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 which
+the island was densely covered, visiting one of the extinct craters,
+bathing in one of the numerous hot springs, and collecting many objects
+of interest to the hermit, in the shape of botanical and geological
+specimens, they returned in the evening to their cavern-house not only
+ready but eager for sustenance and repose.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+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 the
+rays of a magnificent oil-lamp, which Moses lighted and placed on the
+table in the larger cave.  A smaller one of the same kind already
+illuminated the kitchen.
+
+Not much conversation was indulged in during the progress of the supper
+that was soon spread upon the rude table.  The three men, being
+uncommonly hungry and powerfully robust, found in food a sufficient
+occupation 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 in
+conversation, he experienced some difficulty in making headway against
+the discouragement of Van der Kemp's very quiet disposition, and the
+cavernous yawns with which Moses displayed at once his desire for
+slumber and his magnificent dental arrangements.
+
+"We always retire early to rest after a day of this sort," said the
+hermit at last, turning to his guest.  "Do you feel disposed for bed?"
+
+"Indeed I do," said Nigel, with a half-suppressed yawn, that was
+irresistibly dragged out of him by the sight of another earthquake on
+the negro's face.
+
+"Come, then, I will show you your berth; we have no bedrooms here," said
+the hermit, with a sort of deprecatory smile, as he led the way to the
+darker end of the cavern, where he pointed to a little recess in which
+there 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, I
+daresay?"
+
+"Not in the least," returned Nigel, with a laugh.  "Good-night," he
+added, shaking hands with his host and suppressing another yawn, for
+Moses' face, even in the extreme distance, was irresistibly infectious!
+
+Our hero was indifferent not only to sheets, but also, in certain
+circumstances, to the usual habiliments of night.  Indeed, while
+travelling in out-of-the-way regions he held it to be a duty to undress
+but partially before turning in, so that he might be ready for
+emergencies.
+
+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 he
+observed that, from the position in which he lay, he could see the
+cavern in all its extent.  Opening his half-closed eyes, therefore, he
+watched the proceedings of his host, and in doing so, as well as in
+speculating on his strange character and surroundings, he became
+somewhat wakeful.
+
+He saw that Van der Kemp, returning to the other end of the cave, sat
+down beside the lamp, the blaze of which fell full on his fine calm
+countenance.  A motion of his head brought Moses to him, who sat down
+beside him and entered into earnest conversation, to judge from his
+gestures, for nothing could be heard where Nigel lay save the monotonous
+murmur of their voices.  The hermit did not move.  Except for an
+occasional inclination of the head he appeared to be a grand classic
+statue, but it was otherwise with the negro.  His position in front of
+the lamp caused him to look if possible even blacker than ever, and the
+blackness was so uniform that his entire profile became strongly
+pronounced, thus rendering every motion distinct, and the varied pouting
+of his huge lips remarkably obvious.  The extended left hand, too, with
+the 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 master
+by the hand, appeared to say "Good-night" very obviously, yawned, and
+retired to the kitchen, whence, in five minutes or so, there issued
+sounds which betokened felicitous repose.
+
+Meanwhile his master sat motionless for some time, gazing at the floor
+as if in meditation.  Then he rose, went to his book-case and took down
+a large thick volume, which he proceeded to read.
+
+Nigel had by that time dropped into a drowsy condition, yet his interest
+in the doings of his strange entertainer was so great that he struggled
+hard to keep awake, and partially succeeded.
+
+"I wonder," he muttered, in sleepy tones, "if that's a f-fam-'ly Bible
+he'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 some
+sort of weakness, he struggled back again in to wakefulness, and saw
+that the hermit was bending over the large book with his massive brow
+resting on the palms of both hands, and his fingers thrust into his
+iron-grey hair.  It was evident, however, that he was not reading the
+book at that moment, for on its pages was lying what seemed to be a
+miniature or photograph case, at which he gazed intently.  Nigel roused
+himself to consider this, and in doing so again dropped off--not yet
+soundly, however, for curiosity induced one more violent struggle, and
+he became aware of the fact that the hermit was on his knees with his
+face buried in his hands.
+
+The youth's thoughts must have become inextricably confused at this
+point, 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 into dreamless repose.
+
+How long this condition lasted he could not tell, but he was awakened
+violently by sensations and feelings of dread, which were entirely new
+to him.  The bed on which he rested seemed to heave under him, and his
+ears were filled by sharp rattling sounds, something like--yet very
+different from--the continuous roll of musketry.
+
+Starting up, he sprang into the large cavern where he found Van der Kemp
+quietly 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
+a long time expecting it.  Come with us."
+
+He went swiftly up the staircase and passages which led to the
+observatory as he spoke.
+
+The scene that met their eyes on reaching the ledge or plateau was
+sublime in the extreme, as well as terrific.
+
+"As I thought," said Van der Kemp, in a low tone.  "It is Perboewatan
+that 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 that
+we were wrong in supposing it to be extinct: it was only slumbering.  It
+is in what vulcanologists term moderate eruption now, and, perhaps, may
+prove a safety-valve which will prevent a more violent explosion."
+
+That the cone of Perboewatan was indeed in a state of considerable
+activity, worthy of a stronger term than "moderate," was very obvious.
+Although at a distance, as we have said, of four miles, the glare of its
+fires on the three figures perched near the top of Rakata was very
+intense, while explosion after explosion sent molten lava and red-hot
+rocks, pumice, and dust, high into the thickening air--clouds of smoke
+and steam being vomited forth at the same time.  The wind, of which
+there was very little, blew it all away from the position occupied by
+the three 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 that
+he 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 is
+therefore not likely that the volcanic energy will seek a vent here
+while there are other cones between us and Perboewatan.  But we shall
+soon see whether the one vent is likely to suffice.  There is
+undoubtedly no diminution in the explosions at present."
+
+There certainly was not, for the voice of the speaker was almost drowned
+by the horrible din caused, apparently, by the hurtling of innumerable
+fragments of rock and stones in the air, while a succession of fiery
+flashes, each followed by a loud explosion, lit up the dome-shaped mass
+of vapour that was mounting upwards and spreading over the sky.  Vivid
+flashes of lightning were also seen playing around the vapour-column.
+At the 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 of the island.  The sea around was also ere long covered with
+masses of pumice, which, being very light, floated away into the Indian
+ocean, and these were afterwards encountered in large quantities by
+various vessels passing through Sunda Straits.
+
+The Scientific Committee, which ultimately wrote on the details of this
+eruption in Krakatoa, mention this first outburst as being a phase of
+moderate activity, similar to that which is said to have been exhibited
+for some months during the years 1680 and 1681, and they added that "the
+outburst was one of considerable violence, especially at its
+commencement," that falls of dust were noticed at the distance of three
+hundred miles, and that "the commander of the German war-vessel
+_Elizabeth_ estimated the height of the dust-column issuing from the
+volcano at 11 kilometres (36,000 feet or about 7 miles)."
+
+To our hero, however, and to Moses, the outburst seemed anything but
+"moderate," and that night as they two sat together in the cave after
+supper, listening with awe-struck faces to the cannonading and wild
+musketry going on as it seemed under their very feet, the negro solemnly
+imparted to Nigel in a low whisper that he thought "de end ob de wurld
+hab come at last!"
+
+Returning at that moment from his observatory, to which he had ascended
+for a few minutes to view the scene through one of his glasses, Van der
+Kemp relieved their anxieties somewhat by remarking, in his quiet
+manner, that there was a distinct diminution in the violence of the
+explosions, and that, from his knowledge and experience of other
+volcanoes in Java, Sumatra, and elsewhere, he thought it probable they
+had seen the worst of it at that time, and that none of the other cones
+would be likely to break out.
+
+"I'm glad to hear you say so," observed Nigel, "for although the sight
+is extremely magnificent and very interesting, both from a scientific
+and artistic point of view, I cannot help thinking that we should be
+safer away from this island at present--at least while the volcano is
+active."
+
+The hermit smiled almost pitifully.  "I do not apprehend danger," he
+said, "at least nothing unusual.  But it happens that my business
+requires 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 to
+us.  I have preparations to make, however, and I have no doubt you won't
+object to remain till all is ready for a start?"
+
+"Oh, as to that," returned the youth, slightly hurt by the implied doubt
+as to his courage, "if _you_ are willing to risk going off the earth
+like 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 his
+fist, "what's ready to serve as a rocket-stick to bof, an' go up along
+wid you!"
+
+The hermit made the nearest approach to a laugh which Nigel had yet
+seen, as he left the cave to undertake some of the preparations above
+referred to.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 1.  See _The Eruption of Krakatoa and Subsequent Phenomena_ page
+11.  (Tribner and Company, London.)
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE.
+
+DESCRIBES, AMONG OTHER THINGS, A SINGULAR MEETING UNDER PECULIAR
+CIRCUMSTANCES.
+
+There is unquestionably a class of men--especially Englishmen--who are
+deeply imbued with the idea that the Universe in general, and our world
+in particular, has been created with a view to afford them what they
+call fun.
+
+"It would be great fun," said an English commercial man to a friend who
+sat beside him, "to go and have a look at this eruption.  They say it is
+Krakatoa which has broken out after a sleep of two centuries, and as it
+has been bursting away now for nearly a week, it is likely to hold on
+for some time longer.  What would you say to charter a steamer and have
+a grand 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 they
+must have been men of influence, or able to move men of influence, for
+they at once set to work and organised an excursion.
+
+The place where this excursion was organised was Batavia.  Although that
+city was situated in Java, nearly a hundred miles distant from Krakatoa,
+the inhabitants had not only heard distinctly the explosions of the
+volcano, but had felt some quakings of the earth and much rattling of
+doors and windows, besides a sprinkling of ashes, which indicated that
+the eruption, even in that eruptive region, was of unusual violence.
+They little imagined to what mighty throes the solid rocks of Krakatoa
+were 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 to
+warrant our merchants in their anticipation of a considerable amount of
+fun.
+
+A steamer was got ready; a number of sightseeing enthusiasts were
+collected, and they set forth on the morning of the 26th of May.  Among
+these excursionists was our friend Captain David Roy--not that _he_ was
+addicted to running about in search of "fun," but, being unavoidably
+thrown idle at the time, and having a poetical turn of mind--derived
+from his wife--he thought he could not do better than take a run to the
+volcano 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 Krakatoa
+and all the adjoining islands were covered with a fine white dust, like
+snow, and that the trees on the northern part of the former island and
+Varlaten had been to a great extent deprived of their leaves and
+branches by falling pumice, while those on Lang Island and Polish Hat,
+as well as those on the Peak of Rakata, had to a great extent escaped--
+no doubt owing to the prevailing direction of the wind.
+
+It was soon seen that Perboewatan on Krakatoa was the cone in active
+eruption, and the steamer made for its neighbourhood, landing her party
+within a short distance of its base.  Explosions were occurring at
+intervals of from five to ten minutes.  Each explosion being accompanied
+by an uncovering of the molten lava in the vent, the overhanging
+steam-cloud was lighted up with a grand glow for a few seconds.  Some of
+the party, who seemed to be authorities on such matters, estimated that
+the vapour-column rose to a height of nearly 10,000 feet, and that
+fragments 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 to
+wade ankle-deep in the loose pumice up the slopes of the cone.
+
+"Diminished!" repeated our captain, who had fraternised much with this
+merchant during their short voyage.  "If that's what you call
+diminishin', I shouldn't like to be here when it's increasin'."
+
+"Pooh!" exclaimed the merchant, "that's nothing.  I've seen, at other
+volcanoes, pieces of pumice blown up so high that they've been caught by
+the upper currents of the atmosphere and carried away in an opposite
+direction to the wind that was blowing below at the time.  Ay, I believe
+that dust is sometimes blown _miles_ up into the air."
+
+As Captain Roy thought that the merchant was drawing the long bow he
+made no reply, but changed the subject by asking what was the height of
+Perboewatan.
+
+"Three hundred feet or thereabouts," replied his friend.
+
+"I hope my son will have the sense to clear out of the island if things
+look like gittin' worse," muttered the captain, as an unusually violent
+explosion shook the whole side of the cone.
+
+"No fear of him," returned the merchant.  "If he is visiting the hermit
+of Rakata, as you tell me, he'll be safe enough.  Although something of
+a dare-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 you
+seem 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 you
+might as well look for a needle in a bundle of hay as look for him
+there.  He is probably at the other end of Krakatoa--four or five miles
+off--on the South side of Rakata, where the hermit's cave is supposed to
+be, 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 to
+Batavia."
+
+Captain Roy paused for a moment to recover breath, and looking down upon
+the dense tropical forest that stretched between him and the Peak of
+Rakata, 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 and
+struggled, remarking, as he panted along, that hill-climbing among ashes
+and cinders didn't "come easy to a sea-farin' man."
+
+Now, nothing was more natural than that Van der Kemp and his guest
+should be smitten with the same sort of desire which had brought these
+excursionists from Batavia.  The only thing that we do not pretend to
+account for is the strange coincidence that they should have been so
+smitten, and had so arranged their plans, that they arrived at
+Perboewatan almost at the same time with the excursionists--only about
+half an hour before them!
+
+Their preliminary walk, however, through the tangled, almost impassable,
+forest had been very slow and toilsome, and having been involved in its
+shadow from daybreak, they were, of course, quite unaware of the
+approach of the steamer or the landing of the excursion party.
+
+"If the volcano seems quieting down," said Nigel to his host, "shall you
+start to-morrow?"
+
+"Yes; by daybreak.  Even if the eruption does _not_ quiet down I must
+set out, for my business presses."
+
+Nigel felt much inclined to ask what his business was, but there was a
+quiet something in the air of the hermit, when he did not choose to be
+questioned, which effectually silenced curiosity.  Falling behind a
+little, till the negro came up with him, Nigel tried to obtain
+information from him, for he felt that he had a sort of right to know at
+least something about the expedition in which he was about to act a
+part.
+
+"Do you know, Moses, what business your master is going about?" he
+asked, in a low voice.
+
+"No more nor de man ob de moon, Massa Nadgel," said Moses, with an air
+at once so truthful and so solemn that the young man gave it up with a
+laugh of resignation.
+
+On arriving at Perboewatan, and ascending its sides, they at last became
+aware 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 for
+that," returned the hermit, resuming the ascent of the cone after an
+intervening clump of trees had shut out the steamer from view.
+
+It was with feelings of profound interest and considerable excitement
+that our hero stood for the first time on the top of a volcanic cone and
+gazed 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 sloped
+so gradually inward that the flat floor at the bottom was not more than
+half that in diameter.  This floor--which was about 150 feet below the
+upper edge--was covered with a black crust, and in the centre of it was
+the tremendous cavity--between one and two hundred feet in diameter--
+from which issued the great steam-cloud.  The cloud was mixed with
+quantities of pumice and fragments of what appeared to be black glass.
+The roar of this huge vent was deafening and stupendous.  If the reader
+will reflect on the wonderful hubbub that can be created even by a
+kitchen kettle when superheated, and on the exasperating shrieks of a
+steamboat's safety-valve in action, or the bellowing of a fog-horn, he
+may form some idea of the extent of his incapacity to conceive the
+thunderous roar of Krakatoa 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, and
+the bubbling up of molten lava--verily it did not require the
+imagination 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 that
+he neither heard nor saw the arrival of the excursionists, until the
+equally awe-stricken Moses touched him on the elbow and drew his
+attention to several men who suddenly appeared on the crater-brim not
+fifty yards off, but who, like themselves, were too much absorbed with
+the volcano itself to observe the other visitors.  Probably they took
+them for some of their own party who had reached the summit before them.
+
+Nigel was yet looking at these visitors in some surprise, when an
+elderly nautical man suddenly stood not twenty yards off gazing in
+open-mouthed amazement, past our hero's very nose, at the volcanic
+fires.
+
+"Hallo, Father!" shouted the one.
+
+"Zounds!  Nigel!" exclaimed the other.
+
+Both men glared and were speechless for several seconds.  Then Nigel
+rushed at the captain, and the captain met him halfway, and they shook
+hands with such hearty goodwill as to arrest in his operations for a few
+moments a photographer who was hastily setting up his camera!
+
+Yes, science has done much to reveal the marvellous and arouse exalted
+thoughts in the human mind, but it has also done something to crush
+enthusiasts and shock the romantic.  Veracity constrains us to state
+that there he was, with his tripod, and his eager haste, and his hideous
+black cloth, preparing to "take" Perboewatan on a "dry plate"!  And he
+"took" it too!  And you may see it, if you will, as a marvellous
+frontispiece to the volume by the "Krakatoa Committee"--a work which is
+apparently as exhaustive of the subject of Krakatoa as was the great
+explosion itself of those internal fires which will probably keep that
+volcano quiet for the next two hundred years.
+
+But this was not the Great Eruption of Krakatoa--only a rehearsal, as it
+were.
+
+"What brought you here, my son?" asked the captain, on recovering
+speech.
+
+"My legs, father."
+
+"Don't be insolent, boy."
+
+"It's not insolence, father.  It's only poetical licence, meant to
+assure you that I did not come by 'bus or rail, though you did by
+steamer!  But let me introduce you to my friend, Mr ---"
+
+He stopped short on looking round, for Van der Kemp was not there.
+
+"He hoed away wheneber he saw de peepil comin' up de hill," said Moses,
+who had watched the meeting of father and son with huge delight.  "But
+you kin interdooce _me_ instead," he added, with a crater-like smile.
+
+"True, true," exclaimed Nigel, laughing.  "This is Moses, father, my
+host's servant, and my very good friend, and a remarkably free-and-easy
+friend, as you see.  He will guide us back to the cave, since Van der
+Kemp 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 a
+Dutchman and his mother an English or Irish woman--I forget which.  He's
+a splendid fellow; quite different from what one would expect; no more
+like a hermit than a hermit-crab, except that he lives in a cave under
+the Peak of Rakata, at the other end of the island.  But you must come
+with 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 below
+them, "and on my legs, too, that have been used all their lives to a
+ship'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' Rakata, 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
+says to massa, but he nebber answers.  He only smile.  Massa's not
+always so purlite as he might be!"
+
+"There is no fear," said Nigel, "not at present, anyhow, for Van der
+Kemp says that the force of this eruption is diminishing--"
+
+"It don't look much like it," muttered the captain, as the volcano at
+that moment gave vent to a burst which seemed like a sarcastic laugh at
+the hermit's opinion, and sent the more timid of the excursionists
+sprawling down the cinder-slope in great alarm.
+
+"There's reason in what you say, father," said Nigel, when the
+diminution of noise rendered speech more easy; "and after all, as we
+start off on our travels to-morrow, your visit could not have been a
+long 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 the leader
+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 your
+whereabouts.  They say there's a lot o' wild places as well as wild men
+and beasts among them islands, so keep your weather-eye open an' your
+powder dry.  Good-bye, Nigel.  Take care of him, Moses, and keep him out
+o' mischief if ye can--which is more than ever I could.  Good-bye, my
+boy."
+
+"Good-bye, father."
+
+They shook hands vigorously.  In another minute the old seaman was
+sailing down the cinder-cone at the rate of fourteen knots an hour,
+while his son, setting off under the guidance of Moses towards a
+different point of the compass, was soon pushing his way through the
+tangled forest in the direction of the hermit's cave.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN.
+
+A CURIOUS SEA-GOING CRAFT--THE UNKNOWN VOYAGE BEGUN.
+
+It was early next morning when Van der Kemp and his man left their
+couches and descended to the shore, leaving their visitor enjoying the
+benefit of that profound slumber which bids defiance to turmoil and
+noise, however stupendous, and which seems to be the peculiar privilege
+of healthy infants and youthful seamen.
+
+Perboewatan had subsided considerably towards morning, and had taken to
+that internal rumbling, which in the feline species indicates mitigated
+indignation.  The hermit had therefore come to the conclusion that the
+outburst was over, and went with Moses to make arrangements for setting
+forth on his expedition after breakfast.
+
+They had scarcely left the cave when Nigel awoke.  Feeling indisposed
+for further repose, he got up and went out in that vague state of mind
+which is usually defined as "having a look at the weather."  Whether or
+not he gathered much information from the look we cannot tell, but,
+taking up his short gun, which stood handy at the entrance of the cave,
+he sauntered down the path which his host had followed a short time
+before.  Arrived at the shore, he observed that a branch path diverged
+to the left, and appeared to run in the direction of a high precipice.
+He turned into it, and after proceeding through the bushes for a short
+way he 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 strange
+rumbling sound which induced him to stop and cock his gun.  A curious
+feeling of serio-comic awe crept over him as the idea of a fiery dragon
+leaped into his mind!  At the same time, the fancy that the immense
+abyss of darkness might be one of the volcanic vents diminished the
+comic and increased the serious feeling.  Ere long the sound assumed the
+definite tone of footsteps, and the dragon fancy seemed about to become
+a reality when he beheld a long narrow thing of uncertain form emerging
+from the darkness.
+
+"It must be coming out tail-foremost!" he muttered, with a short laugh
+at his semi-credulity.
+
+Another instant and the hermit emerged into the blazing sunshine, and
+stood pictured against the intense darkness like a being of supernatural
+radiance, with the end of a long narrow canoe on his shoulder.
+
+As Nigel passed round a bush to reach him he perceived the dark form of
+Moses 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 nod
+of approval on seeing our hero.
+
+"I almost took you for a Krakatoa monster!" said Nigel, as they came out
+in front of the cavern and laid the canoe on the ground.  "Why, you've
+got 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 or
+two alterations of my own devising, and an improvement--as I think--
+founded on what I have myself seen, when travelling with the Eskimos of
+Greenland."
+
+Van der Kemp here pointed out that the canoe was not only somewhat
+broader than the kind used in England, but was considerably longer, and
+with three openings or manholes in the deck, so that it was capable of
+holding three persons.  Also, that there was a large rounded mass of
+wood fixed in front of the three manholes.
+
+"These saddles, as I call them," said the hermit, "have been suggested
+to me by the Eskimos, who, instead of wearying their arms by supporting
+the double-bladed paddle continuously, rest it on the saddle and let it
+slide about thereon while being used.  Thus they are able to carry a
+much longer and heavier paddle than that used in the Rob Roy canoe, the
+weight of which, as it rests on the saddle, is not felt.  Moreover it
+does not require nearly so much dip to put it in the water.  I have
+heard of a sort of upright with a universal joint being applied to the
+English canoe, but it seems to me a much more clumsy and much less
+effective, because rigid, contrivance than the Eskimo saddle.  Inside,
+under the deck, as I will show you by and by, I have lighter and shorter
+paddles for use when in narrow rivers, but I prefer the long heavy
+paddle when traversing 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 longish
+voyages and rough weather.  Besides, it is not so much of an eggshell as
+you suppose.  I made it myself, and took care that it should be fit for
+the 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 is
+fixed to the planks with tar.  This makes the craft watertight as well
+as strong.  The ribs also are very light and close together, and every
+sixth rib is larger and longer than the others and made of tougher wood.
+All these ribs are bound together by longitudinal pieces, or laths, of
+very tough wood, yet so thin that the whole machine is elastic without
+being weak.  Besides this, there are two strong oiled-canvas partitions,
+which divide the canoe into three watertight compartments, any two of
+which 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
+because it is near the landing-place.  But come, you will understand
+things better when you see us making our arrangements.  Of course you
+understand how to manage sails of every kind?"
+
+"If I did not it would ill become me to call myself a sailor," returned
+our hero.
+
+"That is well, because you will sit in the middle, from which position
+the sail is partly managed.  I usually sit in the bow to have free range
+for the use of my gun, if need be, and Moses steers."
+
+Van der Kemp proceeded down the track as he said this, having, with the
+negro, again lifted the canoe on his shoulder.
+
+A few minutes' walk brought them to the beach at the spot where Nigel
+had originally landed.  Here a quantity of cargo lay on the rocks ready
+to be placed in the canoe.  There were several small bags of pemmican,
+which Van der Kemp had learned to make while travelling on the prairies
+of North America among the Red Indians,--for this singular being seemed
+to have visited most parts of the habitable globe during his not yet
+very long life.  There were five small casks of fresh water, two or
+three canisters of gunpowder, a small box of tea and another of sugar,
+besides several bags of biscuits.  There were also other bags and boxes
+which did not by their appearance reveal their contents, and all the
+articles were of a shape and size which seemed most suitable for passing
+through the manholes, and being conveniently distributed and stowed in
+the three compartments of the canoe.  There was not very much of
+anything, however, so that when the canoe was laden and ready for its
+voyage, the hermit and his man were still able to raise and carry it on
+their shoulders without the assistance of Nigel.
+
+There was one passenger whom we have not yet mentioned, namely, a small
+monkey which dwelt in the cave with the canoe, and which, although
+perfectly free to come and go when he pleased, seldom left the cave
+except for food, but seemed to have constituted himself the guardian of
+the little craft.
+
+Spinkie, as Moses had named him, was an intensely affectionate creature,
+with a countenance of pathetic melancholy which utterly belied his
+character, for mischief and fun were the dominating qualities of that
+monkey.  He was seated on a water-cask when Nigel first caught sight of
+him, holding the end of his long tail in one hand, and apparently wiping
+his 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
+no need ob a pocket-hang-kitcher.  He only tickles his nose wid 'is
+tail.  But he's bery fond ob doin' dat."
+
+Being extremely fond of monkeys, Nigel went forward to fondle him, and
+Spinkie being equally fond of fondling, resigned himself placidly--after
+one interrogative gaze of wide-eyed suspicion--into the stranger's
+hands.  A lifelong friendship was cemented then and there.
+
+After stowing the cargo the party returned to the upper cavern, leaving
+the monkey to guard the canoe.
+
+"An' he's a good defender ob it," said Moses, "for if man or beast
+happen to come near it when Spinkie's in charge, dat monkey sets up a
+skriekin' fit to cause a 'splosion ob Perboewatan!"
+
+Breakfast over, the hermit put his cave in order for a pretty long
+absence, and they again descended to the shore, each man carrying his
+bed on his shoulder.  Each bed, however, was light and simple.  It
+consisted merely of one blanket wrapped up in an oil-cloth sheet.
+Besides, an old-fashioned powder-flask and shot belt.  Van der Kemp and
+Nigel had slung a bullet-pouch on their shoulders, and carried small
+hatchets and hunting-knives in their belts.  Moses was similarly armed,
+with this difference, that his _couteau de chasse_ bore stronger
+resemblance to an ancient Roman sword than a knife, and his axe was of
+larger size than the hatchets of his companions.
+
+Launching the canoe, the hermit and his man held it fast at either end
+while Nigel was directed to take his place in the central of the three
+openings or manholes.  He did so and found himself seated on a flat
+board on the bottom of the canoe, which was so shallow that the deck
+scarcely rose as high as his waist.
+
+Round the manhole there was a ledge of thin wood, about three inches
+high, to which a circular apron of oiled-canvas was attached.
+
+"Yes, you'd better understand that thing before we start," said Van der
+Kemp, observing that Nigel was examining the contrivance with some
+curiosity.  "It's an apron to tie round you in bad weather to keep the
+water out.  In fine weather it is rolled as you see it now round the
+ledge.  Undo the buckle before and behind and you will see how it is to
+be used."
+
+Acting as directed, Nigel unbuckled the roll and found that he was
+surrounded by a sort of petticoat of oil-skin which could be drawn up
+and buckled round his chest.  In this position it could be kept by a
+loop attached to a button, or a wooden pin, thrust through the coat.
+
+"You see," explained the hermit, "the waves may wash all over our deck
+and round our bodies without being able to get into the canoe while we
+have these things on--there are similar protections round the other
+holes."
+
+"I understand," said Nigel.  "But how if water gets in through a leak
+below?"
+
+"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 extensive
+leak.  The handle unships, so as to be out of the way when not wanted.
+I keep it here, under the deck in front of me, along with mast and sails
+and 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 inches
+broad.  The plank was hinged at one end and fastened with a hook at the
+other so as to form a lid to the box.  The hole thus disclosed was not
+an opening into the interior of the canoe, but was a veritable
+watertight box just under the deck, so that even if it were to get
+filled with water not a drop could enter the canoe itself.  But the
+plank-lid was so beautifully fitted, besides shutting tightly down on
+india-rubber, that the chance of leakage through that source was very
+remote.  Although very narrow, this box was deep, and contained a
+variety of useful implements; among them a slender mast and tiny sail,
+which could be rendered still smaller by means of reef-points.  All
+these things were fitted into their respective places with so keen an
+eye to economy of space that the arrangement cannot be better described
+than by the familiar phrase--_multum in parvo_.
+
+"We don't use the sails much; we depend chiefly on this," said the
+hermit, 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
+single-blade, partly because it is handier for steering and partly
+because he has been accustomed to it in his own land.  You are at
+liberty to use which you prefer."
+
+"Thanks, I will follow the lead of Moses, for I also have been
+accustomed to the single-blade and prefer it--at least while I am one of
+three.  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 on
+with an expression of inconsolable sorrow, at once accepted the
+invitation, and with a lively bound alighted on the deck close to the
+little mast, which had been set up just in front of Nigel, and to which
+it 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 the
+canoe and boat were harboured.  "He is quite able to take care of
+himself."
+
+Rounding the entrance to the cove and shooting out into the ocean under
+the influence of Van der Kemp's powerful strokes, they were soon clear
+of the land, and proceeded eastward at a rate which seemed unaccountable
+to our hero, for he had not sufficiently realised the fact that in
+addition to the unusual physical strength of Van der Kemp as well as
+that of Moses, to say nothing of his own, the beautiful fish-like
+adaptation of the canoe to the water, the great length and leverage of
+the bow-paddle, and the weight of themselves as well as the cargo, gave
+this canoe considerable advantage over other craft of the kind.
+
+About a quarter of an hour later the sun arose in cloudless splendour on
+a perfectly tranquil sea, lighted up the shores of Java, glinted over
+the mountains of Sumatra, and flooded, as with a golden haze, the
+forests of Krakatoa--emulating the volcanic fires in gilding the volumes
+of smoke that could be seen rolling amid fitful mutterings from
+Perboewatan, until the hermit's home sank from view in the western
+horizon.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN.
+
+CANOEING ON THE SEA--A MYSTERIOUS NIGHT--SURPRISE AND SUDDEN FLIGHT.
+
+At first the voyagers paddled over the glassy sea in almost total
+silence.
+
+Nigel was occupied with his own busy thoughts; speculating on the
+probable end and object of their voyage, and on the character, the
+mysterious life, and unknown history of the man who sat in front of him
+wielding so powerfully the great double-bladed paddle.  Van der Kemp
+himself was, as we have said, naturally quiet and silent, save when
+roused by a subject that interested him.  As for Moses, although quite
+ready at any moment to indulge in friendly intercourse, he seldom
+initiated a conversation, and Spinkie, grasping the mast and leaning
+against it with his head down, seemed to be either asleep or brooding
+over his sorrows.  Only a few words were uttered now and then when Nigel
+asked the name of a point or peak which rose in the distance on either
+hand.  It seemed as if the quiescence of sea and air had fallen like a
+soft mantle on the party and subdued them into an unusually sluggish
+frame of mind.
+
+They passed through the Sunda Straits between Sumatra and Java--not more
+at the narrowest part than about thirteen miles wide--and, in course of
+time, found themselves in the great island-studded archipelago beyond.
+
+About noon they all seemed to wake up from their lethargic state.  Van
+der Kemp laid down his paddle, and, looking round, asked Nigel if he
+felt tired.
+
+"Not in the least," he replied, "but I feel uncommonly hungry, and I
+have just been wondering how you manage to feed when at sea in so small
+a craft."
+
+"Ho! ho!" laughed Moses, in guttural tones, "you soon see dat--I 'spose
+it 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 small
+square hatch or lid in the deck which was rendered watertight by the
+same means as the lid in front already described.  From the depths thus
+revealed he extracted a bird of some sort that had been shot and baked
+the day before.  Tearing off a leg he retained it, and handed the
+remainder to Nigel.
+
+"Help you'self, Massa Nadgel, an' pass 'im forward."  Without helping
+himself he passed it on to Van der Kemp, who drew his knife, sliced off
+a wing with a mass of breast, and returned the rest.
+
+"Always help yourself _before_ passing the food in future," said the
+hermit; "we don't stand on ceremony here."
+
+Nigel at once fell in with their custom, tore off the remaining
+drumstick 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 Nigel
+was too slow to profit by the warning given, for Spinkie darted both
+hands into the tray and had stuffed his mouth and cheeks full almost
+before a man could wink!  The negro would have laughed aloud, but the
+danger of choking was too great; he therefore laughed internally--an
+operation which could not be fully understood unless seen.  "'Splosions
+of Perboewatan," may suggest the thing.
+
+Sorrow, grief--whatever it was that habitually afflicted that monkey--
+disappeared for the time being, while it devoted itself heart and soul
+to dinner.
+
+Feelings of a somewhat similar kind animated Nigel as he sat leaning
+back with his mouth full, a biscuit in one hand, and a drumstick in the
+other, and his eyes resting dreamily on the horizon of the still
+tranquil sea, while the bright sun blazed upon his already bronzed face.
+
+To many men the fierce glare of the equatorial sun might have proved
+trying, but Nigel belonged to the salamander type of humanity and
+enjoyed the great heat.  Van der Kemp seemed to be similarly moulded,
+and as 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 great
+outstretched and all but motionless wings, and with solemn sidelong
+glances of hope which Van der Kemp evidently could not resist, for he
+flung them scraps of his allowance from time to time.
+
+"If you have plenty of provisions on board, I should like to do that
+too," said Nigel.
+
+"Do it," returned the hermit.  "We have plenty of food for some days,
+and our guns can at any time replenish the store.  I like to feed these
+creatures," he added, "they give themselves over so thoroughly to the
+enjoyment of the moment, and _seem_ to be grateful.  Whether they are so
+or not, of course, is matter of dispute.  Cynics will tell us that they
+only come to us and fawn upon us because of the memory of past favours
+and 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 do
+with dogs knows full well that gratitude is a strong element of their
+nature.  And it seems to me that the speaking eyes of Spinkie, to whom I
+have just given a bit of biscuit, tell of a similar spirit."
+
+As he spoke, Nigel was conveying another piece of biscuit to his own
+mouth, when a small brown hand flashed before him, and the morsel, in
+the twinkling of an eye, was transferred to the monkey's already swollen
+cheek--whereat Moses again became suddenly "'splosive" and red, as well
+as black in the face, for his capacious mouth was inordinately full as
+usual.
+
+Clear water, from one of the casks, and poured into a tin mug, washed
+down their cold collation, and then, refreshed and reinvigorated, the
+trio resumed their paddles, which were not again laid down till the sun
+was descending towards the western horizon.  By that time they were not
+far from a small wooded islet near the coast of Java, on which Van der
+Kemp resolved to spend the night.
+
+During the day they had passed at some distance many boats and _prahus_
+and other native vessels, the crews of which ceased to row for a few
+moments, and gazed with curiosity at the strange craft which glided
+along so swiftly, and seemed to them little more than a long plank on
+the water, but these took no further notice of our voyagers.  They also
+passed several ships--part of that constant stream of vessels which pass
+westward through those straits laden with the valuable teas and rich
+silks of China and Japan.  In some cases a cheer of recognition, as
+being an exceptional style of craft, was accorded them, to which the
+hermit replied with a wave of the hand--Moses and Nigel with an
+answering cheer.
+
+There is something very pleasant in the rest which follows a day of hard
+and 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"? and our travellers
+experienced the truth of the statement that night in very romantic
+circumstances.
+
+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 with
+palm-trees and underwood, so that fuel could be procured, and
+cocoa-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 the
+edge of the bushes,--"sometimes it is necessary to keep concealed while
+travelling in these regions, and I carry a little spirit-lamp which
+enables me to heat a cup of tea or coffee without making a dangerous
+blaze; but here there is little risk in kindling a fire."
+
+"I should not have thought there was any risk at all in these peaceful
+times," said Nigel, as he unstrapped his blanket and spread it on the
+ground under an overhanging bush.
+
+"There are no peaceful times among pirates," returned the hermit; "and
+some of the traders in this archipelago are little better than pirates."
+
+"Where I puts your bed, massa?" asked Moses, turning his huge eyes on
+his 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 seemed
+to be its favourite seat--a water-cask.
+
+Spinkie treated the question with calm contempt, turned his head
+languidly to one side, and scratched himself.
+
+"Unpurliteness is your k'racter from skin to marrow, you son of a
+insolent 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, which
+consisted of another roast fowl--hot this time--and ship's-biscuit
+washed down with coffee.  Of course Spinkie's portion consisted only of
+the biscuit with a few scraps of cocoa-nut.  Having received it he
+quietly retired to his native wilds, with the intention of sleeping
+there, according to custom, till morning; but his repose was destined to
+be broken, as we shall see.
+
+After supper, the hermit, stretching himself on his blanket, filled an
+enormous meerschaum, and began to smoke.  The negro, rolling up a little
+tobacco in tissue paper, sat down, tailor-wise, and followed his
+master'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," said
+Nigel, looking at his friend, "you must have seen a good deal of this
+archipelago before you took--excuse me--to the hermit life."
+
+"Ay--a good deal."
+
+"Have you ever travelled in the interior of the larger islands?" asked
+Nigel, in the hope of drawing from him some account of his experiences
+with wild beasts or wild men--he did not care which, so long as they
+were wild!
+
+"Yes, in all of them," returned the hermit, curtly, for he was not fond
+of talking about himself.
+
+"I suppose the larger islands are densely wooded?" continued Nigel
+interrogatively.
+
+"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 proved
+successful, for Van der Kemp turned his eyes on him with a look of
+surprise that almost forced him to laugh.
+
+"Not of much value in the way of trade!" he repeated--"forgive me, if I
+express surprise that you seem to know so little about us--but, after
+all, the world is large, and one cannot become deeply versed in
+everything."
+
+Having uttered this truism, the hermit resumed his meerschaum and
+continued to gaze thoughtfully at the embers of the fire.  He remained
+so long silent that Nigel began to despair, but thought he would try him
+once again on the same lines.
+
+"I suppose," he said in a careless way, "that none of the islands are
+big enough to contain many of the larger wild animals."
+
+"My friend," returned Van der Kemp, with a smile of urbanity, as he
+refilled his pipe, "it is evident that you do not know much about our
+archipelago.  Borneo, to the woods and wild animals of which I hope ere
+long to introduce you, is so large that if you were to put your British
+islands, including Ireland, down on it they would be engulfed and
+surrounded by a sea of forests.  New Guinea is, perhaps, larger than
+Borneo.  Sumatra is only a little smaller.  France is not so large as
+some of our islands.  Java, Luzon, and Celebes are each about equal in
+size to Ireland.  Eighteen more islands are, on the average, as large as
+Jamaica, more than a hundred are as large as the Isle of Wight, and the
+smaller isles and islets are innumerable.  In short, our archipelago is
+comparable with any of the primary divisions of the globe, being full
+4000 miles in length from east to west and about 1,300 in breadth from
+north to south, and would in extent more than cover the whole of
+Europe."
+
+It was evident to Nigel that he had at length succeeded in opening the
+flood-gates.  The hermit paused for a few moments and puffed at the
+meerschaum, while Moses glared at his master with absorbed interest, and
+pulled at the cigarette with such oblivious vigour that he drew it into
+his mouth at last, spat it out, and prepared another.  Nigel sat quite
+silent and waited for more.
+
+"As to trade," continued Van der Kemp, resuming his discourse in a lower
+tone, "why, of gold--the great representative of wealth--we export from
+Sumatra alone over 26,000 ounces annually, and among other gold regions
+we have a Mount Ophir in the Malay Peninsula from which there is a
+considerable annual export."
+
+Continuing his discourse, Van der Kemp told a great deal more about the
+products of these prolific islands with considerable enthusiasm--as one
+who somewhat resented the underrating of his native land.
+
+"Were you born in this region, Van der Kemp?" asked Nigel, during a
+brief pause.
