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diff --git a/23371.txt b/23371.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..844173d --- /dev/null +++ b/23371.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11298 @@ +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 + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLOWN TO BITS *** + +***** This file should be named 23371.txt or 23371.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/3/7/23371/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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