CHAPTER III.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1994, 18 April 1885, Page 1 (Supplement)

CHAPTER 111.

Into the grave, uni existing, wo sweep, Hplples-) wo take into now worlds a leap : Wlunco we havo come and its brightness we know, But thero's no knowledge of whither wo go ; On the gently- swelling sea, inhaling the delightful fresh air of the morning, with hearts bounding and eyes bright with pleasure, the three young men steered their little boat, occasionally allowing her to drift where she listed; then taking command again, and driving tneir oars into tbe blue water and sending her off like an arrow. Now and then they would atop and take to their lines, landing strange fitfb, which wriggled and jumped in the bottom of the boat, and were learnedly discourwd upon by Herbert, who had laid in

a stock of workß on Paciflo ichthyology, and oonld now tell the names and characteristics of the most remarkable fishes of these water?. There was an enjoyment, however, in aimlessly tossing about on the sea that beautiful morning, in gathering life fiom the ozone in the air, that cannot bo described. While the boav progressed, Herbert did not omit to study the iron-bound coast, but it presented nothing different to what it appeared from tha yacht. Solid walla of basalt ro^c hundreds of feet iuto the air, sheer and precipitous, and so high were they that it could not bo seen whether trees grew on the top. No coral grew around this coast, the rage of tbe waves was too great to allow the growth of the beautiful products of the zoophytes. Herbert thought it was probable a break took place in tho coast somewhere, and that & safe haroour would be found leading into a land of enchantment, concealed by theie frowning rocks. But as thoy moved on through the water, no such break appeared : all was monotonous, ever the same. Holding out from the coast for a whilo, they allowed the boat to drift, intending to put back in a short time. Then they fell to chatting. " After all," said Harry, " thi3 voyage of ours id lost time. It was pleasant enough and novel at tho start, but it palls now. I've seen nothing I didn't realise in imagination before, and in most cases things have not come up to expectation. After all man gives the greatest variety and pleasure ; old nature is much the same everywhere, she's a stereotyped old dame. What would I not give at this moment to be in London, or Paris, or even in Melbourne. The ride in the Park, the visit to the clubs, the pleasant dinner, the opera and the after part— especially the after part — how I would enjoy them. I think when I get to 'Frisco I'll leave you »nd make for Paris. I hadn't half enough of Parizi o cara when I was last in Europe." " I cannot agree with you," said Herbert, " This voyage has been a series of pleasures to me. In Melbourne I was becoming stereotyped. Tnese travels expand the mind, afford us time to think and to prepare ourselves for the ordeal of the future, and they give us health of mind and body ; they keep us out of mischief, if nothing else. What do you think, Ebby ? " " As for me," answered the steersman with a happy smile, "I've never spent a better time. I could spend all my life in this way." " Oh, I cm easily understand that," said Harry with a cynical laugh. " You're happy wherever Herbert is, and as for Herbert, this in a probation for him, at the end of which he knows he is to return and receive the reward that seems the aim of most men's lives— a woman. Then it is to be. " They lived happy ever afterwards," like the prince and princess in the fairy tale. But I have no such prospects, and so I want to be in some great city to prevent me from dying of ennui." " But one would think, Harry," said Herbert, " That you could have met your fate like tho rest of the world. Man is made to take a companion to himself, and ho should be happy ever after." 11 Not me," hushed Harry : " I would like to see tho one woman of whom I would not tire. I love the sex collectively, and would embrace the whole of them if possible at once, but one of them would interest me a month, no more." "We will see, we will Bee," said Herbert, with a pleasant laugh. At this moment the boat sprung round with the rapidity of lightning, and then began to make for the coast with great velocity, a velocity of which the occupants had no idea, as there was no stationary object on either side. "Heavens, what's the matter," cried Herbert, who had been knocked over, " We've got into some current. Let's back her out of it at once." Having recovered, the two young men bent themselves to the oars and strove to drive the boat sideways out of the current. But they might aa well have tried to move the Andes. Not a word was aaid as they bent to their task. All felt that some terrible crisis was approaching. Once more they put all their strength into tho work and then the oars broke short in two, and they were helpless, the horrible coast looming nearer every moment, and assuming to their eyes the fantastic shapes of ogres watching for their prey. " My God I " cried Herbert, " we are lost. The boat will be dashed to pieces on this terrible coast, and no man live to tell the tale." Their faces were ashy pale. Harry seemed the most self-possessed of the littles party. He looked around on every side and comprehended the fearful velooity of the current. Tbe sea appeared smooth enough, but it was treaoherous ; it was bearing them to an awful doom. So young to die, in the moment when they had began to taste the exquisite pleasures of life, and to die in such a scene. How bright and blue the sky was, with its golden lamp ; how fresh and lonely the deceptive ocean ; how full of life the buoyant air. Everything spoke of life and pleasure, and yet in the midst of all this they were speeding to the most terrible of deaths. " It may not be so bad," said Harry at last, his blue lips opening. "This ourrent probably runs round some promontory, and the boat will be taken by it into smooth water. We can dooblo the island and return to the yacht." So he spoke, but there was no hope in his heart, for they were now not far off the infernal shore, and he saw plainly the current made no sweep, that it ran straight into the cliffs. It was a phenomenon that he could not explain, but he saw it clearly enough for all that. The three sat still in the boat and watched, fascinated, this terrible shore as it grew and grew larger and nearer. In that brief space of time the whole panorama of their short lives passed before them. How different was that review. Herbert thought of his angel mother ; he regretted the revengeful feelings that he had entertained when punishing Whinstun, the banker, and his soul was filled with agony when ho thought that he had for ever lost his Alice. Never more would he press her form to him; never would ho call her hia wife ; never would he be the father of her children. The light had died out, and life waß gone. But he did not forget the teaching of his youth ; not for a moment did his brave soul fail. What was happening was God's will. He had sinned, young as he was : he had not done his duty; he had at times been inclined to atheism ; he had forgotten the duty of a Christian to forgive. But what of that ? the mercy of God was infinite. And though no words passed his lips, the young man earnestly prayed to be forgiven, and that he might join the angel who had guided his youth. Nor was that prayer unanswered— prayer answers itself. Before the terrible motnont came, he had felt the peace and courage that tho true man and Christian must ever feel. Yet, oh ! it was so hard, so very hard, to die, and leave this bright, glorious world behind 1 No such oorißolation came into tho mind of Harry Forbes. He knew no world but this ; ha looked forward to no enjoyments save thoso of the senses. He was a thorough unbeliever. His creed was that terrible oneterrible even if true— that when we die there is an end : that after that all is oblivion ; that if we are immortal, it is only the immortalitj of nature, which ceaselessly Ui>es the same elements ovorand over in different forms. Nc prayer came to his lips : on the Contrary, hi