+
+"I was--in Java.  My father, as my name tells, was of Dutch descent.  My
+mother was Irish.  Both are dead."
+
+He stopped.  The fire that had been aroused seemed to die down, and he
+continued to smoke with the sad absent look which was peculiar to him.
+
+"And what about large game?" asked Nigel, anxious to stir up his
+friend's enthusiasm again, but the hermit had sunk back into his usual
+condition of gentle dreaminess, and made no answer till the question had
+been 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--the
+sad memories of happy years that can never return: of voices that are
+hushed for ever.  No one can _know_ till he has _felt_!"
+
+"But you are not old," said Nigel, wishing to turn the hermit's mind
+from 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; we have the
+elephant, the rhinoceros, the tiger, the puma, that great man-monkey the
+orang-utan, or, as it is called here, the mias, besides wild pigs, deer,
+and innumerable smaller animals and birds--"
+
+The hermit stopped abruptly and sat motionless, with his head bent on
+one side, like one who listens intently.  Such an action is always
+infectious.  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 darkness
+visible, so that the figure of Moses was quite lost in the shadow of the
+bush behind him, though the whites of his solemn eyes appeared like two
+glow-worms.
+
+"Do you hear anything?" asked Nigel in a low tone.
+
+"Oars," answered the hermit.
+
+"I hear 'im, massa," whispered the negro, "but das not su'prisin'--
+plenty boats about."
+
+"This boat approaches the island, and I can tell by the sound that it is
+a large _prahu_.  If it touches here it will be for the purpose of
+spending the night, and Malay boatmen are not always agreeable
+neighbours.  However, it is not likely they will ramble far from where
+they land, so we may escape observation if we keep quiet."
+
+As he spoke he emptied the remains of the coffee on the dying fire and
+effectually put it out.
+
+Meanwhile the sound of oars had become quite distinct, and, as had been
+anticipated, the crew ran their boat into one of the sandy bays and
+leaped ashore with a good deal of shouting and noise.  Fortunately they
+had landed on the opposite side of the islet, and as the bush on it was
+very dense there was not much probability of any one crossing over.  Our
+voyagers therefore lay close, resolving to be off in the morning before
+the unwelcome visitors were stirring.
+
+As the three lay there wrapped in their blankets and gazing
+contemplatively at the now risen moon, voices were heard as if of men
+approaching.  It was soon found that two of the strangers had sauntered
+round by the beach and were slowly drawing near the encampment.
+
+Nigel observed that the hermit had raised himself on one elbow and
+seemed to be again listening intently.
+
+The two men halted on reaching the top of the ridges of rock which
+formed one side of the little bay, and their voices became audible
+though too far distant to admit of words being distinguishable.  At the
+same time their forms were clearly defined against the sky.
+
+Nigel glanced at Van der Kemp and was startled by the change that had
+come over him.  The moonbeams, which had by that time risen above some
+intervening shrubs, shone full on him and showed that his usually quiet
+gentle countenance was deadly pale and transformed by a frown of almost
+tiger-like ferocity.  So strange and unaccountable did this seem to our
+hero that he lay quite still, as if spell-bound.  Nor did his companions
+move until the strangers, having finished their talk, turned to retrace
+their steps and finally disappeared.
+
+Then Van der Kemp rose with a sigh of relief.  The negro and Nigel also
+sprang up.
+
+"What's wrong, massa?" asked Moses, in much anxiety.
+
+"Nothing, nothing," said the hermit hurriedly.  "I must cross over to
+see these fellows."
+
+"All right, massa.  I go wid you."
+
+"No, I go alone."
+
+"Not widout arms?" exclaimed the negro, laying his hand on his master's
+shoulder.
+
+"Yes, without arms!"  As he spoke he drew the long knife that usually
+hung at his girdle and flung it down.  "Now attend, both of you," he
+added, with sudden and almost threatening earnestness.
+
+"Do not on any account follow me.  I am quite able to take care of
+myself."
+
+Next moment he glided into the bushes and was gone.
+
+"Can you guess what is the matter with him?" asked Nigel, turning to his
+companion with a perplexed look.
+
+"Not more nor de man ob de moon.  I nebber saw'd 'im like dat before.  I
+t'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's
+wrist with a grip of iron; "when a man like Van der Kemp gives an order
+it's the duty of inferior men like you and me strictly to obey."
+
+"Well--p'raps you're right, Nadgel," returned Moses calmly.  "If you
+wasn'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 disobey
+orders," returned our hero, tightening the grip.
+
+Moses threw back his head, opened his cavern, and laughed silently; at
+the same time he twisted his arm free with a sudden wrench.
+
+"You's awrful strong, Nadgel, but you don't quite come up to niggers!
+Howse'ber, you's right.  I'll obey orders; neberdeless I'll get ready
+for action."
+
+So saying, the negro extracted from the canoe several revolvers, two of
+which he handed to Nigel, two he thrust into his own belt, and two he
+laid handy for "massa" when he should return.
+
+"Now, if you're smart at arit'metic, you'll see dat six time six am
+t'irty-six, and two double guns das forty-forty dead men's more'n
+enuff--besides de knives."
+
+Moses had barely finished these deadly preparations when Van der Kemp
+returned as quietly as he had gone.  His face was still fierce and
+haggard, 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 of
+one end of the canoe; Moses took the other end and it was launched in a
+few seconds, while Nigel carried down such part of the lading as had
+been taken out.  Five minutes sufficed to put all on board, and that
+space of time was also sufficient to enable Spinkie to observe from his
+retreat in the bushes that a departure was about to take place; he
+therefore made for the shore with all speed and bounded to his
+accustomed place beside the mast.
+
+Taking their places they pushed off so softly that they might well have
+been taken for phantoms.  A cloud conveniently hid the moon at the time.
+Each man plied his paddle with noiseless but powerful stroke, and long
+before the cloud uncovered the face of the Queen of Night they were
+shooting far away over the tranquil sea.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE.
+
+WEATHERING A STORM IN THE OPEN SEA.
+
+In profound silence they continued to paddle until there was no chance
+of their being seen by the party on the islet.  Then Van der Kemp rested
+his paddle in front of him and looked slowly round the horizon and up at
+the 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 grave
+look which forbade questioning, and indeed Nigel now knew from
+experience that it would be useless to press him to speak on any subject
+in regard to which he chose to be reticent.
+
+"I don't like the look of the sky," he said at last.  "We are going to
+have a squall, I fear."
+
+"Had we not better run for the nearest land?" said Nigel, who, although
+not yet experienced in the signs of the weather in those equatorial
+regions, had quite enough of knowledge to perceive that bad weather of
+some sort was probably approaching.
+
+"The nearest island is a good way off," returned the hermit, "and we
+might miss it in the dark, for daylight won't help us yet awhile.  No,
+we will continue our course and accept what God sends."
+
+This remark seemed to our hero to savour of unreasoning contempt of
+danger, for the facing of a tropical squall in such an eggshell appeared
+to him the height of folly.  He ventured to reply, therefore, in a tone
+of remonstrance--
+
+"God sends us the capacity to appreciate danger, Van der Kemp, and the
+power to take precautions."
+
+"He does, Nigel--therefore I intend to use both the capacity and the
+power."
+
+There was a tone of finality in this speech which effectually sealed
+Nigel'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 black
+cloud had crept slowly over the sky and blotted out the moon.  This
+cloud extended itself slowly, obliterating, ere long, most of the stars
+also, so that it was scarcely possible to distinguish any object more
+than a yard or two in advance of them.  The dead calm, however,
+continued unbroken, and the few of heaven's lights which still glimmered
+through the obscurity above were clearly reflected in the great black
+mirror below.  Only the faint gleam of Krakatoa's threatening fires was
+visible on the horizon, while the occasional boom of its artillery
+sounded in their ears.
+
+It was impossible for any inexperienced man, however courageous, to
+avoid feelings of awe, almost amounting to dread, in the circumstances,
+and Nigel--as he tried to penetrate the darkness around him and glanced
+at the narrow craft in which he sat and over the sides of which he could
+dip both hands at once into the sea--might be excused for wishing, with
+all his heart, that he were safely on shore, or on the deck of his
+father's brig.  His feelings were by no means relieved when Van der Kemp
+said, in a low soliloquising tone--
+
+"The steamers will constitute our chief danger to-night.  They come on
+with 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 the
+gale begins to blow we cannot hear, and shall not, perhaps, see very
+well."
+
+As he spoke the hermit lifted the covering of the fore-hatch and took
+out a 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 as
+possible.  After that we will lay-to."
+
+"All right, massa," said the negro, in the same cheerful free-and-easy
+tone in which he was wont to express his willingness to obey orders
+whether 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 to
+prompt obedience as his black follower, for the little creature
+instantly bounded from its place by the mast on to the shoulder of its
+master, who bade it go into the place from which he had just extracted
+the sail.  Nigel could not see this--not only because of the darkness,
+but because of the intervention of the hermit's bulky person, but he
+understood what had taken place by the remark--
+
+"That's a good little fellow.  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 point
+out by means of tackle laid along the deck--while Moses was busy reefing
+the mainsail.
+
+From the same repository were extracted three waterproof coats, which,
+when put on by the canoemen, the tails thrust below deck, and the aprons
+drawn over them and belted round their waists, protected their persons
+almost completely from water.
+
+"Now, Nigel," said the hermit, "unship the mast, reeve the halyard of
+this foresail through the top and then re-ship it.  Moses will give you
+the mainsail when ready, and you can hook the halyards on to it.  The
+thing is too simple to require explanation to a sailor.  I attend to the
+foresail and Moses manages the mainsheet, but you have to mind the
+halyards of both, which, as you would see if it were light enough, run
+down alongside the mast.  All I ask you to remember is to be smart in
+obeying orders, for squalls are sometimes very sudden here--but I doubt
+not 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, thereby
+intensifying, if possible, the blackness which already prevailed.  The
+tiny sails caught the puff, causing the canoe to lean slightly over, and
+glide with a rippling sound through the water, while Moses steered by
+means of his paddle.
+
+"You have put Spinkie down below, I think," said Nigel, who had been
+struck more than once with the hermit's extreme tenderness and care of
+the little creature.
+
+"Yes, to prevent it from being washed overboard.  I nearly lost the poor
+little thing once or twice, and now when we are likely to be caught in
+bad weather I put him below."
+
+"Is he not apt to be suffocated?" asked Nigel.  "With everything made so
+tight to prevent water getting into the canoe, you necessarily prevent
+air entering also."
+
+"I see you have a mechanical turn of mind," returned the hermit.  "You
+are right.  Yet in so large a canoe the air would last a considerable
+time 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 a
+little below the deck and rises a foot above it so as to be well above
+the wash of most waves, and in the deck near the stern there is a small
+hole with a cap fitted so as to turn the water but admit the air.  Thus
+free 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 was
+turned to meet the blast, a hissing sheet of white water swept right
+over the tiny craft, completely submerging it, insomuch that the three
+men appeared to be sitting more than waist-deep in the water.
+
+"Lower the mainsail!" shouted the hermit, for the noise of wind and sea
+had become deafening.
+
+Nigel obeyed and held on to the flapping sheet.  The hermit had at the
+same moment let go the foresail, the flapping of which he controlled by
+a rope-tackle arranged for the purpose.  He then grasped his
+single-blade paddle and aided Moses in keeping her head to wind and sea.
+For a few minutes this was all that could be done.  Then the first
+violence of the squall passed off, allowing the deck of the little craft
+to appear above the tormented water.  Soon the waves began to rise.
+
+The mere keeping of the canoe's head to wind required all the attention
+of both master and man, while Nigel sat waiting for orders and looking
+on with mingled feelings of surprise and curiosity.  Of course they were
+all three wet to the skin, for the water had got up their sleeves and
+down their necks; but, being warm, that mattered little, and the oiled
+aprons before mentioned, being securely fastened round their waists,
+effectually prevented any of it from getting below save the little that
+passed 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 continually
+over the low-lying deck.  As this deck was flush with the gunwale, or
+rather, had no gunwale at all, the water ran off it as it does off a
+whale'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--the
+powerful strokes of the two paddles in what may be called
+counteracting-harmony brought the little craft right round with her
+stern 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 from
+wave to wave.  All sense of danger was now overwhelmed in Nigel's mind
+by that feeling of excitement and wild delight which accompanies some
+kinds of rapid motion.  This was, if possible, intensified by the
+crashing thunder which now burst forth and the vivid lightning which
+began to play, revealing from time to time the tumultuous turmoil as if
+in clearest moonlight, only to plunge it again in still blacker night.
+
+By degrees the gale increased in fury, and it soon became evident that
+neither sails nor cordage could long withstand the strain to which they
+were subjected.
+
+"A'most too much, massa," said the negro in a suggestive shout.
+
+"Right, Moses," returned his master.  "I was just thinking we must risk
+it."
+
+"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 the
+foresail until not more than a mere corner was shown, merely to keep the
+canoe end-on to the seas.  Soon even this was lowered, and Van der Kemp
+used his double-blade paddle to keep them in position, at the same time
+telling Nigel to unship the mast.
+
+"And plug the hole with that," he added, handing him a bit of wood which
+exactly fitted the hole in the deck.
+
+Watching for another lull in the blast, the hermit at last gave the
+order, and round they came as before, head to wind, but not quite so
+easily, and Nigel felt that they had narrowly escaped overturning in the
+operation.
+
+"Keep her so, Moses.  You can help with your paddle, Nigel, while I get
+ready our anchor."
+
+"Anchor!" exclaimed our hero in amazement--obeying orders, however, at
+the same moment.
+
+The hermit either did not hear the exclamation or did not care to notice
+it.  He quickly collected the mast and sails, with a couple of
+boat-hooks and all the paddles excepting two single ones.  These he
+bound together by means of the sheets and halyards, attached the whole
+to a hawser,--one end of which passed through an iron ring at the bow--
+and tossed it into the sea--paying out the hawser rapidly at the same
+time so as to put a few yards between them and their floating anchor--if
+it may be so called--in the lee of which they prepared to ride out the
+gale.
+
+It was well that they had taken the precaution to put on their
+waterproofs before the gale began, because, while turned head to wind
+every breaking wave swept right over their heads, and even now while
+under the lee of the floating anchor they were for some time almost
+continually overwhelmed by thick spray.  Being, however, set free from
+the necessity of keeping their tiny craft in position, they all bowed
+their heads on the deck, sheltered their faces in their hands and
+awaited the end!
+
+Whilst in this attitude--so like to that of prayer--Nigel almost
+naturally 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, the
+flashes of lightning, the appalling thunder, the feeling that he was in
+reality all but under the waves and the knowledge that the proverbial
+plank between him and death was of the very thinnest description, a
+sensation of helplessness and of dependence on the Almighty, such as he
+had never before experienced, crept over him.  What the thoughts of the
+hermit were he could not tell, for that strange man seldom spoke about
+himself; but Moses was not so reticent, for he afterwards remarked that
+he had often been caught by gales while in the canoe, and had been
+attached for hours to their floating anchor, but that "dat was out ob
+sight de wust bust ob wedder dey'd had since dey come to lib at
+Krakatoa, an' he had bery nigh giben up in despair!"
+
+The use of the floating breakwater was to meet the full force of the
+seas and break them just before they reached the canoe.  In spite of
+this some of them were so tremendous that, broken though they were, the
+swirling foam completely buried the craft for a second or two, but the
+sharp bow cut its way through, and the water poured off the deck and off
+the stooping figures like rain from a duck's back.  Of course a good
+deal got in at their necks, sleeves, and other small openings, and wet
+them considerably, 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 rope
+held fast, but was glad to lower it again.  They hardly knew when day
+broke.  It was so slow in coming, and so gloomy and dark when it did
+come, that the glare of the lightning-flash seemed more cheerful.
+
+It may be easily believed that there was no conversation during those
+hours of elemental strife, though the thoughts of each were busy enough.
+At last the thunder ceased, or, rather, retired as if in growling
+defiance of the world which it had failed to destroy.  Then the sky
+began to lighten a little, and although the wind did not materially
+abate in force it became more steady and equal.  Before noon, however,
+it had subsided so much that Moses suggested the propriety of continuing
+the voyage.  To this Van der Kemp agreed, and the floating anchor was
+hauled in; the large paddle was resumed by the hermit, and the dangerous
+process of turning the canoe was successfully accomplished.
+
+When the mast was again set up and the close-reefed main and foresails
+were hoisted, the light craft bounded away once more before the wind
+like a fleck of foam.  Then a gleam of sunshine forced its way through
+the driving clouds, and painted a spot of emerald green on the heaving
+sea.  Soon after that Van der Kemp opened the lid, or hatch, of the
+fore-hold, and Spinkie, jumping out with alacrity, took possession of
+his usual seat beside the mast, to which he clung with affectionate
+tenacity.  Gradually the wind went down.  Reef after reef of the two
+sails was shaken out, and for several hours thereafter our travellers
+sped merrily on, plunging into the troughs and cutting through the
+crests of the stormy sea.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
+
+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 dead
+calm.
+
+Much to the monkey's joy, to say nothing of the men, the sun ere long
+asserted its equatorial power, and, clearing away the clouds, allowed
+the celestial blue to smile on the turmoil below.  The first result of
+that smile was that the wind retired to its secret chambers, leaving the
+ships 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 a
+dimpling smile to the sky.
+
+When this happy stage had been reached our voyagers lowered and stowed
+the canoe-sails, and continued to advance under paddles.
+
+"We get along wonderfully fast, Van der Kemp," said Nigel, while resting
+after a pretty long spell; "but it seems to me, nevertheless, that we
+shall take a considerable time to reach Borneo at this rate, seeing that
+it must be over two hundred miles away, and if we have much bad weather
+or contrary wind, we shan't be able to reach it for weeks--if at all."
+
+"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 remain
+till 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 so
+punctual that I can count on it to a day.  But it may have passed us in
+the gale.  If so, I shall take advantage of the first vessel that will
+agree 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 at
+full speed would tear us asunder.  Have you observed these two strong
+ropes running all round our gunwale, and the bridles across with
+ring-bolts in them?"
+
+"I have, and did not ask their use, as I thought they were merely meant
+to strengthen the canoe."
+
+"So they are," continued the hermit, "but they have other uses
+besides--"
+
+"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 empty
+stummik!"
+
+The hermit smiled and Nigel laughed.  Laying down his paddle the former
+said--
+
+"I understand, Moses.  That speech means that you are suffering from the
+same complaint.  Well--get out the biscuit."
+
+"Jus' de way ob de wurld," muttered the negro with a bland smile.  "If a
+poor man obsarves an feels for de sorrows ob anoder, he allers gits
+credit for t'inkin' ob his-self.  Neber mind, I's used to it!"
+
+Evidently the unjust insinuation did not weigh heavily on the negro's
+spirit, for he soon began to eat with the appetite of a healthy
+alligator.
+
+While he was thus engaged, he chanced to raise his eyes towards the
+south-western horizon, and there saw something which caused him to
+splutter, for his mouth was too full to speak, but his speaking eyes and
+pointing finger caused his companions to turn their faces quickly to the
+quarter indicated.
+
+"A steamer!" exclaimed the hermit and Nigel in the same breath.
+
+The vessel in question was coming straight towards them, and a very
+short time enabled Van der Kemp to recognise with satisfaction the
+steamer owned by his friend.
+
+"Look here, run that to the mast-head," said Van der Kemp, handing a red
+flag to Nigel.  "We lie so low in the water that they might pass quite
+close without observing us if we showed no signal."
+
+An immediate, though slight, change in the course of the steamer showed
+that the signal had been seen.  Hereupon the hermit and Moses performed
+an operation on the canoe which still farther aroused Nigel's surprise
+and curiosity.  He resolved to ask no questions, however, but to await
+the issue of events.
+
+From the marvellous hold of the canoe, which seemed to be a magazine for
+the supply of every human need, Moses drew a short but strong rope or
+cable, with a ring in the middle of it, and a hook at each end.  He
+passed one end along to his master who hooked it to the bridle-rope at
+the bow before referred to.  The other end was hooked to the bridle in
+the stern, so that the ring in the centre came close to Nigel's elbow.
+
+This arrangement had barely been completed when the steamer was within
+hail, but no hail was given, for the captain knew what was expected of
+him.  He reduced speed as the vessel approached the canoe, and finally
+came almost to a stop as he ranged alongside.
+
+"What cheer, Van der Kemp?  D'ye want a lift to-day?" shouted the
+skipper, 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 the
+skipper's order.
+
+A coil was flung to Van der Kemp, who deftly caught it and held on
+tight.  Another was flung to Moses, who also caught it and held on--
+slack.  At the same moment, Nigel saw a large block with a hook attached
+descending towards his head.
+
+"Catch it, Nigel, and hook it to the ring at your elbow," said the
+hermit.
+
+Our hero obeyed, still in surprise, though a glimmer of what was to
+follow began to dawn.
+
+"Haul away!" shouted the skipper, and next moment the canoe was swinging
+in the air, kept in position by the lines in the hands of Van der Kemp
+and Moses.  At the same time another order was given, and the steamer
+went ahead full speed.
+
+It was all so suddenly done, and seemed such a reckless proceeding, that
+Nigel found himself on the steamer's deck, with the canoe reposing
+beside him, before he had recovered from his surprise sufficiently to
+acknowledge in suitable terms the welcome greeting of the hospitable
+skipper.
+
+"You see, Nigel," said Van der Kemp that night, as the two friends paced
+the deck together after supper, "I have other means, besides paddles and
+sails, of getting quickly about in the Java seas.  Many of the traders
+and skippers here know me, and give me a lift in this way when I require
+it."
+
+"Very kind of them, and very convenient," returned Nigel.  He felt
+inclined to add: "But why all this moving about?" for it was quite
+evident that trade was not the hermit's object, but the question, as
+usual, 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 you
+somewhere or other before now, for your features seem strangely familiar
+to me.  Have you ever been in England?"
+
+"Never.  As I have told you, I was born in Java, and was educated in
+Hong Kong at an English School.  But a fancy of this sort is not very
+uncommon.  I myself once met a perfect stranger who bore so strong a
+resemblance to an old friend, that I spoke to him as such, and only
+found out from his voice that I was mistaken."
+
+The captain of the steamer came on deck at that moment and cut short the
+conversation.
+
+"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 fore
+part of the steamer, Nigel went forward to see what was going on.  He
+found a group of sailors round his comrade Moses, apparently engaged in
+good-natured "chaff."
+
+"Come, now, blackey," said one; "be a good fellow for once in your life
+an' tell us what makes your master live on a desert island like Robinson
+Crusoe, an' go about the ocean in a canoe."
+
+"Look 'ere now, whitey," returned Moses, "what you take me for?"
+
+"A nigger, of course."
+
+"Ob course, an' you're right for once, which is such an unusual t'ing
+dat I 'dvise you go an' ax de cappen to make a note ob it in de log.
+I's a nigger, an a nigger's so much more 'cute dan a white man dat you
+shouldn't ought to expect him to blab his massa's secrets."
+
+"Right you are, Moses.  Come, then, if you won't reveal secrets, give us
+a 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 hurt
+your 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.  Heave
+ahead."
+
+"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 de
+chorus dey'll be singin' lies, an' I don't 'zackly like to help men to
+tell lies.  Howseber, here goes.  It begins wid de chorus so's you may
+know it afore you has to sing it."
+
+So saying, Moses struck two fingers on the capstan after the manner of a
+tuning-fork, and, holding them gravely to his ear as if to get the right
+pitch, began in a really fine manly voice to chant the following
+ditty:--
+
+  "Go to Work."
+
+  Oh when de sun am shinin' bright, and eberyt'ing am fair,
+  Clap on de steam an' go to work, an' take your proper share.
+  De wurld hab got to go ahead, an' dem what's young and strong
+  Mus' do deir best, wid all de rest, to roll
+  de wurld along.
+
+  De lazy man does all he can to stop its whirlin' round.
+  If he was king he'd loaf an' sing--and guzzle, I'll be bound,
+  He always shirk de hardest work, an' t'ink he's awful clebbar,
+  But boder his head to earn his bread, Oh! no, he'll nebber, nebber.
+  _Chorus_--Oh when de sun, etcetera.
+
+  De selfish man would rader dan put out his hand to work,
+  Let women toil, an' sweat and moil--as wicked as de Turk.
+  De cream ob eberyt'ing he wants, let oders hab de skim;
+  In fact de wurld and all it holds was only made for him.
+  _Chorus_--Oh when de sun, etcetera.
+
+  So keep de ball a-rollin', boys, an' each one do his best
+  To make de wurld a happy one--for dat's how man is blest.
+  Do unto oders all around de t'ing what's good and true,
+  An' oders, 'turning tit for tat, will do do same to you.
+  _Chorus_--Oh when de sun, etcetera.
+
+The sailors, who were evidently much pleased, took up the chorus
+moderately at the second verse, came out strong at the third, and sang
+with such genuine fervour at the last that it was quite evident, as
+Moses remarked, there was not a lazy man amongst them--at least, if they
+all sang conscientiously!
+
+The weather improved every hour, and after a fine run of about
+twenty-four hours over that part of the Malay Sea, our three voyagers
+were lowered over the steamer's side in their canoe when within sight of
+the great island of Borneo.
+
+"I'm sorry," said the captain at parting, "that our courses diverge
+here, 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
+these parts."
+
+"Thanks--thanks, my friend," replied Van der Kemp, with a warm grip of
+the hand, and a touch of pathos in his tones.  "I trust that we shall
+meet again.  You have done me good service by shortening my voyage
+considerably.--Farewell."
+
+"I say, Moses," shouted one of the seamen, as he looked down on the tiny
+canoe while they were pushing off.
+
+"Hallo?"
+
+"Keep your heart up, for--we'll try to `do to oders all around de t'ing
+what's good an' true!'"
+
+"Das de way, boy--`an' oders, 'turning tit for tat, will do de same to
+you!'"
+
+He yelled rather than sang this at the top of his tuneful voice, and
+waved his hand as the sharp craft shot away over the sea.
+
+Fortunately the sea was calm, for it was growing dark when they reached
+the shores of Borneo and entered the mouth of a small stream, up which
+they proceeded to paddle.  The banks of the stream were clothed with
+mangrove trees.  We have said the banks, but in truth the mouth of that
+river had no distinguishable banks at all, for it is the nature of the
+mangrove to grow in the water--using its roots as legs with which, as it
+were, to wade away from shore.  When darkness fell suddenly on the
+landscape, as it is prone to do in tropical regions, the gnarled roots
+of those mangroves assumed the appearance of twining snakes in Nigel's
+eyes.  Possessing a strongly imaginative mind he could with difficulty
+resist the belief that he saw them moving slimily about in the black
+water, and, in the dim mysterious light, tree-stems and other objects
+assumed the appearance of hideous living forms, so that he was enabled
+to indulge the uncomfortable fancy that they were traversing some
+terrestrial Styx into one of Dante's regions of horror.
+
+In some respects this was not altogether a fancy, for they were
+unwittingly drawing near to a band of human beings whose purposes, if
+fully carried out, would render the earth little better than a hell to
+many of their countrymen.
+
+It is pretty well-known that there is a class of men in Borneo called
+Head Hunters.  These men hold the extraordinary and gruesome opinion
+that a youth has not attained to respectable manhood until he has taken
+the life of some human being.
+
+There are two distinct classes of Dyaks--those who inhabit the hills and
+those who dwell on the sea-coast.  It is the latter who recruit the
+ranks of the pirates of those eastern seas, and it was to the camp of a
+band of such villains that our adventurers were, as already said,
+unwittingly drawing near.
+
+They came upon them at a bend of the dark river beyond which point the
+mangroves gave place to other trees--but what sort of trees they were it
+was scarcely light enough to make out very distinctly, except in the
+case of the particular tree in front of which the Dyaks were encamped,
+the roots of which were strongly illuminated by their camp fire.  We say
+_roots_ advisedly, for this singular and gigantic tree started its
+branches from a complexity of aerial roots which themselves formed a
+pyramid some sixty feet high, before the branches proper of the tree
+began.
+
+If our voyagers had used oars the sharp ears of the pirates would have
+instantly detected them.
+
+As it was, the softly moving paddles and the sharp cutwater of the canoe
+made no noise whatever.  The instant that Van der Kemp, from his
+position in the bow, observed the camp, he dipped his paddle deep, and
+noiselessly backed water.  There was no need to give any signal to his
+servant.  Such a thorough understanding existed between them that the
+mere action of the hermit was sufficient to induce the negro to support
+him by a similar movement on the opposite side, and the canoe glided as
+quickly backward as it had previously advanced.  When under the deep
+shadow of the bank Moses thrust the canoe close in, and his master,
+laying hold of the bushes, held fast and made a sign to him to land and
+reconnoitre.
+
+Creeping forward to an opening in the bushes close at hand, Moses peeped
+through.  Then he turned and made facial signals of a kind so
+complicated that he could not be understood, as nothing was visible save
+the flashing of his teeth and eyes.  Van der Kemp therefore recalled him
+by a sign, and, stepping ashore, whispered Nigel to land.
+
+Another minute and the three travellers stood on the bank with their
+heads close together.
+
+"Wait here for me," said the hermit, in the lowest possible whisper.  "I
+will go and see who they are."
+
+"Strange," said Nigel, when he was gone; "strange that in so short a
+time your master should twice have to stalk strangers in this way.
+History repeats itself, they say.  It appears to do so rather fast in
+these regions!  Does he not run a very great risk of being discovered?"
+
+"Not de smallest," replied the negro, with as much emphasis as was
+possible 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 dan
+ob ketchin' a streak o' lightnin'.  He come back bery soon wid all de
+news."
+
+Moses was a true prophet.  Within half-an-hour Van der Kemp returned as
+noiselessly 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 which
+I had already heard a rumour, has nearly been laid.  We fell in with the
+chief plotters on the islet the other night; the band here is in
+connection with them and awaits their arrival before carrying out their
+dark designs.  There is nothing very mysterious about it.  One tribe
+plotting to attack another--that is all; but as a friend of mine dwells
+just now with the tribe to be secretly attacked, it behoves me to do
+what I can to save him.  I am perplexed, however.  It would seem
+sometimes as if we were left in perplexity for wise purposes which are
+beyond our knowledge."
+
+"Perhaps to test our willingness to _do right_," suggested Nigel.
+
+"I know not," returned the hermit, as if musing, but never raising his
+voice above the softest whisper.  "My difficulty lies here; I _must_ go
+forward to save the life of my friend.  I must _not_ leave you at the
+mouth of a mangrove river to die or be captured by pirates, and yet I
+have no right to ask you to risk your life on my account!"
+
+"You may dismiss your perplexities then," said Nigel, promptly, "for I
+decline to be left to die here or to be caught by pirates, and I am
+particularly anxious to assist you in rescuing your friend.  Besides, am
+I not your hired servant?"
+
+"The risk we run is only at the beginning," said Van der Kemp.  "If we
+succeed 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 the
+strength of our arms, for I am known to them and have thwarted their
+plans before now.  If they catch us, death will be our certain doom.
+Are you 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 his
+store-room in the bow and handed them to Nigel, who thrust the first
+into his belt and fastened the other to the deck by means of a strap
+fixed there on purpose to prevent its being rolled or swept off.  This
+contrivance, as well as all the other appliances in the canoe, had
+previously been pointed out and explained to him.  The hermit and negro
+having armed themselves in similar way, let go the bushes which held
+them close to the bank and floated out into the stream.  They let the
+canoe drift down a short way so as to be well concealed by the bend in
+the river and a mass of bushes.  Then they slowly paddled over to the
+opposite side, and commenced to creep up as close to the bank as
+possible, under the deep shadow of overhanging trees, and so noiselessly
+that they appeared in the darkness like a passing phantom.
+
+But the sharp eyes of the pirates were too much accustomed to phantoms
+of every kind to be easily deceived.  Just as the canoe was about to
+pass beyond the line of their vision a stir was heard in their camp.
+Then a stern challenge rolled across the river and awoke the slumbering
+echoes of the forest--perchance to the surprise and scaring away of some
+prowling beast of prey.
+
+"No need for concealment now," said Van der Kemp, quietly; "we must
+paddle for life.  If you have occasion to use your weapons, Nigel, take
+no life needlessly.  Moses knows my mind on this point and needs no
+warning.  Any fool can take away life.  Only God can give it."
+
+"I will be careful," replied Nigel, as he dipped his paddle with all the
+muscular power at his command.  His comrades did the same, and the canoe
+shot up the river like an arrow.
+
+A yell from the Dyaks, and the noise of jumping into and pushing off
+their boats told that there was no time to lose.
+
+"They are strong men, and plenty of them to relieve each other," said
+the hermit, who now spoke in his ordinary tones, "so they have some
+chance of overhauling us in the smooth water; but a few miles further up
+there is a rapid which will stop them and will only check us.  If we can
+reach it we shall be safe."
+
+While he was speaking every muscle in his broad back and arms was
+strained 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 the
+proverb "it is the pace that kills" received illustration, for the speed
+of the canoe began to decrease a little--very little at first--while the
+pursuers, with fresh hands at the oars, gradually overhauled the
+fugitives.
+
+"Put on a spurt!" said the hermit, setting the example.
+
+The pirates heard the words and understood either them or the action
+that followed, for they also "put on a spurt," and encouraged each other
+with a cheer.
+
+Moses heard the cheer, and at the same time heard the sound of the rapid
+to which they were by that time drawing near.  He glanced over his
+shoulder and could make out the dim form of the leading boat, with a
+tall figure standing up in the bow, not thirty yards behind.
+
+"Shall we manage it, Moses?" asked Van der Kemp, in that calm steady
+voice 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 aim
+and fired.
+
+The tall figure in the bow of the boat fell back with a crash and a
+hideous yell.  Great shouting and confusion followed, and the boat
+dropped behind.  A few minutes later and the canoe was leaping over the
+surges of a shallow rapid.  They dashed from eddy to eddy, taking
+advantage of every stone that formed a tail of backwater below it, and
+gradually worked the light craft upward in a way that the hermit and his
+man had learned in the nor'-western rivers of America.
+
+"We are not safe yet," said the former, resting and wiping his brow as
+they floated for a few seconds in a calm basin at the head of the rapid.
+
+"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 soon
+baffle them, for the river winds like a serpent just above this, and by
+carrying our canoe across one, two, or three spits of land we will gain
+a distance in an hour or so that would cost them nearly a day to ascend
+in boats.  They know that, and will certainly give up the chase.  I
+think they 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 into
+we were lost to them in darkness, besides being pretty well beyond
+range.  I hope, Moses, that you aimed low."
+
+"Yes, massa--but it's sca'cely fair when life an' def am in de balance
+to expect me to hit 'im on de legs on a dark night.  Legs is a bad
+targit.  Bullet's apt to pass between 'em.  Howseber, dat feller won't
+hop much for some time to come!"
+
+A couple of hours later, having carried the canoe and baggage across the
+spits of land above referred to, and thus put at least half-a-day's
+journey between themselves and their foes, they came to a halt for the
+night.
+
+"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 overhung
+the water, brushing the faces of our travellers and rendering the
+darkness so intense that they had literally to feel their way as they
+glided along.
+
+"We will encamp where we are," returned the hermit.  "I'll make fast to
+a bush and you may get out the victuals, Moses."
+
+"Das de bery best word you've said dis day, massa," remarked the negro
+with a profound sigh.  "I's pritty well tired now, an' de bery t'ought
+ob grub 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 the
+canoe a pretty fair bed.  You have only to slip down and pull your head
+and shoulders through the manhole and go to sleep.  You won't want
+blankets in this weather, and, see--there is a pillow for you and
+another for Moses."
+
+"I cannot _see_, but I can feel," said Nigel, with a soft laugh, as he
+passed the pillow aft.
+
+"T'ank ee, Nadgel," said Moses; "here--feel behind you an' you'll find
+grub for yourself an' some to pass forid to massa.  Mind when you slip
+down 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 keen
+appetite.  "But how about _my_ skull, Moses?  Is there a bulkhead
+between it and _your_ heels?"
+
+"No, but you don't need to mind, for I allers sleeps doubled up, wid my
+knees agin my chin.  It makes de arms an' legs feel more sociable like."
+
+With this remark Moses ceased to encourage conversation--his mouth being
+otherwise engaged.
+
+Thereafter they slipped down into their respective places, laid their
+heads on their pillows and fell instantly into sound repose, while the
+dark waters flowed sluggishly past, and the only sound that disturbed
+the universal stillness was the occasional cry of some creature of the
+night or the flap of an alligator's tail.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
+
+A NEW FRIEND FOUND--NEW DANGERS ENCOUNTERED AND NEW HOPES DELAYED.
+
+When grey dawn began to dispel the gloom of night, Nigel Roy awoke with
+an uncomfortable sensation of having been buried alive.  Stretching
+himself as was his wont he inadvertently touched the head of Van der
+Kemp, an exclamation from whom aroused Moses, who, uncoiling himself,
+awoke Spinkie.  It was usually the privilege of that affectionate
+creature to nestle in the negro's bosom.
+
+With the alacrity peculiar to his race, Spinkie sprang through the
+manhole and sat down in his particular place to superintend, perhaps to
+admire, the work of his human friends, whose dishevelled heads emerged
+simultaneously 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 be
+done, it was needless.  The silently conducted operations of the men
+appeared to arouse fellow-feeling in the monkey, for its careworn
+countenance became more and more expressive as it gazed earnestly and
+alternately into the faces of its comrades.  To all appearance it seemed
+about to speak--but it didn't.
+
+Pushing out from the shore they paddled swiftly up stream, and soon put
+such a distance between them and their late pursuers that all risk of
+being 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 the
+country through which they were passing had changed much in character
+and aspect.  The low and swampy region had given place to hillocks and
+undulating ground, all covered with the beautiful virgin forest with its
+palms and creepers and noble fruit-trees and rich vegetation,
+conspicuous among which magnificent ferns of many kinds covered the
+steep banks of the stream.
+
+On rounding a point of the river the travellers came suddenly upon an
+interesting group, in the midst of a most beautiful woodland scene.
+Under the trees on a flat spot by the river-bank were seated round a
+fire 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
+the upper part of his body naked, brass rings on his arms, heavy
+ornaments in his ears, and a bright kerchief worn as a turban on his
+head.  The man was a sort of nondescript in a semi-European shooting
+garb, with a wide-brimmed sombrero on his head, black hair, a deeply
+tanned face, a snub nose, huge beard and moustache, and immense blue
+spectacles.
+
+Something not unlike a cheer burst from the usually undemonstrative Van
+der Kemp on coming in sight of the party, and he waved his hand as if in
+recognition.  The nondescript replied by starting to his feet, throwing
+up both arms and giving vent to an absolute roar of joy.
+
+"He seems to know you," remarked Nigel, as they made for a
+landing-place.
+
+"Yes.  He is the friend I have come to rescue," replied the hermit in a
+tone of quiet satisfaction.  "He is a naturalist and lives with the
+Rajah against whom the pirates are plotting."
+
+"He don't look z'if he needs much rescuin'," remarked Moses with a
+chuckle, as they drew to land.
+
+The man looked in truth as if he were well able to take care of himself
+in most circumstances, being of colossal bulk although somewhat short of
+limb.
+
+"Ah! mein frond! mine brodder!" he exclaimed, in fairly idiomatic
+English, but with a broken pronunciation that was a mixture of Dutch,
+American, and Malay.  His language therefore, like himself, was
+nondescript.  In fact he was an American-born Dutchman, who had been
+transported early in life to the Straits Settlements, had received most
+of his education in Hong Kong, was an old school-fellow of Van der Kemp,
+became an enthusiastic naturalist, and, being possessed of independent
+means, spent most of his time in wandering about the various islands of
+the archipelago, making extensive collections of animal and vegetable
+specimens, which he distributed with liberal hand to whatever museums at
+home or abroad seemed most to need or desire them.  Owing to his tastes
+and habits he had been dubbed Professor by his friends.
