George Manville Fenn

“ For the same thought as now invaded Panton’s breast came to Drew’s—that it was Oliver Lane, attracted by the imitation of the bird’s cry, making his way back into a horrible trap.
As if moved by the same muscles, two barrels rose slowly to a horizontal position, and fingers were upon triggers ready to press the mechanism and pour the deadly contents into the savage the moment he raised his hand to strike or took step forward to get a better aim.
Never was man nearer death, for all thought of the danger to self was non-existent. ”

“ Look, Drew!” cried Oliver, as a huge moth as big across the wings as a dinner plate flapped gently along the shadowy way beneath the trees, now nearly invisible, now plainly seen threading its way through patches which looked like showers of silver rain. “Who can be jealous of another’s luck when he is overwhelmed with luck of his own?”
“Hi! Stop! None of that!” cried Panton, catching Oliver by the arm, as he snatched off his sun helmet and was dashing forward through the forest. ”

“ The two young men stood as if paralysed, and it was some moments before Oliver could whisper huskily,—
“Smith!”
The feet were snatched out of sight in an instant, there was a loud rustling, and then a face was thrust out of the bamboos above where the man’s feet had been, and just as a bellowing roar came from the mountain and the earth trembled beneath their feet.
“Why, gentlemen; you?” whispered Smith, for it was indeed he.
“Yes: we thought you were on board the lugger, and nearly killed you.” ”

“ It was like the dying sighs of some monster, the sound they heard directly after growing fainter and fainter, till there was the mere whisper made by trickling ashes, then even that subsided, and they stood in a cloud of dust, listening while it slowly rolled away. At last, as they gazed downward, there, below them, to the right, was a huge opening torn into the forest, with broken limbs, prostrate trunks, and great mop-like roots standing up out from a slope of grey cinders and calcined stones.
“What an escape,” muttered Oliver. “Warning: we must not fire again near the mountain.” ”

“ Oliver Lane stood looking up with the longing to ascend to the edge of the crater growing strong once more, but he was fagged by his exertions, bathed in perspiration, and aware of the fact that an intense glowing heat rose from the surface all around him, while the air he breathed seemed to produce a strange suffocating effect when he turned his face from the wind which swept over the mountain slope. ”

“ So utterly dark did it become that anything a yard away was quite invisible, and once more, suffering one and all from a sensation of dread against which it was impossible to fight, the occupants of the deck stood waiting to encounter whatever was next to come.
Oliver Lane was at the age when a youth begins to feel that he is about to step into a fresh arena—that of manhood, but with a good deal that is boyish to hold him back. ”

“ Panton thrust a hand into his pocket and brought out a roll of magnesium wire, gave Wriggs his gun to hold, and then lit one end which flashed out into a brilliant whitish light, surrounded by dense fumes of smoke, and illuminating the vast hall in which they stood, for here the tiny river ran in a wide-spreading plain of smooth lava which must at one time have been a lake of molten stone, now hard, cold, and dry, save where the water glided on like so much steel in motion. ”

“ There was plenty of light for the evolutions, so hoisting sails which looked orange in the glow, they ran for the first opening they could find in the reef, passed through in safety, and stood out to sea, where they lay to a few miles away, watching the awfully grand display of fire, rising fountain-like from the volcano, down whose sides golden and blood-red water seemed to be running in streams. ”

“ At that moment Drew came staggering toward them out of the mist with his gun over his shoulder and his head down as he gazed at the ground, looking as if at any moment he would fall.
“Ah!” cried Panton, excitedly. “I had quite forgotten you, Drew.”
“Eh?” said the botanist, stopping short. “Someone call?”
“Yes; I—Panton. Come here.”
“He’s got it, too, Billy,” said Smith. “I say, what’s the matter with all on us? Was it that water we drunk?”
“No, I aren’t drunk!” cried Wriggs, suddenly dropping his good-tempered idiotic manner. “If you says I’m drunk, Tommy Smith, I shall hit yer. Smell that!” ”

“ Look out!” cried Oliver, as they advanced, and, raising his piece, he fired at something shadowy which he made out by the light of the stars gliding slowly along beneath the bulwarks.
The gun flashed, and the report was followed by a loud hissing, and a violent blow, as if some enormous whip had been lashed at the three, who were thrown to the deck, their legs being swept from under them.
“Hi!—this way,” cried the mate from forward. “We’ve got him here.” ”