cursed with terrible curses the fate tint cast him off from everything he so dearly loved a^ so early an a^o. But he was also of heroic mould. Ho would not show what he felt ; for it was a part of his philosophy that ra<?e and despair are foolish passions. But the hope of life did not die out in his bosom. The chances were a thousand to one against him, b'lt he clung to that chance. Who ever believes he is to die ? It is one of our greatest blessings, this disbelief in death, even when he stands by us with uplifted scythe. Ebby hardly thought of himself. For him there was no future, disassociated with the idol of his soul. Ho had no keen perceptions of the othor world. If he thought of it at all, he reflected that hia life had not been so evil, that he had fought to rescue himself from the clutches of Bin after he left the Industrial School, and had done his best according to his lights. But his soul diod within him when he thought that the lov<>d and beautiful one wji doomed — to be*cut off when the world was brightest. But even in him hope d'd not die. There would be some escape, and how he would battle to save the life that to him was worth all the world. Nearer and nearer, wif.h the Bwiftne3S of an arrow, came the fated boat. And then at lait their real danger was revealed. A hu™e, dark, yawning abyss appeared in the olilfs, into which the swift but silent current w&s

rushing. A simultaneous cry burst from the three as they saw their awful tomb ; a cry of horror and despair. It was their first and only tribute to nature. And then tho boat shot into the .TEgyrian darkness of the chasm, and they were lost to the light and the world 1