+
+"Ach!  Van der Kemp," he exclaimed, while his coal-black eyes glittered
+as they shook hands, "_vat_ a bootterfly I saw to-day!  It beat all
+creation!  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 gracious
+bow.
+
+"An Englishman--Nigel Roy--who has joined me for a few months," said the
+hermit.  "Let me introduce you, Nigel, to my good friend, Professor
+Verkimier."
+
+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 was
+rapidly strengthened when the professor discovered that the English
+youth had a strong leaning towards his own favourite studies.
+
+"Ve vill hont an' shot togezzer, mine frond," he said, on making this
+discovery, "ant I vill show you v'ere de best bootterflies are to be
+fount--Oh! sooch a von as I saw to--but, excuse me, Van der Kemp.  Vy
+you come here joost now?"
+
+"To save _you_," said the hermit, with a scintillation of his
+half-pitiful smile.
+
+"To safe _me_!" exclaimed Verkimier, with a look of surprise which was
+greatly intensified by the rotundity of the blue spectacles.  "Vell, I
+don't feel to vant safing joost at present."
+
+"It is not that danger threatens _you_ so much as your friend the
+Rajah," returned the hermit.  "But if he falls, all under his protection
+fall 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
+were taken by surprise, so I have come on in advance of the conspirators
+to warn 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
+the fact that you were with him made me doubly anxious to reach you in
+time."
+
+While the hermit was saying this, the naturalist removed his blue
+glasses, and slowly wiped them with a corner of his coat-tails.
+Replacing them, he gazed intently into the grave countenance of his
+friend 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 at
+the 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 on
+hearing this.
+
+"Zen I vill--_ve_ vill, you and I, Mister Roy,--go after ze bootterflies
+to-morrow!"
+
+"But we must push on," remonstrated Van der Kemp, "for preparations to
+resist an attack cannot be commenced too soon."
+
+"_You_ may push on, mine frond; go ahead if you vill, but I vill not
+leave zee bootterflies.  You know vell zat I vill die--if need be--for
+zee Rajah.  Ve must all die vonce, at least, and I should like to die--
+if I must die--in a goot cause.  What cause better zan frondship?  But
+you say joost now zere is no dancher.  Vell, I vill go ant see zee
+bootterflies to-morrow.  After zat, I will go ant die--if it must be--
+with zee!"
+
+"I heartily applaud your sentiment," said Nigel, with a laugh, as he
+helped himself to some of the food which the Dyak youth and Moses had
+prepared, "and if Van der Kemp will give me leave of absence I will
+gladly keep you company."
+
+"Zank you.  Pass round zee victuals.  My appetite is strong.  It always
+vas more or less strong.  Vat say you, Van der Kemp?"
+
+"I have no objection.  Moses and I can easily take the canoe up the
+river.  There are no rapids, and it is not far to the Rajah's village;
+so you are welcome to go, Nigel."
+
+"Das de most 'straord'nary craze I eber know'd men inflicted wid!" said
+Moses that night, as he sat smoking his pipe beside the Dyak boy.  "It
+passes my compr'ension what fun dey find runnin' like child'n arter
+butterflies, an' beetles, an' sitch like varmint.  My massa am de wisest
+man 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 Dyak
+boy did not understand English, he looked intently at the fire, and said
+nothing.
+
+Next morning Nigel entered the forest under the guidance of Verkimier
+and the Dyak youth, and the orang-utan, which followed like a dog, and
+sometimes even took hold of its master's arm and walked with him as if
+it had been a very small human being.  It was a new experience to Nigel
+to walk in the sombre shade beneath the tangled arches of the
+wilderness.  In some respects it differed entirely from his
+expectations, and in others it surpassed them.  The gloom was deeper
+than he had pictured it, but the shade was not displeasing in a land so
+close to the equator.  Then the trees were much taller than he had been
+led to suppose, and the creeping plants more numerous, while, to his
+surprise, the wild-flowers were comparatively few and small.  But the
+scarcity of these was somewhat compensated by the rich and brilliant
+colouring of the foliage.
+
+The abundance and variety of the ferns also struck the youth
+particularly.
+
+"Ah! zey are magnificent!" exclaimed Verkimier with enthusiasm.  "Look
+at zat tree-fern.  You have not'ing like zat in England--eh!  I have
+found nearly von hoondred specimens of ferns.  Zen, look at zee
+fruit-trees.  Ve have here, you see, zee Lansat, Mangosteen, Rambutan,
+Jack, Jambon, Blimbing ant many ozers--but zee queen of fruits is zee
+Durian.  Have you tasted 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 as
+resembling an elm in general character but with a more smooth and scaly
+bark.  The fruit is round, or slightly oval, about the size of a man's
+head, of a green colour, and covered all over with short spines which
+are very strong and so sharp that it is difficult to lift the fruit from
+the ground.  Only the experienced and expert can cut the tough outer
+rind.  There are five faint lines extending from the base to the apex of
+the fruit, through which it may be divided with a heavy knife and a
+strong hand, so as to get to the delicious creamy pulp inside.
+
+There is something paradoxical in the descriptions of this fruit by
+various writers, but all agree that it is inexpressibly good!  Says
+one--writing of the sixteenth century--"It is of such an excellent taste
+that it surpasses in flavour all the other fruits of the world."
+Another writes: "This fruit is of a hot and humid nature.  To those not
+used to it, it seems at first to smell like rotten onions! but
+immediately they have tasted it they prefer it to all other food."
+Wallace himself says of it: "When brought into the house, the smell is
+so offensive that some persons can never bear to taste it.  This was my
+own case in Malacca, but in Borneo I found a ripe fruit on the ground,
+and, eating it out of doors, I at once became a confirmed Durian-eater!"
+
+This was exactly the experience of Nigel Roy that day, and the way in
+which the fruit came to him was also an experience, but of a very
+different sort.  It happened just as they were looking about for a
+suitable spot on which to rest and eat their mid-day meal.  Verkimier
+was in front with the orang-utan reaching up to his arm and hobbling
+affectionately by his side--for there was a strong mutual affection
+between them.  The Dyak youth brought up the rear, with a sort of
+game-bag on his shoulders.
+
+Suddenly Nigel felt something graze his arm, and heard a heavy thud at
+his side.  It was a ripe Durian which had fallen from an immense height
+and missed him by a hairbreadth.
+
+"Zank Got, you have escaped!" exclaimed the professor, looking back with
+a solemn countenance.
+
+"I have indeed escaped what might have been a severe blow," said Nigel,
+stooping to examine the fruit, apparently forgetful that more might
+follow.
+
+"Come--come avay.  My boy vill bring it.  Men are sometimes killed by
+zis fruit.  Here now ve vill dine."
+
+They sat down on a bank which was canopied by ferns.  While the boy was
+arranging their meal, Verkimier drew a heavy hunting-knife from his belt
+and, applying it with an unusually strong hand to the Durian, laid it
+open.  Nigel did not at all relish the smell, but he was not fastidious
+or apt to be prejudiced.  He tasted--and, like Mr Wallace, "became a
+confirmed Durian-eater" from that day.
+
+"Ve draw near to zee region vere ve shall find zee bootterflies," said
+the naturalist, during a pause in their luncheon.
+
+"I hope we shall be successful," said Nigel, helping himself to some
+more of what may be styled Durian cream.  "To judge from the weight and
+hardness of this fruit, I should think a blow on one's head from it
+would be fatal."
+
+"Sometimes, not always.  I suppose zat Dyak skulls are strong.  But zee
+wound is terrible, for zee spikes tear zee flesh dreadfully.  Zee Dyak
+chief, Rajah, with whom I dwell joost now, was floored once by one, and
+he expected to die--but he did not.  He is alife ant vell, as you shall
+see."
+
+As he spoke a large butterfly fluttered across the scene of their
+festivities.  With all the energy of his enthusiastic spirit and strong
+muscular frame the naturalist leaped up, overturned his dinner, rushed
+after the coveted specimen, tripped over a root, and measured his length
+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 a
+lesson from a foolish man!"
+
+"I shall learn two lessons," said Nigel, laughing--"first, to avoid your
+too eager haste, and, second, to copy, if I can, your admirable
+enthusiasm."
+
+"You are very goot.  Some more cheekin' if you please.  Zanks.  Ve most
+make haste viz our meal ant go to vork."
+
+The grandeur and novelty of the scenery through which they passed when
+they did go to work was a source of constant delight and surprise to our
+hero, whose inherent tendency to take note of and admire the wonderful
+works of God was increased by the unflagging enthusiasm and interesting
+running commentary of his companion, whose flow of language and eager
+sympathy formed a striking contrast to the profound silence and gravity
+of the Dyak youth, as well as to the pathetic and affectionate
+selfishness of the man-monkey.
+
+It must not, however, be supposed that the young orang-utan was unworthy
+of his victuals, for, besides being an amusing and harmless companion,
+he had been trained to use his natural capacity for climbing trees in
+the service of his master.  Thus he ascended the tall Durian trees, when
+ordered, and sent down some of the fruit in a few minutes--an operation
+which his human companions could not have accomplished without tedious
+delay and the construction of an ingenious ladder having slender bamboos
+for 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 suddenly
+before a plant which he had often read of but never seen.  He was told
+by his friend that pitcher-plants were very numerous in that region;
+that every mountain-top abounded with them; that they would be found
+trailing along the ground and climbing over shrubs and stunted trees,
+with their elegant pitchers hanging in every direction.  Some of these,
+he said, were long and slender, others broad and short.  The plant at
+which they were looking was a broad green one, variously tinted and
+mottled with red, and was large enough to hold two quarts of water.
+
+Resuming the march Nigel observed that the group of orchids was
+abundant, but a large proportion of the species had small inconspicuous
+flowers.  Some, however, had large clusters of yellow flowers which had
+a very ornamental effect on the sombre forest.  But, although the
+exceptions were striking, he found that in Borneo, as elsewhere, flowers
+were scarcer than he had expected in an equatorial forest.  There were,
+however, more than enough of striking and surprising things to engage
+the attention of our hero, and arouse his interest.
+
+One tree they came to which rendered him for some moments absolutely
+speechless! to the intense delight of the professor, who marched his
+new-found sympathiser from one object of interest to another with the
+secret intention of surprising him, and when he had got him to the point
+of open-mouthed amazement he was wont to turn his spectacles full on his
+face, like the mouths of a blue binocular, in order to witness and enjoy
+his emotions!
+
+Nigel found this out at last and was rather embarrassed in consequence.
+
+"Zat," exclaimed the naturalist, after gazing at his friend for some
+time in silence, "zat is a tree vitch planted itself in mid-air and zen
+sent 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 same
+kind 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 bird
+into zee fork of anozer tree.  Zee seed grows, sends his roots down ant
+his branches up.  Ven his roots reach zee ground he lays hold, ant, ven
+strong enough, kills his support--zus returning efil for good, like a
+zankless dependent.  Ah! zere is much resemblance between plants and
+animals!  Com', ve must feed here," said the professor, resting his gun
+against one of the roots, "I had expected to find zee bootterflies
+sooner.  It cannot be helped.  Let us make zis our banqueting-hall.  Ve
+vill have a Durian to refresh us, ant here is a handy tree which seems
+to 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 of
+his 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 off
+to the Durian tree, ascended it with a sort of lazy, lumbering facility,
+and hurled down some of the fruit without warning those below to look
+out.
+
+"My little frond is obstinate sometimes," remarked the naturalist,
+picking up the fruit, "but ven I bring my glasses to bear on him he
+always gives in, I never found zem fail.  Come now; eat, an' ve vill go
+to vork again.  Ve must certainly find zee bootterflies somevere before
+night."
+
+But Verkimier was wrong.  It was his destiny not to find the butterflies
+that night, or in that region at all, for he and his companion had not
+quite finished their meal when a Dyak youth came running up to them
+saying that he had been sent by the Rajah to order their immediate
+return to the village.
+
+"Alas! ve most go.  It is dancherous to disobey zee Rajah--ant I am
+sorry--very sorry--zat I cannot show you zee bootterflies to-day.  No
+matter.--Go," (to the Dyak youth), "tell your chief ve vill come.
+Better lock zee next time!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
+
+HUNTING THE GREAT MAN-MONKEY.
+
+Although Professor Verkimier had promised to return at once, he was
+compelled to encamp in the forest, being overtaken by night before he
+could reach the river and procure a boat.
+
+Next morning they started at daybreak.  The country over which they
+passed had again changed its character and become more hilly.  On the
+summits of many of the hills Dyak villages could be seen, and rice
+fields were met with as they went along.  Several gullies and rivulets
+were crossed by means of native bamboo bridges, and the professor
+explained, as he went along, the immense value of the bamboo to the
+natives.  With it they make their suspension bridges, build their
+houses, and procure narrow planking for their floors.  If they want
+broader planks they split a large bamboo on one side and flatten it out
+to a plank of about eighteen inches wide.  Portions of hollow bamboo
+serve as receptacles for milk or water.  If a precipice stops a path,
+the Dyaks will not hesitate to construct a bamboo path along the face of
+it, using branches of trees wherever convenient from which to hang the
+path, and every crevice or notch in the rocks to receive the ends of the
+bamboos by 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 trees
+of the forest.  But the Dyaks love honey and value wax as an article of
+trade; they therefore erect their ingenious bamboo ladder--which can be
+prolonged to any height on the smooth branchless stem of the Tappan--and
+storm the stronghold of the bees with much profit to themselves, for
+bees'-wax will purchase from the traders the brass wire, rings,
+gold-edged kerchiefs and various ornaments with which they decorate
+themselves.  When travelling, the Dyaks use bamboos as cooking vessels
+in which to boil rice and other vegetables; as jars in which to preserve
+honey, sugar, etcetera, or salted fish and fruit.  Split bamboos form
+aqueducts by which water is conveyed to the houses.  A small neatly
+carved piece of bamboo serves as a case in which are carried the
+materials used in the disgusting practice of betel-nut chewing--which
+seems to be equivalent to the western tobacco-chewing.  If a pipe is
+wanted the Dyak will in a wonderfully short space of time make a huge
+hubble-bubble out of bamboos of different sizes, and if his long-bladed
+knife requires a sheath the same gigantic grass supplies one almost
+ready-made.  But the uses to which this reed may be applied are almost
+endless, and the great outstanding advantage of it is that it needs no
+other tools than an axe and a knife to work it.
+
+At about mid-day the river was reached, and they found a native boat, or
+prahu, 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 der
+Kemp, who, somehow--probably by unselfish readiness, as well as ability,
+to oblige--had contrived to make devoted friends in whatever part of the
+Malay Archipelago he travelled.
+
+Afterwards, in a conversation with Nigel, the professor, referring to
+those 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
+is goot, 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--
+very sad."
+
+"I have observed that, of course," said Nigel.  "Do you know what makes
+him so sad?"
+
+The professor shook his head.
+
+"No, I do not know.  Nobody knows.  I have tried to find out, but he
+vill not speak."
+
+The Orang-Kaya, or rich man, as this hill chief was styled, had provided
+lodgings for his visitors in the "head-house."  This was a large
+circular building erected on poles.  There is such a house in nearly all
+Dyak villages.  It serves as a trading-place, a strangers' room, a
+sleeping-room for unmarried youths, and a general council-chamber.  Here
+Nigel found the hermit and Moses enjoying a good meal when he arrived,
+to which he and the professor sat down after paying their respects to
+the chief.
+
+"The Orang-Kaya hopes that we will stay with him some time and help to
+defend 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, just
+before filling his mouth with rice.
+
+"Or to die in it!" added Verkimier, engulfing the breast of a chicken at
+a bite.  "But as zee pirates are not expected for some days, ve may as
+vell go after zee mias--zat is what zee natifs call zee orang-utan.  It
+is a better word, being short."
+
+Moses glanced at the professor out of the corners of his black eyes and
+seemed greatly tickled by his enthusiastic devotion to business.
+
+"I am also," continued the professor, "extremely anxious to go at zee
+bootterflies before--"
+
+"You die," suggested Nigel, venturing on a pleasantry, whereat Moses
+opened his mouth in a soundless laugh, but, observing the professor's
+goggles levelled at him, he transformed the laugh into an astounding
+sneeze, and immediately gazed with pouting innocence and interest at his
+plate.
+
+"Do you always sneeze like zat?" asked Verkimier.
+
+"Not allers," answered the negro simply, "sometimes I gibs way a good
+deal 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 a
+Dyak youth rushed in to say that an unusually large and gorgeous
+butterfly had been seen just outside the village!
+
+No application of fire to gunpowder could have produced a more immediate
+effect.  The professor's rice was scattered on the floor, and himself
+was outside the head-house before his comrades knew exactly what was the
+matter.
+
+"He's always like that," said the hermit, with a slight twinkle in his
+eyes.  "Nothing discourages--nothing subdues him.  Twice I pulled him
+out of deadly danger into which he had run in his eager pursuit of
+specimens.  And he has returned the favour to me, for he rescued me once
+when a mias had got me down and would certainly have killed me, for my
+gun 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.  "You
+must not judge of the creature by the baby that Verkimier has tamed.  A
+full-grown male is quite as large as a man, though very small in the
+legs in proportion, so that it does not stand high.  It is also very
+much stronger than the most powerful man.  You would be quite helpless
+in its grip, I assure you."
+
+"I hope, with the professor," returned Nigel, "that we may have a hunt
+after them, either before or after the arrival of the pirates.  I know
+he is very anxious to secure a good specimen for some museum in which he
+is interested--I forget which."
+
+As he spoke, the youth who had brought information about the butterfly
+returned and said a few words to Moses in his native tongue.
+
+"What does he say?" asked Niger.
+
+"Dat Massa Verkimier is in full chase, an' it's my opinion dat when he
+comes 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 hoed 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 to
+the Dyak youth who had just returned, and who, with a number of other
+natives, was watching the visitors with profound interest while they
+ate.
+
+As the young man referred to was a good sample of the youth of his
+tribe, we shall describe him.  Though not tall, he was well and strongly
+proportioned, and his skin was of a reddish-brown colour.  Like all his
+comrades, he wore little clothing.  A gay handkerchief with a gold lace
+border encircled his head, from beneath which flowed a heavy mass of
+straight, jet-black hair.  Large crescent-shaped ornaments hung from his
+ears.  His face was handsome and the expression pleasing, though the
+mouth was large and the lips rather thick.  Numerous brass rings
+encircled his arms above and below the elbows.  His only other piece of
+costume was a waist-cloth of blue cotton, which hung down before and
+behind.  It ended in three bands of red, blue, and white.  There were
+also rows of brass rings on his legs, and armlets of white shells.  At
+his side he wore a long slender knife and a little pouch containing the
+materials for betel-chewing.
+
+"Yes, and he is as good as he looks," said the hermit.  "His name is
+Gurulam, and all the people of his tribe have benefited by the presence
+in Borneo of that celebrated Englishman Sir James Brooke,--Rajah Brooke
+as he was called,--who did so much to civilise the Dyaks of Borneo and
+to ameliorate their condition."
+
+The prophecy of Moses about the professor was fulfilled.  Just as it was
+growing dark that genial scientist returned, drenched to the skin and
+covered with mud, having tumbled into a ditch.  His knuckles also were
+skinned, his knees and shins damaged, and his face scratched, but he was
+perfectly happy in consequence of having secured a really splendid
+specimen of a "bootterfly" as big as his hand; the scientific name of
+which, for very sufficient reasons, we will not attempt to inflict on
+our readers, and the description of which may be shortly stated by the
+single word--gorgeous!
+
+Being fond of Verkimier, and knowing his desire to obtain a full-grown
+orang-utan, Gurulam went off early next morning to search for one.
+Half-a-dozen of his comrades accompanied him armed only with native
+spears, for their object was not to hunt the animal, but to discover one
+if possible, and let the professor know so that he might go after it
+with his rifle, for they knew that he was a keen sportsman as well as a
+man of science.
+
+They did not, indeed, find what they sought for, but they were told by
+natives with whom they fell in that a number of the animals had been
+seen among the tree-tops not more than a day's march into the forest.
+They hurried home therefore with this information, and that day--
+accompanied by the Dyak youths, Nigel, the hermit, and Moses--Verkimier
+started off in search of the mias; intending to camp out or to take
+advantage of a native hut if they should chance to be near one when
+night overtook them.
+
+Descending the hill region, they soon came to more level ground, where
+there 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
+which the natives, being barefooted, walk with ease and certainty, but
+our booted hunters were obliged to proceed along them with extreme
+caution.  The only one who came to misfortune was, as usual, the
+professor; and in the usual way!  It occurred at the second of these
+tree-roads.
+
+"Look, look at that remarkable insect!" exclaimed Nigel, eagerly, in the
+innocence of his heart.  The professor was in front of him; he
+obediently looked, saw the insect, made an eager step towards it, and
+next moment was flat on the swamp, while the woods rang with his
+companions laughter.  The remarkable insect, whatever it was, vanished
+from the scene, and the professor was dragged, smiling though confused,
+out of the bog.  These things affected him little.  His soul was large
+and rose superior to such trifles.
+
+The virgin forest into which they penetrated was of vast extent;
+spreading over plain, mountain, and morass in every direction for
+hundreds of miles, for we must remind the reader that the island of
+Borneo is considerably larger than all the British islands put together,
+while its inhabitants are comparatively few.  Verkimier had been
+absolutely revelling in this forest for several months--ranging its
+glades, penetrating its thickets, bathing, (inadvertently), in its
+quagmires, and maiming himself generally, with unwearied energy and
+unextinguishable enthusiasm; shooting, skinning, stuffing, preserving,
+and boiling the bones of all its inhabitants--except the human--to the
+great advantage of science and the immense interest and astonishment of
+the natives.  Yet with all his energy and perseverance the professor had
+failed, up to that time, to obtain a large specimen of a male
+orang-utan, though he had succeeded in shooting several small specimens
+and females, besides catching the young one which he had tamed.
+
+It was therefore with much excitement that he learned from a party of
+bees'-wax hunters, on the second morning of their expedition, that a
+large male mias had been seen that very day.  Towards the afternoon they
+found the spot that had been described to them, and a careful
+examination began.
+
+"You see," said Verkimier, in a low voice, to Nigel, as he went a step
+in advance peering up into the trees, with rifle at the "ready" and
+bending a little as if by that means he better avoided the chance of
+being seen.  "You see, I came to Borneo for zee express purpose of
+obtaining zee great man-monkey and vatching his habits.--Hush!  Do I not
+hear somet'ing?"
+
+"Nothing but your own voice, I think," said Nigel, with a twinkle in his
+eye.
+
+"Vell--hush!  Keep kviet, all of you."
+
+As the whole party marched in single file after the professor, and were
+at the moment absolutely silent, this order induced the display of a
+good many teeth.
+
+Just then the man of science was seen to put his rifle quickly to the
+shoulder; the arches of the forest rang with a loud report; various
+horrified creatures were seen and heard to scamper away, and next moment
+a middle-sized orang-utan came crashing through the branches of a tall
+tree and fell dead with a heavy thud on the ground.
+
+The professor's rifle was a breech-loader.  He therefore lost no time in
+re-charging, and hurried forward as if he saw other game, while the rest
+of the party--except Van der Kemp, Nigel, and Gurulam--fell behind to
+look at and pick up the fallen animal.
+
+"Look out!" whispered Nigel, pointing to a bit of brown hair that he saw
+among the leaves high overhead.
+
+"Vere?  I cannot see him," whispered the naturalist, whose eyes blazed
+enough almost to melt his blue glasses.  "Do _you_ fire, Mr Roy?"
+
+"My gun is charged only with small-shot, for birds.  It is useless for
+such game," said Nigel.
+
+"Ach!  I see!"
+
+Up went the rifle and again the echoes were startled and the animal
+kingdom astounded, especially that portion at which the professor had
+fired, for there was immediately a tremendous commotion among the leaves
+overhead, and another orang of the largest size was seen to cross an
+open space and disappear among the thick foliage.  Evidently the
+creature had been hit, but not severely, for it travelled among the
+tree-tops at the rate of full five miles an hour, obliging the hunters
+to run at a rapid pace over the rough ground in order to keep up with
+it.  In its passage from tree to tree the animal showed caution and
+foresight, selecting only those branches that interlaced with other
+boughs, so that it made uninterrupted progress, and also had a knack of
+always keeping masses of thick foliage underneath it so that for some
+time no opportunity was found of firing another shot.  At last, however,
+it came to one of those Dyak roads of which we have made mention, so
+that it could not easily swing from one tree to another, and the
+stoppage of rustling among the leaves told that the creature had halted.
+For some time they gazed up among the branches without seeing anything,
+but at last, in a place where the leaves seemed to have been thrust
+aside near the 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 moved
+off in another direction.  In desperate anxiety Nigel fired both barrels
+of his shot-gun.  He might as well have fired at the moon.  Gurulam was
+armed only with a spear, and Van der Kemp, who was not much of a
+sportsman, carried a similar weapon.  The rest of the party were still
+out of sight in rear looking after the dead mias.
+
+It was astonishing how little noise was made by so large an animal as it
+moved along.  More than once the hunters had to halt and listen intently
+for the rustling of the leaves before they could make sure of being on
+the 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 stooping
+posture along the large limb of a tree, but the hunter was loading at
+the time and lost the chance.  Finally he got on to a tree whose top was
+covered with a dense mass of creepers which completely hid him from
+view.  Then he halted and the sound of snapping branches was heard.
+
+"You've not much chance of him now," remarked the hermit, as they all
+stood in a group gazing up into the tree-top.  "I have often seen the
+mias act thus when severely wounded.  He is making a nest to lie down
+and die in."
+
+"Zen ve must shoot again," said the professor, moving round the tree and
+looking out for a sign of the animal.  At last he seemed to have found
+what 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 was
+not dead, for it caught hold of branches as it fell and hung on as long
+as it could; then it came crashing down, and alighted on its face with
+an awful thud.
+
+After firing the last shot Verkimier had not reloaded, being too intent
+on watching the dying struggles of the creature, and when it fell with
+such violence he concluded that it was dead.  For the same reason Nigel
+had neglected to reload after firing.  Thus it happened that when the
+enormous brute suddenly rose and made for a tree with the evident
+intention of climbing it, no one was prepared to stop it except the Dyak
+youth Gurulam.  He chanced to be standing between the mias and the tree.
+
+Boldly he levelled his spear and made a thrust that would probably have
+killed the beast, if it had not caught the point of the spear and turned
+it aside.  Then with its left paw it caught the youth by the neck,
+seized his thigh with one of its hind paws, and fixed its teeth in his
+right shoulder.
+
+Never was man rendered more suddenly and completely helpless, and death
+would have been his sure portion before the hunters had reloaded if Van
+der Kemp had not leaped forward, and, thrusting his spear completely
+through the animal's body, killed it on the spot.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
+
+BEGINS WITH A TERRIBLE FIGHT AND ENDS WITH A HASTY FLIGHT.
+
+The hunt, we need scarcely say, was abruptly terminated, and immediate
+preparations were made for conveying the wounded man and the two orangs
+to the Dyak village.  This was quickly arranged, for the convenient
+bamboo afforded ready-made poles wherewith to form a litter on which to
+carry them.
+
+The huge creature which had given them so much trouble, and so nearly
+cost them one human life, was found to be indeed of the largest size.
+It was not tall but very broad and large.  The exact measurements, taken
+by the professor, who never travelled without his tape-measure, were as
+follows:--
+
+Height from heel to top of head, 4 feet 2 inches.
+
+Outstretched arms across chest, 7 feet 8 inches.
+
+Width of face, 1 foot 2 inches.
+
+Girth of arm, 1 foot 3 inches.
+
+Girth of wrist, 5 inches.
+
+The muscular power of such a creature is of course immense, as Nigel and
+the professor had a rare chance of seeing that very evening--of which,
+more presently.
+
+On careful examination by Nigel, who possessed some knowledge of
+surgery, it was found that none of Gurulam's bones had been broken, and
+that although severely lacerated about the shoulders and right thigh, no
+very serious injury had been done--thanks to the promptitude and vigour
+of the hermit's spear-thrust.  The poor youth, however, was utterly
+helpless for the time being, and had to be carried home.
+
+That afternoon the party reached a village in a remote part of the
+forest where they resolved to halt for the night, as no other
+resting-place could be reached before dark.
+
+While a supper of rice and fowl was being cooked by Moses, Van der Kemp
+attended to the wounded man, and Nigel accompanied the professor along
+the banks of the stream on which the village stood.  Having merely gone
+out for a stroll they carried no weapons except walking-sticks,
+intending to go only a short distance.  Interesting talk, however, on
+the character and habits of various animals, made them forget time until
+the diminution of daylight warned them to turn.  They were about to do
+so when they observed, seated in an open place near the stream, the
+largest orang they had yet seen.  It was feeding on succulent shoots by
+the waterside: a fact which surprised the professor, for his inquiries
+and experience had hitherto taught him that orangs never eat such food
+except when starving.  The fat and vigorous condition in which this
+animal was, forbade the idea of starvation.  Besides, it had brought a
+Durian fruit to the banks of the stream and thrown it down, so that
+either 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 our
+travellers were peeping at it in mute surprise through the bushes.  That
+they had approached so near without being observed was due to the fact
+that a brawling rapid flowed just there, and the mias was on the other
+side of the stream.  By mutual consent the men crouched to watch its
+proceedings.  They were not a little concerned, however, when the brute
+seized an overhanging bough, and, with what we may style sluggish
+agility, swung itself clumsily but lightly to their side of the stream.
+It picked up the Durian which lay there and began to devour it.  Biting
+off 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 off
+the thick rind and began to enjoy a feast.
+
+Now, with monkeys, no less than with men, there is many a slip 'twixt
+the 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 and
+Nigel had mistaken for a log, suddenly opened its jaws and seized the
+big monkey's leg.  The scene that ensued baffles description!  Grasping
+the crocodile with its other three hands by nose, throat, and eyes, the
+mias almost performed the American operation of gouging--digging its
+powerful thumbs and fingers into every crevice and tearing open its
+assailant's jaws.  The crocodile, taken apparently by surprise, went
+into dire convulsions, and making for deep water, plunged his foe
+therein over head and ears.  Nothing daunted, the mias regained his
+footing, hauled his victim on to a mudbank, and, jumping on his back
+began to tear and pommel him.  There was nothing of the prize-fighter in
+the mias.  He never clenched his fist--never hit straight from the
+shoulder, but the 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 he began to tear open with fingers and teeth.  Wrenching
+himself free with a supreme effort the crocodile shot into the stream
+and disappeared with a sounding splash of its tail, while the mias waded
+lamely to the shore with an expression of sulky indignation on its great
+black face.
+
+Slowly the creature betook itself to the shelter of the forest, and we
+need scarcely add that the excited observers of the combat made no
+attempt to hinder its retreat.
+
+It is said that the python is the only other creature that dares to
+attack the orang-utan, and that when it does so victory usually declares
+for the man-monkey, which bites and tears it to death.
+
+The people of the village in which the hunters rested that night were
+evidently not accustomed to white men--perhaps had never seen them
+before--for they crowded round them while at supper and gazed in silent
+wonder as if they were watching a group of white-faced baboons feeding!
+They were, however, very hospitable, and placed before their visitors an
+abundance of their best food without expecting anything in return.
+Brass rings were the great ornament in this village--as they are,
+indeed, among the Dyaks generally.  Many of the women had their arms
+completely covered with them, as well as their legs from the ankle to
+the knee.  Their petticoats were fastened to a coil of rattan, stained
+red, round their bodies.  They also wore coils of brass wire, girdles of
+small silver coins, and sometimes broad belts of brass ring-armour.
+
+It was break of dawn next morning when our hunters started, bearing
+their wounded comrade and the dead orangs with them.
+
+Arrived at the village they found the people in great excitement
+preparing for defence, as news had been brought to the effect that the
+pirates had landed at the mouth of the river, joined the disaffected
+band which awaited them, and that an attack might be expected without
+delay, for they were under command of the celebrated Malay pirate
+Baderoon.
+
+Nigel observed that the countenance of his friend Van der Kemp underwent
+a peculiar change on hearing this man's name mentioned.  There was a
+combination 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 night
+out?" 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 their
+intercourse was that Van der Kemp was incapable of the sensation of
+fear.
+
+"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 plans
+more than once.  When he hears that it is I who have warned the Orang
+Kaya against him, he will pursue me to the death, and--and I _must not_
+meet him."
+
+"Indeed!" exclaimed Nigel, with renewed surprise.
+
+But the hermit took no note of the exclamation.  Anxiety had given place
+to a frown, and his eyes were fixed on the ground.  It seemed to Nigel
+so evident that he did not wish to pursue the subject, that he slightly
+changed it.
+
+"I suppose," he said, "that there is no fear of the Dyaks of the village
+being unable to beat off the pirates now that they have been warned?"
+
+"None whatever.  Indeed, this is so well-known to Baderoon that I think
+he 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 the
+pirates 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 are
+ready 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 youths
+who had brought the news.
+
+"Yes, all went in a body to the north--except one boat which rowed
+southward."
+
+"Hmm!  I thought so.  My friends, listen to me.  This is no pretence.
+They do not mean to attack you now you are on your guard; but that boat
+which went south contains Baderoon, and I feel certain that he means to
+hang about here till he gets the chance of killing me."
+
+"That is well," returned the chief, calmly.  "My young men will hunt
+till they find where he is.  Then they will bring us the information and
+Van der Kemp will go out with a band and slay his enemy."
+
+"No, my friend," said the hermit, firmly; "that shall not be.  I must
+get out of his way, and in order to do so will leave you at once, for
+there will be no further need for my services here."
+
+The chief looked at his friend in surprise.  "Well," he said, "you have
+a good judgment, and understand your own affairs.  But you have already
+rendered me good service, and I will help you to fly--though such is not
+the habit of the Dyaks!  There is a trader's vessel to start for Sumatra
+by the first light of day.  Will my friend go by that?"
+
+"I am grateful," answered the hermit, "but I need no help--save some
+provisions, for I have my little canoe, which will suffice."
+
+As this colloquy was conducted in the native tongue it was
+unintelligible to Nigel, but after the interview with the chief the
+hermit explained matters to him, and bade Moses get ready for a start
+several hours before dawn.
+
+"You see we must do the first part of our trip in the dark, for Baderoon
+has a keen eye and ear.  Then we will land and sleep all day where the
+sharpest eye will fail to find us--and, luckily, pirates have been
+denied the power of scenting out their foes.  When night comes we will
+start again and get out of sight of land before the next dawn."
+
+"Mine frond," said the professor, turning his moon-like goggles full on
+the 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 than
+three."
+
+"Zat is no matter to me," rejoined Verkimier; "you forget zee trader's
+boat.  I vill go in zat to Sumatra.  Ve vill find out zee port he is
+going to, ant you vill meet me zere.  Vait for me if I have not
+arrived--or I vill vait for you.  I have longed to visit Sumatra, ant
+vat better fronds could I go viz zan yourselfs?"
+
+"But, my good friend," returned the hermit, "my movements may not
+exactly suit yours.  Here they are,--you can judge for yourself.  First
+I will, 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, some
+passing vessel will give me a lift, no doubt.  Then I will coast along
+to one of the eastern ports, where I know there is a steamboat loading
+up about this time.  The captain is an old friend of mine.  He brought
+me and my companions the greater part of the way here.  If I find him I
+will ask him to carry my canoe on his return voyage through Sunda
+Straits, and leave it with another friend of mine at Telok Betong on the
+south coast of Sumatra--not far, as you know, from my home in Krakatoa.
+Then I will proceed overland to the same place, so that my friend Nigel
+Roy may see a 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 uncertainty
+of 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 vill
+follow ant take my chance.  I am use' to ooncertainties ant
+difficoolties.  Zey can not influence me."
+
+After a good deal of consideration this plan was agreed to.  The
+professor spent part of the night in giving directions about the
+preserving of his specimens, which he meant to leave at the village in
+charge of a man whom he had trained to assist him, while Van der Kemp
+with his companions lay down to snatch a little sleep before setting out
+on their voyage, or, as the Dyak chief persisted in calling it, their
+flight!  When Nigel had slept about five minutes--as he thought--he was
+awakened by Moses.
+
+"Don't make a noise, Massa Nadgel!  Dere may be spies in de camp for all
+we 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 the
+woods to the spot where the canoe was in waiting.
+
+The night was very dark.  This was in their favour,--at least as
+regarded discovery.
+
+"But how shall we ever see to make our way down stream?" asked Nigel of
+the hermit in a whisper on reaching the place of embarkation.
+
+"The current will guide us.  Besides, I have studied the river with a
+view to this flight.  Be careful in getting in.  Now, Moses, are you
+ready?"
+
+"All right, massa."
+
+"Shove off, then."
+
+There was something so eerie in the subdued tones, and stealthy motions,
+and profound darkness, that Nigel could not help feeling as if they were
+proceeding to commit some black and criminal deed!
+
+Floating with the current, with as little noise as possible, and having
+many a narrow escape of running against points of land and sandbanks,
+they flew swiftly towards the sea, so that dawn found them among the mud
+flats and the mangrove swamps.  Here they found a spot where mangrove
+roots and bushes formed an impenetrable screen, behind which they spent
+the day, chiefly in sleep, and in absolute security.
+
+When darkness set in they again put forth, and cautiously clearing the
+river's mouth, were soon far out on the open sea, which was fortunately
+calm 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 of
+satisfaction, 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 that
+Nigel could scarce restrain a laugh in spite of his sympathy.
+
+But Spinkie had not forgotten himself.  Observing probably, that these
+night expeditions were a change in his master's habits, he had kept an
+unusually watchful eye on the canoe, so that when it was put in the
+water, he had jumped on board unseen in the darkness, and had retired to
+the place where he usually slept under hatches when the canoe travelled
+at night.
+
+Awakened from refreshing sleep at the sound of his name, Spinkie emerged
+suddenly from the stern-manhole, right under the negro's nose, and with
+a sleepy "Oo, oo!" gazed up into his face.
+
+"Ho!  Dare you is, you mis'rible hyperkrite!" exclaimed Moses, kissing
+the animal in the depth of his satisfaction.  "He's here, massa, all
+right.  Now, you go to bed agin, you small bundle ob hair."
+
+The creature retired obediently to its place, and laying its little
+cheek on one of its small hands, committed itself to repose.
+
+Van der Kemp was wrong when he said they were safe.  A pirate scout had
+seen the canoe depart.  Being alone and distant from the rendezvous of
+his commander, some time elapsed before the news could be conveyed to
+him.  When Baderoon was at length informed and had sailed out to sea in
+pursuit, returning daylight showed him that his intended victim had
+escaped.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
+
+TELLS OF THE JOYS, ETCETERA, OF THE PROFESSOR IN THE SUMATRAN FORESTS,
+ALSO OF A CATASTROPHE AVERTED.
+
+Fortunately the weather continued fine at first, and the light wind
+fair, so that the canoe skimmed swiftly over the wide sea that separates
+Borneo from Sumatra.  Sometimes our travellers proceeded at night when
+the distance between islets compelled them to do so.  At other times
+they landed on one of these isles when opportunity offered to rest and
+replenish the water-casks.
+
+We will not follow them step by step in this voyage, which occupied more
+than a week, and during which they encountered without damage several
+squalls in which a small open boat could not have lived.  Reaching at
+last the great island of Sumatra--which, like its neighbour Borneo, is
+larger in extent than the British Islands--they coasted along
+southwards, without further delay than was absolutely necessary for rest
+and refreshment, until they reached a port where they found the steamer
+of 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 the
+Straits of Sunda, promised to leave the canoe in passing at Telok
+Betong.  We may add that Spinkie was most unwillingly obliged to
+accompany the canoe.
+
+"Now, we must remain here till our friend Verkimier arrives," said the
+hermit, turning to Nigel after they had watched the steamer out of
+sight.
+
+"I suppose we must," said Nigel, who did not at all relish the
+delay--"of course we must," he added with decision.
