Part 8 (1/2)
Fruit and water appear to be the natural food and drink ofartificial and vicious
CHAPTER XXII
THE NIGHT OF THE SACRIFICE
At last the night came when the snake God was to appear Thea path of dancing light from the island across the sea to the horizon The air was heavy as though presaging a storainst the star-spangled sky A red glow fro over it The silence was broken by the continued playing of reed pipes,wonderful music Melannie sat upon a throne, close to the pool in front of the coral cave, in which the stars were reflected as in a mirror Ackbau and other chiefs stood near her The queen was pale, but her dark eyes were resolute She sement Her subjects were asse of a war-drum announced the arrival of a procession, which advanced slowly to the pool, bearing a litter upon which, bound hand and foot, was stretched the unfortunate Van Luck When they had coe of the pool they set the litter down and withdrew
I had no cause to love Van Luck, yet there was so in his helpless misery which appealed to me, and made it impossible for me to abandon him to his fate without an effort to save him Besides, he was of my race, a white es
And now the waters of the pool began to be agitated by the rising of the leviathan from its depths, and suddenly a , rose out of the water The body of the creature reseer than
the biggest turtle I had ever beheld Thrice the an slowly to approach the litter upon which Van Luck lay, more dead than alive with the terror that had co prudence to the winds, I ran to help hi hie of the pool when he saw his prey being taken froes, who seee I had co Melannie rose fro Ackbau advanced towards esture
”Thisto where Van Luck lay atat the ave soes advanced, evidently with the intention of taking iven to thethe water into foaer at having been robbed of its prey
But now a new diversion arose which caused a panic arossed by as taking place at the pool that no heed had been given to the hty roar which shook the island to its foundations the volcano broke into eruption The crust had given way, and the internal fires, held in check, belched fro red hot were thrown to incredible heights The earth rocked and opened, so that an to descend The pool sank, leaving a deep pit into which the monster disappeared The prophecy was about to be fulfilled The snake God had been robbed of its tribute, and the island with all upon it was to be destroyed In, their terror the savages raced for the seashore Nothing was remembered but self-preservation
I now released Van Luck fro hi the secret path to where the boat lay, ready to put to sea I was rewarded for my rescue of Van Luck by his ability to help me Not a breath of wind stirred, so that we could not use the sail, and it became necessary to sweep the boat with the oars away fro island Alone I could not have accomplished this, and I doubt if Melannie could have helped norant as she was of the use of the heavy oar But Van Luck and I had no difficulty in sweeping the boat out to sea Thus does Providence recoained a safe distance from the island we rested awhile in order to look back on the strangest and ht I had ever beheld The island seemed to be blown to atoms Fla crater until the island, which had lately risen like a beauty-spot in the ocean, beca in red-hot streams into the sea, caused steam-clouds to rise, so that the island disappeared behind a lues escaped, forno canoesfrom the shore Thus vanished the Island of Geold, the dross of the world, in the pursuit of which sofro the hele of the foresail, whilst Melannie and I sat together in the stern The queen did not appear to regret the loss of her country
”I aht of her freedoain those dreadful sights I was compelled to witness”
”You will be happy,” I whispered, ”a your own people You will be rich also, for half oing”
”Nay, Peter,” she answered ”I need not take your jewels I have jewels of ht stones, I knew they would be of value to er than yours, and brighter” And, laughing to see the surprise she had givenwhich she carried at her girdle, which gloith a wonderful lustre under the light of theus froreedy look, and his eyes were fastened upon the jewels in Melannie's hand
”Put them away,” I whispered ”Such toys are often the cause of much trouble”
Melannie replaced the jewels, but seelad I had brought away the bright stones,” she said ”But if they are unlucky I will cast them into the sea”
”Nay, Melannie,” I answered ”Keep the the women of your own country But do not show them to anyone or let it be known that you have the shi+p, or they may cause our ruin, perhaps our death”
Melannie seeht stones had received a check since her display of theht a rebuke from my lips
CHAPTER XXIII
AT THE MERCY OF THE SEA
Whenisland we shaped a course with the wind, for I had no fixed purpose, and our only hope of returning to civilization lay in a chancevessel Yet I kne remote that chance would be The sea in these latitudes was not in the course of trade between any of the countries of the knoorld, and voyages of discovery such as those undertaken by Dirk Hartog and other navigators of the time were few and far between Still I conceived it to be my duty to make the best use of theto home and friends, and as the cutter danced over the waves, and the salt spray moistened our faces, I felt my spirits rise