CHAPTER XXXI.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2027, 4 July 1885, Page 1 (Supplement)

CHAPTER XXXI.

Habry had simply strolled away from the party without any particular object, except his general weariness. Ha waa becoming exceedingly tired of everything and everybody. The sweets had clayed him. Ho was one whose game was human, and here the quarry was very limited. So far he had paid little Attention to the natives, though no doubt he would soon have to take up with them. He felt that he could have amused himself for a considerable period with Oiinora, whoho fresh, piquant nature oharmed him, but he had for ■ome time acknowledged there was no hope Jn that quarter. John Morden was not a man 'to be trifled with ; neither was Herbert, when his blood was roused. He had for some time thought something would come out of Paranoa's meditated treachery, but when he reflected carefully over it, he saw tha prospects of a change were remote. Nothing was left for him, therefore, but to make the best of circumstance. Perhaps after all a cbance , of escape would arise, and he would be restortd to the world he loved so well. He certeinfy wished he was safe back in Melbourne, | f Of- the strange tremors of the island began to give him disquiet. These islands had been born of the volcano : might they not be suddenly destroyed by the same dread agency ? Thinking in this desultory manner, Harry walked through the marvels of the vegetation. A Mueller or Guilfoyle would have gone crazy over the wonders of the vegetable world, but to Harry they were dumb. Ho had walked on for some time, when his attention waa atxaoted by a figure half concealed in a bush which appeared to be looking intently at something. Harry recognised the figure as Paranoa, and wondered what he was watching. He soon concluded, however, that the loven were the objects of his attention. When Harry caught sight of Paranoa's face he was quits start Jed, so full of fiendish passions it waa. Hell was engraved on that dark, handlome face. Harry could not help shuddering. Suddenly Paranoa bounded away as if struck by something, and rushed past Harry. Impelled by the moment's curiosity, Harry followed after Paranoa. But Hirry was not a good forester, while Paranoa was, the result being that before long Harry had to stop and to confesi himself lost. How to return to the party he could not tell. He thought it would be best to seek some spot from which he oould view the kke, when he would be able to strike for the shore. But this was easier to determine upon than to •xecute. The under-growth was very strong, while the palms threw a shade almost like twilight. At this time, too, the streamers that had been thrown across the sky from the clouds on the horizon had become more than • veil, and so darkened the sun that it only turew a sickly light. IT^ry was brave, and did not lose his courage. He knew once the alarm spread that he waa lose the natives would soon find him. Still, in the meantime the consequences would be very unpleasant. A terrible tropical storm was evidently coming on, and to be alone amid the rage of the elements would be a fearful experience. Do what he could, Harry could not get on to a l«dge from which he could see the lake ; even if he had he would have been lost the moment he again pushed into the forest. Soon the darkness became so great that he oould hardly see anything. With no defined idea ho pushed on, listening for any sound thnt would guide him. Occasionally the eanu would quake, and a faint rumble would f jlJow. Then Harry's cheek would blanch, ana the awful tuought that he might be overwhelmed and swallowed up would for the moment unman him. Not that fear of the future or any religious idea affected him. He only dreaded the loss of this life, the enly thing of value, the thing that gave him all the pleasure he knew or cared for. How long he wandered in the mazed of this primeval forest he did not know. The darkness grew and grew until it became inky. If he moved about it was only with that animal instinct that makes the wild beast pace its den before the bars. Eepeatedly he laid down and rested, but the darkness, which, to use an old expression, could be felt, became so terribly oppressive that he rote up and resumed his wanderings. At last, thoroughly exhausted, and becoming aware that the great storm was about to break, he laid down under a thick shrub, which was on the edge of an open space. Nature was so exhausted, that, before he knew, ho was fast asleep. A disturbed sleep it was, peopled with the most terrible figures. Now he thought he was on the cliff, and that Paranoah and the natives, under the direction of John Morden, were about to cast him over. Down, down, he fell, to find himself in the outlet whirlpool. Then all became dark, and the dream ended to be succeeded by a vision all lightning and flame. The island was upheaved in the midst of this terrible pyrotech- * bio