+
+"I sees no `ob course' about it, Massa Nadgel," observed Moses, who
+never refrained from offering his opinion from motives of humility, or
+of respect for his employer.  "My 'dvice is to go on an' let de
+purfesser foller."
+
+"But I promised to wait for him," said the hermit, with one of his
+kindly, half-humorous glances, "and you know I _never_ break my
+promises."
+
+"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 gazed frowningly
+at the ground.  Then he spoke.
+
+"A `reasonable' time, massa, is such an oncertain time--wariable, so to
+speak, accordin' to the mind that t'inks upon it!  Hows'eber, if you's
+_promised_, ob coorse dat's an end ob it; for w'en a man promises, he's
+bound to stick to it."
+
+Such devotion to principle was appropriately rewarded the very next day
+by the arrival of the trading prahu in which the professor had embarked.
+
+"We did not expect you nearly so soon," said Nigel, as they heartily
+shook hands.
+
+"It vas because zee vind freshen soon after ve set sail--ant, zen, ve
+made 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 prahu?"
+
+"It is.  You must have some strainch power of attracting frondship, Van
+der Kemp, for zee poor yout' is so fond of you zat he began to entreat
+me to take him, ant he says he vill go on vit zee traders if you refuse
+to let him follow you."
+
+"Well, he may come.  Indeed, we shall be the better for his services,
+for I had intended to hire a man here to help to carry our things.  Much
+of our 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 and
+packing their provisions, etcetera, in such a way that each member of
+the party should carry on his shoulders a load proportioned to his
+strength.  In this arrangement the professor, much against his will, was
+compelled to accept the lightest load in consideration of his liability
+to dart off in pursuit of creeping things and "bootterflies" at a
+moment's notice.  The least damageable articles were also assigned to
+him in consideration of his tendency at all times to tumble into bogs
+and stumble over fallen trees, and lose himself, and otherwise get into
+difficulties.
+
+We also pass over part of the journey from the coast, and plunge with
+our 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 of
+the surrounding country.  It was covered densely with virgin forest, and
+they ascended the eminence in order that the hermit, who had been there
+before, might discover a forest road which led to a village some miles
+off, where they intended to put up for the night.  Having ascertained
+his exact 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 and magnificent--
+some of them rising clear up seventy and eighty feet without a branch,
+many of them had superb leafy crowns, under any one of which hundreds of
+men might have found shelter.  Others had trunks and limbs warped and
+intertwined with a wild entanglement of huge creepers, which hung in
+festoons and loops as if doing their best to strangle their supports,
+themselves being also encumbered, or adorned, with ferns and orchids,
+and delicate twining epiphytes.  A forest of smaller trees grew beneath
+this shade, and still lower down were thorny shrubs, rattan-palms,
+broad-leaved bushes, and a mass of tropical herbage which would have
+been absolutely impenetrable but for the native road or footpath along
+which they travelled.
+
+"A most suitable abode for tigers, I should think," remarked Nigel to
+the 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 their
+company 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 with
+one on this very road only two years ago."
+
+"Indeed! vat vas it?" asked the professor, whose appetite for anecdote
+was insatiable.  "Do tell us about it."
+
+"With pleasure.  It was on a pitch-dark night that it occurred.  I had
+occasion to go to a neighbouring village at a considerable distance, and
+borrowed a horse from a friend--"
+
+"Anozer frond!" exclaimed the professor; "vy, Van der Kemp, zee country
+seems to be svarming vid your fronds."
+
+"I have travelled much in it and made many friends," returned the
+hermit.  "The horse that I borrowed turned out to be a very poor one,
+and went lame soon after I set out.  Business kept me longer than I
+expected, and it was getting dark before I started to return.  Ere long
+the darkness became so intense that I could scarcely see beyond the
+horse's head, and could not distinguish the path.  I therefore let the
+animal find his own way--knowing that he would be sure to do so, for he
+was going home.  As we jogged along, I felt the horse tremble.  Then he
+snorted and came to a dead stop, with his feet planted firmly on the
+ground.  I was quite unarmed, but arms would have been useless in the
+circumstances.  Suddenly, and fortunately, the horse reared, and next
+moment a huge dark object shot close past my face--so close that its fur
+brushed my cheek--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, was due to the rearing of the poor horse."
+
+"Are ve near to zee spote?" asked the professor, glancing from side to
+side in some anxiety.
+
+"Not far from it!" replied the hermit, "but there is not much fear of
+such an attack in broad daylight and with so large a party."
+
+"Ve are not a very large party," returned the professor.  "I do not zink
+I would fear much to face a tiger vid my goot rifle, but I do not relish
+his 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.  The
+travellers were received with open arms, so to speak, and escorted to
+the public building which corresponds in some measure to our western
+town-halls.  It was a huge building composed largely of bamboo
+wooden-planks and wicker-work, with a high thatched roof, and it stood,
+like all the other houses, on posts formed of great tree-stems which
+rose eight or ten feet from the ground.
+
+"You have frunds here too, I zink," said Verkimier to the hermit, as
+they 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 were
+consummate hypocrites, for they welcomed Van der Kemp and his party with
+effusive voice, look and gesture, and immediately spread before them
+part of a splendid supper which had just been prepared; for they had
+chanced to arrive on a festive occasion.
+
+"I do believe," said Nigel in some surprise, "that they are lighting up
+the place with petroleum lamps!"
+
+"Ay, and you will observe that they are lighting the lamps with Congreve
+matches--at least with matches of the same sort, supplied by the Dutch
+and Chinese.  Many of their old customs have passed away, (among others
+that of procuring fire by friction), and now we have the appliances of
+western 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 the
+singing of a tea-kettle to the explosion of a volcano; though,
+doubtless, the commercial spirit which is now so strong among men is the
+proximate cause."
+
+"Surely dese people mus' be reech," said the professor, looking round
+him with interest.
+
+"They are rich enough--and well off in every respect, save that they
+don't know very well how to make use of their riches.  As you see, much
+of 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 ornaments
+proper, such as the bracelets and rings with which the arms of the young
+women were covered, and earrings, etcetera,--all of solid gold and
+native-made--there were necklaces and collars composed of Spanish and
+American dollars and British half-crowns and other coins.  In short,
+these Sumatran young girls carried much of the wealth of their parents
+on their persons, and were entitled to wear it until they should be
+relegated 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 be
+spent in it.  Accordingly, the village chief set apart a newly-built
+house for the visitors' accommodation, and a youth named Grogo was
+appointed to wait on them and act as guide when they wished to traverse
+any part of the surrounding forest.
+
+The house was on the outskirts of the village, a matter of satisfaction
+to the professor, as it enabled him at once to plunge into his beloved
+work unobserved by the youngsters.  It also afforded him a better
+opportunity of collecting moths, etcetera, by the simple method of
+opening his window at night.  A mat or wicker-work screen divided the
+hut into two apartments, one of which was entirely given over to the
+naturalist and his _materiel_.
+
+"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 conspicuous
+position, so that it could be well seen from the outside.  Then he threw
+his window wide open, as a general invitation to the insect world to
+enter!
+
+Moths, flying beetles, and other creatures were not slow to accept the
+invitation.  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 to
+carry 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 at
+the moment and gazed triumphant through his blue glasses.
+
+"`Paradise lost' to the moth, anyhow," said Nigel with a nod, as he bade
+him good-night, and carefully closed the wicker door to check the
+incursions of uncaptured specimens.  Being rather tired with the day's
+journey, he lay down on a mat beside the hermit, who was already sound
+asleep.
+
+But our hero found that sleep was not easily attainable so close to an
+inexhaustible enthusiast, whose every step produced a rattling of the
+bamboo floor, and whose unwearied energy enabled him to hunt during the
+greater part of the night.
+
+At length slumber descended on Nigel's spirit, and he lay for some time
+in peaceful oblivion, when a rattling crash awoke him.  Sitting up he
+listened, and came to the conclusion that the professor had upset some
+piece of furniture, for he could hear him distinctly moving about in a
+stealthy manner, as if on tip-toe, giving vent to a grumble of
+dissatisfaction 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, made
+no answer, but a peculiar snort from the negro, who lay not far off on
+his 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'st my sides.  De purfesser's been a-goin' on like a mad renoceros for
+more'n an hour.  He's arter suthin', which he can't ketch.  Listen!  You
+hear 'im goin' round an' round on his tip-toes.  Dere goes anoder chair.
+I only hope he won't smash de lamp an' set de house a-fire."
+
+"Vell, vell; I've missed him zee tence time.  Nevair mind.  Have at you
+vonce more, you aggravating leetle zing!"
+
+Thus the unsuccessful man relieved his feelings, in a growling tone, as
+he continued to move about on tip-toe, rattling the bamboo flooring in
+spite of his careful efforts to move quietly.
+
+"Why, Verkimier, what are you after?" cried Nigel at last, loud enough
+to be heard through the partition.
+
+"Ah--I am sorry to vake you," he replied, without, however, suspending
+his hunt.  "I have tried my best to make no noice, but zee bamboo floor
+is--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 with
+my 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 _Caelops frizii_--gootness!  Zere goes zee lamp!"
+
+The crash that followed told too eloquently of the catastrophe, and
+broke the slumbers even of the hermit.  The whole party sprang up, and
+entered the naturalist's room with a light, for the danger from fire was
+great.  Fortunately the lamp had been extinguished in its fall, so that,
+beyond an overpowering smell of petroleum and the destruction of a good
+many specimens, no serious results ensued.
+
+After securing the _Caelops frithii_, removing the shattered glass,
+wiping up the oil, and putting chairs and tables on their legs, the
+professor was urged to go to bed,--advice which, in his excitement, he
+refused to take until it was suggested that, if he did not, he would be
+totally 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 EIGHTEEN.
+
+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, all
+things with life in earth and sea and sky--then it is that early-rising
+man goes forth to reap the blessings which his lazy fellow-man fails to
+appreciate or enjoy.
+
+Among the early risers that morning was our friend Moses.  Gifted with
+an inquiring mind, the negro had proceeded to gratify his propensities
+by making inquiries of a general nature, and thus had acquired, among
+other things, the particular information that the river on the banks of
+which the 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' like
+it for proggin' a man!"
+
+When Nigel demanded an explanation of what proggin' meant, Moses said he
+wasn't quite sure.  He could "understand t'ings easy enough though he
+couldn't allers 'splain 'em."  On the whole he thought that prog had a
+compound meaning--it was a combination of poke and pull "wid a flavour
+ob ticklin' about it," and was rather pleasant.
+
+"You see," he continued, "when a leetle fish plays wid your hook, it
+progs your intellec' an' tickles up your fancy a leetle.  When he grabs
+you, dat progs your hopes a good deal.  When a big fish do de same, dat
+progs you deeper.  An' when a real walloper almost pulls you into de
+ribber, dat progs your heart up into your t'roat, where it stick till
+you 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 enjoyed
+himself, in company with a little Malay boy, who lent him his bamboo rod
+and volunteered to show him the pools.
+
+But there were no particular pools in that river.  It was a succession
+of pools, and fish swarmed in all of them.  There were at least fifteen
+different species which nothing short of an ichthyologist could
+enumerate correctly.  The line used by Moses was a single fibre of bark
+almost as strong as gut; the hook was a white tinned weapon like a small
+anchor, supplied by traders, and meant originally for service in the
+deep sea.  The bait was nothing in particular, but, as the fish were not
+particular, 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
+heart progged considerably and had filled a large bag with superb fish,
+with which 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 the
+forest were planted as coffee gardens, each separated from the other for
+the purpose of isolation, for it seems that coffee, like the potato, is
+subject to disease.  Being covered with scarlet flowers these gardens
+had a fine effect on the landscape when seen from the heights behind the
+village.  Passing through the coffee grounds the party was soon in the
+tangled thickets of underwood through which many narrow paths had been
+cut.
+
+We do not intend to drag our readers through bog and brake during the
+whole of this day's expedition; suffice it to say that the collection of
+specimens made, of all kinds, far surpassed the professor's most
+sanguine expectations, and, as for the others, those who could more or
+less intelligently sympathise did so, while those who could not were
+content with the reflected joy of the man of science.
+
+At luncheon--which they partook of on the river-bank, under a
+magnificently umbrageous tree--plans for the afternoon were fixed.
+
+"We have kept together long enough, I think," said Van der Kemp.  "Those
+of us who have guns must shoot something to contribute to the national
+feast on our return."
+
+"Vell, let us divide," assented the amiable naturalist.  Indeed he was
+so happy that he would have assented to anything--except giving up the
+hunt.  "Von party can go von vay, anoder can go anoder vay.  I vill
+continue mine business.  Zee place is more of a paradise zan zee last.
+Ve must remain two or tree veeks."
+
+The hermit glanced at Nigel.
+
+"I fear it is impossible for me to do so," said the latter.  "I am
+pledged to return to Batavia within a specified time, and from the
+nature of the country I perceive it will take all the time at my
+disposal to reach that place so as to redeem my pledge."
+
+"Ha!  Zat is a peety.  Vell, nevair mind.  Let us enchoy to-day.  Com',
+ve must not vaste more of it in zee mere gratification of our animal
+natures."
+
+Acting on this broad hint they all rose and scattered in different
+groups--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 the
+professor's biggest box, and Grogo, who bore his gun,--did not overtake
+their leader, they concluded that he must have joined one of the other
+parties, and, as it was impossible to ascertain which of them, they
+calmly went hunting on their own account!  Thus it came to pass that the
+man of science was soon lost in the depths of that primeval forest!  But
+little cared the enthusiast for that--or, rather, little did he realise
+it.  With perspiration streaming from every pore--except where the pores
+were stopped by mud--he dashed after "bootterflies" with the wisdom of
+Solomon and the eagerness of a school-boy, and not until the shades of
+evening began to descend did his true position flash upon him.  Then,
+with all the vigour of a powerful intellect and an enlightened mind, he
+took 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 have
+not'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 place or
+object that he had recognised on the outward journey.
+
+Meanwhile, as had been appointed, the rest of the party met a short time
+before 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 the
+hermit.
+
+"He's hoed an' lost his-self!" cried Moses with a look of concern.
+
+Van der Kemp was a man of action.  "Not a moment to lose," he said, and
+organised the band into several smaller parties, each led by a native
+familiar with the jungle.
+
+"Let this be our meeting-place," he said, as they were on the point of
+starting off together; "and let those of us who have fire-arms discharge
+them occasionally."
+
+Meanwhile, the professor was walking at full speed in what he supposed
+to be--and in truth was--"back."
+
+He was not alone, however.  In the jungle close beside him a tiger
+prowled along with the stealthy, lithe, sneaking activity of a cat.  By
+that time it was not absolutely dark, but the forest had assumed a very
+sombre appearance.  Suddenly the tiger made a tremendous bound on to the
+track right in front of the man.  Whether it had miscalculated the
+position of its intended victim or not we cannot say, but it crouched
+for another spring.  The professor, almost instinctively, crouched also,
+and, being a brave man, stared the animal straight in the face without
+winking! and so the two crouched there, absolutely motionless and with a
+fixed glare, such as we have often seen in a couple of tom-cats who were
+mutually afraid to attack each other.
+
+What the tiger thought at that critical and crucial moment we cannot
+tell, 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,
+ant he 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.  The
+last thought however led to action.  Verkimier, foolish man! was a
+smoker.  He carried fusees.  Slowly, with no more apparent motion than
+the hour-hand on the face of a watch, he let his hand glide into his
+coat-pocket and took out the box of fusees.  The tiger seemed uneasy,
+but the bold man never for one instant ceased to glare, and no disturbed
+expression or hasty movement gave the tiger the slightest excuse for a
+spring.  Bringing the box up by painfully slow degrees in front of his
+nose the man opened it, took out a fusee, struck it, and revealed the
+blue binoculars!
+
+The effect on the tiger was instantaneous and astounding.  With a
+demi-volt or backward somersault it hurled itself into the jungle whence
+it had come with a terrific roar of alarm, and its tail--undoubtedly
+though not evidently--between its legs!
+
+Heaving a deep, long-drawn sigh, the professor stood up and wiped his
+forehead.  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 with
+a shout to which joy as much as strength of lung gave fervour.  Hurrying
+along the track--not without occasional side-glances at the jungle--the
+hero was soon again in the midst of his friends; and it was not until
+his eyes refused to remain open any longer that he ceased to entertain
+an admiring circle that night with the details of his face-to-face
+meeting with a tiger.
+
+But Verkimier's anticipations in regard to that paradise were not to be
+realised.  The evil passions of a wicked man, with whom he had
+personally nothing whatever to do, interfered with his plans.  In the
+middle of the night a native Malay youth named Babu arrived at the
+village and demanded an interview with the chief.  That worthy, after
+the interview, conducted the youth to the hut where his visitors lived,
+and, rousing Van der Kemp without disturbing the others, bade him listen
+to what the young man had to say.  An expression of great anxiety
+overspread the hermit's usually placid countenance while Babu was
+speaking.
+
+"It is fate!" he murmured, as if communing with himself--then, after a
+pause--"no, there is no such thing as fate.  It is, it must be, the will
+of God.  Go, young man, mention this to no one.  I thank you for the
+kindness which made you take so long a journey for my sake."
+
+"It is not kindness, it is love that makes me serve you," returned the
+lad earnestly.  "Every one loves you, Van der Kemp, because that curse
+of mankind, _revenge_, has no place in your breast."
+
+"Strange! how little man does know or guess the secret thoughts of his
+fellow!" said the hermit with one of his pitiful smiles.  "_Revenge_ no
+place in me!--but I thank you, boy, for the kind thought as well as the
+effort to save me.  My life is not worth much to any one.  It will not
+matter, I think, if my enemy should succeed.  Go now, Babu, and God be
+with 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 all
+times.  He is worse than ever just now, because you have thwarted his
+plans--so it is said--very often.  If he knew that _I_ am now thwarting
+them also, he would hunt me to death.  I will not leave you till you are
+safe 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?  I
+remember seeing you two years ago, but have no recollection of having
+done you any service."
+
+"Do you not remember that my mother was ill when you spent a night in
+our hut, and my little sister was dying?  You nursed her, and tried your
+best to save her, and when you could not save her, and she died, you
+wept as if the child had been your own.  I do not forget that, Van der
+Kemp.  Sympathy is of more value than service."
+
+"Strangely mistaken again!" murmured the hermit.  "Who can know the
+workings of the human mind!  Self was mixed with my feelings--
+profoundly--yet my sympathy with you and your mother was sincere."
+
+"We never doubted that," returned Babu with a touch of surprise in his
+tone.
+
+"Well now, what do you propose to do, as you refuse to leave me?" asked
+the hermit with some curiosity.
+
+"I will go on with you to the next village.  It is a large one.  The
+chief man there is my uncle, who will aid me, I know, in any way I wish.
+I will tell him what I know and have heard of the pirate's intention,
+of which I have proof.  He will order Baderoon to be arrested on
+suspicion when 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 sensitive
+about the justice of what you propose to do.  Indifference to pure and
+simple 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 is more than justified, for I could bring many witnesses to
+prove that he has 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 of
+quitting the village at once, and gave an account of his interview with
+the Malay lad during the night.  This, of course, reconciled them to
+immediate departure,--though, in truth, the professor was the only one
+who required to be reconciled.
+
+"It is _very_ misfortunate," he remarked with a sigh, which had
+difficulty in escaping through a huge mass of fish and rice.  "You see
+zee vonderful variety of ornizological specimens I could find here, ant
+zee herbareum, not to mention zee magnificent _Amblypodia eumolpus_ ant
+ozer bootterflies--ach!--a leetle mor' feesh if you please.  Zanks.  My
+frond, it is a great sacrifice, but I vill go avay viz you, for I could
+not joostify myself if I forzook you, ant I cannot ask you to remain
+vile your life is in dancher."
+
+"I appreciate your sentiments and sacrifice thoroughly," said the
+hermit.
+
+"So does I," said Moses, helping himself to coffee; "but ob course if I
+didn't it would be all de same.  Pass de venison, Massa Nadgel, an'
+don't look as if you was goin' to gib in a'ready.  It spoils my
+appetite."
+
+"You will have opportunities," continued Van der Kemp, addressing the
+professor, "to gather a good many specimens as we go along.  Besides, if
+you will consent to honour my cave in Krakatoa with a visit, I promise
+you a hearty welcome and an interesting field of research.  You have no
+idea what a variety of species in all the branches of natural history my
+little 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 glowing
+language on its arboreal and herbal wealth and beauty, that the
+professor became quite reconciled to immediate departure.
+
+"But how," he asked, "am I to get zere ven ve reach zee sea-coast? for
+your canoe holds only t'ree, as you have told me."
+
+"There are plenty of boats to be had.  Besides, I can send over my own
+boat 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 paradise
+forsaken!  `Off wi' the old love and on wi' the new.'  `The expulsive
+power of a new affection!'"
+
+"Das true, Massa Nadgel," observed Moses, who entertained profound
+admiration for anything that sounded like proverbial philosophy.  "De
+purfesser am an affectionit creeter.  'Pears to me dat he lubs de whole
+creation.  He kills an' tenderly stuffs 'most eberyt'ing he kin lay
+hands on.  If he could only lay hold ob Baderoon an' stuff an' stick him
+in a moozeum, he'd do good service to my massa an' also to de whole ob
+mankind."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINETEEN.
+
+A TERRIBLE MURDER AND A STRANGE REVELATION.
+
+After letting the chief of the village know that the news just received
+rendered it necessary that they should proceed at once to the next
+town--but carefully refraining from going into particulars lest Baderoon
+should by any means be led to suspect their intentions--the party
+started off about daybreak under the guidance of the Malay youth Babu.
+
+Anxious as he was that no evil should befall his friend, Nigel could not
+help wondering that a man of such a calm spirit, and such unquestionable
+courage, should be so anxious to escape from this pirate.
+
+"I can't understand it at all," he said to Moses, as they walked through
+the forest together a little in rear of the party.
+
+"No more kin I, Massa Nadgel," answered the negro, with one of those
+shakes of the head and glares of solemn perplexity with which he was
+wont to regard matters that were too deep for him.
+
+"Surely Van der Kemp is well able to take care of himself against any
+single 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 bery
+sure, massa's _allers_ got good reasons for what he does.  One t'ing's
+sartin, 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's
+thought, "sometimes for money, when we goes on a tradin' 'spidition--but
+he don't make much account ob dat."
+
+"Well, perhaps the mystery may be cleared up in time," said Nigel, as
+they closed up with the rest of the party, who had halted for a short
+rest and some refreshment.
+
+This last consisted largely of fruit, which was abundant everywhere, and
+a little rice with water from sparkling springs to wash it down.
+
+In the afternoon they reached the town--a large one, with a sort of
+market-place in the centre, which at the time of their arrival was
+crowded with people.  Strangers, especially Europeans, were not often
+seen in that region, so that Van der Kemp and his friends at once
+attracted a considerable number of followers.  Among these was one man
+who followed them about very unobtrusively, usually hanging well in rear
+of the knot of followers whose curiosity was stronger than their sense
+of propriety.  This man wore a broad sun-hat and had a bandage round his
+head pulled well over one eye, as if he had recently met with an
+accident or been wounded.  He was unarmed, with the exception of the
+kriss, 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 on
+in 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 man
+of the town, and, having told his story, received a promise that the
+pirate should be taken up when he arrived and put in prison.  Meanwhile
+he 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 travellers
+while eating their supper, and noted the exact spot on the floor of the
+building where Van der Kemp threw down his mat and blanket, thus taking
+possession of his intended couch!  He did not, however, see that the
+hermit 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 sought
+repose, the pirate captain stole out of the brake in which he had
+concealed himself, and, kriss in hand, glided under the house in which
+his enemy lay.
+
+Native houses, as we have elsewhere explained, are usually built on
+posts, so that there is an open space under the floors, which is
+available as a store or lumber-room.  It is also unfortunately available
+for evil purposes.  The bamboo flooring is not laid so closely but that
+sounds inside may be heard distinctly by any one listening below.
+Voices were 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 he might probably be sitting up and not in a position
+suitable to his fell purpose.  He crouched therefore among some lumber
+like a tiger abiding its time.
+
+"Why are you so anxious not to meet this man?" asked Nigel, who was
+resolved, if possible without giving offence, to be at the bottom of the
+mystery.
+
+For some moments the hermit was silent, then in a constrained voice he
+said slowly--"Because revenge burns fiercely in my breast.  I have
+striven to crush it, 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 me
+of my only child--but I may not talk of it.  The unholy desire for
+vengeance burns more fiercely when I talk.  `Vengeance is mine, saith
+the Lord.'  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 and
+drew his blanket over him.  Nigel followed his example, wondering at
+what he had heard, and in a few minutes their steady regular breathing
+told that they were both asleep.  Then Baderoon advanced and counted the
+bamboo planks from the side towards the centre of the house.  When
+looking between the heads of the people he had counted the same planks
+above.  Standing under one he looked up, listened intently for a few
+seconds, and drew his kriss.  The place was almost pitch-dark, yet the
+blade caught a faint gleam from without, which it reflected on the
+pirate's face as he thrust the long keen weapon swiftly, yet
+deliberately, between the bamboos.
+
+A shriek, that filled those who heard it with a thrill of horror, rang
+out on the silent night.  At the same moment a gush of warm blood poured
+over the murderer's face before he could leap aside.  Instant uproar and
+confusion burst out in the neighbourhood, and spread like wildfire until
+the whole town was aroused.  When a light was procured and the people
+crowded into the hut where the strangers lay, Van der Kemp was found on
+his knees holding the hand of poor Babu, who was at his last gasp.  A
+faint smile, that yet seemed to have something of gladness in it,
+flitted across his pale face as he raised himself, grasped the hermit's
+hand and pressed it to his lips.  Then the fearful drain of blood took
+effect and he fell back--dead.  One great convulsive sob burst from the
+hermit as he leaped up, drew his knife, and, with a fierce glare in his
+blue eyes, rushed out of the room.
+
+Vengeance would indeed have been wreaked on Baderoon at that moment if
+the hermit had caught him, but, as might have been expected, the
+murderer was nowhere to be found.  He was hid in the impenetrable
+jungle, which it was useless to enter in the darkness of night.  When
+daybreak enabled the towns-people to undertake an organised search, no
+trace of him could be discovered.
+
+Flight, personal safety, formed no part of the pirate's plan.  The
+guilty man had reached that state of depravity which, especially among
+the natives of that region, borders close on insanity.  While the
+inhabitants of the village were hunting far a-field for him, Baderoon
+lay concealed among some lumber in rear of a hut awaiting his
+opportunity.  It was not very long of coming.
+
+Towards afternoon the various searching parties began to return, and all
+assembled in the market-place, where the chief man, with the hermit and
+his party, were assembled discussing the situation.
+
+"I will not now proceed until we have buried poor Babu," said Van der
+Kemp.  "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 is
+not 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 now
+rest till he has killed me."
+
+Even as he spoke a loud shouting, mingled with shrieks and yells, was
+heard at the other end of the main street.  The sounds of uproar
+appeared to approach, and soon a crowd of people was seen rushing
+towards the market-place, uttering cries of fear in which the word
+"amok" was heard.  At the sound of that word numbers of people--
+specially women and children--turned and fled from the scene, but many
+of the men stood their ground, and all of them drew their krisses.
+Among the latter of course were the white men and their native
+companions.
+
+We have already referred to that strange madness, to which the Malays
+seem to be peculiarly liable, during the paroxysms of which those
+affected by it rush in blind fury among their fellows, slaying right and
+left.  From the terrified appearance of some of the approaching crowd
+and the maniac shouts in rear, it was evident that a man thus possessed
+of the spirit of amok was venting his fury on them.
+
+Another minute and he drew near, brandishing a kriss that dripped with
+the gore of those whom he had already stabbed.  Catching sight of the
+white 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 dozen
+eyes, while his dishevelled hair and blood-stained face and person gave
+him 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
+deadly pale; his eyes gleamed with a strange almost unearthly light, and
+his lips were firmly compressed.  With a sudden nervous motion, unlike
+his usually calm demeanour, he drew his long knife, and to Nigel's
+surprise cast it away from him.  At that moment a woman who came in the
+madman's way was stabbed by him to the heart and rent the air with her
+dying shriek as she fell.  No one could have saved her, the act was so
+quickly done.  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,
+recognising his enemy, rushed at him with a shout that sounded like a
+triumphant yell.  Seeing this, and that his friend stood unarmed, as
+well as unmoved, regarding Baderoon with a fixed gaze, Nigel stepped a
+pace in advance to protect him, but Van der Kemp seized his arm and
+thrust him violently aside.  Next moment the pirate was upon him with
+uplifted knife, but the hermit caught his wrist, and with a heave worthy
+of Samson hurled him to the ground, where he lay for a moment quite
+stunned.
+
+Before he could recover, the natives, who had up to this moment held
+back, sprang upon the fallen man with revengeful yells, and a dozen
+knives were about to be buried in his breast when the hermit sprang
+forward to protect his enemy from their fury.  But the man whose wife
+had been the last victim came up at the moment and led an irresistible
+rush which bore back the hermit as well as his comrades, who had crowded
+round 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 the
+market-place, where the relatives of those who had been murdered were
+wailing over their dead.
+
+After this event even the professor was anxious to leave the place, so
+that early next morning the party resumed their journey, intending to
+make a short stay at the next village.  Failing to reach it that night,
+however, they were compelled to encamp in the woods.  Fortunately they
+came upon a hill which, although not very high, was sufficiently so,
+with the aid of watch-fires, to protect them from tigers.  From the
+summit, which rose just above the tree-tops, they had a magnificent view
+of the forest.  Many of the trees were crowned with flowers among which
+the 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 his
+footstool 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 souls
+to the contemplation of the celestial."
+
+"And yet how signally it has failed in the case of Baderoon," returned
+Nigel, with a furtive glance at the hermit, whose countenance had quite
+recovered its look of quiet simple dignity.  "Would it be presumptuous
+if I were to ask why it is that this pirate had such bitter enmity
+against you?"
+
+"It is no secret," answered the hermit, in a sad tone.  "The truth is, I
+had discovered some of his nefarious plans, and more than once have been
+the means of preventing his intended deeds of violence--as in the case
+of the Dyaks whom we have so lately visited.  Besides, the man had done
+me irreparable injury, and it is one of the curious facts of human
+experience that sometimes those who injure us hate us because they have
+done 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 struggling
+with 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 it pleased God to draw a
+cloud of thickest darkness over my life.  But, Nigel, there is that in
+you which encourages confidence.  I confess that more than once I have
+been tempted to tell you of my grief--for human hearts crave intelligent
+sympathy.  My faithful servant and friend Moses is, no doubt, intensely
+sympathetic, but--but--well, I cannot understand, still less can I
+explain, why I shrink from making a confidant of him.  Certainly it is
+not because of his colour, for I hold that the _souls_ of men are
+colourless!"
+
+"I need not trouble you with the story of my early life," continued the
+hermit.  "I lost my dear wife a year after our marriage, and was left
+with a little girl whose lovely face became more and more like that of
+her 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 way
+we were attacked by a couple of pirate junks.  Baderoon was the pirate
+captain.  He killed many of our men, took some of us prisoners, sank the
+vessel, seized my child, and was about to separate us, putting my child
+into 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 an
+electric shock passed through Nigel's frame, for was not this narrative
+strangely similar in its main features to that which his own father had
+told him on the Keeling Islands about beautiful little Kathleen Holbein
+and her father?  He was on the point of seizing the hermit by the hand
+and telling him what he knew, when the thought occurred that attacks by
+pirates were common enough in those seas, that other fathers might have
+lost daughters in this way, and that, perhaps, his suspicion might be
+wrong.  It would be a terrible thing, he thought, to raise hope in his
+poor friend's breast unless he were pretty sure of the hope being well
+founded.  He would wait and hear more.  He had just come to this
+conclusion, 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 purpose as
+he gave it to Samson of old, but when I recovered from the stinging blow
+I had received, and saw the junk hoist her sails and heard my child
+scream, I felt the strength of a lion come over me; I burst the bonds
+that held me and leaped into the sea, intending to swim to her.  But it
+was otherwise ordained.  A breeze which had sprung up freshened, and the
+junk soon left me far behind.  As for the other junk, I never saw it
+again, for I never looked back or thought of it--only, as I left it, I
+heard a mocking laugh from the one-eyed villain, who, I afterwards found
+out, owned and commanded both junks."
+
+Nigel had no doubt now, but the agitation of his feelings still kept him
+silent.
+
+"Need I say," continued the hermit, "that revenge burned fiercely in my
+breast from that day forward?  If I had met the man soon after that, I
+should certainly have slain him.  But God mercifully forbade it.  Since
+then He has opened my eyes to see the Crucified One who prayed for His
+enemies.  And up till now I have prayed most earnestly that Baderoon and
+I might _not_ meet.  My prayer has not been answered in the way I
+wished, but a _better_ answer has been granted, for the sin of revenge
+was 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 if
+out 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 that
+I felt consciousness leaving me.  Then I knew that the end must be near
+and I felt almost glad; but when I began to sink, the natural desire to
+prolong life revived, and I struggled on.  Just as my strength began a
+second time to fail, I struck against something.  It was a dead
+cocoa-nut tree.  I laid hold of it and clung to it all that night.  Next
+morning I was picked up by some fishermen who were going to Telok Betong
+by the outer 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 Nigel
+eagerly, and with deep sympathy.
+
+"Never--I have travelled far and near, all over the archipelago; into
+the interior of the islands, great and small, but have failed to find
+her.  I have long since felt that she must be dead--for--for she could
+not live with the monsters who stole her away."
+
+A certain contraction of the mouth, as he said this, and a gleam of the
+eyes, suggested to Nigel that revenge was not yet dead within the
+hermit's breast, although it had been overcome.
+
+"What was her name?" asked Nigel, willing to gain time to think how he
+ought to act, and being afraid of the effect that the sudden
+communication of the news might have on his friend.
+
+"Winnie--darling Winnie--after her mother," said the hermit with deep
+pathos in his tone.
+
+A feeling of disappointment came over our hero.  Winnie bore not the
+most distant resemblance to Kathleen!
+
+"Did you ever, during your search," asked Nigel slowly, "visit the
+Cocos-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 junk and--"
+
+"Why do you ask, and why pause?" said the hermit, looking at his friend
+in some surprise.
+
+Nigel felt that he had almost gone too far.
+
+"Well, you know--" he replied in some confusion, "you--you are right
+when you expect me to sympathise with your great sorrow, which I do most
+profoundly, and--and--in short, I would give anything to be able to
+suggest hope to you, my friend.  Men should _never_ give way to
+despair."
+
+"Thank you.  It is kindly meant," returned the hermit, looking at the
+youth with his sad smile.  "But it is vain.  Hope is dead now."
+
+They were interrupted at this point by the announcement that supper was
+ready.  At the same time the sun sank, like the hermit's hope, and
+disappeared beyond the dark forest.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY.
+
+NIGEL MAKES A CONFIDANT OF MOSES--UNDERTAKES A LONELY WATCH AND SEES
+SOMETHING WONDERFUL.
+
+It was not much supper that Nigel Roy ate that night.  The excitement
+resulting from his supposed discovery reduced his appetite seriously,
+and the intense desire to open a safety-valve in the way of confidential
+talk with some one induced a nervously absent disposition which at last
+attracted attention.
+
+"You vant a goot dose of kvinine," remarked Verkimier, when, having
+satiated himself, he found time to think of others--not that the
+professor was selfish by any means, only he was addicted to
+concentration of mind on all work in hand, inclusive of feeding.
+
+The hermit paid no attention to anything that was said.  His recent
+conversation had given vent to a flood of memories and feelings that had
+been pent-up for many years.
+
+After supper Nigel resolved to make a confidant of Moses.  The negro's
+fidelity 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 seventh
+heaven 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, if
+I hab a strong point at all."
+
+They went together to the edge of a cliff on the hill-top, whence they
+could see an almost illimitable stretch of tropical wilderness bathed in
+a glorious flood of moonlight, and sat down.
+
+On a neighbouring cliff, which was crowned with a mass of grasses and
+shrubs, a small monkey also sat down, on a fallen branch, and watched
+them with pathetic interest, tempered, it would seem, by cutaneous
+irritation.
+
+"Moses, I am sorely in need of advice," said Nigel, turning suddenly to
+his companion with ill-suppressed excitement.
+
+"Well, Massa Nadgel, you _does_ look like it, but I'm sorry I ain't a
+doctor.  P'r'aps de purfesser would help you better nor--"
+
+"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 chief
+orifices for the entrance of sound, and advanced an ear.  The distant
+monkey, observing, apparently, that some unusual communication was about
+to be made, also stretched out its little head, cocked an ear, and
+suspended its other operations.
+
+Then, in low earnest tones, Nigel told Moses of his belief that Van der
+Kemp's daughter might yet be alive and well, and detailed the recent
+conversation 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 in
+strict confidence; not a word of it must pass your lips."
+
+The awful solemnity with which Nigel sought to impress this on his
+companion was absolutely trifling compared with the expression of that
+companion's countenance, as, with a long-drawn argumentative and
+remonstrative _Oh_! he replied:--
+
+"Massa Nadgel.  Does you really t'ink I would say or do any mortal t'ing
+w'atsumiver as would injure _my_ massa?"
+
+"I'm _sure_ you would not," returned Nigel, quickly.  "Forgive me,
+Moses, I merely meant that you would have to be very cautious--very
+careful--that you do not let a word slip--by accident, you know--I
+believe 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 feelings
+by giving you a good thrashing."
+
+The listening monkey cocked its ear a little higher at this, and Moses,
+who had at first raised his flat nose indignantly in the air, gradually
+lowered it, while a benignant smile supplanted indignation.
+
+"You're right dere, Massa Nadgel.  I'd die a t'ousand times sooner dan
+injure massa.  As to your last obserwation, it rouses two idees in my
+mind.  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 tried
+it."
+
+At this the monkey turned its other ear as if to make quite sure that it
+heard 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 up
+all his old hopes to hab 'em all dashed to bits p'raps when you find dat
+you'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 savagely
+under 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.
+Kitch one 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 de
+steamer to Batavia.  He gits it long before we gits home, so dere's
+plenty time for 'im to take haction."
+
+"But what good will writing to my father do?" asked Nigel in a somewhat
+disappointed tone.  "_He_ can't help us."
+
+"Ho yes, he can," said Moses with a self-satisfied nod.  "See here, I'll
+tell you what to write.  You begin, `Dear fadder--or Dearest fadder'--
+I's not quite sure ob de strengt' ob your affection.  P'raps de safest
+way."
+
+"Oh! get on, Moses.  Never mind that."
+
+"Ho! it's all bery well for you to say dat, but de ole gen'leman'll mind
+it.  Hows'ever, put it as you t'ink best--`Dear fadder, victual your
+ship; up anchor; hois' de sails, an' steer for de Cocos-Keelin' Islands.
+Go ashore; git hold ob do 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 her
+to de town ob Anjer an' wait dere for furder orders.'  Ob course for de
+windin' up o' de letter you must appeal agin to de state ob your
+affections, for, as--"
+
+"Not a bad idea," exclaimed Nigel.  "Why, Moses, you're a genius!  Of
+course I'll have to explain a little more fully."
+
+"'Splain what you please," said Moses.  "My business is to gib you de
+bones 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 to
+give way to an explosive laugh that sent the eavesdropping monkey like a
+brown thunderbolt into the recesses of its native jungle, while Nigel
+went off to write and despatch the important letter.
+
+Next day the party arrived at another village, where, the report of
+their approach having preceded them, they were received with much
+ceremony--all the more that the professor's power with the rifle had
+been made known, and that the neighbourhood was infested by tigers.
+
+There can be little doubt that at this part of the journey the
+travellers must have been dogged all the way by tigers, and it was
+matter for surprise that so small a party should not have been molested.
+Possibly the reason was that these huge members of the feline race were
+afraid of white faces, being unaccustomed to them, or, perchance, the
+appearance and vigorous stride of even a few stalwart and fearless men
+had intimidated them.  Whatever the cause, the party reached the village
+without seeing a single tiger, though their footprints were observed in
+many places.
