CHAPTER IV.

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

CHAPTER IV.

After the shadow the sunshine ; After tho darkness the light; After the twilight the moonshine ; After tne dark cloud the bright : Post teach a* In i ! Death is terrible in any form, but how much more so when time is given to realise it. T^.is was the case with the occupants of the boat, who, as they were swept along the cave with the rapidity of a railway train, could reflect upon their fate, Harry, sat by himself, holding with the grasp of death his seat. Ebby had thrown his arms around Herbert, resolved that they should die together. In that supreme moment these two had the greatest consolation we can have in the hour of death : unselfish friendship. Harry had no such resource. He was truly alone, without even the light of Heaven to guide him. But even in that hour he defied the faith of his childhood and steeled himself to the Agnostic's fate — annihilation. How long that terrible agony lasted none of tho party erer could tell. It might have been hours, it may only have been seconds. Before they could realise their deliverance, they shot out into the light of day, experiencing but a moment's twilight, and the sun shone once more upon them.the blue vault of Heaven rose above them, and a new world dawned upon their eyes. Post tenebras lux ! And such a new world 1 For a time no one spoke. Herbert and Ebby were occupied in fervent thanksgiving to the Almighty who had rescued them from what appeared certain death. No auob occupation was Harry's ; on the contrary his mind was filled with a wild kind of triumph. The fell enemy had been cheated, and for a time he was free to live, free to revel in the passions of this earth. He was first, however, to take in the extraordinary world upon which they had entered. It was apparently Paradise or something closely resembling what men pio-

ture as Paradise. Looking back, the voyagers saw the awful chasm through whioh they had been swept. On the coast it would soon have been lost in the gloom of the basalt cliffs, but here it stood in bold relief like the one black spot on a man's life, for it was surrounded by a glorious glowing mass of tropical verdure, the various plants being co many that they could not be made out, but the whole effect charming beyond imagination. It was, in fact, one vast conservatory, over whioh graceful palms of every kind waved, mingled with trees of feathery foliage. All this extended up the mountain that formed the cliffs until it was lost apparently in the deep-blue sky that formed the oanopy. The explanation of their position was easy. In the convulsion of nature that had raised this mighty island, the volcanic matter had been thrust up so as to form an amphitheatre, and in the walls occurred this rift through which the terrible Pacific poured its resistless waters. So much for what lay behind. But how can pan or tongue, brush or pencil, convey an idea of the glories that opened upon their astonished eyes as they gazed upon the wonders that lay before them ? It was not enough that they had had a great deliverance ; that they could say with the poet : 41 'Tvras something like the burst from death to life ; From the grave's cerements to the robes of Heaven." Added to this was their introduotion to a world that, to them — and two of them had artist's eyes and rosthetio tastes — was beautiful beyond their dreams. Thoy were floating on a silver or azure or emerald lake, as the lights fell upon it, hemmed in by circular hills, olothed with the loveliest plants and trees, and decked with a myriad little islets, resembling many-hued gems in a setting of lapn lazuli. There was nothing discordant, flaunting, or gorgeous in this perfect panorama of beauty, this Heaven in miniature ; color and contour were in perfect accord. Above all was the glorious cerulean vault, filled with the pleasantest glow of the forenoon sun, a small cloud or two flecking its beautiful expanse. The air was balmy beyond conception, and bore to their senses the perfume of many a blossom, a perfume suoh as they had never experienced. And over all brooded a oalm that vividly contrasted with the fierce blast that had pitilessly rushed them through the chasm ; whioh had been dispersed around the amphitheatre, and returned, balmy and perfume-laden, as if to offer a sacrifice for its ruthlessness 1 " Surely," cried Ebby, aa they glided between two fairy inlets, covered with oranges, whose golden fruit gloarned out of the waxy green leaves, " this is a dream. We are dead, and have wakened in Paradise." "It is a dream," replied Harry, with some sarcasm in his tone, " but not the dream of the dead, thanks be to the volcano that gave the island this shape. By-the-bye, here's a spare oouple of oars. Let's take them and steer the boat among these islands. The current has become gentle through expanding its force in a wider area, but yet it might oause the boat to be staved, and weoannot do without it. We're not dead, Ebby, by any meanß. It was not charm but the winds that ferried us over that fearful river." As they drifted on they were suddenly startled by a vision that appeared for one moment on one of the islets, and was gone the next. A venerable man in fantastic attire. The faoe was only soen a seoond, but its malignity made them shudder. They looked again ; nothing appeared. " Did you see anything?" asked Herbert. " A dream," replied Harry ; "We mistook gome rock or dead tree for a sorcerer, It must have been a delusion." Herbert took the other oar, and the two young men guided the boat gently through the ever changing panorama of islets ; an unparalleled dream Bcene. The water was so pelluoid that they could see the fishes darting