display, and then sank under the waters, and all became dark. Suddenly he thought on the edge of this fearful gloom there began to giow a light, lurid, red, and advancing. He struggled, he woke, and beheld a scene as strange as any in hia dream. Only a few paces from him, under a mighty palm, stood a group of masked figures, arrayed in strange garb, and holding torohes of resinous wood. To them, across the open spaces, were coming many figures similarly attired, and with torches. Tho hideous masks inado Harry at fiat 'almwt think he was witness to an 1 ssMniblnge of derils, but his imaginative mind icon concluded this was a meeting of the rebellious islanders, in the garb and masks Morden bad suppressed, held to baton their treason and to oelebrate the rites of the lid worship. HU conclusion wm soon mado

c xt to be riaht, for IV.ianoa, with a wild f> -o and st'ciipi <q bw, bounded across sht oven space and made up to the group of fi /urea under the palm. What he communicated Harry could not catch, but it was e.utently Homething of great moment, for eiery person executed a leap of joy and * wed the torches and shouted. To Harry it h >mcd that Dante's hell, as illustrated by 1) jre, had been let loose. j Harry had never seen on the stags, in J p untings, or in real life, anything so weird h d impressive. In front of the central f, jup extended circle after circle of wild, u icouth figiue*, whoso horrible masks, y mted in a style adapted to strike terror, v ith fishes' teeth, and many of them with c lored glass or jasper for eyes, were a perfect r^htinare. A background of impenetrable 1' jom set off tho picture, and its lurid lights, th a silhouette vividily that would have 1) en a revelation even to Dord. Soon, however, io became more than a I ftuie. At a signal the whole mass got into i . Jtion and repeated several movements. Ab '• eh platoon cama up to the group under the [i dta they bowed almost to the earth, and t'.e Bilence was broken by a wild and terrible, b ,t musical shout of — Ai iaianora, airah ora, Ai laianora ah ; Mai kaialora, nairah nora, Kai kaialora eah — Marambola, Marambola, nah ? Marambola, Marambola, man ? fno group inclined their heads but made no r. ply. When this ceremony was finiohed the ■i -tmblago becaro9 like statues, and the - knee was unbroken, aave by the almodt inj,u lible hiss of the torches, like so many •«.rpents. A fow minute^ elapsed, then the earth nook. A hollow lumble, like a groan followed, and then a distant lightning illuminated, for a second, the ghastly scene, turning tho torches into spectral lights. It was succeeded by a darkness deeper than over. Tne earthquake and lightning seemed the signal. There at once burst from the multitude a weird march air. It was to a great "Veut a monotone. The first and third verses ,; .re sung in a deep tone b/ the basses ; the ..« cond and fourth by the tenors, who made ,l" j words ring with a mighty accent on the lard and seventh syllables: Bjoih, boom, boom, bara boom— MaiAmara, Maramara Boom, boom, boom, bara boom Knratara, Karatira ? Speak, speak, speak, oh speak — Y/e hear thee, W3 hear thee ; Speak, apeak, ppeak, oh speak— Karatara, Karatara 1 Bj nature Harry was disposed to ridicule everything, the theatre for him possessed little attraction, except the actress and danced : tie laughed at the clumsy attemps at illusion, 'ho stimulated emotions of the aotors. But jeforn this real scene, so full of passion, so :raught with something terrible to come, Harry's ridicule vanished. He became aware there was nothing unreal in thin and that befoia long he would become an actor in a very disagreeable dream : he would have to leave vie place in the auditorium and take his part on tho boards. A wave of the hand on the part of the principlo figure of the group beneath the palm, a till And commanding man, at once bowed the multitude in attention. Henry Allan ppoke : in English this time for the younger portu-a of the assemblage understood that tou[?ue better, as the old language of the island had been to a great extent prosoribed and only English was taught in the schools ib&ablhhed by Morden. " The signal has come at last," said Henry Allan ; " the harvest ii ready. Paranoa, the eon of your lost Princess, has this day destroyed the demon's witch implements and we cvn now land upon his isle without fear. In the boat below are the fire- weapons upon which he relied." A terrible about answered this announcement; a shout so full of demoniac bloodthirstiness that Harry's blood almost froze. He no iv heard for the first time the terrible cry of the human tiger, that cry that which which there is nothing so awful in the world ; that cry that was heard day and night once in the streets of Pans ; that cry that echoed in the Colosseum of Home ; that cry that was heard in Carthago : " Cyprian ad leonea 1" "Karatara has returned to his land this night," said the high priest, inclining his head; " he