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 wide-spread 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. Verlaten 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 XXXI
ENDS WITH A STRUGGLE BETWEEN INCLINATION AND DUTY
"De 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 débris. 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 w'en 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 suffm' 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 XXXII
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.