+
+The wild scenery became more and more beautiful as this village was
+neared.
+
+Although flowers as a rule were small and inconspicuous in many parts of
+the great forest through which they passed, the rich pink and scarlet of
+many of the opening leaves, and the autumn-tinted foliage which lasts
+through all seasons of the year, fully made up for the want of them--at
+least as regards colour, while the whole vegetation was intermingled in
+a rich confusion that defies description.
+
+The professor went into perplexed raptures, his mind being distracted by
+the exuberant wealth of subjects which were presented to it all at the
+same time.
+
+"Look zere!" he cried, at one turning in the path which opened up a new
+vista of exquisite beauty--"look at zat!"
+
+"Ay, it is a Siamang ape--next in size to the orang-utan," said Van der
+Kemp, who stood at his friend's elbow.
+
+The animal in question was a fine full-grown specimen, with long
+jet-black glancing hair.  Its height might probably have been a few
+inches over three feet, and the stretch of its arms over rather than
+under five feet, but at the great height at which it was seen--not less
+than eighty feet--it looked much like an ordinary monkey.  It was
+hanging in 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 barking
+howl which made the woods resound, but it did not alter its position or
+seem to be alarmed in any degree.
+
+"Vat a 'straordinary noise!" remarked the professor.
+
+"It is indeed," returned the hermit, "and it has an extraordinary
+appliance for producing it.  There is a large bag under its throat
+extending to its lips and cheeks which it can fill with air by means of
+a valve in the windpipe.  By expelling this air in sudden bursts it
+makes the varied sounds you hear."
+
+"Mos' vonderful!  A sort of natural air-gun!  I vill shoot it," said the
+professor, raising his deadly rifle, and there is no doubt that the poor
+Siamang would have dropped in another moment if Van der Kemp had not
+quietly and gravely touched his friend's elbow just as the explosion
+took place.
+
+"Hah! you tooched me!" exclaimed the disappointed naturalist, looking
+fiercely round, while the amazed ape sent forth a bursting crack of its
+air-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 life
+uselessly.  The time now at the disposal of my friend Nigel Roy will not
+permit 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
+we have a very long way to go."
+
+Verkimier was not quite pleased with this explanation, but there was a
+sort of indescribable power about the hermit, when he was resolved to
+have his way, that those whom he led found it impossible to resist.
+
+On arriving at the village they were agreeably surprised to find a grand
+banquet, consisting chiefly of fruit, with fowl, rice, and Indian corn,
+spread out for them in the Balai or public hall, where also their
+sleeping quarters were appointed.  An event had recently occurred,
+however, which somewhat damped the pleasure of their reception.  A young
+man had been killed by a tiger.  The brute had leaped upon him while he
+and a party of lads were traversing a narrow path through the jungle,
+and had killed him with one blow of its paw.  The other youths
+courageously 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, "and
+have 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, of
+course, acted the part of interpreter wherever they went, being well
+acquainted with most of the languages and dialects of the archipelago.
+
+"There will yet be daylight after you have finished eating," said the
+chief.
+
+Although anxious to go at once to see this trap, they felt the propriety
+of doing justice to what had been provided for them, and sat down 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 curious
+tiger-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 surrounded
+by a strong and high bamboo fence, except at one point where a narrow
+but very conspicuous opening had been left.  Here a sharp spear was so
+arranged beside the opening that it could be shot across it at a point
+corresponding with the height of a tiger's heart from the ground--as
+well, at least, as that point could be estimated by men who were pretty
+familiar with tigers.  The motive power to propel this spear was derived
+from a green bamboo, so strong that it required several powerful men to
+bend it in the form of a bow.  A species of trigger was arranged to let
+the bent bow fly, and a piece of fine cord passed from this across the
+opening about breast-high for a tiger.  The intention was that the
+animal, in entering the enclosure, should become its own executioner--
+should commit unintentional suicide, if we may so put it.
+
+"I have an ambition to shoot a tiger," said Nigel to Van der Kemp that
+evening.  "Do you think the people would object to my getting up into a
+tree 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
+have exceptional powers for scenting danger."
+
+"No matter, I will try."
+
+Accordingly, a little before dark that evening our hero borrowed the
+professor's double-barrelled rifle, being more suitable for large game
+than his own gun, and sauntered with Moses down to the grave where he
+ensconced himself in the branches of a large tree about thirty feet from
+the ground.  The form of the tree was such, that among its forks Nigel
+could form a sort of nest in which he could sit, in full view of the
+poor youth's grave, without the risk of falling to the ground even if he
+should chance to drop asleep.
+
+"Good-night, massa Nadgel," said Moses as he turned to leave his
+companion 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 the
+enclosure, and the grave; judged the various distances of objects, and
+arranged the sights of the rifle, which was already loaded with a brace
+of hardened balls.  Then he looked up through the tree-tops and wished
+for darkness.
+
+It came sooner than he expected.  Night always descends more suddenly in
+tropical than in temperate regions.  The sun had barely dipped below the
+horizon when night seemed to descend like a pall over the jungle, and an
+indescribable sensation of eerieness crept over Nigel's spirit.  Objects
+became very indistinct, and he fancied that he saw something moving on
+the newly-made grave.  With a startled feeling he grasped his weapon,
+supposing that the tiger must have entered the enclosure with cat-like
+stealth.  On second thoughts, however, he discarded the idea, for the
+entrance was between him and the grave, and still seemed quite visible.
+Do what he would, however, the thought of ghosts insisted on intruding
+upon him!  He did not believe in ghosts--oh no!--had always scouted the
+idea of their existence.  Why, therefore, did he feel uncomfortable?  He
+could not tell.  It must simply be the excitement natural to such a very
+new and peculiar situation.  He would think of something else.  He would
+devote his mind to the contemplation of tigers!  In a short time the
+moon would rise, he knew--then he would be able to see better.
+
+While he was in this very uncomfortable state of mind, with the jungle
+wrapped in profound silence as well as gloom, there broke on the night
+air a wail so indescribable that the very marrow in Nigel's bones seemed
+to shrivel up.  It ceased, but again broke forth louder than before,
+increasing in length and strength, until his ears seemed to tingle with
+the sound, and then it died away to a sigh of unutterable woe.
+
+"I have always," muttered Nigel, "believed myself to be a man of
+ordinary courage, but _now_--I shall write myself a coward, if not an
+ass!"
+
+He attempted to laugh at this pleasantry, but the laugh was hollow and
+seemed to freeze in his gullet as the wail broke forth again, ten times
+more hideous than at first.  After a time the wail became more
+continuous, and the watcher began to get used to it.  Then a happy
+thought flashed into his mind--this was, perhaps, some sort of mourning
+for the dead!  He was right.  The duty of the father of the poor youth
+who had been killed was, for several days after the funeral, to sit
+alone in his house and chant from sunset till daybreak a death-dirge,
+or, as it is called, the _tjerita bari_.  It was not till next day that
+this was told to him, but meanwhile the surmise afforded him
+instantaneous relief.
+
+As if nature sympathised with his feelings, the moon arose at the same
+time and dispelled the thick darkness, though it was not till much later
+that, sailing across a clear sky, she poured her bright beams through
+the tree-tops and finally rested on the dead man's grave.
+
+By that time Nigel had quite recovered his equanimity, and mentally
+blotted out the writing of "coward" and "ass" which he had written
+against himself.  But another trouble now assailed him.  He became
+sleepy!  Half-a-dozen times at least within half-an-hour he started wide
+awake under the impression that he was falling off the tree.
+
+"This will never do," he exclaimed, rising to his feet, resting his
+rifle in a position of safety, and then stretching himself to his utmost
+extent so that he became thoroughly awake.  After this "rouser," as he
+called 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 opened
+his eyes at length with an indescribable sensation that _something_
+required attention, and the first thing they rested on, (for daylight
+was dawning), was an enormous tiger not forty yards away from him,
+gliding like a shadow and with cat-like stealth towards the opening of
+the enclosure.  The sight was so sudden and so unexpected that, for the
+moment, he was paralysed.  Perhaps he thought it was a dream.  Before he
+could recover presence of mind to seize his rifle, the breast of the
+animal had touched the fatal line; the trigger was drawn; the stout
+bamboo straightened with a booming sound, and the spear--or, rather, the
+giant arrow--was shot straight through the tiger's side!
+
+Then occurred a scene which might well have induced Nigel to imagine
+that he dreamt, for the transfixed creature bounded into the enclosure
+with a terrific roar that rang fearfully through the arches of the
+hitherto silent forest.  Rushing across the grave, it sprang with one
+tremendous bound right over the high fence, carrying the spear along
+with it into the jungle beyond.
+
+By that time Nigel was himself again, with rifle in hand, but too late
+to fire.  The moment he heard the thud of the tiger's descent, he slid
+down the tree, and, forgetful or regardless of danger,--went crashing
+into the jungle, while the yells and shouts of hundreds of aroused
+natives 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 the
+tiger.  It was lying stone dead on the spot where it had fallen!
+
+A few minutes more and the natives came pouring round him, wild with
+excitement and joy.  Soon he was joined by his own comrades.
+
+"Well, you've managed to shoot him, I see," said Van der Kemp as he
+joined the group.
+
+"Alas! no.  I have not fired a shot," said Nigel, with a half
+disappointed look.
+
+"You's got de better ob him anyhow," remarked Moses as he pushed to the
+front.
+
+"The spear got the better of him, Moses."
+
+"Vell 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 his
+measurements, for the people were pressing eagerly round the carcase to
+gratify their revenge by running their spears into the still warm body.
+They dipped the points in the blood and passed their krisses broadside
+over the creature that they might absorb the courage and boldness which
+were supposed to emanate from it!  Then they skinned it, and pieces of
+the heart and brain were eaten raw by some of those whose relatives had
+been killed by tigers.  Finally the skull was hacked to pieces for the
+purpose of distributing the teeth, which are used by the natives as
+charms.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
+
+IN WHICH THE PROFESSOR DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF.
+
+Leaving this village immediately after the slaying of the tiger, the
+party continued to journey almost by forced marches, for not only was
+Nigel Roy very anxious to keep tryst with his father, and to settle the
+question of Kathleen's identity by bringing father and daughter
+together, but Van der Kemp himself, strange to say, was filled with
+intense 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 side
+through the forest, followed by Moses and the professor, who had become
+very friendly on the strength of a certain amount of vacant curiosity
+displayed by the former in regard to scientific matters--"I don't know
+how 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 have
+never before experienced these strange longings.  I say strange, because
+there is no such thing as an effect without a cause."
+
+"May not the cause be presentiment?" suggested Nigel, who, knowing what
+a tremendous possibility for the hermit lay in the future, felt a little
+inclined to be superstitious.  It did not occur to him just then that an
+equally, if not more, tremendous possibility lay in the future for
+himself--touching his recent discovery or suspicion!
+
+"I do not believe in presentiments," returned the hermit.  "They are
+probably the result of indigestion or a disordered intellect, from
+neither of which complaints do I suffer--at least not consciously!"
+
+"But you have never before left home in such peculiar circumstances,"
+said Nigel.  "Have you not told me that this is the first time for about
+two hundred years that Krakatoa has broken out in active eruption?"
+
+"True, but that cannot be to me the cause of longings or anxieties, for
+I have seen many a long-dormant crater become active without any
+important result either to me or to any one else."
+
+"Stop, stop!" cried Professor Verkimier in a hoarse whisper at that
+moment; "look! look at zee monkeys!"
+
+Monkeys are very abundant in Sumatra, but the nest of them which the
+travellers discovered at that time, and which had called forth the
+professor's admiration, was enough--as Moses said--to make a "renocerus
+laugh."  The trees around absolutely swarmed with monkeys; those of a
+slender form and with very long tails being most numerous.  They were
+engaged in some sort of game, swinging by arms, legs, and tails from
+branches, holding on to or chasing each other, and taking the most
+astonishing leaps in circumstances where a slip would have no doubt
+resulted in broken limbs or in death.
+
+"Stand still!  Oh! _do_ stand still--like you vas petrivied," said the
+professor in a low voice of entreaty.
+
+Being quite willing to humour him, the whole party stood immovable, like
+statues, and thus avoided attracting the attention of the monkeys, who
+continued their game.  It seemed to be a sort of "follow my leader," for
+one big strong fellow led off with a bound from one branch to another
+which evidently tried the nerves of his more timid and less agile
+companions.  They all succeeded, however, from the largest even to the
+smallest--which last was a very tiny creature with a pink face, a sad
+expression, 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 the
+express purpose of baffling or testing his companions.  It was immensely
+amusing to see the degrees of trepidation with which the others
+followed.  The last two seemed quite unable to make up their minds to
+the leap, until the others seemed about to disappear, when one of them
+took heart and bounded wildly across.  Thus little pink-face with the
+corkscrew tail was left alone!  Twice did that little monkey make a
+desperate resolution to jump, and twice did its little heart fail as it
+measured the distance between the branches and glanced at the abyss
+below.  Its companions seemed to entertain a feeling of pity for it.
+Numbers of them came back, as if to watch the jump and encourage the
+little one.  A third time it made an abortive effort to spring, and
+looked round pitifully, whereupon Moses gave vent to an uncontrollable
+snort of suppressed laughter.
+
+"Vat you mean by zat?" growled the professor angrily.
+
+The growl and snort together revealed the intruders, and all the
+monkeys, except pink-face, crowding the trees above the spot where they
+stood, gazed down upon them with expressions in which unparalleled
+indignation 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 twisted
+tail.  Seeing that its comrades were gone in earnest, it became
+desperate, flung itself frantically into the air with an agonising
+squeak, missed its mark, went crashing through the slender branches and
+fell 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 its
+friends.
+
+"Why did you not shoot it, professor?" asked Nigel, laughing as much at
+Verkimier's grave expression as at the little monkey's behaviour.
+
+"Vy did I not shot it?" echoed the professor.  "I vould as soon shot a
+baby.  Zee pluck of zat leetle creature is admirable.  It vould be a
+horrible shame to take his life.  No!  I do love to see ploock vezer in
+man 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
+kill him--zough I vant 'im very mooch for a specimen."
+
+It seemed as if the professor was to be specially rewarded for his
+self-denial on this occasion, for while he was yet speaking, a soft
+"hush!" from Van der Kemp caused the whole party to halt in dead silence
+and look at the hermit inquiringly.
+
+"You are in luck, professor," he murmured, in a soft, low voice--very
+different from that hissing whisper which so many people seem to imagine
+is an inaudible utterance.  "I see a splendid Argus pheasant over there
+making himself agreeable to his wife!"
+
+"Vare? oh! vare?" exclaimed the enthusiast with blazing eyes, for
+although he had already seen and procured specimens of this most
+beautiful creature, he had not yet seen it engage in the strange
+love-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 your
+tongue, all of you--that will be the safest plan.  Tread lightly."
+
+It was a sight to behold the professor crouching almost double in order
+to render himself less conspicuous, with his hat pushed back, and the
+blue glasses giving him the appearance of a great-eyed seal.  He carried
+his butterfly-net in one hand, and the unfailing rifle in the other.
+
+Fortunately the hermit's sharp and practised eye had enabled him to
+distinguish the birds in the distance before their advance had alarmed
+them, so that they were able to reach a mound topped with low bushes
+over which they could easily watch the birds.
+
+"Zat is very koorious an' most interesting," murmured the professor
+after a short silence.
+
+He was right.  There were two Argus pheasants, a male and female--the
+male alone being decorated superbly.  The Argus belongs to the same
+family as the peacock, but is not so gaudy in colouring, and therefore,
+perhaps, somewhat more pleasing.  Its tail is formed chiefly by an
+enormous elongation of the two tail quills, and of the secondary wing
+feathers, no two of which are exactly the same, and the closer they are
+examined 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--or
+when she asks him to show it off we know not which--he makes a circle in
+the forest some ten or twelve feet in diameter, which he clears of every
+leaf, twig, and branch.  On the margin of this circus there is
+invariably a projecting branch, or overarching root a few feet above the
+ground, on which the female takes her place to watch the exhibition.
+This consists of the male strutting about, pluming his feathers, and
+generally displaying his gorgeous beauty.
+
+"Vat ineffable vanity!" exclaimed the professor, after gazing for some
+time in silence.
+
+His own folly in thus speaking was instantly proved by the two birds
+bringing the exhibition to an abrupt close and hastily taking wing.
+
+Not long after seeing this they came to a small but deep and rapid
+river, which for a time checked their progress, for there was no ford,
+and the porters who carried Verkimier's packages seemed to know nothing
+about a bridge, either natural or artificial.  After wandering for an
+hour or so along its banks, however, they found a giant tree which had
+fallen across the stream, and formed a natural bridge.
+
+On the other side of the stream the ground was more rugged and the
+forest so dense that they had to walk in a sort of twilight--only a
+glimpse of blue sky being visible here and there through the tree-tops.
+In some places, however, there occurred bright little openings which
+swarmed with species of metallic tiger-beetles and sand-bees, and where
+sulphur, swallow-tailed, and other butterflies sported their brief life
+away over the damp ground by the water's edge.
+
+The native forest path which they followed was little better than a
+tunnel cut through a grove of low rattan-palms, the delicate but
+exceedingly tough tendrils of which hung down in all directions.  These
+were fringed with sharp hooks which caught their clothing and tore it,
+or held on unrelentingly, so that the only way of escape was to step
+quietly back and unhook themselves.  This of itself would have rendered
+their progress slow as well as painful, but other things tended to
+increase the delay.  At one place they came to a tree about seven feet
+in diameter which lay across the path and had to be scrambled over, and
+this was done with great difficulty.  At another, a gigantic mud-bath--
+the wallowing hole of a herd of elephants--obstructed the way, and a
+yell from one of the porters told that in attempting to cross it he had
+fallen in up to the waist.  A comrade in trying to pull him out also
+fell in and sank up to the armpits.  But they got over it--as resolute
+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 arm
+outstretched and the net pressed close to the ground, while a smile of
+triumph 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 he
+cautiously rose, "vich mimics zee _Trepsichrois mulciber_.  Ant zis very
+morning I caught von _Leptocircus virescens_, vich derives protection
+from mimicking zee habits ant appearance of a dragon-fly."
+
+"What rubbish dat purfesser do talk!" remarked Moses in an undertone to
+the hermit as they moved on again.
+
+"Not such rubbish as it sounds to you, Moses.  These are the scientific
+names of the creatures, and you know as well as he does that many
+creatures think they find it advantageous to pretend to be what they are
+not.  Man himself is not quite free from this characteristic.  Indeed,
+you have a little of it yourself," said the hermit with one of his
+twinkling glances.  "When you are almost terrified out of your wits
+don't you pretend 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' but
+warmish water, I gits whitey-grey in de chops, so I's told, an' blue in
+de 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, and
+the path, if such it could be styled, more rugged in some places, more
+swampy 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 of
+which they were in search.  By that time the porters who carried
+Verkimier's boxes seemed so tired that the hermit thought it advisable
+to encamp, but the ground was so wet and the leeches were so numerous
+that they begged him to go on, assuring him that the village could not
+be far distant.  In another half-hour the darkness became intense, so
+that a man could scarcely see his fellow, even when within two paces of
+him.  Ominous mutterings and rumblings like distant thunder also were
+heard, which appeared to indicate an approaching storm.  In these
+circumstances encamping became unavoidable, and the order was given to
+make a huge fire to scare away the tigers, which were known to be
+numerous, and the elephants whose fresh tracks had been crossed and
+followed during the greater part of the day.  The track of a rhinoceros
+and a tapir had also been seen, but no danger was to be anticipated from
+those creatures.
+
+"Shall we have a stormy night, think you?" asked Nigel, as he assisted
+in striking a light.
+
+"It may be so," replied the hermit, flinging down one after another of
+his wet matches, which failed to kindle.  "What we hear may be distant
+thunder, but I doubt it.  The sounds seem to me more like the mutterings
+of a volcano.  Some new crater may have burst forth in the Sumatran
+ranges.  This thick darkness inclines me to think so--especially after
+the new activity of volcanic action we have seen so recently at
+Krakatoa.  Let me try your matches, Nigel, perhaps they have escaped--
+mine are useless."
+
+But Nigel's matches were as wet as those of the hermit.  So were those
+of the professor.  Luckily Moses carried the old-fashioned flint and
+steel, with which, and a small piece of tinder, spark was at last
+kindled, but as they were about to apply it to a handful of dry bamboo
+scrapings, an extra spurt of rain extinguished it.  For an hour and more
+they made ineffectual attempts to strike a light.  Even the cessation of
+the rain was of no avail.
+
+"Vat must ve do _now_?" asked the professor in tones that suggested a
+woe-begone countenance, though there was no light by which to
+distinguish.
+
+"Grin and bear it," said Nigel, in a voice suggestive of a slight
+expansion of the mouth--though no one could see it.
+
+"Dere's nuffin' else left to do," said Moses, in a tone which betrayed
+such a very wide expansion that Nigel laughed outright.
+
+"Hah! you may laugh, my yoong frond, bot if zee tigers find us out or
+zee 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 of
+faint mysterious lights among the bushes.  That the professor viewed
+them as unfriendly lights was clear from the click of his rifle-locks
+which followed.
+
+"It is only phosphoric light," explained Van der Kemp.  "I have often
+seen it thus in electric states of the atmosphere.  It will probably
+increase--meanwhile we must seat ourselves on our boxes and do the best
+we can till daylight.  Are you there, boys?"
+
+This question, addressed to the bearers in their native tongue, was not
+answered, and it was found, on a _feeling_ examination, that, in spite
+of leeches, tigers, elephants, and the whole animal creation, the
+exhausted porters had flung themselves on the wet ground and gone to
+sleep while their leaders were discussing the situation.
+
+Dismal though the condition of the party was, the appearances in the
+forest soon changed the professor's woe into eager delight, for the
+phosphorescence became more and more pronounced, until every tree-stem
+blinked with a palish green light, and it trickled like moonlight over
+the ground, bringing out thick dumpy mushrooms like domes of light.
+Glowing caterpillars and centipedes crawled about, leaving a trail of
+light behind them, and fireflies, darting to and fro, peopled the air
+and gave additional animation to the scene.
+
+In the midst of the darkness, thus made singularly visible, the white
+travellers sat dozing and nodding on their luggage, while the cries of
+metallic-toned horned frogs and other nocturnal sounds peculiar to that
+weird forest formed their appropriate lullaby.
+
+But Moses neither dozed nor nodded.  With a pertinacity peculiarly his
+own he continued to play a running accompaniment to the lullaby with his
+flint and steel, until his perseverance was rewarded with a spark which
+caught on a dry portion of the tinder and continued to burn.  By that
+time the phosphoric lights had faded, and his spark was the only one
+which gleamed through intense darkness.
+
+How he cherished that spark!  He wrapped it in swaddling clothes of dry
+bamboo scrapings with as much care as if it had been the essence of his
+life.  He blew upon it tenderly as though to fan its delicate brow with
+the soft zephyrs of a father's affection.  Again he blew more
+vigorously, and his enormous pouting lips came dimly into view.  Another
+blow and his flat nose and fat cheeks emerged from darkness.  Still
+another--with growing confidence--and his huge eyes were revealed
+glowing with hope.  At last the handful of combustible burst into a
+flame, and was thrust into a prepared nest of twigs.  This,
+communicating with a heap of logs, kindled a sudden blaze which
+scattered darkness out of being, and converted thirty yards of the
+primeval forest into a chamber of glorious light, round which the human
+beings crowded with joy enhanced by the unexpectedness of the event, and
+before which the wild things of the wilderness fled away.
+
+When daylight came at last, they found that the village for which they
+had been searching was only two miles beyond the spot where they had
+encamped.
+
+Here, being thoroughly exhausted, it was resolved that they should spend
+that day and night, and, we need scarcely add, they spent a considerable
+portion of both in sleep--at least such parts of both as were not
+devoted to food.  And here the professor distinguished himself in a way
+that raised him greatly in the estimation of his companions and caused
+the natives of the place to regard him as something of a demi-god.  Of
+course we do not vouch for the truth of the details of the incident, for
+no one save himself was there to see, and although we entertained the
+utmost regard for himself, we were not sufficiently acquainted with his
+moral character to answer for his strict truthfulness.  As to the main
+event, 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 of
+conversation it transpired that a tiger had been prowling about the
+village for some days, and had hitherto successfully eluded all attempts
+to trap or spear it.  They had tethered a goat several times near a
+small pond and watched the spot from safe positions among the trees,
+with spears, bows and arrows, and blow-pipes ready, but when they
+watched, the tiger did not come, and when they failed to watch, the
+tiger did come and carried off the goat.  Thus they had been baffled.
+
+"Mine frond," said the professor to the hermit on hearing this.  "I vill
+shot zat tiger!  I am resolved.  Vill you ask zee chief to show me zee
+place ant zen tell his people, on pain of def, not to go near it all
+night, 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 against
+exposing himself recklessly.  The chief willingly fell in with his
+wishes.
+
+"Won't you tell us what you intend to do, professor?" asked Nigel, "and
+let us help you."
+
+"No, I vill do it all by mineself--or die!  I vill vant a shofel or a
+spade of some sort."
+
+The chief provided the required implement, conducted his visitor a
+little before sunset to the spot, just outside the village, and left him
+there 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 inspection
+of the ground, came to a conclusion--founded on scientific data no
+doubt--as to the probable spot whence the tiger would issue from the
+jungle when about to seize the goat, and, just opposite that spot, on
+the face of a slope about ten yards from the goat, he dug a hole deep
+enough to contain his own person.  The soil was sandy easy to dig, and
+quite dry.  It was growing dusk when the professor crept into this
+rifle-pit, drew his weapons and the spade in after him, and closed the
+mouth of the pit with moist earth, leaving only a very small eye-hole
+through which he could see the goat standing innocently by the brink of
+the pool.
+
+"Now," said he, as he lay resting on his elbows with the rifle laid
+ready to hand and the revolver beside it; "now, I know not vezer you can
+smell or not, but I have buried mineself in eart', vich is a
+non-conductor of smell.  Ve shall see!"
+
+It soon became very dark, for there was no moon, yet not so dark but
+that the form of the goat could be seen distinctly reflected in the
+pond.  Naturally the professor's mind reverted to the occasion when
+Nigel had watched in the branches of a tree for another tiger.  The
+conditions were different, and so, he thought, was the man!
+
+"Mine yoong frond," he said mentally, "is brav', oondoubtedly, but his
+nerves have not been braced by experience like mine.  It is vell, for
+zere is more dancher here zan in a tree.  It matters not.  I am resolf
+to shot 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 fail them--
+even those of scientific men!  The tiger came indeed to the spot, but he
+came in precisely the opposite direction from that which the watcher
+expected, so that while Verkimier was staring over the goat's head at an
+opening in the jungle beyond the pond, the tiger was advancing
+stealthily and slowly through the bushes exactly behind the hole in
+which he lay.
+
+Suddenly the professor became aware of _something_!  He saw nothing
+consciously, he heard nothing, but there stole over him, somehow, the
+feeling 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 face
+nothing at all is at all times trying.  Verkimier felt it to be so at
+that moment.  But he was a true hero and conquered himself.
+
+"Come now," he said mentally, "don't be an ass!  Don't lose your shance
+by voomanly fears.  Keep kviet."
+
+Another moment and there was a very slight sound right over his head.
+He glanced upwards--as far as the little hole would permit--and there,
+not a foot from him, was a tawny yellow throat! with a tremendous paw
+moving slowly forward--so slowly that it might have suggested the
+imperceptible movement of the hour-hand of a watch, or of a glacier.
+There was indeed motion, but it was not perceptible.
+
+The professor's perceptions were quick.  He did not require to think.
+He knew that to use the rifle at such close quarters was absolutely
+impossible.  He knew that the slightest motion would betray him.  He
+could see that as yet he was undiscovered, for the animal's nose was
+straight for the goat, and he concluded that either his having buried
+himself was a safeguard against being smelt, or that the tiger had a
+cold in its head.  He thought for one moment of bursting up with a yell
+that would scare the monster out of his seven senses--if he had seven--
+but dismissed the thought as cowardly, for it would be sacrificing
+success to safety.  He knew not what to do, and the cold perspiration
+consequent upon indecision at a supreme moment broke out all over him.
+Suddenly he thought of the revolver!
+
+Like lightning he seized it, pointed it straight up and fired.  The
+bullet--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 and
+fell--fell so promptly that it blocked the mouth of the pit, all the
+covering earth of which had been blown away by the shot, and Verkimier
+could feel the hairy side of the creature, and hear the beating of its
+heart as it gasped its life away.  But in his cramped position he could
+not push it aside.  Well aware of the tenacity of life in tigers, he
+thought that if the creature revived it would certainly grasp him even
+in its dying agonies, for the weight of its body and its struggles were
+already crushing in the upper part of the hole.
+
+To put an end to its sufferings and his own danger, he pointed the
+revolver at its side and again fired.  The crash in the confined hole
+was tremendous--so awful that the professor thought the weapon must have
+burst.  The struggles of the tiger became more violent than ever, and
+its weight more oppressive as the earth crumbled away.  Again the cold
+perspiration 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, they
+had held themselves in readiness with rifle, revolver, and spear, and
+the instant the first shot was heard, they ran down to the scene of
+action.  Before reaching it the second shot quickened their pace as they
+ran down to the pond--a number of natives yelling and waving torches at
+their 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 Van
+der Kemp, seizing a torch and setting the example.
+
+"Let me out!" came at that moment from what appeared to be the bowels of
+the earth, causing every one to stand aghast gazing in wonder around and
+on 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 the
+natives, but Nigel's asking "Where _are_ you?" had the effect of
+inducing them to delay for the answer.
+
+"Here--oonder zee tigre!  Kweek, I am suffocat!"
+
+Instantly Van der Kemp seized the animal by the tail, and, with a force
+worthy of Hercules, heaved it aside as if it had been a dead cat,
+revealing the man of science underneath--alive and well, but
+dishevelled, scratched, and soiled--also, as deaf as a door-post.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
+
+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 all
+events 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, more
+or less astounding, insomuch that his enthusiastic spirit, bathing, if
+we may say so, in an ocean of scientific delight, pronounced Sumatra to
+be the very paradise of the student of nature.
+
+We have not room in this volume to follow him in the details of his
+wonderful experiences, but we must mention one adventure which he had on
+the very day after the tiger-incident, because it very nearly had the
+effect of separating him from his travelling companions.
+
+Being deaf, as we have said--owing to the explosion of his revolver in
+the hole--but not necessarily dumb, the professor, after one or two
+futile attempts to hear and converse, deemed it wise to go to bed and
+spend the few conscious minutes that might precede sleep in watching Van
+der Kemp, who kindly undertook to skin his tiger for him.  Soon the
+self-satisfied man fell into a sweet infantine slumber, and dreamed of
+tigers, in which state he gave vent to sundry grunts, gasps, and
+half-suppressed cries, to the immense delight of Moses, who sat watching
+him, indulging in a running commentary suggestive of the recent event,
+and giving utterance now and then to a few imitative growls by way of
+enhancing the effect of the dreams!
+
+"Look! look!  Massa Nadgel, he's twitchin' all ober.  De tiger's comin'
+to him now."
+
+"Looks like it, Moses."
+
+"Yes--an', see, he grip de 'volver--no, too soon, or de tiger's hoed
+away, for he's stopped twitchin'!--dare; de tiger comes agin!"
+
+A gasp and clenching of the right hand seemed to warrant this
+assumption.  Then a yell rang through the hut; Moses displayed all, and
+more 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 an imbecile smile, and sank
+back again on his pillow with a sigh of relief.
+
+After that, when the skinning of the tiger was completed, the dreams
+appeared to leave him, and all his comrades joined him in the land of
+Nod.  He was first to awake when daylight entered their hut the
+following morning, and, feeling in a fresh, quiescent state of mind
+after the excitement of the preceding night, he lay on his back, his
+eyes fixed contentedly on the grand tiger-skin which hung on the
+opposite wall.
+
+By degrees his eyes grew wearied of that object, and he allowed them to
+travel languidly upwards and along the roof until they rested on the
+spot directly over his head, where they became fixed, and, at the same
+time, opened out to a glare, compared to which all his previous glaring
+was as nothing--for there, in the thatch, looking down upon him, was the
+angular 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 it
+might be a poisonous one, he crept quietly from his couch, keeping his
+eyes fixed on the reptile as he did so.  One result of this mode of
+action was that he did not see where he was going, and inadvertently
+thrust one finger into Moses' right eye, and another into his open
+mouth.  The negro naturally shut his mouth with a snap, while the
+professor opened his with a roar, and in another moment every man was on
+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 made
+a noose with a piece of rattan, and fastened it to the end of a long
+pole.  With the latter he poked the creature up, and, when it had
+uncoiled 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 valiantly
+stood his ground.  Van der Kemp pulled the python violently down to the
+floor, where it commenced a tremendous scuffle among the chairs and
+posts.  The hermit kept its head off with the pole, and sought to catch
+its tail, but failed twice.  Seeing this the professor caught the tail
+as it whipped against his legs, and springing down the steps so
+violently that he snapped the cord by which the hermit held it, and drew
+the creature straight out--a thick monster full twelve feet long, and
+capable of swallowing a dog or a child.
+
+"Out of zee way!" shouted the professor, making a wild effort to swing
+the python against a tree, but the tail slipped from his grasp, the
+professor fell, and the snake went crashing against a log, under which
+it took refuge.
+
+Nigel, who was nearest to it, sprang forward, fortunately caught its
+tail, and, swinging it and himself round with such force that it could
+not coil up at all, dashed it against a tree.  Before it could recover
+from the shock, Moses had caught up a hatchet and cut its head off with
+one blow.  The tail wriggled for a few seconds, and the head gaped once
+or 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 the
+head of many a bigger snake cut off at one blow."
+
+"Mine frond, you mistake me.  It is zee vorking of physical law in zee
+spiritual vorld zat perplexes me.  Moses has cut zee brute in two--
+physical fact, substance can be divided.  Zee two parts are still alife,
+zerfore, zee life--zee spirit--has also been divided!"
+
+"It is indeed very strange," said Nigel, with a laugh.  "Stranger still
+that you may cut a worm into several parts, and the life remains in
+each, but, strangest of all, that you should sit on the ground,
+professor, instead of rising up, while you philosophise.  You are not
+hurt, I hope--are you?"
+
+"I razer zink I am," returned the philosopher with a faint smile; "mine
+onkle, I zink, is spraint."
+
+This was indeed true, and it seemed as if the poor man's wanderings were
+to be, for a time at least, brought to an abrupt close.  Fortunately it
+was found that a pony could be procured at that village, and, as they
+had entered the borders of the mountainous regions, and the roads were
+more open and passable than heretofore, it was resolved that the
+professor should ride until his ankle recovered.
+
+We must now pass over a considerable portion of time and space, and
+convey the reader, by a forced march, to the crater of an active
+volcano.  By that time Verkimier's ankle had recovered and the pony had
+been dismissed.  The heavy luggage, with the porters, had been left in
+the low grounds, for the mountain they had scaled was over 10,000 feet
+above the sea-level.  Only one native from the plain below accompanied
+them as guide, and three of their porters whose inquiring minds tempted
+them to make the ascent.
+
+At about 10,000 feet the party reached what the natives called the dempo
+or edge of the volcano, whence they looked down into the sawah or
+ancient crater, which was a level space composed of brown soil
+surrounded by cliffs, and lying like the bottom of a cup 200 feet below
+them.  It had a sulphurous odour, and was dotted here and there with
+clumps of heath and rhododendrons.  In the centre of this was a cone
+which formed the true--or modern--crater.  On scrambling up to the lip
+of the cone and looking down some 300 feet of precipitous rock they
+beheld what seemed to be a pure white lake set in a central basin of 200
+feet in diameter.  The surface of this lakelet smoked, and although it
+reflected every passing cloud as if it were a mirror, it was in reality
+a basin of hot mud, the surface of which was about thirty feet below its
+rim.
+
+"You will soon see a change come over it," said the hermit, as the party
+gazed in silent admiration at the weird scene.
+
+He had scarcely spoken, when the middle of the lake became intensely
+black and scored with dark streaks.  This, though not quite obvious at
+first from the point where they stood, was caused by the slow formation
+of a great chasm in the centre of the seething lake of mud.  The lake
+was sinking into its own throat.  The blackness increased.  Then a dull
+sullen roar 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
+reverberated and echoed from the rocky walls of the caldron like the
+singing of an angry sea.  An immense volume of steam--the motive power
+which had blown up 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 gathered
+fresh force for another upheaval.
+
+"Amazing!" exclaimed Nigel, who had gazed with feelings of awe at this
+curious exhibition of the tremendous internal forces with which the
+Creator has endowed the earth.
+
+"Vonderful!" exclaimed the professor, whose astonishment was such, that
+his 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-gum
+disclosing satisfaction, the faces of two of the native porters who had
+never seen anything of the kind before, and whose terrified expressions
+suggested the probability of a precipitate flight when their trembling
+limbs 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 day
+and every day," replied the hermit.
+
+"But, if I may joodge from zee stones ant scoriae around," said the
+professor, "zee volcano is not always 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, etcetera, in this region are quite
+destroyed by sulphur-rain, which covers everything for miles around the
+crater."
+
+"Hah! it vould be too hote a place zis for us, if zat vas to happin
+joost now," remarked Verkimier with a smile.
+
+"It cannot be far off the time now, I should think," said Van der Kemp.
+
+All this talk Moses translated, and embellished, to the native porters
+with the solemn sincerity of a true and thorough-paced hypocrite.  He
+had scarcely finished, and was watching with immense delight the
+changeful aspect of their whitey-green faces, when another volcanic fit
+came on, and the deep-toned roar of the coming explosion was heard.  It
+was so awesome that the countenance even of Van der Kemp became graver
+than usual.  As for the two native porters, they gazed and trembled.
+Nigel and the professor also gazed with lively expectation.  Moses--we
+grieve to record it--hugged himself internally, and gloated over the two
+porters.
+
+Another moment and there came a mighty roar.  Up went the mud-lake
+hundreds of feet into the air; out came the steam with the sound of a
+thousand trombones, and away went the two porters, head over heels, down
+the outer slope of the cone and across the sawah as if the spirit of
+evil were after them.
+
+There was no cause, however, for alarm.  The mud-lake, falling back into
+its native cup, resumed its placid aspect and awaited its next upheaval
+with as much tranquillity as if it had never known disturbance in the
+past, 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 and
+sulphurous smells, and slept with the geyser's intermittent roar
+sounding in their ears and re-echoing in their dreams.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
+
+TELLS OF VOLCANIC FIRES AND A STRANGE RETURN "HOME."
+
+This tremendous introduction to volcanic fires was but the prelude to a
+period of eruptive action which has not been paralleled in the world's
+history.
+
+For a short time after this, indeed, the genial nature of the weather
+tended to banish from the minds of our travellers all thoughts of
+violence either in terrestrial or human affairs, and as the professor
+devoted himself chiefly to the comparatively mild occupation of catching
+and transfixing butterflies and beetles during the march southward,
+there seemed to be nothing in the wide universe above or below save
+peace and tranquillity--except, perhaps, in the minds of beetles and
+butterflies!
+
+Throughout all this period, nevertheless, there were ominous growlings,
+grumblings, and tremors--faint but frequent--which indicated a condition
+of mother earth that could not have been called easy.
+
+"Some of the volcanoes of Java must be at work, I think," said Nigel one
+night, as the party sat in a small isolated wood-cutter's hut discussing
+a supper of rice and fowls with his friends, which they were washing
+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 that
+the craters which have so recently opened up in Krakatoa are still
+active, and that it may be necessary for me to shift my quarters, for my
+cave 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.  "You
+see, it is not pleasant to be blown up eizer by the terrestrial
+eruptions of zee vorld or zee celestial explosions of your vife.--A
+leetle more rice, Moses if you please.  Zanks."