is in the thick darkness, tL« heavy clouds, the earthquake, the lightning. His eye will flash upon you ; hi 3 voice will sound terribly : but fear him not ; he comes fer our enemy. Thia night the accursed white men will die ; this night he will be sacrificed in the mouth of hell — the outlet of the lake And with his death will pass away all the sorrows you have known. The sun will shine ; the earth will bear its fruits without labor; every man shall have his own ; every man shall do as he will. Above us are the clouds, around us tho thiok darkness—these are emblems of the past: tomorrow these will have passed away and the future in all its glory appearSo diorara, So tiosara, Caroon boon ara I" Bloodthirsty yells filled the air ; the torchea were waved frantically, the hideous figures leap n d and danced and shrieked like furies. The earth quaked, the lightnings flashed, the thunder followed the earthquake : but all thn only added to the excitement and enthusiasm. The great God had returned ; they saw his eye 3, they heard his voice. For years no one remembered an earthquake. " Great J/arambola," said one of the chiefs advancing, " there is but one thing wanting to make our victory sure. Where it! that symbol of all power that our priestess kept, the Singorainba ? It was in the ancient days shown at certain times, when peril threatened or a great event was to occur. Has it perished with the priestess ?" "It has vanished," answered the high priest, and there was a groan from the assemblage, " but fear not ; once this accursed crew are sacrificed it will return ; but not vntil then, for it is too pure for their eyes. Whon they are plunged into the lake the Smgoramba the symbol of the great god Az-troha will appear before your eyes." A delighted shout was given in answer. Harry noticed that at this moment Paranoa took trie chief's hand and led him aside until they almost touched the shrub under which he lay. Thoroughly aroused and terrified he strove to hear what they said through the terrible noised of the people and the elements. " Why could you not have come at once when 1 sent word I would destroy the machines and take away the guns. If he disoovers the loss he will resist, and he is still poweiful." Nothing could be done until now," was the reply. "We have to work with a superstitious people, and they have to be taken in a certain way in order that we may have a hold on them hereafter. But you need not be afraid. If you have done as I instructed, John Morden'a fangs will be drawn ; he will not be able to move hand or foot. In the darkness and the storm we will come upon him an J then — " " Will you not save one of them for me," asked Paranoa, whoso face Harry now saw in the light, for he had no mask on. It was ghastly, worn out with contending passions. " Surely you can save Harry's life ; you will let me have a fri«nd and companion." " I will save no one," was tho stern reply.^ "As the sky ia above us they will die before ' the nun shines once more upon the lake. To \

-•> vo cmo would bo to keep a s< ipent to etin^ m. Aud if thin man is the ohild of hi* father, lie is the most dangerous devil of all. Don't ?,plc mo this any more." Paranoa turned away vrith a sigh. He was not yet all devil. 'And do we proceed at onca ? " he asked. " When the ceremonie? are over," wai the reply, " I have studied every effect, and not one must be lost." " A terrible storm is coming on." " All the bettor ; I have calculated on ifc." " We cannot row acrosa the lake." " It will take some time to raise the waves. Before then we will be on the island. An uttaok and capture with earth and heaven in revolt is the climax we require. Wo will then seem working with Karatara. "There is no person at tho boats, should the waves begin to rise." " They will not till wo are ready. I have studied the storms. Now let us proceed to the necessary ceremonies." The two returned to the people, and Harry saw the resumption of the mystic sites, and heard the wild march resumed. But he had no thought for the dread spectacle now : his only study was to escape. Keeping well in the shade, he fled for life down the hill in the direction from which he had seen the savages come. He would never have found his way to the shore, but just as he had left the open, a blue spectral light illuminated earth and sky. For several minutes it irradiated the scone, if the word can be used of so ghastly a light, al moat deficient of the red and yellow rays. In this awful light Harry saw the lake and its islets, dead blue and inteaue black. As the light appeared a terrible yell broke forth, a yell of defiance. " He lights himself to the grave," Harry heard the voice of the High Priest say. Then the terrible war soDg bust forth. The electric light lasted sufficiently for Haray to find and enter a boat. Then it changed color, and he made his way to the the Happy Isle, guided by » great red light that turned the lake into blood.