CHAPTER V.

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

CHAPTER Y.

A young ittr 1 which shone O'er lifo — too sweet an image for sach glass t A lovoly being, scarcely formed and moulded : A roso with all its sweetest leaves yet folded. An oval basin of water, pure and pellucid as crystal, with a tinge of ravishing blue, Buch as is seen in the rarest Murano or Bohemian glaßs, was surrounded by a semicircle of islets, tbe vista being closed in by an island that rose from the lake a rounded emerald. On this island, whioh was oval in form, there was a fantastic residenoe, embowered in shrubs and trees, and flowers, out of which rose stately palms of every kind, waving (rheir graceful foliage against the deep blue sky. The island sloped gently to the water, whioh lapped its sides, and these slopes were riohly grassed, interspersed with parterres, of what elsewhere would be oalled exotioi, but whioh were here evidently the commonest flowers. Paths ran in various directions, of every oonceivable and fantastic form. Being made of orushed red coral and edged with ooral of different oolours, but all carefully arranged to harmonise with the verdure, the effect was like enchantment. It wat, as Harry afterwards j sarcastically observed, as if it had been painted to order. A landing place ingeniously conceived and exeouted, stood fronting the voy- j agers. It was of ooral in every tint, interspersed with the blue basalt to give a bizarre effect. The landing placa was of the finest white coral, whioh gleamed in the sun like alabaster. Riding at anchor was a tiny boat that seemed like a fairy's oanoe, side by side with one of larger and stronger make, but equally effective in appearance. But upon none of these sights, wondrous as they were, did the young men's eyes rest, for there was one whioh rivet ted their attention to the coral pier. On this stood a beautiful girl, gazing with wonder and rapture upon the boat and its occupants. As they neared tho isle this vision grew upon them until at last she was revealed in all her marvellous loveliness. It was difficult at first to comprehend that this gul belonged to this earth. Had our adventurers lived in other time?, when superstition was rampant, they would have imagined they were really dead aud had woke up in Elysium, and that this was a welcoming angel. When the boat grated against the steps and was secured, the young men stood for a time and pased at thn Dream of Beauty. Never in all their experience, and eaoh had travelled in many lands, had they seen any woman comparable to this one. To describe her is & Tain task, for tbere were beauties whioh made up the sum total that owed their being to influences that are unknown in the ordinary world. Nor, indeed, can true beauty even be described, so ethoroal it la, so dependent upon qualities of mind and charm of manner. Attempting to delineate it, even on canvas, very much resembles the effort of the boy to grasp the butterfly ; its loveliness vanishes in his coarse hands. This much can be said of the star of the lone island : She was budding into womanhood, though evidently at an early age, and was formed in the t'moat proportions, though slender and willowy ; her evory movement a picture, her every pose magic. Her attitude, as Ehe waited for tha adventurera to land, with hands slightly uplifted, and face eager with curiosity, not unmixed with the natural alarm thut is felt at something new and strange, was such as only Grecian maidens in the heroio age could have equalled. Her face was small, her features finely chiselled, but not cold or devoid of character, and capable of rapid change of exprcKeion such as is only tho gift of tuose whom society has not taught to make tbe countenance a mask. Hair of pure gold floated over her shoulders in crisp ourls. Her skin was of a rich tint, and a

lovely shell pink kr < . 1 c Violet ujB3, deep an,i c n.o'.' every emotion of tl.o pii 1 ~ ■ i' througa them, corn^U'ti. 1 v.■ t 1 , incomparable Djau»y of tut S> 1 < 1 . I have naid d^sonp'iTi el •. 1 • > wai vain, and iifitrs'it .npV t- ■ - . . I feel the words are alt cnuwi ; : . •■• - story progresses, pernapTi t.c c . , . able to form sonieci»it'£ i.m ,-, U. 1 • of the purest and most bvau'./ai ,^.± . <■> ever walked tens earch : Who hath not provpd how fc^'lv ' ' To fi\ 0110 spuk of b -autv's h . * Who doth not fuel, until his fmu i- 1 . r Faints into dimness it. <>.\ ut .1 1 ,' His changing clvek, his sinla.iij a " „ ( i* ,s The might — Lho mujt'sty of loitl 1, ***** Thp light of We, tho u ini .' of <. - Tlit; mind, the music Ur'^'lrn'; 1<- > >i f •■• Tho heart whobe softne-.h, 11 1.1 1 > >i- 1 1 \, '•■', And oh ! that cje that was it^'lf . • 1 !