+
+"Now, mine fronds," he continued, after having disposed of a supper
+which it might have taxed a volcano's throat to swallow, "it is viz
+great 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 is teeming, ant zee vaters are vallo'ing vit life.  I cannot tear
+myself avay.  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.
+Nothing would persuade him to go a step further.  The wood-cutter's hut
+suited him, so did the wood-cutter himself, and so, as he said, did the
+region around him.  With much regret, therefore, and an earnest
+invitation from the hermit to visit his cave, and range the almost
+unexplored woods of his island, the travellers parted from him; and our
+three adventurers, dismissing all attendants and hiring three ponies,
+continued their journey to the southern shores of Sumatra.
+
+As they advanced it soon became evident that the scene of volcanic
+activity was not so far distant as the island of Java, for the air was
+frequently darkened by the falling of volcanic dust which covered the
+land with a greyish powder.  As, however, at least sixteen volcanoes
+have been registered in the island of Sumatra, and there are probably
+many others, it was impossible to decide where the scene of eruption
+was, that caused those signs.
+
+One afternoon the travellers witnessed a catastrophe which induced them
+to forego all idea of spending more time in examining the country.  They
+had arrived at a village where they found a traveller who appeared to be
+going about without any special object in view.  He spoke English, but
+with a foreign accent.  Nigel naturally felt a desire to become sociable
+with him, but he was very taciturn and evidently wished to avoid
+intercourse with chance acquaintances.  Hearing that there were curious
+hot-water and mud springs not far off, the stranger expressed a desire
+to visit them.  Nigel also felt anxious to see them, and as one guide
+was sufficient for the party the stranger joined the party and they went
+together.
+
+The spot they were led to was evidently a mere crust of earth covering
+fierce subterranean fires.  In the centre of it a small pond of mud was
+boiling and bubbling furiously, and round this, on the indurated clay,
+were smaller wells and craters full of boiling mud.  The ground near
+them was obviously unsafe, for it bent under pressure like thin ice, and
+at some of the cracks and fissures the sulphurous vapour was so hot that
+the 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 central
+pond.  But the guide stopped suddenly, and, looking back, said to Van
+der Kemp that it was not safe to approach nearer.
+
+Nigel at once stopped, and, looking at the stranger, was struck by the
+wild, incomprehensible expression of his face as he continued to
+advance.
+
+"Stop! stop, sir!" cried the hermit on observing this, but the man paid
+no attention to the warning.
+
+Another instant and the crust on which he stood gave way and he sank
+into a horrible gulf from which issued a gust of sulphurous vapour and
+steam.  The horror which almost overwhelmed Nigel did not prevent him
+bounding forward to the rescue.  Well was it for him at that time that a
+cooler head than his own was near.  The strong hand of the hermit seized
+his collar on the instant, and he was dragged backward out of danger,
+while an appalling shriek from the stranger as he disappeared told that
+the attempt to succour him would have been too late.
+
+A terrible event of this kind has usually the effect of totally
+changing, at least for a time, the feelings of those who witness it, so
+as to almost incapacitate them from appreciating ordinary events or
+things.  For some days after witnessing the sudden and awful fate of
+this unknown man, Nigel travelled as if in a dream, taking little notice
+of, or interest in, anything, and replying to questions in mere
+monosyllables.  His companions seemed to be similarly affected, for they
+spoke very little.  Even the volatile spirit of Moses appeared to be
+subdued, and it was not till they had reached nearly the end of their
+journey that their usual flow of spirits returned.
+
+Arriving one night at a village not very far from the southern shores of
+Sumatra they learned that the hermit's presentiments were justified, and
+that the volcano which was causing so much disturbance in the islands of
+the archipelago was, indeed, the long extinct one of Krakatoa.
+
+"I've heard a good deal about it from one of the chief men here," said
+the 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 ever
+since 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
+with them in that," he added gravely.
+
+"Why not?" asked Nigel.
+
+"Partly because of the length of time that has elapsed since its last
+eruption in 1680; partly from the fact that that eruption--judging from
+appearances--must have been a very tremendous one, and partly because my
+knowledge of volcanic action leads me to expect it; but I could not
+easily explain the reason for my conclusions on the latter point.  I
+have just been to the brow of a ridge not far off whence I have seen the
+glow in the sky of the Krakatoa fires.  They do not, however, appear to
+be very fierce at the present moment."
+
+As he spoke there was felt by the travellers a blow, as if of an
+explosion under the house in which they sat.  It was a strong vertical
+bump which nearly tossed them all off their chairs.  Van der Kemp and
+his man, after an exclamation or two, continued supper like men who were
+used to such interruptions, merely remarking that it was an earthquake.
+But Nigel, to whom it was not quite so familiar, stood up for a few
+seconds with a look of anxious uncertainty, as if undecided as to the
+path of duty and prudence in the circumstances.  Moses relieved him.
+
+"Sot down, Massa Nadgel," said that sable worthy, as he stuffed his
+mouth full of rice; "it's easier to sot dan to stand w'en its
+eart'quakin'."
+
+Nigel sat down with a tendency to laugh, for at that moment he chanced
+to glance at the rafters above, where he saw a small anxious-faced
+monkey gazing down at him.
+
+He was commenting on this creature when another prolonged shock of
+earthquake came.  It was not a bump like the previous one, but a severe
+vibration which only served to shake the men in their chairs, but it
+shook the small monkey off the rafter, and the miserable little thing
+fell with a shriek and a flop into the rice-dish!
+
+"Git out o' dat--you scoundril!" exclaimed Moses, but the order was
+needless, for the monkey bounced out of it like india-rubber and sought
+to hide its confusion in the thatch, while Moses helped himself to some
+more of the rice, which, he said, was none the worse for being
+monkeyfied!
+
+At last our travellers found themselves in the town of Telok Betong,
+where, being within forty-five miles of Krakatoa, the hermit could both
+see and hear that his island-home was in violent agitation; tremendous
+explosions occurring frequently, while dense masses of smoke were
+ascending from its craters.
+
+"I'm happy to find," said the hermit, soon after their arrival in the
+town, "that the peak of Rakata, on the southern part of the island where
+my cave lies, is still quiet and has shown no sign of breaking out.  And
+now 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 of
+myself," interrupted the youth, as he flushed deeply.
+
+"Forgive me, Nigel," returned the hermit quickly and gravely, "it is but
+my duty to point out that we cannot go there without running _some_
+risk."
+
+"And it is _my_ duty to point out," retorted his hurt friend, "that when
+any man, worthy of the name, agrees to follow another, he agrees to
+accept all risks."
+
+To this the hermit vouchsafed no further reply than a slight smile and
+nod of intelligence.  Thereafter he went off alone to inquire about his
+canoe, which, it will be remembered, his friend, the captain of the
+steamer, had promised to leave for him at this place.
+
+Telok Betong, which was one of the severest sufferers by the eruption of
+1883, is a small town at the head of Lampong Bay, opposite to the island
+of Krakatoa, from which it is between forty and fifty miles distant.  It
+is built on a narrow strip of land at the base of a steep mountain, but
+little above the sea, and is the chief town of the Lampong Residency,
+which forms the most southerly province of Sumatra.  At the time we
+write of, the only European residents of the place were connected with
+Government.  The rest of the population was composed of a heterogeneous
+mass of natives mingled with a number of Chinese, a few Arabs, and a
+large fluctuating population of traders from Borneo, Celebes, New
+Guinea, Siam, and the other innumerable isles of the archipelago.  These
+were more or less connected with prahus laden with the rich and varied
+merchandise of the eastern seas.  As each man in the town had been
+permitted to build his house according to his own fancy, picturesque
+irregularity was the agreeable result.  It may be added that, as each
+man spoke his own language in his own tones, Babel and noise were the
+consequence.
+
+In a small hut by the waterside the hermit found the friend--a Malay--to
+whom his canoe had been consigned, and, in a long low shed close by, he
+found the canoe itself, with the faithful Spinkie in charge.
+
+"Don't go near the canoe till you've made friends with the monkey," said
+the 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.
+"It won't let a soul come near the canoe.  I would have killed it long
+ago if the captain of the steamer had not told me you wished it to be
+taken great care of.  There, look out!  The vixen is not tied up."
+
+He flung open the shed-door and revealed Spinkie seated in his old
+place, much deteriorated in appearance and scowling malevolently.
+
+The instant the poor creature heard its master's voice and saw his
+form--for his features must have been invisible against the strong
+light--the scowl vanished from its little visage.  With a shriek of joy
+it sprang like an acrobat from a spring-board and plunged into the
+hermit's bosom--to the alarm of the Malay, who thought this was a
+furious attack.
+
+We need not say that Van der Kemp received his faithful little servant
+kindly, and it was quite touching to observe the monkey's intense
+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 itself back
+now and then, putting its black paws on his cheeks, turning his face
+round to the light and opening its round eyes wide--as well as its round
+little mouth--as if to make sure of his identity--then plunging into 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 he
+would require his canoe by daybreak the following morning, ordered a few
+provisions 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 closer
+to 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 more
+unchangeable than Van der Kemp's commands!  At all events it crept down
+his arm and leg, waddled slowly over the floor of the shed with bent
+back and wrinkled brow, like a man of ninety, and took up its old
+position 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.
+Then he returned to his friends and bade them prepare for immediate
+departure.
+
+It was the night of the 24th of August, and as the eruptions of the
+volcano appeared to be getting more and more violent, Van der Kemp's
+anxiety to reach his cave became visibly greater.
+
+"I have been told," said the hermit to Nigel, as they went down with
+Moses to the place where the canoe had been left, "the history of
+Krakatoa since we left.  A friend informs me that a short time after our
+departure the eruptions subsided a little, and the people here had
+ceased to pay much attention to them, but about the middle of June the
+volcanic activity became more violent, and on the 19th, in particular,
+it was observed that the vapour-column and the force of the explosions
+were decidedly on the increase."
+
+"At Katimbang, from which place the island can be seen, it was noticed
+that a second column of vapour was ascending from the centre of the
+island, and that the appearance of Perboewatan had entirely changed, its
+conspicuous summit having apparently been blown away.  In July there
+were some explosions of exceptional violence, and I have now no doubt
+that it was these we heard in the interior of this island when we were
+travelling 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 not
+land, owing to the heavy masses of vapour and dust driven about by the
+wind, which also prevented him from making a careful examination, but he
+could see that the forests of nearly the whole island have been
+destroyed--only a few trunks of blighted trees being left standing above
+the thick covering of pumice and dust.  He reported that the dust near
+the shore was found to be twenty inches thick."
+
+"If so," said Nigel, "I fear that the island will be no longer fit to
+inhabit."
+
+"I know not," returned the hermit sadly, in a musing tone.  "The officer
+reported that there is no sign of eruption at Rakata, so that my house
+is yet safe, for no showers of pumice, however deep, can injure the
+cave."
+
+Nigel was on the point of asking his friend why he was so anxious to
+revisit the island at such a time, but, recollecting his recent tiff on
+that subject, refrained.  Afterwards, however, when Van der Kemp was
+settling accounts with the Malay, he put the question to Moses.
+
+"I can't help wondering," he said, "that Van der Kemp should be so
+anxious to get back to his cave just now.  If he were going in a big
+boat to save some of his goods and chattels I could understand it, but
+the canoe, you know, could carry little more than her ordinary lading."
+
+"Well, Massa Nadgel," said Moses, "it's my opinion dat he wants to go
+back 'cause he's got an uncommon affekshnit heart."
+
+"How?  Surely you don't mean that his love of the mere place is so
+strong that--"
+
+"No, no, Massa Nadgel--'snot dat.  But he was awrful fond ob his wife
+an' darter, an' I know he's got a photogruff ob 'em bof togidder, an' I
+t'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.  The
+canoe was carried down and put into the water, watched with profound
+interest by hundreds of natives and traders, who were all more or less
+acquainted with the hermit of Rakata.
+
+It was still daylight when they paddled out into Lampong Bay, but the
+volumes of dust which rose from Krakatoa--although nearly fifty miles
+off--did much to produce an unusually early twilight.
+
+"Goin' to be bery dark, massa," remarked Moses as they glided past the
+shipping.  "Shall I light de lamp?"
+
+"Do, Moses, but we shan't need it, for as we get nearer home the
+volcanic fires will light us on our way."
+
+"De volcanic dust is a-goin' to powder us on our way too, massa.  Keep
+your hands out o' the way, Spinkie," said the negro as he fixed a small
+oil-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 squall
+came rushing down the mountains and swept over the bay, ruffling its now
+dark 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 were
+now clearly visible on the horizon, Nigel Roy felt a more eerie
+sensation in his breast than he ever remembered to have experienced in
+all his previous life, but he scorned to admit the fact--even to
+himself, and said, mentally, that it was rather romantic than otherwise!
+
+Just then there burst upon their ears the yell of a steam-whistle, and a
+few 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 an
+unmistakably English voice.
+
+"Krakatoa!" replied the hermit.  "Where are you?"
+
+"Anjer, on the Java coast.  Do 'ee want to be smothered, roasted, and
+blown up?" asked the captain, looking down on the canoe as it ranged
+alongside 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 the
+Sunda Straits at the rate of thirteen miles an hour, with her sharp prow
+high out of the water, and the stern correspondingly low.  The voyage,
+which would have otherwise cost our three travellers a long laborious
+night and part of next day, was by this means so greatly shortened that
+when daybreak arrived they were not more than thirteen miles to the east
+of Krakatoa.  Nearer than this the steamboat could not take them without
+going out of her course, but as Van der Kemp and Nigel gratefully
+acknowledged, it was quite near enough.
+
+"Well, I should just think it was rather too near!" said the captain
+with a grin.
+
+And, truly, he was justified in making the remark, for the explosions
+from the volcano had by that time become not only very frequent, but
+tremendously loud, while the dense cloud which hung above it and spread
+far and wide over the sky covered the sea with a kind of twilight that
+struggled successfully against the full advent of day.  Lightning too
+was playing among the rolling black masses of smoke, and the roaring
+explosions every now and then seemed to shake the very heavens.
+
+Casting off the tow-rope, they turned the bow of their canoe to the
+island.  As a stiffish breeze was blowing, they set the sails,
+close-reefed, and steered for the southern shore at that part which lay
+under the shadow of Rakata.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
+
+AN AWFUL NIGHT AND TERRIBLE MORNING.
+
+It was a matter of some satisfaction to find on drawing near to the
+shore that the peak of Rakata was still intact, and that, although most
+other parts of the island which could be seen were blighted by fire and
+covered deeply with pumice-dust, much of the forest in the immediate
+neighbourhood of the cave was still undestroyed though considerably
+damaged.
+
+"D'you think our old harbour will be available, Moses?" asked Van der
+Kemp 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 grey
+dust-covered crags as the canoe glided swiftly through the dark water.
+
+"That is more than can be said for the other craters," returned the
+hermit.  "It seems to me that not only all the old ones are at work, but
+a number of new ones must have been opened."
+
+The constant roaring and explosions that filled their ears and the rain
+of fine ashes bore testimony to the truth of this, though the solid and
+towering mass of Rakata rose between them and the part of Krakatoa which
+was in eruption, preventing their seeing anything that was passing
+except the dense masses of smoke, steam, and dust which rose many miles
+into the heavens, obstructing the light of day, but forming cloud-masses
+from which the lurid flames of the volcano were reflected downward.
+
+On reaching the little bay or harbour it was found much as they had left
+it, save that the rocks and bushes around were thickly covered with
+dust, and their boat was gone.
+
+"Strange! at such a time one would scarcely have expected thieves to
+come here," said the hermit, looking slowly round.
+
+"No t'ief bin here, massa," said Moses, looking over the side of the
+canoe.  "I see de boat!"
+
+He pointed downwards as he spoke, and on looking over the side they saw
+the wreck of the boat at the bottom, in about ten feet of water, and
+crushed beneath a ponderous mass of lava, which must have been ejected
+from the volcano and afterwards descended upon the boat.
+
+The destruction of the boat rendered it impossible to remove any of the
+property of the hermit, and Nigel now saw, from his indifference, that
+this could not have been the cause of his friend's anxiety and
+determination to reach his island-home in spite of the danger that such
+a course entailed.  That there was considerable danger soon became very
+obvious, for, having passed to some extent at this point beyond the
+shelter of the cliffs of Rakata, and come partly into view of the other
+parts of the island, the real extent of the volcanic violence burst upon
+Nigel and Moses as a new revelation.  The awful sublimity of the scene
+at first almost paralysed them, and they failed to note that not only
+did a constant rain of pumice-dust fall upon them, but that there was
+also a pretty regular dropping of small stones into the water around
+them.  Their attention was sharply aroused to this fact by the fall of a
+lump of semi-molten rock, about the size of a cannon-shot, a short
+distance off, which was immediately followed by not less than a cubic
+yard of lava which fell close to the canoe and deluged them with spray.
+
+"We must go," said the hermit quietly.  "No need to expose ourselves
+here, though the watching of the tremendous forces that our Creator has
+at command does possess a wonderful kind of fascination.  It seems to me
+the more we see of His power as exerted on our little earth, the more do
+we realise the paltriness of our conception of the stupendous Might that
+upholds the Universe."
+
+While he was speaking, Van der Kemp guided the canoe into its little
+haven, and in a few minutes he and Moses had carried it into the shelter
+of the cave out of which Nigel had first seen it emerge.  Then the
+lading was carried up, after which they turned into the track which led
+to the hermit's home.
+
+The whole operation may be said to have been performed under fire, for
+small masses of rock kept pattering continually on the dust-covered
+ground around them, causing cloudlets, like smoke, to spring up wherever
+they struck.  Nigel and Moses could not resist glancing upward now and
+then as they moved quickly to and fro, and they experienced a shrinking
+sensation when a stone fell very near them, but each scorned to exhibit
+the smallest trace of anxiety, or to suggest that the sooner they got
+from under fire the better!  As for Van der Kemp, he moved about
+deliberately as if there was nothing unusual going on, and with an
+absent look on his grave face as though the outbursts of smoke, and
+fire, and lava, which turned the face of day into lurid night, and
+caused the cliffs to reverberate with unwonted thunders, had no effect
+whatever on his mind.
+
+A short walk, however, along the track, which was more than ankle-deep
+in dust, brought them under the sheltering sides of Rakata, up which
+they soon scrambled to the mouth of their cave.
+
+Here all was found as they 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, for
+the loud reports and crackling sounds which had assailed their ears
+outside were reduced by the thick walls of the cave to a continuous dull
+groan, as it were, like the soft but thunderous bass notes of a
+stupendous organ.  To these sounds were added others which seemed to be
+peculiar to the cave itself.  They appeared to rise from crevices in the
+floor, and were no doubt due to the action of those pent-up subterranean
+fires which were imprisoned directly, though it may be very far down,
+under their feet.  Every now and then there came a sudden increase of
+the united sounds as if the "swell" of the great organ had been opened,
+and such out-gushing was always accompanied with more or less of
+indescribable shocks followed by prolonged tremors of the entire
+mountain.
+
+If the three friends had been outside to observe what was taking place,
+they would have seen that these symptoms were simultaneous with
+occasional and extremely violent outbursts from the crater of
+Perboewatan and his compeers.  Indeed they guessed as much, and two of
+them at least were not a little thankful that, awesome as their position
+was, they had the thick mountain between them and the fiery showers
+outside.
+
+Of all this the hermit took no notice, but, hastening into the inner
+cavern, opened a small box, and took therefrom a bundle of papers and a
+little object which, at a first glance, Nigel supposed to be a book, but
+which turned out to be a photograph case.  These the hermit put
+carefully into the breast-pocket of his coat and then turned to his
+companions with a sigh as if of relief.
+
+"I think there is no danger of anything occurring at this part of the
+island," he remarked, looking round the cave, "for there is no sign of
+smoke and no sulphurous smell issuing from any of the crevices in walls
+or floor.  This, I think, shows that there is no direct communication
+with Rakata and the active volcano--at least not at present."
+
+"Do you then think there is a possibility of an outbreak at some future
+period?" asked Nigel.
+
+"Who can tell?  People here, who don't study the nature of volcanoes
+much, though surrounded by them, will expect things ere long to resume
+their normal condition.  I can never forget the fact that the greater
+part of Krakatoa stands, as you know, exactly above the spot where the
+two great lines of volcanic action cross, and right over the mouth of
+the immense crater to which Perboewatan and all the other craters serve
+as mere chimneys or safety-valves.  We cannot tell whether a great
+eruption similar to that of 1680 may not be in store for us.  The only
+reason that I can see for the quiescence of this peak of Rakata is, as I
+said to you once before, that it stands not so much above the old crater
+as above and on the safe side of its lip."
+
+"I t'ink, massa, if I may ventur' to speak," said Moses, "dat de sooner
+we 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 the
+hermit, "now that I have secured the photograph and papers.  At the same
+time I fear the rain of stones and lava is growing worse.  It might be
+safer to stay till there is a lull in the violence of the eruption, and
+then make a dash for it.  What say you, Nigel?"
+
+"I say that you know best, Van der Kemp.  I'm ready to abide by your
+decision, 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 forsake
+the shelter of the cave, however uncertain that might be.  The latest
+explosions had enshrouded the island in such a cloud of smoke and dust,
+that nothing whatever was visible beyond a few yards in front, and even
+that space was only seen by the faint rays of the lamp issuing from the
+outer cave.  This lamp-light was sufficient, however, to show that
+within the semi-circle of a few yards there was a continuous rain of
+grey ashes and dust mingled with occasional stones of various sizes--
+some larger than a man's fist.
+
+"To go out in that would be simply to court death," said Nigel, whose
+voice was almost drowned by the noise of the explosions and fall of
+material.
+
+As it was manifest that nothing could be done at the moment except to
+wait patiently, they returned to the cave, where they lighted the
+oil-stove, and Moses--who had taken the precaution to carry up some
+provisions in a bag from the canoe--proceeded to prepare a meal.
+
+"Stummicks must be attended to," he murmured to himself as he moved
+about the cave-kitchen and shook his head gravely.  "Collapses in dat
+region is wuss, a long way, dan 'splosion of the eart'!"
+
+Meanwhile, Nigel and the hermit went to examine the passage leading to
+the observatory.  The eruption had evidently done nothing to it, for,
+having passed upwards without difficulty, they finally emerged upon the
+narrow ledge.
+
+The scene that burst upon their astonished gaze here was awful in the
+extreme.  It will be remembered that while the hermit's cave was on the
+southern side of Krakatoa, facing Java, the stair and passage leading to
+the observatory completely penetrated the peak of Rakata, so that when
+standing on the ledge they faced northward and were thus in full view of
+all the craters between them and Perboewatan.  These were in full blast
+at the time, and, being so near, the heat, as well as the dust, molten
+lava, and other missiles, instantly drove them back under the protection
+of the passage from which they had emerged.
+
+Here they found a small aperture which appeared to have been recently
+formed--probably by a blow from a mass of falling rock--through which
+they were able to obtain a glimpse of the pandemonium that lay seething
+below them.  They could not see much, however, owing to the smoke which
+filled the air.  The noise of the almost continuous explosions was so
+loud, that it was impossible to converse save by placing the mouth to
+the ear and shouting.  Fortunately soon after their ascent the wind
+shifted and blew smoke, fire, and dust away to the northward, enabling
+them to get out on the ledge, where for a time they remained in
+comparative safety.
+
+"Look! look at your mirrors!" exclaimed Nigel suddenly, as his wandering
+gaze happened to turn to the hermit's sun-guides.
+
+And he might well exclaim, for not only was the glass of these ingenious
+machines shivered and melted, but their iron frameworks were twisted up
+into 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 on
+which they stood was peculiarly liable to attack by the subtle and
+dangerous fluid which was darting and zigzagging everywhere among the
+rolling clouds of smoke and steam.
+
+A louder report than usual here drew their attention again to the
+tremendous scene that was going on in front of them.  The extreme summit
+of Perboewatan had been blown into a thousand fragments, which were
+hurtling upwards and crackling loudly as the smaller masses were
+impelled against each other in their skyward progress.  This crackling
+has been described by those who heard it from neighbouring shores as a
+"strange rustling sound."  To our hermit and his friend, who were, so to
+speak, in the very midst of it, the sound rather resembled the
+continuous musketry of a battle-field, while the louder explosions might
+be compared to the booming of artillery, though they necessarily lose by
+the comparison, for no invention of man ever produced sounds equal to
+those which thundered at that time from the womb of Krakatoa.
+
+Immediately after this, a fountain of molten lava at white heat welled
+up in the great throat that had been so violently widened, and,
+overflowing the edges of the crater, rolled down its sides in fiery
+rivers.  All the other craters in the island became active at the same
+moment and a number of new ones burst forth.  Indeed it seemed to those
+who watched them that if these had not opened up to give vent to the
+suppressed forces the whole island must have been blown away.  As it
+was, the sudden generation of so much excessive heat set fire to what
+remained of trees and everything combustible, so that the island
+appeared to be one vast seething conflagration, and darkness was for a
+time banished by a red glare that seemed to Nigel far more intense than
+that of noonday.
+
+It is indeed the partiality, (if we may say so), of conflagration-light
+which gives to it the character of impressive power with which we are
+all so familiar--the intense lights being here cut sharply off by
+equally intense shadows, and then grading into dull reds and duller
+greys.  The sun, on the other hand, bathes everything in its genial glow
+so completely that all nature is permeated with it, and there are no
+intense contrasts, no absolutely black and striking shadows, except in
+caverns 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 to
+say much.
+
+Even as he spoke the scene changed as if by magic, for from the cone of
+Perboewatan there issued a spout of liquid fire, followed by a roar so
+tremendous that the awe-struck men shrank within themselves, feeling as
+though that time had really come when the earth is to melt with fervent
+heat!  The entire lake of glowing lava was shot into the air, and lost
+in the clouds above, while mingled smoke and steam went bellowing after
+it, and dust fell so thickly that it seemed as if sufficient to
+extinguish the raging fires.  Whether it did so or not is uncertain.  It
+may have been that the new pall of black vapour only obscured them.  At
+all events, after the outburst the darkness of night fell suddenly on
+all around.
+
+Just then the wind again changed, and the whole mass of vapour, smoke,
+and ashes came sweeping like the very besom of destruction towards the
+giddy ledge on which the observers stood.  Nigel was so entranced that
+it is probable he might have been caught in the horrible tempest and
+lost, had not his cooler companion grasped his arm and dragged him
+violently into the passage--where they were safe, though half suffocated
+by the heat and sulphurous vapours that followed them.
+
+At the same time the thunderous roaring became so loud that conversation
+was impossible.  Van der Kemp therefore took his friend's hand and led
+him down to the cave, where the sounds were so greatly subdued as to
+seem almost a calm by contrast.
+
+"We are no doubt in great danger," said the hermit, gravely, as he sat
+down in the outer cave, "but there is no possibility of taking action
+to-night.  Here we are, whether wisely or unwisely, and here we must
+remain--at least till there is a lull in the eruption.  `God is our
+refuge.'  He ought to be so at _all_ times, but there are occasions when
+this great, and, I would add, glorious fact is pressed upon our
+understandings with unusual power.  Such a time is this.  Come--we will
+see what His word says to us just now."
+
+To Nigel's surprise, and, he afterwards confessed, to his comfort and
+satisfaction, the hermit called the negro from his work, and, taking
+down the large Bible from its shelf, read part of the 46th Psalm, "God
+is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore
+will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains
+be carried into the midst of the sea."
+
+He stopped reading at the verse where it is written, "Be still, and know
+that I am God."
+
+Then, going down on his knees,--without even the familiar formula, "Let
+us pray"--he uttered a brief but earnest prayer for guidance and
+deliverance "in the name of Jesus."
+
+Rising, he quietly put the Bible away, and, with the calmness of a
+thoroughly practical man, who looks upon religion and ordinary matters
+as parts of one grand whole, ordered Moses to serve the supper.
+
+Thus they spent part of that memorable night of 26th August 1883 in
+earnest social intercourse, conversing chiefly and naturally about the
+character, causes, and philosophy of volcanoes, while Perboewatan and
+his brethren played a rumbling, illustrative accompaniment to their
+discourse.  The situation was a peculiar one.  Even the negro was alive
+to that fact.
+
+"Ain't it koorious," he remarked solemnly in a moment of confidence
+after swallowing the last bite of his supper.  "Ain't it koorious, Massa
+Nadgel, dat we're a sottin' here comf'rably enjoyin' our wittles ober de
+mout' ob a v'licano as is quite fit to blow us all to bits an' hois' us
+into de bery middle ob next week--if not farder?"
+
+"It is strange indeed, Moses," said Nigel, who however added no
+commentary, 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 ye
+bof good-night, an' turn in."
+
+In this truly trustful as well as philosophical state of mind, the negro
+retired 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't
+think 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 question
+from his breast-pocket; "I should rather apologise to you for having
+appeared to make any mystery of it--and yet," he added, pausing as he
+was about to open the case, "I have not shown it to a living soul since
+the day that--Well, well,--why should I hesitate?  It is all I have left
+of my dead wife and child."
+
+He placed the case in the hands of Nigel, who almost sprang from his
+seat with excitement as he beheld the countenance of a little child of
+apparently three or four years of age, who so exactly resembled Kathy
+Holbein--allowing of course for the difference of age--that he had now
+no doubt whatever as to her being the hermit's lost daughter.  He was on
+the point of uttering her name, when uncertainty as to the effect the
+sudden 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.  "That
+dear child's face seems so familiar to me that I could almost fancy I
+had seen it."
+
+He looked earnestly into his friend's face as he spoke, but the hermit
+was quite unmoved, and there was not a shadow of change in the sad low
+tone of his voice as he said--
+
+"Yes, she was indeed beautiful, like her mother.  As to your fancy about
+having seen it--mankind is formed in groups and types.  We see many
+faces that resemble others."
+
+The absent look that was so common to the solitary man here overspread
+his massive features, and Nigel felt crushed, as it were, back into
+himself.  Thus, without having disclosed his belief, he retired to rest
+in a very anxious state of mind, while the hermit watched.
+
+"Don't take off your clothes," he said.  "If the sounds outside lead me
+to think things are quieting down, I will rouse you and we shall start
+at once."
+
+It was very early on the morning of the 27th when Van der Kemp roused
+our 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 hermit
+left him and went to rouse Moses.
+
+"Massa," said the faithful negro.  "Isn't you a-goin' to take nuffin'
+wid you?  None ob de books or t'ings!"
+
+"No--nothing except the old Bible.  All the rest I leave behind.  The
+canoe 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
+so intensely dark that the road could not be distinguished, but the
+hermit and his man were so familiar with it that they could have
+followed it blindfold.
+
+On reaching the cave at the harbour, some light was obtained from the
+fitful outbursts of the volcano, which enabled them to launch the canoe
+and push off in safety.  Then, without saying a word to each other, they
+coasted along the shore of the island, and, finally, leaving its dangers
+behind them, made for the island of Java--poor Spinkie sitting in his
+accustomed place and looking uncommonly subdued!
+
+Scarcely had they pushed off into Sunda Straits when the volcano burst
+out afresh.  They had happily seized on the only quiet hour that the day
+offered, and had succeeded, by the aid of the sails, in getting several
+miles from the island without receiving serious injury, although showers
+of stones and masses of rock of all sizes were falling into the sea
+around them.
+
+Van der Kemp was so far right in his prophecy that there would be no
+daylight that day.  By that time there should have been light, as it was
+nearly seven o'clock on the memorable morning of the 27th of August.
+But now, although the travellers were some miles distant from Krakatoa,
+the gloom was so impervious that Nigel, from his place in the centre of
+the canoe, could not see the form of poor Spinkie--which sat clinging to
+the mast only two feet in front of him--save when a blaze from
+Perboewatan or one of the other craters lighted up island and ocean with
+a vivid glare.
+
+At this time the sea began to run very high and the wind increased to a
+gale, so that the sails of the canoe, small though they were, had to be
+reduced.
+
+"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 the
+foresail was being reefed, Van der Kemp and the former performing the
+same duty while Nigel reefed the mainsail.
+
+Suddenly there came a brief but total cessation of the gale, though not
+of the tumultuous heaving of the waters.  During that short interval
+there burst upon the world a crash and a roar so tremendous that for a
+few 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 upheaval
+pass over land and sea to startle, more or less, the nations of the
+earth.
+
+The effect of a stupendous shock on the nervous system is curiously
+various in different individuals.  The three men who were so near to the
+volcano at that moment involuntarily looked round and saw by the lurid
+blaze that an enormous mass of Krakatoa, rent from top to bottom, was
+falling headlong into the sea; while the entire heavens were alive with
+flame, lightning, steam, smoke, and the upward-shooting fragments of the
+hideous wreck!
+
+The hermit calmly rested his paddle on the deck and gazed around in
+silent wonder.  Nigel, not less smitten with awe, held his paddle with
+an iron grasp, every muscle quivering with tension in readiness for
+instant action when the need for action should appear.  Moses, on the
+other hand, turning round from the sight with glaring eyes, resumed
+paddling with unreasoning ferocity, and gave vent at once to his
+feelings and his opinion in the sharp exclamation--"Blown to bits!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
+
+ADVENTURES OF THE "SUNSHINE" AND AN UNEXPECTED REUNION.
+
+We must request the reader to turn back now for a brief period to a very
+different scene.
+
+A considerable time before the tremendous catastrophe described in the
+last chapter--which we claim to have recorded without the slightest
+exaggeration, inasmuch as exaggeration were impossible--Captain David
+Roy, of the good brig _Sunshine_, received the letter which his son
+wrote to him while in the jungles of Sumatra.
+
+The captain was seated in the back office of a Batavian merchant at the
+time, smoking a long clay pipe--on the principle, no doubt, that
+moderate poisoning is conducive to moderate health!
+
+As he perused the letter, the captain's eyes slowly opened; so did his
+mouth, and the clay pipe, falling to the floor, was reduced to little
+pieces.  But the captain evidently cared nothing for that.  He gave
+forth a prolonged whistle, got up, smote upon his thigh, and exclaimed
+with deep-toned emphasis--
+
+"The rascal!"
+
+Then he sat down again and re-perused the letter, with a variety of
+expression 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 the
+letter and thrust it into his pocket.  "I knew there was somethin' i'
+the wind wi' that little girl!  The memory o' my own young days when I
+boarded and captured the poetess is strong upon me yet.  I saw it in the
+rascal's eye the very first time they met--an' he thinks I'm as blind as
+a 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.  The
+young dog!  He gives me orders as if he were the owner."
+
+Jumping up, Captain Roy hurried out into the street.  In passing the
+outer office he left a message with one of the clerks for his friend the
+merchant.
+
+"Tell him," he said, "that I'll attend to that little business about the
+bill when I come back.  I'm going to sail for the Keeling Islands this
+afternoon."
+
+"The Keeling Islands?" exclaimed the clerk in surprise.
+
+"Yes--I've got business to do there.  I'll be back, all bein' well, in a
+week--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 and cargo,
+was entitled to do what he pleased with his own and himself.  Then they
+descended, and he went on with his work, amusing himself with the
+thought that the most curious beings in the world were seafaring men.
+
+"Mr Moor," said the captain somewhat excitedly, as he reached the deck
+of 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 afternoon
+for the Keeling Islands."
+
+"Very well, sir."
+
+Mr Moor was a phlegmatic man; a self-contained and a reticent man.  If
+Captain Roy had told him to get ready to sail to the moon that
+afternoon, he would probably have said "Very well, sir," in the same
+tone 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 on
+board might be necessary for the reception of that to be picked up at
+Keeling.
+
+"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 went
+into details so highly nautical that we shrink from recording them.  An
+amateur detective, in the form of a shipmate, having captured Jim
+Sloper, the _Sunshine_ finally cleared out of the port of Batavia that
+evening, shortly before its namesake took his departure from that part
+of the southern hemisphere.
+
+Favouring gales carried the brig swiftly through Sunda Straits and out
+into the Indian Ocean.  Two days and a half brought her to the desired
+haven.  On the way, Captain Roy took note of the condition of Krakatoa,
+which at that time was quietly working up its subterranean forces with a
+view to the final catastrophe; opening a safety-valve now and then to
+prevent, as it were, premature explosion.
+
+"My son's friend, the hermit of Rakata," said the captain to his second
+mate, "will find his cave too hot to hold him, I think, when he
+returns."
+
+"Looks like it, sir," said Mr Moor, glancing up at the vast clouds
+which were at that time spreading like a black pall over the re-awakened
+volcano.  "Do you expect 'em back soon, sir?"
+
+"Yes--time's about up now.  I shouldn't wonder if they reach Batavia
+before us."
+
+Arrived at the Keeling Islands, Captain Roy was received, as usual, with
+acclamations of joy, but he found that he was by no means as well fitted
+to act the part of a diplomatist as he was to sail a ship.  It was, in
+truth, a somewhat delicate mission on which his son had sent him, for he
+could not assert definitely that the hermit actually was Kathleen
+Holbein's father, and her self-constituted parents did not relish the
+idea of letting slip, on a mere chance, one whom they loved as a
+daughter.
+
+"Why not bring this man who claims to be her father _here_?" asked the
+perplexed 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 his
+son's orders.  "Besides," he continued, "the man does not claim to be
+anything at all.  So far as I understand it, my boy has not spoken to
+him on the subject, for fear, I suppose, of raisin' hopes that ain't to
+be realised."
+
+"He is right in that," said Mrs Holbein, "and we must be just as
+careful 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
+about it."
+
+"Right you are, madam," returned the captain.  "Mum's the word; and
+we've only got to say she's goin' to visit one of your old friends in
+Anjer--which'll be quite true, you know, for the landlady o' the chief
+hotel there is a great friend o' yours, and we'll take Kathy to her
+straight.  Besides, the trip will do her health a power o' good, though
+I'm free to confess it don't need no good to be done to it, bein' A1 at
+the 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, if
+he's _him_; without him if he isn't."
+
+With such persuasive words Captain Roy at length overcame the Holbein
+objections.  With the girl herself he had less difficulty, his chief
+anxiety being, as he himself said, "to give her reasons for wishin' her
+to go without tellin' lies."
+
+"Wouldn't you like a trip in my brig to Anjer, my dear girl?"  He had
+almost said daughter, but thought it best not to be too precipitate.
+
+"Oh!  I should like it _so_ much," said Kathleen, clasping her little
+hands and raising her large eyes to the captain's face.
+
+"_Dear_ child!" said the captain to himself.  Then aloud, "Well, I'll
+take 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 rough
+hand on her pretty little head as if in an act of solemn appropriation,
+for, unlike too many fathers, this exemplary man considered only the
+sweetness, goodness, and personal worth of the girl, caring not a straw
+for other matters, and being strongly of opinion that a man should marry
+young if he possess the spirit of a man or the means to support a wife.
+As he was particularly fond of Kathleen, and felt quite sure that his
+son had deeper reasons than he chose to express for his course of
+action, he entertained a strong hope, not to say conviction, that she
+would also become fond of Nigel, and that all things would thus work
+together 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 _Sunshine_
+set sail once more for Sunda Straits in a measure of outward gloom that
+formed a powerful contrast to the sunny hopes within her commander's
+bosom, for Krakatoa was at that time progressing rapidly towards the
+consummation of its designs, as partly described in the last chapter.
+
+Short though that voyage was, it embraced a period of action so
+thrilling that ever afterwards it seemed a large slice of life's little
+day to those who went through it.
+
+We have said that the culminating incidents of the drama began on the
+night of the 26th.  Before that time, however, the cloud-pall was fast
+spreading over land and sea, and the rain of pumice and ashes had begun
+to descend.
+
+The wind being contrary, it was several days before the brig reached the
+immediate neighbourhood of Krakatoa, and by that time the volcano had
+begun to enter upon the stage which is styled by vulcanologists
+"paroxysmal," the explosions being extremely violent as well as
+frequent.