“ Oliver drew a long deep breath as he gave a stamp upon the sand.
“Hah! That’s better,” he sighed. “Well, Panton, how do you feel?”
“I don’t know. So weak yet, but—yes, I am better, a good deal. I say, couldn’t we make a little expedition somewhere, say as far as that cavern where the sulphur hole goes right down into deep strata?”
“No, no, let’s keep out in the fresh air.”
“That’s better, gentlemen,” said the mate, descending in turn from the deck of the brig, which now looked quite like a fort with its breastwork of new planks. “Puts strength into you, don’t it, to get out here?” ”

“ But I say, I don’t stomach this here darkness. It’s like being at work in the hold. Mind!”
“All right, I see it coming, mate,” said Smith, as a great lump of cinder fell close to him. “Didn’t touch me.”
“Miss is as good as a mile, mate, eh? But don’t it seem as if someone up above was heaving these stones at us because we are not wanted here.”
“Come along, my lads!” cried Oliver, halting for them to hasten up. “Take my gun, Smith, and I’ll carry the ladder for a bit.”
“Not me, sir, begging your pardon. This here ladder’s about the awkwardest and heaviest ladder as ever was for his size.” ”

“ Then came the explanation of the savages’ action. They were fleeing from an enemy, but it was no human foe. Nature was at work once more. There was a peculiar vibration of the earth, a cracking, rending sound, and the earth opened in a jagged rift which ran on steadily toward the enemy, passing the edge of the forest where the friends lay, and starting the Papuans on again in headlong flight toward their canoe. Then came a deep rumbling from the opening, a hot gush of steamy air and a violent report from away in the direction of the volcano, and silence once more deep and profound. ”

“ Guns, all of you,” cried Mr Rimmer, as the savages came on in the moonlight, winging arrow after arrow, which stuck in the ship’s side again and again.
“Hooray for Billy Wriggs!” yelled Smith just then, as his comrade came panting up last.
“Here y’are gents,” cried Wriggs, and with steady hands he planted the ladder he had been so long abusing right up against the side. “Now, then, up with yer, Mr Oliver Lane, sir.”
“No, no; up, Drew.”
“Quick: don’t shilly-shally,” roared Mr Rimmer. “Now, boys, fire!” ”

“ And now, as the arrows came in a shower over the attacking party’s heads, firing became general, and watching their opportunity just as matters were getting very critical, the place of every man shot down being taken by a dozen more, Oliver and Panton both held the ends of the fuses they had prepared to the candle in a lantern. They saw that they were well alight, and then, as calmly as if there were no danger whatever of the contents exploding, bore them to the side, with the men shrinking away, and cast them over, right into the most crowded part of the attack. ”

“ A cheer broke out from the crew at that moment, for right overhead the blackness opened, and a clear, bright ray of light shot down upon the deck, quivered, faded, shot out again, and then rapidly grew broader and broader.
“Blue sky!” yelled one of the sailors frantically as a patch appeared; and in his intense excitement he dashed off into the rapid steps of a hornpipe.
“Bravo, my lads!” cried the mate, who was as excited as the men. “Cheer again. Three cheers for the bit of blue!” ”

“ Come along quietly, we must have some specimens of them.”
“No, no,” cried Panton. “If we fire at them good-bye to any chance of a deer. Steal up and have a look at them, we shall have plenty more chances.”
Oliver was strongly tempted to fire, for just then a bird skimmed down from on high into the gloom beneath the trees, and they had a glimpse of the lovely creature, with its long, loose, yellowish plumage streaming out behind as if it were a sort of bird-comet dwelling amongst the trees. ”

“ Look there, how every root is at work breaking up the rock to which it clings, and in whose crevices the plants and trees take root, grow to maturity, die, and add their decaying matter to the soil, which is ever growing deeper and more rich.”
“Hear, hear,” growled Wriggs in a low tone, and Panton frowned, but smiled directly after as he saw the sailor’s intent looks.
“Well, do you understand, Wriggs?” he cried.
“Not quite exactly, sir,” said the man. “Some on it, sir; and it makes me and my mate feel that it’s grand like to know as much as you gents do.” ”

“ A loud yell arose now, for the lights showed Oliver standing on the brink, and, lowering their spears, a dozen savages rushed at him, but he stepped off the rock edge, descended quickly for some distance, and then plunged into the rushing water, which seemed to rise at him, seize him, and bear him along at a rapidly increasing rate, but with his head above the surface, and the echoing roar of falling waters striking his ears with stunning violence. ”

“ The sun was growing intensely hot now, as Smith shouldered the ladder, and they once more started up the slope, which rapidly grew steeper, so stiff indeed was the ascent that Oliver, who led, after trying the zigzag approach and finding it too difficult, bore away to the east, making the ascent more gradual, and as if the intention was to form a corkscrew-like path round the upper part of the mountain. ”