in it und->r the boat. Wil' 1 fowl, the like of which thfy had never seen, flew away as thsy rounded some of the Hands. The?j were of tho most divine character. Some were tiny mounds, covered with a few orange, mango and other fruit trees, with a graceful cocoanut palm waving over all, and ilowers of bawilclerin™ hues on the tuff ; stephanotis, orchids, ferns, oamellias, and many others, the names of which they did not know. Other islets roe sheer out of the water to a considerable height, the growth on which seemed more wild and tangled. Arriving at quite a little cluster of islets, divided only by tiny ohannels, the young men were able to find a cove. Here there was a landing-place, made of ooral, which was swept np on the beach by the waves. It was mo3t artistic ; coral of various hues being worked together so ad to produce an harmonious effect. Quite close to the landing was a de1k ious arrcor, shaded by a number of beautiful creapiug plant;-), with a green turf in front. " This," aaid Herbert, " is the footprint in the Hand.only much more beautiful than the impiint of a black man's huge extremity, which frightened our friend, Robinson Crusoe, out of his wits. He have come upon an inhabited — what shall I ci'l it ? — archipelago." " There s no doubt o! it," replie 1 Harry, " and %11 the better, unless the folks are maneaters ; in case of which, Herbert, you and I will have a poor chanoe, whereas Ebby will escape, and perhaps be made King and Hiy,h Priest. But, come what will, carpe diem, let's Si'ize tho moment and the fruit, coo. That terrible passage through the chasm has made methir3ty." They sprang on shore and were soon seated in the arbor eating the luxurious oranges, mangoes, and other extraordinary and beautiful fruits. " Now that the peril is over," said Herbert, 11 1 confess I feel the romance of the affair. What will they think of it on the yacht ? We will be given up for lost, and they Jill return to Melbourne, and after a while our wills will be proved and we numbered with the dead." Herbert sighed heavily as he thought of Alice, and what would be her feelings when she heard tho dread news. He felt a terrible pang as he reflected he might be detained here for years, perhaps for ever. Never more to see that dear face, never more to Bee the land of his birth, never more " Bah 1 " cried Harry, lightly, springing up, " time enough to meet trouble when it comes. Here we are just escaped from the most fearful of deaths, introduced into the loveliest spot on creation, with the most delicious of fruits, the loveliest of scenery, the rarest of inland seas to hand, and we mast commence to pule and lament. If we got in here we can get out, and we'll return to Melbourne and set the world ablaze with our adventures. It's better than going to Africa shooting lions as young Chirnaide did. I know you hava a tender point, Herbert, but there's no need to be gloomy. Che faro muz Eurydice ? Why, do without her for a time, and the meeting will be a greater pleasure than if life had gone on smoothly. Why, Alice will not hear of tnis until you are in Melbourne, and can telegraph your safety. To our boat." Once more they were on the water, steering through a narrow channel, over which hung fragrant and beautiful plants and floirora, and feathery fronds of palms. The gentle current carried the boat on without an effort on the part of the rowers. Suddenly the channel widened, the two islands seemed as it were to start apart, and they found themselves in an open basin of still blue water, fronting a large island. A scene burst upon their view such as few have witnessed.