+
+"It is very awful," said Kathleen in a low voice, as she clasped the
+captain's arm and leaned her slight figure on it.  "I have often heard
+the thunder of distant volcanoes, but never been so near as to hear such
+terrible 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 some
+ground 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 taught
+you 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 their
+minds to other subjects.  They were by that time drawing near to the
+island, and the thunders of the eruption seemed to shake not only the
+heavens but even the great ocean itself.  Though the hour was not much
+past noon the darkness soon became so dense that it was difficult to
+perceive objects a few yards distant, and, as pieces of stone the size
+of walnuts, or even larger, began to fall on the deck, the captain sent
+Kathleen below.
+
+"There's no saying where or when a big stone may fall, my girl," he
+said, "and it's not the habit of Englishmen to let women come under
+fire, so you'll be safer below.  Besides, you'll be able to see
+something of 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 the
+hatches 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 the
+second 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 have
+said, all nature seemed to be steeped in thick darkness, at other times
+the fires of the volcano blazed upward, spreading a red glare on the
+rolling clouds and over the heaving sea.  Lightning also played its part
+as well as thunder, but the latter was scarcely distinguishable from the
+volcano's roar.  Three days before Sunday the 26th of August, Captain
+Roy--as well as the crews of several other vessels that were in Sunda
+Straits at the time--had observed a marked though gradual increase in
+the violence of the eruption.  On that day, as we read in the _Report of
+the Krakatoa Committee of the Royal Society_, about 1 p.m. the
+detonations caused by the explosive action attained such violence as to
+be heard at Batavia, about 100 English miles away.  At 2 p.m. of the
+same day, Captain Thompson of the _Medea_, when about 76 miles
+east-north-east of the island, saw a black mass rising like clouds of
+smoke to a height which has been estimated at no less than 17 miles!
+And the detonations were at that time taking place at intervals of ten
+minutes.  But, terrible though these explosions must have been, they
+were but as the whisperings of the volcano.  An hour later they had
+increased so much as to be heard at Bandong and other places 150 miles
+away, and at 5 p.m. they had become so tremendous as to be heard over
+the whole island of Java, the eastern portion of which is about 650
+miles from Krakatoa.
+
+And the sounds thus heard were not merely like distant thunder.  In
+Batavia--although, as we have said, 100 miles off--they were so violent
+during the whole of that terrible Sunday night as to prevent the people
+from sleeping.  They were compared to the "discharge of artillery close
+at hand," and caused a rattling of doors, windows, pictures, and
+chandeliers.
+
+Captain Watson of the _Charles Bal_, who chanced to be only 10 miles
+south of the volcano, also compared the sounds to discharges of
+artillery, but this only shows the feebleness of ordinary language in
+attempting to describe such extraordinary sounds, for if they were
+comparable to close artillery at Batavia, the same comparison is
+inappropriate at only ten miles' distance.  He also mentions the
+crackling noise, probably due to the impact of fragments in the
+atmosphere, which were noticed by the hermit and Nigel while standing
+stunned and almost stupefied on the giddy ledge of Rakata that same
+Sunday.
+
+About five in the evening of that day, the brig _Sunshine_ drew still
+nearer to the island, but the commotion at the time became so intense,
+and the intermittent darkness so profound, that Captain Roy was afraid
+to continue the voyage and shortened sail.  Not only was there a heavy
+rolling sea, but the water was seething, as if about to boil.
+
+"Heave the lead, Mr Moor," said the captain, who stood beside the
+wheel.
+
+"Yes, sir," answered the imperturbable second mate, who thereupon gave
+the necessary order, and when the depth was ascertained, the report was
+"Ten fathoms, sand, with a hot 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 a
+comfort to know that it can't very well blaze up as long as the sea
+lasts!"
+
+Just then a rain of pumice in large pieces, and quite warm, began to
+fall upon the deck.  As most people know, pumice is extremely light, so
+that no absolute injury was done to any one, though such rain was
+excessively trying.  Soon, however, a change took place.  The dense
+vapours and dust-clouds which had rendered it so excessively dark were
+entirely lighted up from time to time by fierce flashes of lightning
+which rent as well as painted them in all directions.  At one time this
+great mass of clouds presented the appearance of an immense pine-tree
+with the stem and branches formed of volcanic lightning.
+
+Captain Roy, fearing that these tremendous sights and sounds would
+terrify the poor girl in the cabin, was about to look in and reassure
+her, when the words "Oh! how splendid!" came through the slightly opened
+door.  He peeped in and saw Kathleen on her knees on the stern locker,
+with her hands clasped, gazing out of one of the stern windows.
+
+"Hm! she's all right," he muttered, softly re-closing the door and
+returning on deck.  "If she thinks it's splendid, she don't need no
+comfortin'!  It's quite clear that she don't know what danger means--and
+why should she?  Humph! there go some more splendid sights for her," he
+added, as what appeared to be chains of fire ascended from the volcano
+to the sky.
+
+Just then a soft rain began to fall.  It was warm, and, on examination
+at the binnacle-lamp, turned out to be mud.  Slight at first, it soon
+poured down in such quantities that in ten minutes it lay six inches
+thick on the deck, and the crew had to set to work with shovels to heave
+it overboard.  At this time there was seen a continual roll of balls of
+white fire down the sides of the peak of Rakata, caused, doubtless, by
+the ejection of white-hot fragments of lava.  Then showers of masses
+like iron cinders fell on the brig, and from that time onward till four
+o'clock of the morning of the 27th, explosions of indescribable grandeur
+continually took place, as if the mountains were in a continuous roar of
+terrestrial agony--the sky being at one moment of inky blackness, the
+next in a blaze of light, while hot, choking, and sulphurous smells
+almost stifled the voyagers.
+
+At this point the captain again became anxious about Kathleen and went
+below.  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't_ tell me to go to bed!"
+
+It was evident that poor Kathy had the duty of obedience to authority
+still strong upon her.  Perhaps the memory of the Holbein nursery had
+not yet been wiped out.
+
+"Well, well," said the captain with a pathetic smile, "you are as safe--
+comfortable, I mean--here as in your berth or anywhere else."
+
+As there was a lull in the violence of the eruption just then, the
+captain left Kathleen in the cabin and went on deck.  It was not known
+at that time what caused this lull, but as it preceded the first of the
+four grand explosions which effectually eviscerated--emptied--the
+ancient crater of Krakatoa, we will give, briefly, the explanation of it
+as conjectured by the men of science.
+
+Lying as it did so close to the sea-level, the Krakatoa volcano, having
+blown away all its cones, and vents, and safety-valves--from Perboewatan
+southward, except the peak of Rakata--let the sea rush in upon its
+infernal fires.  This result, ordinary people think, produced a gush of
+steam which caused the grand terminal explosions.  Vulcanologists think
+otherwise, and with reason--which is more than can be said of ordinary
+people, who little know the power of the forces at work below the crust
+of our earth!  The steam thus produced, although on so stupendous a
+scale, was free to expand and therefore went upwards, no doubt in a
+sufficiently effective gust and cloud.  But nothing worthy of being
+named a blow-up was there.
+
+The effect of the in-rushing water was to cool the upper surface of the
+boiling lava and convert it into a thick hard solid crust at the mouth
+of the great vent.  In this condition the volcano resembled a boiler
+with all points of egress closed and the safety-valve shut down!  Oceans
+of molten lava creating expansive gases below; no outlet possible
+underneath, and the neck of the bottle corked with tons of solid rock!
+One of two things must happen in such circumstances: the cork must go or
+the bottle must burst!  Both events happened on that terrible night.
+All night long the corks were going, and at last--Krakatoa burst!
+
+In the hurly-burly of confusion, smoke, and noise, no eye could note the
+precise moment when the island was shattered, but there were on the
+morning of the 27th four supreme explosions, which rang loud and high
+above the horrible average din.  These occurred--according to the
+careful investigations made, at the instance of the Dutch Indian
+Government, by the eminent geologist, Mr R.D.M. Verbeek--at the hours
+of 5:30, 6:44, 10:02, and 10:52 in the morning.  Of these the third,
+about 10, was by far the worst for violence and for the widespread
+devastation which it produced.
+
+At each of these explosions a tremendous sea-wave was created by the
+volcano, which swept like a watery ring from Krakatoa as a centre to the
+surrounding shores.  It was at the second of these explosions--that of
+6:44--that the fall of the mighty cliff took place which was seen by the
+hermit and his friends as they fled from the island, and, on the crest
+of the resulting wave, were carried along they scarce knew whither.
+
+As the previous wave--that of 5:30--had given the brig a tremendous
+heave upwards, the captain, on hearing the second, ran down below for a
+moment to tell Kathleen there would soon be another wave, but that she
+need fear no danger.
+
+"The brig is deep and has a good hold o' the water," he said, "so the
+wave is sure to slip under her without damage.  I wish I could hope it
+would do as little damage when it reaches the shore."
+
+As he spoke a strange and violent crash was heard overhead, quite
+different from volcanic explosions, like the falling of some heavy body
+on the deck.
+
+"One o' the yards down!" muttered the captain as he ran to the cabin
+door.  "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 so
+unlike his wonted tone, and so full of genuine surprise, that the
+captain ran forward with unusual haste, and found a canoe smashed to
+pieces against the foremast, and the mate held a lantern close to the
+face of one of the men while the crew were examining the others.
+
+A single glance told the captain that the mud-bespattered figure that
+lay before him as if dead was none other than his own son!  The great
+wave had caught the frail craft on its crest, and, sweeping it along
+with lightning speed for a short distance, had hurled it on the deck of
+the _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 can
+say is that we could tell you of another--a double-coincidence, which
+was far more extraordinary than this one, but as it has nothing to do
+with our tale we refrain from inflicting it on you.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.
+
+A CLIMAX.
+
+Three of those who had tumbled thus unceremoniously on the deck of the
+_Sunshine_ were soon sufficiently recovered to sit up and look around in
+dazed astonishment--namely Nigel, Moses, and the monkey--but the hermit
+still lay prone where he had been cast, with a pretty severe wound on
+his 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 whispering
+into his son's ear.  "We've got _her_ aboard!"
+
+No treatment could have been more effectual in bringing Nigel to his
+senses 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' to
+carry below.  Put 'im in my bunk, Mr Moor."
+
+"Ay ay, sir."
+
+Nigel sprang up.  "Stay, father," he said in a low voice.  "_She_ must
+not see him for the first time like this."
+
+"All right, boy.  I understand.  You leave that to me.  My bunk has bin
+shifted for'id--more amidships--an' Kathy's well aft.  They shan't be
+let run foul of each other.  You go an' rest on the main hatch till we
+get him down.  Why, here's a nigger!  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
+blown to 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's
+a'most used up--hallo! what you gwine to do with massa?" demanded the
+negro, whose wandering faculties had only in part returned.
+
+"He's gone below.  All right.  Now, you go and lie down beside my son on
+the hatch.  I'll--see to Van der Kemp."
+
+But Captain David Roy's intentions, like those of many men of greater
+note, were frustrated by the hermit himself, who recovered consciousness
+just as the four men who carried him reached the foot of the
+companion-ladder close to the cabin door.  Owing to the deeper than
+midnight darkness that prevailed a lamp was burning in the cabin--dimly,
+as if, infected by the universal chaos, it were unwilling to enlighten
+the surrounding gloom.
+
+On recovering consciousness Van der Kemp was, not unnaturally, under the
+impression that he had fallen into the hands of foes.  With one
+effectual convulsion of his powerful limbs he scattered his bearers
+right and left, and turning--like all honest men--to the light, he
+sprang into the cabin, wrenched a chair from its fastenings, and, facing
+round, stood at bay.
+
+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 set
+down 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 your
+wounded head," said the captain soothingly.
+
+"Thanks, thanks.  Your voice is not unfamiliar to me," returned the
+hermit with a sigh, as he submitted to the operation.  "I thought I had
+fallen somehow into the hands of pirates.  Surely an accident must have
+happened.  How did I get here?  Where are my comrades--Nigel and the
+negro?"
+
+"My son Nigel is all right, sir, and so is your man Moses.  Make your
+mind easy--an' pray don't speak while I'm working at you.  I'll explain
+it all in good time.  Stay, I'll be with you in a moment."
+
+The captain--fearing that Kathleen might come out from curiosity to see
+what was going on, and remembering his son's injunction--went to the
+girl's berth with the intention of ordering her to keep close until he
+should give her leave to come out.  Opening the door softly and looking
+in, he was startled, almost horrified, to see Kathleen standing
+motionless like a statue, with both hands pressed tightly over her
+heart.  The colour had fled from her beautiful face; her long hair was
+flung back; her large lustrous eyes were wide open and her lips slightly
+parted, as if her whole being had been concentrated in eager expectancy.
+
+"What's wrong, my girl?" asked the captain anxiously.  "You've no cause
+for fear.  I just looked in to--."
+
+"That voice!" exclaimed Kathleen, with something of awe in her
+tones--"Oh!  I've heard it so often in my dreams."
+
+"Hush! shush! my girl," said the captain in a low tone, looking
+anxiously round at the wounded man.  But his precautions were
+unavailing,--Van der Kemp had also heard a voice which he thought had
+long been silent in death.  The girl's expression was almost repeated in
+his face.  Before the well-meaning mariner could decide what to do,
+Kathleen brushed lightly past 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 piercing
+shriek, she staggered backward, and would have fallen had not the
+captain 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 and
+Moses, alarmed by the scream, sprang into the cabin.
+
+"Come, come; away wi' you--you stoopid grampusses!" cried the captain,
+pushing the intruders out of the cabin, following them, and closing the
+door behind him.  "This is no place for bunglers like you an' me.  We
+might have known that natur' would have her way, an' didn't need no help
+from the like o' us.  Let's on deck.  There's enough work there to look
+after that's better suited to us."
+
+Truly there was enough--and more than enough--to claim the most anxious
+attention of all who were on board of the _Sunshine_ that morning, for
+hot mud was still falling in showers on the deck, and the thunders 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 so
+earnestly that they failed to notice at first that the hermit had come
+on deck, found a shovel, and was working away like the rest of them.
+The frequent and prolonged blazes of intense light that ever and anon
+banished the darkness showed that on his face there sat an expression of
+calm, settled, triumphant joy, which was strangely mingled with a look
+of quiet humility.
+
+"I thank God for this," said Nigel, going forward when he observed him
+and grasping his hand.
+
+"You knew it?" exclaimed the hermit in surprise.
+
+"Yes.  I knew it--indeed, helped to bring you together, but did not dare
+to tell you till I was quite sure.  I had hoped to have you meet in very
+different circumstances."
+
+"`It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps,'" returned the
+hermit reverently.  "God bless you, Nigel.  If you have even aimed at
+bringing this about, I owe you _more_ than my life."
+
+"You must have lost a good deal of blood, Van der Kemp.  Are you much
+hurt?" 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 induced
+the captain at this time to lay-to.
+
+"It seems to me," he said to Nigel and the hermit who stood close beside
+him, "that we are getting too near shore.  But in cases o' this kind the
+bottom 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 of
+answering 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 measure
+of confidence in those around him.
+
+Another moment, and the rattling chain caused a tremor through the
+vessel, which ceased when the anchor touched bottom, and they rode head
+to wind.
+
+Coruscations of bluish light seemed to play about the masts, and balls
+of electric fire tipped the yards, throwing for a short time a ghastly
+sheen over the ship and crew, for the profound darkness had again
+settled down, owing, no doubt, to another choking of the Krakatoa vent.
+
+Before the light referred to went out, Moses was struck violently on the
+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
+desperation the poor monkey had found a temporary refuge, the electric
+fire showed him 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 forest stood him in good stead at that crisis!  As
+already said he hit the mark fairly, and clung to Moses with a tenacity
+that was born of mingled love and desperation.  Finding that nothing
+short of cruelty would unfix his little 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 referred
+to, had by that time taken place, but the third, and worst--that which
+occurred about 10 a.m.--was yet in store for them, though they knew it
+not, and a lull in the roar, accompanied by thicker darkness than ever,
+was its precursor.  There was not, however, any lull in the violence of
+the wind.
+
+"I don't like these lulls," said Captain Roy to the hermit, as they
+stood close to the binnacle, in the feeble light of its lamp.  "What is
+that striking against our sides, Mr Moor?"
+
+"Looks like floating pumice, sir," answered the second mate, "and I
+think I see palm-trees amongst it."
+
+"Ay, I thought so, we must be close to land," said the captain.  "We
+can't be far from Anjer, and I fear the big waves that have already
+passed 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
+to see things better."
+
+While the barrel was being fastened to a spar so as to be thrust well
+out beyond the side of the brig, Van der Kemp descended the companion
+and opened the cabin door.
+
+"Come up now, Winnie, darling."
+
+"Yes, father," was the reply, as the poor girl, who had been anxiously
+awaiting the summons, glided out and clasped her father's arm with both
+hands.  "Are things quieting down?"
+
+"They are, a little.  It may be temporary, but--Our Father directs it
+all."
+
+"True, father.  I'm _so_ glad of that!"
+
+"Mind the step, we shall have more light on deck.  There is a friend
+there who has just told me he met you on the Cocos-Keeling Island, Nigel
+Roy;--you start, Winnie?"
+
+"Y-yes, father.  I am _so_ surprised, for it is _his_ father who sails
+this 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 that
+you and I have been brought together, but there is mystery about it that
+I don't yet understand; much has to be explained, and this assuredly is
+not 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 he grasped
+her hand.  "I cannot tell you how thankful I am that this has been
+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 low
+tone.  "You'd better send the young lady below--or get some one to take
+up her attention just now."
+
+"Here, Nigel.  Sit down under the lee of the companion, an' tell Kathy
+how this all came about," said the captain, promptly, as if issuing
+nautical orders.  "I want you here, Van der Kemp."
+
+So saying, the captain, followed by the hermit, went with the second
+mate to the place where the flaming tar-barrel was casting a lurid glare
+upon the troubled sea.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
+
+"BLOWN TO BITS."
+
+The sight that met their eyes was well calculated to shock and sadden
+men of much less tender feeling than Van der Kemp and Captain Roy.
+
+The water had assumed an appearance of inky blackness, and large masses
+of pumice were floating past, among which were numerous dead bodies of
+men, women, and children, intermingled with riven trees, fences, and
+other wreckage from the land, showing that the two great waves which had
+already passed under the vessel had caused terrible devastation on some
+parts of the shore.  To add to the horror of the scene large sea-snakes
+were seen swimming wildly about, as if seeking to escape from the novel
+dangers 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
+lower a 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 get
+your foresail ready to hoist at a moment's notice, and let them stand by
+to 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.  "This
+lull will only last until the imprisoned fires overcome the block in the
+crater, and the longer it lasts the worse will be the explosion.  From
+my knowledge of the coast I feel sure that we are close to the town of
+Anjer.  If another wave like the last comes while we are here, it will
+not slip under your brig like the last one.  It will tear her from her
+anchor 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 know
+what you say must be true, for in shoal water such a wave will surely
+carry all before it.  But are you certain there will be another
+explosion?"
+
+"No man can be sure of that.  If the last explosion emptied the crater
+there will be no more.  If it did not, another explosion is certain.
+All I advise is that you should be ready for whatever is coming, and
+ready to 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 and
+Nigel on the quarterdeck, and conversed with the latter in a low voice,
+while he drew the former to his side with his strong arm.  Captain Roy
+himself grasped the wheel and the men stood at their various stations
+ready for action.
+
+"Let no man act without orders, whatever happens," said the captain in a
+deep powerful voice which was heard over the whole ship, for the lull
+that we have mentioned extended in some degree to the gale as well as to
+the volcano.  Every one felt that some catastrophe was pending.
+
+"Winnie, darling," said the hermit tenderly, as he bent down to see the
+sweet face that had been restored to him.  "I greatly fear that there is
+soon to be another explosion, and it may be His will that we shall
+perish, but comfort yourself with the certainty that no hair of your
+dear head can fall without His permission--and in any event He will not
+fail 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 be
+that, 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 in
+a burst of enthusiasm.
+
+It seemed as if death were indeed to be the immediate portion of all on
+board the _Sunshine_, for a few minutes later there came a crash,
+followed by a spout of smoke, fire, steam, and molten lava, compared to
+which all that had gone before seemed insignificant!
+
+The crash was indescribable!  As we have said elsewhere, the sound of it
+was heard many hundreds of miles from the seat of the volcano, and its
+effects were seen and felt right round the world.
+
+The numerous vents which had previously been noticed on Krakatoa must at
+that moment have been blown into one, and the original crater of the old
+volcano--said to have been about six miles in diameter--must have
+resumed its destructive work.  All the eye-witnesses who were near the
+spot at the time, and sufficiently calm to take note of the terrific
+events of that morning, are agreed as to the splendour of the electrical
+phenomena displayed during this paroxysmal outburst.  One who, at the
+time, was forty miles distant speaks of the great vapour-cloud looking
+"like an immense wall or blood-red curtain with edges of all shades of
+yellow, and bursts of forked lightning at times rushing like large
+serpents through the air."  Another says that "Krakatoa appeared to be
+alight with flickering flames rising behind a dense black cloud."  A
+third recorded that "the lightning struck the mainmast conductor five or
+six times," and that "the mud-rain which covered the decks was
+phosphorescent, while the rigging presented the appearance of Saint
+Elmo's fire."
+
+It may be remarked here, in passing, that giant steam-jets rushing
+through the orifices of the earth's crust constitute an enormous
+hydro-electric engine; and the friction of ejected materials striking
+against each other in ascending and descending also generates
+electricity, which accounts to some extent for the electrical condition
+of the atmosphere.
+
+In these final and stupendous outbursts the volcano was expending its
+remaining force in breaking up and ejecting the solid lava which
+constituted its framework, and not in merely vomiting forth the
+lava-froth, or pumice, which had characterised the earlier stages of the
+eruption.  In point of fact--as was afterwards clearly ascertained by
+careful soundings and estimates, taking the average height of the
+missing portion at 700 feet above water, and the depth at 300 feet below
+it--two-thirds of the island were blown entirely off the face of the
+earth.  The mass had covered an area of nearly six miles, and is
+estimated as being equal to one and one-eighth cubic miles of solid
+matter which, as Moses expressed it, was blown to bits!
+
+If this had been all, it would have been enough to claim the attention
+and excite the wonder of the intelligent world--but this was not nearly
+all, as we shall see, for saddest of all the incidents connected with
+the eruption is the fact that upwards of thirty-six thousand human
+beings lost their lives.  The manner in which that terrible loss
+occurred shall be shown by the future adventures of the _Sunshine_.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.
+
+THE FATE OF THE "SUNSHINE."
+
+Stunned at first, for a few minutes, by the extreme violence of the
+explosion, no one on board the _Sunshine_ spoke, though each man stood
+at his post ready to act.
+
+"Strange," said the captain at last.  "There seems to be no big wave
+this time."
+
+"That only shows that we are not as near the island as we thought.  But
+it 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, and
+looking anxiously out ahead saw a faint line of foam in the thick
+darkness which had succeeded the explosion.  Already the distant roar of
+the 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.
+
+Next moment came the sharp order to hoist the foretopsail and jib, soon
+followed by "Cut the cable!"
+
+There was breeze enough to swing the vessel quickly round.  In a few
+seconds her stern was presented to the coming wave, and her bow cleft
+the 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 have
+reached the shore before the wave would have been fatal to all.  Their
+only hope lay in the possibility of riding in on the top of it, and the
+great danger was that they should be unable to rise to it stern first
+when it came up, or that they should turn broadside on and be rolled
+over.
+
+They had not long to wait.  The size of the wave, before it came near
+enough to be seen, was indicated by its solemn, deep-toned,
+ever-increasing roar.  The captain stood at the wheel himself, guiding
+the brig and glancing back from time to time uneasily.
+
+Suddenly the volcano gave vent to its fourth and final explosion.  It
+was not so violent as its predecessors had been, though more so than any
+that had occurred on the day before, and the light of it showed them the
+full terrors of their situation, for it revealed the mountains of Java--
+apparently quite close in front, though in reality at a considerable
+distance--with a line of breakers beating white on the shore.  But
+astern of them was the most appalling sight, for there, rushing on with
+awful speed and a sort of hissing roar, came the monstrous wave,
+emerging, as it were, out of thick darkness, like a mighty wall of water
+with a foaming white crest, not much less--according to an average of
+the most reliable estimates--than 100 feet high.
+
+Well might the seamen blanch, for never before in all their varied
+experience had they seen the like of that.
+
+On it came with the unwavering force of Fate.  To the eye of Captain Roy
+it appeared that up its huge towering side no vessel made by mortal man
+could climb.  But the captain had too often stared death in the face to
+be unmanned by the prospect now.  Steadily he steered the vessel
+straight on, 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
+the unwonted sight, some had neglected the needful precaution.
+
+As the billow came on, the bubbling, leaping, and seething of its crest
+was apparent both to eye and ear.  Then the roar became tremendous.
+
+"Darling Winnie," said Nigel at that moment.  "I will die for you or
+with you!"
+
+The poor girl heard, but no sign of appreciation moved her pale face as
+she gazed up at the approaching chaos of waters.
+
+Next moment the brig seemed to stand on its bows.  Van der Kemp had
+placed his daughter against the mast, and, throwing his long arms round
+both, held on.  Nigel, close to them, had grasped a handful of ropes,
+and every one else was holding on for life.  Another moment and the brig
+rose as if it were being tossed up to the heavens.  Immediately
+thereafter it resumed its natural position in a perfect wilderness of
+foam.  They were on the summit of the great wave, which was so large
+that its crest seemed like a broad, rounded mass of tumbling snow with
+blackness before and behind, while the roar of the tumult was deafening.
+The brig rushed onward at a speed which she had never before equalled
+even in the fiercest gale--tossed hither and thither by the leaping
+foam, yet always kept going straight onward by the expert steering of
+her captain.
+
+"Come aft--all of you!" he shouted, when it was evident that the vessel
+was being borne surely forward on the wave's crest.  "The masts will go
+for certain when we strike."
+
+The danger of being entangled in the falling spars and cordage was so
+obvious 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 of
+blood, coupled with exertion, was unable to do anything but hold on.
+Indeed, he failed even in that, and would have fallen to the deck had
+Nigel 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 to
+the wheel, of which and of Captain Roy she laid firm hold, while Nigel
+lifted the hermit in his arms and staggered to the same spot.  Winnie
+knelt beside him immediately, and, forgetting for the moment all the
+horrors around her, busied herself in replacing the bandage which had
+been loosened from his head.
+
+"Oh!  Mr Roy, save him!--save him!" cried the poor child, appealing in
+an agony to Nigel, for she felt instinctively that when the crash came
+her father would be utterly helpless even to save himself.
+
+Nigel had barely time to answer when a wild shout from the crew caused
+him to start up and look round.  A flare from the volcano had cast a red
+light over the bewildering scene, and revealed the fact that the brig
+was no longer above the ocean's bed, but was passing in its wild career
+right through, or rather _over_, the demolished town of Anjer.  A few of
+the houses that had been left standing by the previous waves were being
+swept--hurled--away by this one, but the mass of rolling, rushing,
+spouting water was so deep, that the vessel had as yet struck nothing
+save the tops of some palm-trees which bent their heads like straws
+before the flood.
+
+Even in the midst of the amazement, alarm, and anxiety caused by the
+situation, Nigel could not help wondering that in this final and
+complete destruction of the town no sign of struggling human beings
+should be visible.  He forgot at the moment, what was terribly proved
+afterwards, that the first waves had swallowed up men, women, and
+children by hundreds, and that the few who survived had fled to the
+hills, leaving nothing for the larger wave to do but complete the work
+of devastation on inanimate objects.  Ere the situation had been well
+realised the volcanic fires went down again, and left the world, for
+over a hundred surrounding miles, in opaque darkness.  Only the humble
+flicker of the binnacle-light, like a trusty sentinel on duty, continued
+to shed its feeble rays on a few feet of the deck, and showed that the
+compass at least was still faithful to the pole!
+
+Then another volcanic outburst revealed the fact that the wave which
+carried them was thundering on in the direction of a considerable cliff
+or precipice--not indeed quite straight towards it, but sufficiently so
+to render escape doubtful.
+
+At the same time a swarm of terror-stricken people were seen flying
+towards this cliff and clambering up its steep sides.  They were
+probably some of the more courageous of the inhabitants who had summoned
+courage to return to their homes after the passage of the second wave.
+Their shrieks and cries could be heard above even the roaring of the
+water and the detonations of the volcano.
+
+"God spare us!" exclaimed poor Winnie, whose trembling form was now
+partially supported by Nigel.
+
+As she spoke darkness again obscured everything, and they could do
+naught but listen to the terrible sounds--and pray.
+
+On--on went the _Sunshine_, in the midst of wreck and ruin, on this
+strange voyage over land and water, until a check was felt.  It was not
+a crash as had been anticipated, and as might have naturally been
+expected, neither was it an abrupt stoppage.  There was first a hissing,
+scraping sound against the vessel's sides, then a steady checking--we
+might almost say a hindrance to progress--not violent, yet so very
+decided that the rigging could not bear the strain.  One and another of
+the backstays parted, the foretopsail burst with a cannon-like report,
+after which a terrible rending sound, followed by an indescribable
+crash, told that both masts had gone by the board.
+
+Then all was comparatively still--comparatively we say, for water still
+hissed and leaped beneath them like a rushing river, though it no longer
+roared, and the wind blew in unfamiliar strains and laden with unwonted
+odours.
+
+At that moment another outburst of Krakatoa revealed the fact that the
+great wave had borne the brig inland for upwards of a mile, and left her
+imbedded in a thick grove of cocoa-nut palms!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
+
+TELLS CHIEFLY OF THE WONDERFUL EFFECTS OF THIS ERUPTION ON THE WORLD AT
+LARGE.
+
+The great explosions of that morning had done more damage and had
+achieved results more astounding than lies in the power of language
+adequately 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, two
+houses, and a dozen boats--went down to the beach about six on the
+morning of that fateful 27th of August.  He had naturally been impressed
+by the night of the 26th, though, accustomed as he was to volcanic
+eruptions, he felt no apprehensions as to the safety of the town.  He
+went to look to the moorings of his boats, leaving his family of seven
+behind him.  While engaged in this work he observed a wave of immense
+size approaching.  He leaped into one of his boats, which was caught up
+by the wave and swept inland, carrying its owner there in safety.  But
+this was the wave that sealed the doom of the town and most of its
+inhabitants, including the hotel-keeper's family and all that he
+possessed.
+
+This is one only out of thousands of cases of bereavement and
+destruction.
+
+A lighthouse-keeper was seated in his solitary watch-tower, speculating,
+doubtless, on the probable continuance of such a violent outbreak, while
+his family and mates--accustomed to sleep in the midst of elemental
+war--were resting peacefully in the rooms below, when one of the mighty
+waves suddenly appeared, thundered past, and swept the lighthouse with
+all its inhabitants away.
+
+This shows but one of the many disasters to lighthouses in Sunda
+Straits.
+
+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 its
+anchorage, and carried it--like the vessel of our friend David Roy--
+nearly two miles inland!  Masses of coral of immense size and weight
+were carried four miles inland by the same wave.  The river at Anjer was
+choked up; the conduit which used to carry water into the place was
+destroyed, and the town itself was laid in ruins.
+
+But these are only a few of the incidents of the great catastrophe.  Who
+can conceive, much less tell of, those terrible details of sudden death
+and disaster to thousands of human beings, resulting from an eruption
+which destroyed towns like Telok Betong, Anjer, Tyringin, etcetera,
+besides numerous villages and hamlets on the shores of Java and Sumatra,
+and caused the destruction of more than 36,000 souls?
+
+But it is to results of a very different kind, and on a much more
+extended scale, that we must turn if we would properly estimate the
+magnitude, the wide-spreading and far-reaching influences, and the
+extraordinary character, of the Krakatoa outburst of 1883.
+
+In the first place, it is a fact, testified to by some of the best-known
+men of science, that the shock of the explosion extended _appreciably_
+right round the world, and seventeen miles, (some say even higher!) up
+into the heavens.
+
+Mr Verbeek, in his treatise on this subject, estimates that a cubic
+mile of Krakatoa was propelled in the form of the finest dust into the
+higher regions of the atmosphere--probably about thirty miles!  The dust
+thus sent into the sky was of "ultra-microscopic fineness," and it
+travelled round and round the world in a westerly direction, producing
+those extraordinary sunsets and gorgeous effects and afterglows which
+became visible in the British Isles in the month of November following
+the eruption; and the mighty waves which caused such destruction in the
+vicinity of Sunda Straits travelled--not once, but at least--six times
+round the globe, as was proved by trustworthy and independent
+observations of tide-gauges and barometers made and recorded at the same
+time in nearly all lands--including our own.
+
+Other volcanoes, it is said by those who have a right to speak in regard
+to such matters, have ejected more "stuff," but not one has equalled
+Krakatoa in the intensity of its explosions, the appalling results of
+the sea-waves, the wonderful effects in the sky, and the almost
+miraculous nature of the sounds.
+
+Seated on a log under a palm-tree in Batavia, on that momentous morning
+of the 27th, was a sailor who had been left behind sick by Captain Roy
+when he went on his rather Quixotic trip to the Keeling Islands.  He was
+a somewhat delicate son of the sea.  Want of self-restraint was his
+complaint--leading to a surfeit of fruit and other things, which
+terminated in a severe fit of indigestion and indisposition to life in
+general.  He was smoking--that being a sovereign and infallible cure for
+indigestion and all other ills that flesh is heir to, as every one
+knows!
+
+"I say, old man," he inquired, with that cheerful tone and air which
+usually 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 usually
+green?" he asked carelessly, more for the sake of distracting the mind
+from other matters than for the desire of knowledge.
+
+"Sometime it's more darker," replied the old man.  "I've seed it so dark
+that 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 sat
+quivered, the earth seemed to tremble, and several dishes in a
+neighbouring hut were thrown down and broken.
+
+"I say, old man, suthin' busted there," remarked the sailor, taking the
+pipe from his mouth and quietly ramming its contents down with the end
+of 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 that
+here.  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 eviscerating
+itself a hundred miles off, and the sound of its last grand effort
+"extended over 50 degrees, equal to about 3000 miles."
+
+On that day all the gas lights were extinguished in Batavia, and the
+pictures rattled on the walls as though from the action of an
+earthquake.  But there was no earthquake.  It was the air-wave from
+Krakatoa, and the noise produced by the air-waves that followed was
+described as "deafening."
+
+The effect of the sounds of the explosions on the Straits Settlements
+generally was not only striking but to some extent amusing.  At Carimon,
+in Java--355 miles distant from Krakatoa--it was supposed that a vessel
+in distress was firing guns, and several native boats were sent off to
+render assistance, but no distressed vessel was to be found!  At Acheen,
+in Sumatra--1073 miles distant--they supposed that a fort was being
+attacked and the troops were turned out under arms.  At Singapore--522
+miles off--they fancied that the detonations came from a vessel in
+distress and two steamers were despatched to search for it.  And here
+the effect on the telephone, extending to Ishore, was remarkable.  On
+raising the tubes a perfect roar as of a waterfall was heard.  By
+shouting at the top of his voice, the clerk at one end could make the
+clerk at the other end hear, but he could not render a word
+intelligible.  At Perak--770 miles off--the sounds were thought to be
+distant salvos of artillery, and Commander the Honourable F Vereker,
+R.N., of H.M.S. _Magpie_, when 1227 miles distant, (in latitude 5
+degrees 52 minutes North, longitude 118 degrees 22 minutes East), states
+that the detonations of Krakatoa were distinctly heard by those on board
+his ship, and by the inhabitants of the coast as far as Banguey Island,
+on August 27th.  He adds that they resembled distant heavy cannonading.
+In a letter from Saint Lucia Bay--1116 miles distant--it was stated that
+the eruption was plainly heard all over Borneo.  A government steamer
+was sent out from the Island of Timor--1351 miles off--to ascertain the
+cause of the disturbance!  In South Australia also, at places 2250 miles
+away, explosions were heard on the 26th and 27th which "awakened"
+people, and were thought worthy of being recorded and reported.  From
+Tavoy, in Burmah--1478 miles away--the report came--"All day on August
+27th unusual sounds were heard, resembling the boom of guns.  Thinking
+there might be a wreck or a ship in distress, the Tavoy Superintendent
+sent out the police launch, but they `could see nothing.'"  And so on,
+far and near, similar records were made, the most distant spot where the
+sounds were reported to have been heard being Rodriguez, in the Pacific,
+nearly 3000 miles distant!
+
+One peculiar feature of the records is that some ships in the immediate
+neighbourhood of Krakatoa did not experience the shock in proportionate
+severity.  Probably this was owing to their being so near that a great
+part of the concussion and sound flew over them--somewhat in the same
+way that the pieces of a bomb-shell fly over men who, being too near to
+escape by running, escape by flinging themselves flat on the ground.
+
+Each air-wave which conveyed these sounds, commencing at Krakatoa as a
+centre, spread out in an ever-increasing circle till it reached a
+distance of 180 degrees from its origin and encircled the earth at its
+widest part, after which it continued to advance in a contracting form
+until it reached the antipodes of the volcano; whence it was reflected
+or reproduced and travelled back again to Krakatoa.  Here it was turned
+right-about-face and again despatched on its long journey.  In this way
+it oscillated backward and forward not fewer than six times before
+traces of it were lost.  We say "traces," because these remarkable facts
+were ascertained, tracked, and corroborated by independent barometric
+observation in all parts of the earth.
+
+For instance, the passage of the great air-wave from Krakatoa to its
+antipodes, and from its antipodes back to Krakatoa, was registered six
+times by the automatic barometer at Greenwich.  The instrument at Kew
+Observatory confirmed the records of Greenwich, and so did the
+barometers of other places in the kingdom.  Everywhere in Europe also
+this fact was corroborated, and in some places even a seventh
+oscillation was recorded.  The Greenwich record shows that the air-waves
+took about thirty-six hours to travel from pole to pole, thus proving
+that they travelled at about the rate of ordinary sound-waves, which,
+roughly speaking, travel at the rate of between six and seven hundred
+miles an hour.
+
+The height of the sea-waves that devastated the neighbouring shores,
+being variously estimated at from 50 to 135 feet, is sufficiently
+accounted for by the intervention of islands and headlands, etcetera,
+which, of course, tended to diminish the force, height, and volume of
+waves in varying degrees.
+
+These, like the air-waves, were also registered--by self-acting
+tide-gauges and by personal observation--all over the world, and the
+observations _coincided as to date with the great eruptions of the 26th
+and 27th of August_.  The influence of the sea-waves was observed and
+noted in the Java sea--which is shallow and where there are innumerable
+obstructions--as far as 450 miles, but to the west they swept over the
+deep 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 sufficiently
+striking.  At Galle, in Ceylon, where the usual rise and fall of the
+tide is 2 feet, the master-attendant reports that on the afternoon of
+the 27th four remarkable waves were noticed in the port.  The last of
+these was preceded by an unusual recession of the sea to such an extent
+that small boats at their anchorage were left aground--a thing that had
+never been seen before.  The period of recession was only one-and-a-half
+minutes; then the water paused, as it were, for a brief space, and,
+beginning to rise, reached the level of the highest high-water mark in
+less than two minutes, thus marking a difference of 8 feet 10 inches
+instead of the ordinary 2 feet.
+
+At one place there was an ebb and flood tide, of unusual extent, within
+half-an-hour.  At another, a belt of land, including a burying-ground,
+was washed away, so that, according to the observer, "it appeared as if
+the dead had sought shelter with the living in a neighbouring cocoa-nut
+garden!"  Elsewhere the tides were seen to advance and recede ten or
+twelve times--in one case even twenty times--on the 27th.  At
+Trincomalee the sea receded three times and returned with singular
+force, at one period leaving part of the shore suddenly bare, with fish
+struggling in the mud.  The utilitarian tendency of mankind was at once
+made manifest by some fishermen who, seizing the opportunity, dashed
+into the struggling mass and began to reap the accidental harvest,
+when--alas for the poor fishermen!--the sea rushed in again and drove
+them all away.