“ For there below them, in a cup-like depression, lay a nearly circular lake of the purest and stillest water, in whose mirror-like surface were reflected the rocky sides, verdant with beautiful growth, the towering trees and spire-like needles which ran up for hundreds of feet, here and there crumbled into every imaginable form, but clothed by nature with wondrous growth wherever plant could find room to root in the slowly decaying rock. ”

“ He took careful aim as he spoke.
“That’s dead on the shoulder,” he said, softly, and then he fired, the young men having the satisfaction of seeing the little buck go bounding away like the wind after its companions, who went off at the flash of the gun.
“Missed him,” said Panton, rather contemptuously.
“Couldn’t have missed,” said the mate, sharply. “I took such careful aim. Wait a moment or two, and you’ll see it drop. It was a dead shot.”
“Then you didn’t kill its legs, too,” said Oliver; “they’re lively enough. How the little thing can run.” ”

“ Oliver turned his head to see, with surprise and some amusement, that now the imminent danger had passed, the naturalist had re-asserted itself, and their companion was eagerly collecting specimens of the wonderful parasitic plants which clustered over a decaying tree-trunk. Then his own instincts were aroused by the beauty of at least a dozen tiny sun-birds, perfect gems of colour and brilliancy, which were flitting and buzzing almost like insects about the same blossoms, to probe the deep richly-tinted throats with their long curved beaks. ”

“ How could we ever face his friends unless we had striven to the last?”
“We have striven to the last, man. Look! In a few minutes it will be black night, and to attempt to plunge into that horrible vapour would be madness, weakened and overwrought as we are.”
“I thought so,” cried Panton. “The poor fellow has but one who will make a fight for him.”
“Stop!” cried Drew, clinging to his arm.
“Let go!”
“I say you shall not.”
“Let go, or take the consequences,” cried Panton furiously, and he raised his gun as if to strike at his companion with the butt.
“Here, Smith, Wriggs, help me, he is half mad. ”

“ When it had passed over Oliver Lane shook his head and tried with his smarting eyes to get rid of the water and make out whether his companions were safe.
To his horror Arthur Panton was hanging from the belaying pin to which he had lashed himself, with his head down and his hands close to his feet, apparently lifeless, while the mate was gone.
It is good medicine for the mind to see others in peril, for it rouses to action the best feelings in our nature and subdues the love of self. ”

“ Here, quick! Look amongst those trees. There’s a man—no, a boy—no. I see now; it’s alive, and—yes—it’s some kind of ape.”
“Well, we can’t go on fighting against each other, with every man for his own particular subject,” said Drew, “we must take our turns. We’ve been cast on a perfect naturalist’s paradise, with the world turned upside down, as if for our special advantage.”
“Yes,” said Panton; “we could not possibly have hit upon a place more full of tempting objects.”
“But what about our exploration in New Guinea?” said Oliver.
“This may be the western end of that island,” said Panton. ”

“ Oliver suffered from a sensation of disappointment during those next two hours, for he regretted not stripping the skins from the magnificent fruit pigeons, but, as his companions said, he had no cause to complain, for he secured specimens of two beautifully feathered birds of Paradise, of an exceedingly rare kind. In addition he had a couple of brilliant scarlet and green lories, and half-a-dozen sun-birds, while Drew’s collecting box and pockets were full of specimens, and Panton perspired freely beneath his burden of crystals, vitrified rock, and pieces of quartz. ”

“ He knew the folly of his remark as he spoke, for the wind had completely dropped now, and it was noted as strange that no rush of air came after each explosion. There was the heavy concussion and then a terrible stillness, the air being perfectly motionless, and this appearing the more strange after the frightful tornado through which they had passed. Silence absolute, and a darkness as thick as that of the great plague of Egypt—a darkness that could be felt. ”

“ And now, as soon as you have had a bite and sup, you look as if you’d like to tackle the mountain again.”
“Of course, that’s what I do feel,” said Oliver, laughing. “So do we all.”
“I’ll be hanged if I do!” cried Mr Rimmer. “The brig isn’t floating, I know, but she stands up pretty solid, and I feel as if I shall not be very comfortable till I’m standing upon her deck.”
“But we’ve come on a voyage of discovery,” said Panton.
“Yes, sir, that’s right enough, but we seem to have begun wrong way on. We want to discover things, and, instead, they keep discovering us. ”

“ Had he inhaled some mephitic gas which had overcome him? Or was he to let superstitious imagination have its play and believe that some dragon or serpent-like creature had suddenly raised a head out of the dark waters, seized him, and borne him down? It was possible, and a shudder ran through the young man’s frame as he pictured the great serpent-like object suddenly darting itself at him, wrapping him in its folds as he had seen the constricting sea-snakes seize their prey, and at once drag them out of sight. ”