John Munro

“ I fancied that she saw me, and trembled with emotion; but I was mistaken, for she turned and walked towards the cavern.
Suddenly I remembered the alarming sound within the cave, and breaking through the covert, called after her.
"Take care, take care! There is a wild beast in the grotto. I heard it cry."
She looked round and started when she saw me. The surprise, visible on her face, seemed to melt into recognition.
"It is kind of you to warn me," she responded with a frank smile, "but I am not in danger. There is no wild animal inside." ”

“ It seemed to me that I had known Alumion always.
"Assuredly," she replied, "for you and I are kindred souls who have been separated in another world, by death or evil; and now that we have met again, let us be faithful and loving to each other."
"Nothing shall separate us any more."
The words had scarcely passed my lips when the same terrible cry which I had heard once before sounded from the interior of the grotto. ”

“ How happy we shall be!"
"In Womla--no. We should not be quite at rest."
"Then we shall seek out some desert star where we can live only for each other."
"You do not understand me. Neither in Womla nor in a desert star could we be happy in a selfish love, knowing that others were in pain."
"Better I had not spoken of my world at all."
"No, a thousand times no!" cried Alumion with fervour. "For you have opened up to me a new source of happiness--of blessedness which I have never known before. Only let us go together to your world and minister to the unfortunate." ”

“ Such a love as mine looked down upon the petty proprieties which keep lovers apart, yet are sometimes so needful in our wicked world. In this noble planet life was free and simple, because it was beautiful and good. ”

“ Everything is mixed in our world--the strong and the weak--the rich and the poor--the happy and the miserable."
"But do the good not help the bad?"
"Yes, to a certain extent; but life is a struggle there; every man for himself; and the good very often find it hard to secure a little happiness for themselves." ”

“ A blush mounted to her cheek as she answered with a divine glance,
"Meet me at sunset to-morrow, and I will be yours."
As yet I had not mentioned my adventure with Alumion to any of my companions, but that night I said to Gazen, as we smoked our cigars together,
"Wish me joy, old fellow! I am going to be married."
He seemed quite dumbfounded, and I rather think he fancied that I must have come to an understanding with Miss Carmichael.
"Really!" said he with the air of a man plucking up heart after an unexpected blow. "May I ask who is the lady?" ”

“ Perfect beauty, like the sublime, produces an impression of the infinite, and I only speak the literal truth when I say that she appeared infinitely beautiful to me. Her golden hair, rippling over the delicate ear and gathered into a knot behind, her large violet eyes and blooming white skin, her Grecian profile and stately yet flowing form, might have become an Aphrodite of Xeuxis or Praxiteles ”

“ This beautiful land, so green and smiling under a sky of serene azure and snowy wreaths, became as the highest heaven to me, and I wandered about in a dream of ecstacy like one of the blessed gods inebriated with nectar. ”

“ We will bring the sinful and the suffering over here to Womla and make them happy."
"I am touched by your simple faith in us, dearest It does you honour, but I fear it is mistaken. What would you say if the very people you had saved and befriended were to turn round and take your country from you, perhaps even destroy you? Such ingratitude is not unknown in our world."
"If they are so wicked they have the more need of help." ”

“ Thank goodness, the 'family' does not interfere with love affairs in this happy land! We love each other, we have agreed to be married, and that is quite sufficient. No need to get the 'consent of the parents,' or make a 'settlement,' or give out the banns, or buy a government license as though a wife were contraband goods, or hire a string of four-wheelers, or tip the pew-opener. ”

“ One has already come and taught us how to love and cherish each other, that the strong should help the weak, the rich give to the poor, and the happy comfort the wretched. His followers believe that He came from Heaven, and yet after nineteen hundred years I am afraid that some of them do not fully understand the plain meaning of His words, or else find it convenient to ignore them. ”

“ The music comes from his head, and the noise is from his tail. That is why we call him Siloo."
The word, as nearly as I can translate it, means harmony, order, measure, proportion, in the Womla tongue.
"Does he always live in this cave?"
"Yes, he is a sacred animal with us, and long ago was worshipped and consulted by our forefathers, and those who preceded them in the island."
"Is he very old?"
"None can tell how old. Some say he is immortal. Others think he is only the offspring of the snake worshipped by our forefathers. ”