+
+In the Mauritius, however, the fishers were more fortunate, for when
+their beach was exposed in a similar manner, they succeeded in capturing
+a good many fish before the water returned.
+
+Even sharks were disturbed in their sinister and slimy habits of life by
+this outburst of Krakatoa--and no wonder, when it is recorded that in
+some places "the sea looked like water boiling heavily in a pot," and
+that "the boats which were afloat were swinging in all directions."  At
+one place several of these monsters were flung out of their native home
+into pools, where they were left struggling till their enemy man
+terminated their career.
+
+Everywhere those great waves produced phenomena which were so striking
+as to attract the attention of all classes of people, to ensure record
+in most parts of the world, and to call for the earnest investigation of
+the scientific men of many lands--and the conclusion to which such men
+have almost universally come is, that the strange vagaries of the sea
+all over the earth, the mysterious sounds heard in so many widely
+distant places, and the wonderful effects in the skies of every quarter
+of the globe, were all due to the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano in
+1883.
+
+With reference to these last--the sky-effects--a few words may not be
+out of place here.
+
+The superfine "ultra-microscopic" dust, which was blown by the volcano
+in quantities so enormous to such unusual heights, was, after dropping
+its heavier particles back to earth, caught by the breezes which always
+blow in the higher regions from east to west, and carried by them for
+many months round and round the world.  The dust was thickly and not
+widely spread at first, but as time went on it gradually extended itself
+on either side, becoming visible to more and more of earth's
+inhabitants, and at the same time becoming necessarily less dense.
+
+Through this medium the sun's rays had to penetrate.  In so far as the
+dust-particles were opaque they would obscure these rays; where they
+were transparent or polished they would refract and reflect them.  That
+the material of which those dust-particles was composed was very various
+has been ascertained, proved, and recorded by the Krakatoa Committee.
+The attempt to expound this matter would probably overtax the endurance
+of the average reader, yet it may interest all to know that this
+dust-cloud travelled westward within the tropics at the rate of about
+double the speed of an express train--say 120 miles an hour; crossed the
+Indian Ocean and Africa in three days, the Atlantic in two, America in
+two, 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 to
+pass any given point.  During its second circumnavigation it was
+considerably spread and thinned, and the third time still more so,
+having expanded enough to include Europe and the greater part of North
+America.  It had thinned away altogether and disappeared in the spring
+of 1884.
+
+Who has not seen--at least read or heard of--the gorgeous skies of the
+autumn of 1883?  Not only in Britain, but in all parts of the world,
+these same skies were seen, admired, and commented on as marvellous.
+And so they were.  One of the chief peculiarities about them, besides
+their splendour, was the fact that they consisted chiefly of
+"afterglows"--that is, an increase of light and splendour _after_ the
+setting of the sun, when, in an ordinary state of things, the grey
+shadows of evening would have descended on the world.  Greenish-blue
+suns; pink clouds; bright yellow, orange, and crimson afterglows;
+gorgeous, magnificent, blood-red skies--the commentators seemed unable
+to find language adequately to describe them.  Listen to a German
+observer's remarks on the subject:--
+
+"The display of November 29th was the grandest and most manifold.  I
+give a description as exactly as possible, for its overwhelming
+magnificence 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 much
+afterglow, but I had observed a remarkably yellow bow in the south,
+about 10 degrees above the horizon.  In about ten minutes more this arc
+rose pretty quickly, extended itself all over the east and up to and
+beyond the zenith.  The sailors declared, `Sir, that is the Northern
+Lights.'  I thought I had never seen Northern Lights in greater
+splendour.  After five minutes more the light had faded, though not
+vanished, in the east and south, and the finest purple-red rose up in
+the south-west; one could 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
+do with it.  At all events we are safe to say that whatever there was of
+electricity in the matter resulted from friction.
+
+Here is what the men of science say--as far as we can gather and
+condense.
+
+The fine dust blown out of Krakatoa was found, under the microscope, to
+consist of excessively thin, transparent plates or irregular specks of
+pumice--which inconceivably minute fragments were caused by enormous
+steam pressure in the interior and the sudden expansion of the masses
+blown out into the atmosphere.  Of this glassy dust, that which was
+blown into the regions beyond the clouds must have been much finer even
+than that which was examined.  These glass fragments were said by Dr
+Flugel to contain either innumerable air-bubbles or minute needle-like
+crystals, or both.  Small though these vesicles were when ejected from
+the volcano, they would become still smaller by bursting when they
+suddenly 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 as
+perfect microscopic glass balloons.  Thus the dust was a mass of
+particles of every conceivable shape, and so fine that no watches,
+boxes, or instruments were tight enough to exclude from their interior
+even 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 the
+innumerable and varied positions of these glassy particles, some
+transparent, others semi-transparent or opaque, reflecting the sun's
+rays in different directions, with a complex modification of colour and
+effect resulting from the blueness of the sky, the condition of the
+atmosphere, and many other causes--all combined to produce the
+remarkable appearances of light and colour which aroused the admiration
+and wonder of the world in 1883.
+
+The more one thinks of these things, and the deeper one dives into the
+mysteries of nature, the more profoundly is one impressed at once with a
+humbling sense of the limited amount of one's knowledge, and an
+awe-inspiring appreciation of the illimitable fields suggested by that
+comprehensive expression: "The Wonderful Works of God."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY.
+
+COMING EVENTS, ETCETERA--WONDERFUL CHANGES AMONG THE ISLANDS.
+
+Some days after the wreck of the _Sunshine_, as described in a previous
+chapter, Captain Roy and his son stood on the coast of Java not far from
+the ruins of Anjer.  A vessel was anchored in the offing, and a little
+boat lay on the shore.
+
+All sign of elemental strife had passed, though a cloud of smoke hanging
+over the remains of Krakatoa told that the terrible giant below was not
+dead but only sleeping--to awake, perchance, after a nap of another 200
+years.
+
+"Well, father," said our hero with a modest look, "it may be, as you
+suggest, that Winnie Van der Kemp does not care for me more than for a
+fathom of salt water--"
+
+"I did not say salt water, lad, I said bilge--a fathom o' _bilge_
+water," interrupted the captain, who, although secretly rejoiced at the
+fact of his son having fallen over head and ears in love with the pretty
+little Cocos-Keeling islander, deemed it his duty, nevertheless, as a
+sternly upright parent, to make quite sure that the love was mutual as
+well as deep before giving his consent to anything like courtship.
+
+"It matters not; salt or bilge water makes little difference," returned
+the son with a smile.  "But all I can say is that I care for Winnie so
+much that her love is to me of as much importance as sunshine to the
+world--and we have had some experience lately of what the want of _that_
+means."
+
+"Nonsense, Nigel," returned the captain severely.  "You're workin'
+yourself into them up-in-the-clouds, reef-point-patterin' regions
+again--which, by the way, should be pretty well choked wi' Krakatoa dust
+by this time.  Come down out o' that if ye want to hold or'nary
+intercourse wi' your old father.  She's far too young yet, my boy.  You
+must just do as many a young fellow has done before you, attend to your
+dooties and forget her."
+
+"Forget her!" returned the youth, with that amused, quiet expression
+which 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 of
+it."
+
+"Besides," continued the son, "she is not so _very_ young--and that
+difficulty remedies itself every hour.  Moreover, I too am young.  I can
+wait."
+
+"The selfishness of youth is only equalled by its presumption," said the
+captain.  "How d'ee know _she_ will wait?"
+
+"I don't know, father, but I _hope_ she will--I--_think_ she will."
+
+"Nigel," said the captain, in a tone and with a look that were meant to
+imply 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 well
+do it without the lips lendin' a hand."
+
+"Well then--with neither," returned the son.  "She spoke with her eyes--
+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 say
+with her eyes!"
+
+"Really, father, you press me too hard; it is difficult to translate
+eye-language, but if you'll only let memory have free play and revert to
+that time, nigh quarter of a century ago, when you first met with a
+certain _real_ poetess, perhaps--"
+
+"Ah! you dog! you have me there.  But how dare you, sir, venture to
+think of marryin' on nothin'?"
+
+"I don't think of doing so.  Am I not a first mate with a handsome
+salary?"
+
+"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
+the said ship safe in Batavia?  Has not its owner a good bank account in
+England?  Won't another ship be wanted, and another first mate, and
+would the owner dare to pass over his own son, who is such a competent
+seaman--according to your own showing?  Come, father, I turn the tables
+on 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 laid
+his hand on his son's shoulder.  "But, seriously, you must haul off this
+little craft and clap a stopper on your tongue--ay, and on your eyes
+too--till three points are considered an' made quite clear.  First, you
+must find out whether the hermit would be agreeable.  Second, you must
+look the matter straight in the face and make quite sure that you mean
+it.  For better or for worse.  No undoin' _that_ knot, Nigel, once it's
+fairly tied!  And, third, you must make quite sure that Winnie is sure
+of her own mind, an' that--that--"
+
+"We're all sure all round, father.  Quite right.  I agree with you.
+`All fair an' aboveboard' should be the sailing orders of every man in
+such matters, especially of every seaman.  But, will you explain how I
+am to make sure of Winnie's state of mind without asking her about it?"
+
+"Well, I don't exactly see my way," replied the captain slowly.  "What
+d'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.  I
+must 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, and
+mind you don't let your figurehead go by the board.  Meanwhile, here
+comes the boat.  Now, Nigel, none o' your courtin' till everything is
+settled and the wind fair--dead aft my lad, and blowin' stiff.  You and
+the 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," said
+the captain, descending to business matters, "and I expect without
+trouble to dispose of the cargo that we landed there, as _well_ as that
+part o' the return cargo which I had bought before I left for Keeling--
+at a loss, no doubt, but that don't matter much.  Then I'll come back
+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 from
+the vessel in the offing.
+
+A short time thereafter Captain Roy was sailing away for Batavia, while
+his son, with Van der Kemp, Moses, Winnie, and Spinkie, was making for
+Krakatoa in a native boat.
+
+The hermit, in spite of his injuries, had recovered his wonted
+appearance, if not his wonted vigour.  Winnie seemed to have suddenly
+developed into a mature woman under her recent experiences, though she
+had lost none of her girlish grace and attractiveness.  As for Moses--
+time and tide seemed to have no effect whatever on his ebony frame, and
+still less, if possible, on his indomitable spirit.
+
+"Now you keep still," he said in solemn tones and with warning looks to
+Spinkie.  "If you keep fidgitin' about you'll capsize de boat.  You
+hear?"
+
+Spinkie veiled his real affection for the negro under a look of supreme
+indifference, while Winnie went off into a sudden giggle at the idea of
+such a small creature capsizing the boat.
+
+Mindful of his father's warning, Nigel did his best to "haul off" and to
+prevent his "figurehead" from going "by the board."  But he found it
+uncommonly hard work, for Winnie looked so innocent, so pretty, so
+unconscious, so sympathetic with everybody and everything, so very
+young, yet so wondrously wise and womanly, that he felt an irresistible
+desire to prostrate himself at her feet in abject slavery.
+
+"Dear little thing," said Winnie, putting her hand on Spinkie's little
+head and smoothing him down from eyes to tail.
+
+Spinkie looked as if half inclined to withdraw his allegiance from Moses
+and bestow it on Winnie, but evidently changed his mind after a moment's
+reflection.
+
+"O that I were a monkey!" thought Nigel, paraphrasing Shakespeare, "that
+I might--" but it is not fair to our hero to reveal him in his weaker
+moments!
+
+There was something exasperating, too, in being obliged, owing to the
+size of the boat, to sit so close to Winnie without having a right to
+touch her hand!  Who has not experienced this, and felt himself to be a
+very hero of self-denial in the circumstances?
+
+"Mos' awrful hot!" remarked Moses, wiping his forehead with the sleeve
+of his shirt.
+
+"_You_ hot!" said Nigel in surprise.  "I thought nothing on earth could
+be too hot for you."
+
+"Dat's your ignerance," returned Moses calmly.  "Us niggers, 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 white
+as chalk.  I say, Massa Nadgel, seems to me dat dere's not much left ob
+Krakatoa."
+
+They had approached near enough to the island by that time to perceive
+that wonderful changes had indeed taken place, and Van der Kemp, who had
+been for some time silently absorbed in contemplation, at last turned to
+his daughter and said--
+
+"I had feared at first, Winnie, that my old home had been blown entirely
+away, but I see now that the Peak of Rakata still stands, so perhaps I
+may 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?" asked
+the 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
+an increase of that absent air and far-away look which Nigel, ever since
+he met him, had observed as one of his characteristics.  At this time an
+anxious thought crossed him,--that perhaps the blows which his friend
+had received on his head when he was thrown on the deck of the
+_Sunshine_ might have injured his brain.
+
+"It is not easy to answer your question, dear one," he said after a
+time, laying his strong hand on the girl's head, and smoothing her
+luxuriant hair which hung in the untrammelled freedom of nature over her
+shoulders.  "I have felt sometimes, during the last few days, as if I
+were awaking out of a long long dream, or recovering from a severe
+illness in which delirium had played a prominent part.  Even now, though
+I see and touch you, I sometimes tremble lest I should really awake and
+find that it is all a dream.  I have so often--so _very_ often--dreamed
+something like it in years gone by, but never so vividly as now!  I
+cannot doubt--it is sin to doubt--that my prayers have been at last
+answered.  God is good and wise.  He knows what is best and does not
+fail in 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 to
+clear away sad memories of the past, while Winnie drew closer to him and
+looked up tenderly in his face.
+
+"When your mother died, dear one," he resumed, "it seemed to me as if
+the sun had left the heavens, and when _you_ were snatched from me, it
+was as though my soul had fled and nought but animal life remained.  I
+lived as if in a terrible dream.  I cannot recall exactly what I did or
+where I went for a long, long time.  I know I wandered through the
+archipelago looking for you, because I did not believe at first that you
+were 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 be
+call 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 through
+a long and severe illness, Winnie.  How long, I am not quite sure.
+After a time I nearly lost hope.  Then there came a very dark period,
+when I was forced to believe that you must be dead.  Yet, strange to
+say, even during this dark time I did not cease to pray and to wander
+about in search of you.  I suppose it was the force of habit, for hope
+seemed to have died.  Then, at last, Nigel found you.  God used him as
+His instrument.  And now, praise to His name, we are reunited--for
+ever!"
+
+"Darling father!" were the only words that Winnie could utter as she
+laid her head on the hermit's shoulder and wept for joy.
+
+Two ideas, which had not occurred to him before, struck Nigel with great
+force at that moment.  The one was that whatever or wherever his future
+household should be established, if Winnie was to be its chief ornament,
+her father must of necessity become a member of it.  The other idea was
+that he was destined to possess a negro servant with a consequent and
+unavoidable monkey attendant!  How strange the links of which the chain
+of human destiny is formed, and how wonderful the powers of thought by
+which that chain is occasionally forecast!  How to convey all these
+possessions to England and get them comfortably settled there was a
+problem which he did not care to tackle just then.
+
+"See, Winnie," said Van der Kemp, pointing with interest to a mark on
+the side of Rakata, "yonder is the mouth of my cave.  I never saw it so
+clearly before because of the trees and bushes, but everything seems now
+to 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 the
+rest of the island," rejoined the other, shading his eyes with his
+hands.
+
+It was no haze, however; for they found, on drawing nearer, that the
+greater part of Krakatoa had, as we have already said, actually
+disappeared from the face of the earth.
+
+When the boat finally rounded the point which hid the northern part of
+the island from view, a sight was presented which it is not often given
+to 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-half of it, with all that part of the island lying to the northward,
+had been blown away, leaving a wall or almost sheer precipice which
+presented a grand section of the volcano.
+
+Pushing their boat into a creek at the base of this precipice, the party
+landed and tried to reach a position from which a commanding view might
+be obtained.  This was not an easy matter, for there was not a spot for
+a foot to rest on which was not covered deeply with pumice-dust and
+ashes.  By dint of perseverance, however, they gained a ledge whence the
+surrounding district could be observed, and then it was clearly seen how
+widespread and stupendous the effects of the explosion had been.
+
+Where the greater part of the richly wooded island had formerly
+flourished, the ocean now rippled in the sunshine, and of the smaller
+islands around it _Lang_ Island had been considerably increased in bulk
+as well as in height.  _Verleden_ Island had been enlarged to more than
+three times its former size and also much increased in height.  The
+island named _Polish Hat_ had disappeared altogether, and two entirely
+new islets--afterwards named _Steers_ and _Calmeyer_ Islands--had arisen
+to the northward.
+
+"Now, friends," said Van der Kemp, after they had noted and commented on
+the vast and wonderful changes that had taken place, "we will pull round
+to our cave and see what has happened there."
+
+Descending to the boat they rowed round the southern shores of Rakata
+until they reached the little harbour where the boat and canoe had
+formerly been kept.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.
+
+ENDS WITH A STRUGGLE BETWEEN INCLINATION AND DUTY.
+
+"Cave's blowed away too!" was the first remark of Moses as they rowed
+into the little port.
+
+A shock of disappointment was experienced by Winnie, for she fancied
+that the negro had referred to her father's old home, but he only meant
+the lower cave in which the canoe had formerly been kept.  She was soon
+relieved as to this point, however, but, when a landing was effected,
+difficulties that seemed to her almost insurmountable presented
+themselves, for the ground was covered knee-deep with pumice-dust, and
+the road to the upper cave was blocked by rugged masses of lava and
+ashes, all heaped up in indescribable confusion.
+
+On careful investigation, however, it was found that after passing a
+certain point the footpath was almost unencumbered by volcanic debris.
+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 of
+the mountain; still the track was bad enough, and in places so rugged,
+that Winnie, vigorous and agile though she was, found it both difficult
+and 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, but
+this she also declined.
+
+Then Moses, stepping forward, asserted his rights.
+
+"It's _my_ business," he said, "to carry t'ings when dey's got to be
+carried.  M'r'over, as I's bin obleeged to leabe Spinkie in charge ob de
+boat, I feels okard widout somet'ing to carry, an' you ain't much
+heavier dan Spinkie, Miss Winnie--so, come along."
+
+He stooped with the intention of grasping Winnie as if she were a little
+child, but with a light laugh the girl sprang away and left Moses
+behind.
+
+"'S'my opinion," said Moses, looking after her with a grin, "dat if de
+purfesser was here he'd net her in mistook for a bufferfly.  Dar!--she's
+down!" 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 that
+was 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 am
+_now_.  I would not have asked you to do it before my accident!"
+
+Our hero did not need a second bidding.  Grasping Winnie in his strong
+arms he raised her as if she had been a feather, and strode away at a
+pace 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
+dust gets deeper as we ascend.  _Do_ give me the pleasure of helping you
+a little 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 the
+banner and the strange device considerably into the shade,--until he
+placed her at the yawning black mouth of the hermit's cave.
+
+But what a change was there!  The trees and flowering shrubs and ferns
+were all gone, lava, pumice, and ashes lay thick on everything around,
+and only a few blackened and twisted stumps of the larger trees remained
+to tell that an umbrageous forest had once flourished there.  The whole
+scene might be fittingly described in the two words--grey desolation.
+
+"That is the entrance to your father's old home," said Nigel, as he set
+his fair burden down and pointed to the entrance.
+
+"What a dreadful place!" said Winnie, peering into the black depths of
+the cavern.
+
+"It was not dreadful when I first saw it, Winnie, with rich verdure
+everywhere; and inside you will find it surprisingly comfortable.  But
+we must not enter until your father arrives to do the honours of the
+place himself."
+
+They had not to wait long.  First Moses arrived, and, shrewdly
+suspecting from the appearance of the young couple that they were
+engaged in conversation that would not brook interruption, or, perhaps,
+judging from what might be his own wishes in similar circumstances, he
+turned his back suddenly on them, and, stooping down, addressed himself
+to an imaginary 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 would
+say 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 a
+member ob de insect wurld in commemoration ob de purfesser.  Leastwise,
+if it warn't a insect it must hab bin suffin' else.  Won't you go in,
+Miss Winnie?"
+
+"No, I'd rather wait for father," returned the girl, looking a little
+flushed, for some strange and totally unfamiliar ideas had recently
+floated into her brain and caused some incomprehensible flutterings of
+the heart to which hitherto she had been a stranger.
+
+Mindful of his father's injunctions, however, Nigel had been
+particularly careful to avoid increasing these flutterings.
+
+In a few minutes the hermit came up.
+
+"Ah!  Winnie," he said, "there has been 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 will soon get accustomed to the dim
+light."
+
+"I's afeared, massa," remarked Moses, as they entered the cavern, "dat
+your sun-lights won't be wu'th much now."
+
+"You are right, lad.  Go on before us and light the lamps if they are
+not broken."
+
+It was found, as they had expected, that the only light which penetrated
+the cavern was that which entered by the cave's mouth, which of course
+was very feeble.
+
+Presently, to Winnie's surprise, Moses was seen issuing from the kitchen
+with a petroleum lamp in one hand, the brilliant light of which not only
+glittered on his expressive black visage but sent a ruddy glare all over
+the cavern.
+
+Van der Kemp seemed to watch his daughter intently as she gazed in a
+bewildered way around.  There was a puzzled look as well as mere
+surprise in her pretty face.
+
+"Father," she said earnestly, "you have spoken more than once of living
+as if in a dream.  Perhaps you will wonder when I tell you that I
+experience something of that sort now.  Strange though this place seems,
+I have an unaccountable feeling that it is not absolutely new to me--
+that I have seen it before."
+
+"I do not wonder, dear one," he replied, "for the drawings that surround
+this chamber were the handiwork of your dear mother, and they decorated
+the walls of your own nursery when you were a little child at your
+mother's knee.  For over ten long years they have surrounded me and kept
+your faces fresh in my memory--though, truth to tell, it needed no such
+reminders to do that.  Come, let us examine them."
+
+It was pleasant to see the earnest face of Winnie as she half-recognised
+and strove to recall the memories of early childhood in that singular
+cavern.  It was also a sight worth seeing--the countenance of Nigel, as
+well as that of the hermit, while they watched and admired her eager,
+puzzled play of feature, and it was the most amazing sight of all to see
+the all but superhuman joy of Moses as he held the lamp and listened to
+facts regarding the past of his beloved master which were quite new to
+him--for the hermit spoke as openly about his past domestic affairs as
+if he and Winnie had been quite alone.
+
+"He either forgets that we are present, or counts us as part of his
+family," thought Nigel with a feeling of satisfaction.
+
+"What a dear comoonicative man!" thought Moses, with unconcealed
+pleasure.
+
+"Come now, let us ascend to the observatory," said the hermit, when all
+the things in the library had been examined.  "There has been damage
+done there, I know; besides, there is a locket there which belonged to
+your mother.  I left it by mistake one day when I went up to arrange the
+mirrors, 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 that
+locket away.  It contains a lock of hair and one of those miniatures
+which men used to paint before photography drove such work off the
+field."
+
+Winnie was nothing loth to follow, for she had reached a romantic period
+of life, and it seemed to her that to be led through mysterious caves
+and dark galleries in the very heart of a still active volcano by her
+own father--the hermit of Rakata--was the very embodiment of romance
+itself.
+
+But a disappointment awaited them, for they had not proceeded halfway
+through the dark passage when it was found that a large mass of rock had
+fallen from the roof and almost blocked it up.
+
+"There is a space big enough for us to creep through at the right-hand
+corner above, I think," said Nigel, taking the lantern from Moses and
+examining the spot.
+
+"Jump up, Moses, and try it," said the hermit.  "If your bulky shoulders
+get through, we can all manage it."
+
+The negro was about to obey the order when Nigel let the lantern fall
+and 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 the
+dark.  We will wait here till you return.  Be smart, now!"
+
+Moses started off at once and for some moments the sound of clattering
+along 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 are cracks
+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 little
+bit.  Remain where you are."
+
+"Winnie," said Nigel when they were alone, "doesn't it feel awesome and
+strange 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 a
+finger 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 they would
+give some light--to _me_ at least.  Here, do let me hold your hand.  It
+will make you feel more confident."
+
+To one who is at all familiar with the human frame, the way from the
+brow to the hand is comparatively simple.  Nigel soon possessed himself
+of the coveted article.  Like other things of great value the possession
+turned the poor youth's head!  He forgot his father's warnings for the
+moment, forgot the hermit and Moses and Spinkie, and the thick
+darkness--forgot almost everything in the light of that touch!
+
+"Winnie!" he exclaimed in a tone that quite alarmed her; "I--I--" He
+hesitated.  The solemn embargo of his father recurred to him.
+
+"What is it!  Is there danger?" exclaimed the poor girl, clasping his
+hand tighter and drawing nearer to him.
+
+This was too much!  Nigel felt himself to be contemptible.  He was
+taking unfair advantage of her.
+
+"Winnie," he began again, in a voice of forced calmness, "there is no
+danger whatever.  I'm an ass--a dolt--that's all!  The fact is, I made
+my father a sort of half promise that I would not ask your opinion on a
+certain subject until--until I found out exactly what you thought about
+it.  Now the thing is ridiculous--impossible--for how can I know your
+opinion 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 amusement, "I--I--Yes,
+I _will_ ask you, Winnie!  But first I must explain--"
+
+"Hallo!  Nigel!" came at that moment from the other side of the
+obstruction, "are you there--all right?"
+
+"Yes, yes--I'm here--not all right exactly, but I'll be all right _some
+day_, you may depend upon that!" shouted the youth, in a tone of
+indignant 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 opposite
+direction.
+
+"Just so," said Nigel, resuming his quiet tone and demeanour, "we'll be
+all right when the light comes.  Here, give us your hand, Van der Kemp."
+
+The hermit accepted the proffered aid and leaped down amongst his
+friends just as Moses arrived with the lantern.
+
+"It's of no use going further," he said.  "The passage is completely
+blocked up--so we must go round to where the mountain has been split off
+and try to clamber up.  There will be daylight enough yet if we are
+quick.  Come."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.
+
+THE LAST.
+
+Descending to the boat they rowed round to the face of the great cliff
+which had been so suddenly laid bare when the Peak of Rakata was cleft
+from its summit to its foundations in the sea.  It was a wonderful
+sight--a magnificent section, affording a marvellous view of the
+internal mechanism of a volcano.
+
+But there was no time to spend in contemplation of this extraordinary
+sight, for evening approached and the hermit's purpose had to be
+accomplished.
+
+High up near the top of the mighty cliff could be seen a small hole in
+the rock, which was all that remained of the observatory.
+
+"It will be impossible, I fear, to reach that spot," said Nigel; "there
+does not appear to be foothold for a goat."
+
+"I will reach it," said the hermit in a low voice, as he scanned the
+precipice carefully.
+
+"So will I," said the negro.
+
+"No, Moses, I go alone.  You will remain in the boat and watch.  If I
+fall, you can pick me up."
+
+"Pick you up!" echoed Moses.  "If you tumbles a t'ousand feet into de
+water how much t'ink you will be lef' to pick up?"
+
+It was useless to attempt to dissuade Van der Kemp.  Being well aware of
+this, they all held their peace while he landed on a spur of the riven
+cliff.
+
+The first part of the ascent was easy enough, the ground having been
+irregularly broken, so that the climber disappeared behind masses of
+rock at times, while he kept as much as possible to the western edge of
+the mountain where the cleavage had occurred; but as he ascended he was
+forced to come out upon narrow ledges that had been left here and there
+on the face of the cliff, where he seemed, to those who were watching
+far below, like a mere black spot on the face of a gigantic wall.  Still
+upward he went, slowly but steadily, till he reached a spot nearly level
+with 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," said
+Nigel to her in a reassuring tone.
+
+"Das true, Massa Nadgel, das bery true," interposed Moses, endeavouring
+to comfort himself as well as the others by the intense earnestness of
+his manner.  "De only danger, Miss Winnie, lies in your fadder losin'
+his head at sitch a t'riffic height, an' dar's no fear at all ob dat,
+for Massa 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 his
+foot--yes--next step--dar! he've done it!"
+
+With the perspiration of anxiety streaming down his face the negro
+relieved his feelings by a wild prolonged cheer.  Nigel obtained the
+same relief by means of a deep long-drawn sigh, but Winnie did not move;
+she seemed to realise her father's danger better than her companions,
+and remembered that the descent would be much more difficult than the
+ascent.  They were not kept long in suspense.  In a few minutes the
+hermit reappeared and began to retrace his steps--slowly but steadily--
+and the watchers breathed more freely.
+
+Moses was right; there was in reality little danger in the climb, for
+the ledges which appeared to them like mere threads, and the footholds
+that were almost invisible, were in reality from a foot to three feet
+wide.  The only danger lay in the hermit's head being unable to stand
+the trial, but, as Moses had remarked, there was no fear of that.
+
+The watchers were therefore beginning to feel somewhat relieved from the
+tension of their anxiety, when a huge mass of rock was seen to slip from
+the face of the cliff and descend with the thunderous roar of an
+avalanche.  The incident gave those in the boat a shock, for the
+landslip occurred not far from the spot which Van der Kemp had reached,
+but as he still stood there in apparent safety there seemed no cause for
+alarm till it was observed that the climber remained quite still for a
+long time and seemed to have no intention of moving.
+
+"God help him!" cried Nigel in sudden alarm, "the ledge has been carried
+away and he cannot advance!  Stay by the boat, Moses, I will run to help
+him!"
+
+"No, Massa Nadgel," returned the negro, "I go to die wid 'im.  Boat kin
+look arter itself."
+
+He sprang on shore as he spoke, and dashed up the mountain-side like a
+hunted 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.  They
+gained the broken ledge together, and then found that the space between
+the point which they had reached and the spot on which the hermit stood
+was a smooth face of perpendicular rock--an absolutely impassable gulf!
+
+Van der Kemp was standing with his back flat against the precipice and
+his feet resting on a little piece of projecting rock not more than
+three inches wide.  This was all that lay between him and the hideous
+depth below, for Nigel found on carefully drawing nearer that the
+avalanche had been more extensive than was apparent from below, and that
+the ledge beyond the hermit had been also carried away--thus cutting off
+his retreat as well as his advance.
+
+"I can make no effort to help myself," said Van der Kemp in a low but
+calm voice, when our hero's foot rested on the last projecting point
+that he could gain, and found that with the utmost reach of his arm he
+could not get within six inches of his friend's outstretched hand.
+Besides, Nigel himself stood on so narrow a ledge, and against so steep
+a cliff, that he could not have acted with his wonted power even if the
+hand could have been grasped.  Moses stood immediately behind Nigel,
+where the ledge was broader and where a shallow recess in the rock
+enabled him to stand with comparative ease.  The poor fellow seemed to
+realise the situation more fully than his companion, for despair was
+written 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 he
+were in perfect safety, though the unusual pallor of his grave
+countenance showed that he was fully alive to the terrible situation.
+"I am resting on little more than my heels, and the strain is almost too
+much for me even now.  I could not hold on till you went to the boat and
+returned.  No, it seems to be God's will--and," added he humbly, "His
+will be done."
+
+"O God, send us help!" cried Nigel in an agony of feeling that he could
+not master.
+
+"If I had better foothold I might spring towards you and catch hold of
+you," said the hermit, "but I cannot spring off my heels.  Besides, I
+doubt if you could bear my weight."
+
+"Try, try!" cried Nigel, eagerly extending his hand.  "Don't fear for my
+strength--I've got plenty of it, thank God! and see, I have my right arm
+wedged into a crevice so firmly that nothing could haul it out."
+
+But Van der Kemp shook his head.  "I cannot even make the attempt," he
+said.  "The slightest move would plunge me down.  Dear boy!  I know that
+you and your father and Moses will care for my Winnie, and--"
+
+"Massa!" gasped Moses, who while the hermit was speaking had been
+working his body with mysterious and violent energy; "massa! couldn't
+you _fall_ dis way, an' Nadgel could kitch your hand, an' I's got my leg
+shoved into a hole as nuffin' 'll haul it out ob.  Dere's a holler place
+here.  If Nadgel swings you into dat, an' I only once grab you by de
+hair--you're safe!"
+
+"It might be done--tried at least," said the hermit, looking anxiously
+at 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 somewhat
+similar ordeal to understand fully the test of cool courage which Van
+der Kemp had to undergo on that occasion.
+
+Shutting his eyes for a moment in silent prayer, he deliberately worked
+with his shoulders upon the cliff against which he leaned until he felt
+himself to be on the point of falling towards his friend, and the two
+outstretched hands almost touched.
+
+"Now, are you ready?" he asked.
+
+"Ready," replied Nigel, while Moses wound both his powerful arms round
+his comrade's waist and held on.
+
+Another moment and the hands clasped, Nigel uttered an irrepressible
+shout as the hermit swung off, and, coming round with great violence to
+the spot where the negro had fixed himself, just succeeded in catching
+the 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 had
+wrenched his arm out of the crevice in which he had fixed it, and for a
+moment he swayed helplessly over the awful abyss.
+
+"Don't let me go, Moses!" he yelled, as he made a frantic but futile
+effort to regain his hold,--for he felt that the negro had loosened one
+of 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 scalped
+him, and he held on until the hermit had got a secure hold of the ledge
+with both hands.  Then he let the hair go, for he knew that to an
+athlete like his master the raising himself by his arms on to the ledge
+would be the work of a few seconds.  Van der Kemp was thus able to
+assist in rescuing Nigel from his position of danger.
+
+But the expressions of heartfelt thankfulness for this deliverance which
+naturally broke from them were abruptly checked when it was found that
+Moses could by no means extract his leg out of the hole into which he
+had thrust it, and that he was suffering great pain.
+
+After some time, and a good deal of violent wrenching, during which our
+sable hero mingled a few groans in strange fashion with his
+congratulations, he was got free, and then it was found that the strain
+had been too much for even his powerful bones and sinews, for the leg
+was broken.
+
+"My poor fellow!" murmured Van der Kemp, as he went down on his knees to
+examine 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 to
+repress a few tears in the excess of his joy and pain!
+
+With considerable difficulty they carried the poor negro down to the
+boat, where they found Winnie, as might be supposed, in a half-fainting
+condition from the strain of prolonged anxiety and terror to which she
+had been subjected; but the necessity of attending to the case of the
+injured Moses was an antidote which speedily restored her.
+
+Do you think, good reader, that Nigel and Winnie had much difficulty in
+coming to an understanding after that, or that the hermit was disposed
+to throw any obstacles in the way of true love?  If you do, let us
+assure you that you are mistaken.  Surely this is information enough for
+any intelligent reader.
+
+Still, it may be interesting to add, difficulties did not all at once
+disappear.  The perplexities that had already assailed Nigel more than
+once assailed him again--perplexities about a negro man-servant, and a
+household monkey, and a hermit father-in-law, and a small income--to say
+nothing of a disconsolate mother-poetess in England and a father roving
+on the high seas!  How to overcome these difficulties gave him much
+thought and trouble; but they were overcome at last.  That which seemed
+impossible to man proved to be child's-play in the hands of woman.
+Winnie solved the difficulty by suggesting that they should all return
+to the Cocos-Keeling Islands and dwell together there for evermore!
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Let us drop in on them, good reader, at a later period, have a look at
+them, and bid them all good-bye.
+
+On a green knoll by the margin of the lagoon stands a beautiful cottage
+with a garden around it, and a pleasure-boat resting on the white coral
+sand in front.  From the windows of that cottage there is a most
+magnificent view of the lagoon with its numerous islets and its
+picturesque palm-trees.  Within that cottage dwell Nigel and Winnie, and
+a brown-eyed, brown-haired, fair-skinned baby girl who is "the most
+extraordinary angel that ever was born."  It has a nurse of its own, but
+is chiefly waited on and attended to by an antique poetess, who dwells
+in another cottage, a stone's-cast off, on the same green knoll.  There
+she inspires an ancient mariner with poetical sentiments--not your
+up-in-the-clouds, reef-point-pattering nonsense, observe but the real
+genuine article, superior to "that other fellow's," you know--when not
+actively engaged with the baby.
+
+The first cottage is named Rakata, in honour of our hermit, who is one
+of its inhabitants.  The second is named Krakatoa by its eccentric
+owner, Captain Roy.
+
+It must not be imagined, however, that our friends have settled down
+there to spend their lives in idleness.  By no means.  This probably
+would not be permitted by the "King of the Cocos Islands" even if they
+wished to do so.  But they do not wish that.  There is no such condition
+as idleness in the lives of good men and women.
+
+Nigel has taken to general superintendence of the flourishing community
+in the midst of which he has cast his lot.  He may be almost regarded as
+the prime minister of the islands, in addition to which he has started
+an extensive boat-building business and a considerable trade in
+cocoa-nuts, etcetera, with the numerous islands of the Java Sea; also a
+saw-mill, and a forge, and a Sunday-school--in which last the pretty,
+humble-minded Winnie lends most efficient aid.  Indeed it is said that
+she 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 looks after
+the secular education of the Sunday-school children--the said education
+being conducted on the principle of unlimited story-telling with
+illimitable play of fancy.  But his occupations are irregular--
+undertaken by fits and starts, and never to be counted on.  His evenings
+he usually devotes to poetry and pipes--for the captain is obstinate,
+and sticks--like most of us--to his failings as well as his fancies.
+
+There is a certain eccentric individual with an enthusiastic temperament
+and blue binoculars who pays frequent and prolonged visits to the
+Keeling Islands.  It need scarcely be said that his name is Verkimier.
+There is no accounting for the tastes of human beings.  Notwithstanding
+all his escapes and experiences, that indomitable man of science still
+ranges, like a mad philosopher, far and wide over the archipelago in
+pursuit of "bootterflies ant ozer specimens of zee insect vorld."  It is
+observed, however, even by the most obtuse among his friends, that
+whereas in former times the professor's flights were centrifugal they
+have now become centripetal--the Keeling Islands being the great centre
+towards which he flies.  Verkimier is, and probably will always be, a
+subject of wonder and of profound speculation to the youthful
+inhabitants of the islands.  They don't understand him and he does not
+understand them.  If they were insects he would take deep and
+intelligent interest in them.  As they are merely human beings, he
+regards them with that peculiar kind of interest with which men regard
+the unknown and unknowable.  He is by no means indifferent to them.  He
+is too kindly for that.  He studies them deeply, though hopelessly, and
+when he enters the Sunday-school with his binoculars--which he often
+does, to listen--a degree of awe settles down on the little ones which
+it is impossible to evoke by the most solemn appeals to their spiritual
+natures.
+
+Nigel and Winnie have a gardener, and that gardener is black--as black
+as the Ace of Spades or the King of Ashantee.  He dwells in a corner of
+the Rakata Cottage, but is addicted to spending much of his spare time
+in the Krakatoa one.  He is as strong and powerful as ever, but limps
+slightly on his right leg--his "game" leg, as he styles it.  He is, of
+course, an _immense_ favourite with the young people--not less than with
+the old.  He has been known to say, with a solemnity that might tickle
+the humorous and horrify the timid, that he wouldn't "hab dat game leg
+made 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 de libes ob massa and Nadgel in his arms a-hangin' 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 smile
+with kindly interest, for he is actuated by that grand principle which
+will sooner or later transform even the scoffers of earth, and which is
+embodied in the words--"Love is the fulfilling of the law."
+
+Even the lower animals testify to this fact when the dog licks the hand
+that smites it and accords instant forgiveness on the slightest
+encouragement.  Does not Spinkie prove it also, when, issuing at call,
+from its own pagoda in the sunniest corner of the Rakata garden, it
+forsakes cocoa-nuts, sugar-cane, fruits, and other delights, to lay its
+little head in joyful consecration on the black bosom of its benignant
+friend?
+
+And what of Moses' opinion of the new home?  It may be shortly expressed
+in his own words--
+
+"It's heaben upon eart', an' de most happiest time as eber occurred to
+me was dat time when Sunda Straits went into cumbusti'n an' Krakatoa was
+Blown to Bits."
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blown to Bits, by R.M. Ballantyne
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