“this inhuman cavern—
it were too bad a prison-house for goblins.
—— —— —— no place safe but this!”
coleridge.
mutual terror forces hostile animals into peaceful companionship. under its influence the wolf lies down as quietly beside the lamb as if in the kingdom of love. the extremes of faith and education produce in man under threatened, speedy death, much the same outward result. pohaku’s warriors, bred in cruelty, and believing only in malignant deities, viewed their fast coming fate with sullen indifference. so long as there was hope in their exertions they were ready to show themselves men, but when death looked them right in the face, they were equally ready to proffer their breasts to his stroke without further struggle. their instincts taught them that as life was beyond their control, so was death. he was a foe they could not conquer, neither should he triumph in their fear. thus in his ignorance and unbelief the savage meets the great change with an insensibility, which, in its outward calm, rivals the faith of the christian.
having abandoned hope, they sat stoically regarding[178] the rising tide of lava,—seldom speaking, for it was a scene in which nature, uniting them by a common feeling, made speech useless. the air grew hotter each second. puffs of steam issued from the rocks near by. at times a thick cloud of suffocating vapor swept so close to them, that they were obliged to hold their breaths until it passed.
olmedo and beatriz, with their hands joined, calmly awaited their end. as the danger drew nigher they shrunk closer together, each impulsively seeking to shield the other.
“how terrible this is, olmedo, to see earth and air on fire,” said beatriz to him, in a voice scarce above a whisper. “look, it will soon reach us.” she shuddered and was silent for a minute, but recovering herself, added, with her eyes seeing only him, “it will be sweet to enter heaven together, will it not, my more than father?” she thought of him now only as the being who had awakened in her faith and feelings, which made her look forward with joy to celestial freedom.
“yes, my daughter, this is indeed a terrible sight. nature perishes like a scroll in the flames. the last day has indeed come upon us, and we shall soon see the holy one and his saints. have no fear. as we have fought the good fight, so shall we be welcomed into the joy of our lord. but my soul faints for these poor heathen, who await their death with such unconcern. would that i could even now baptize them into the true faith.”
in the meantime tolta had returned from his fruitless endeavor to find an avenue for escape. in[179] his anger, he had cursed the gods of hawaii and denied his own, from whom no succor came. more enlightened and cultivated than the hawaiians, with a moral conviction of the superior truths of the catholic faith, yet hating it for the injuries it had brought upon him and his country, tolta was filled with distracting emotions. the spaniard’s deity might even now save them, as he had ever shown himself so much more powerful than his own, but he disdained to call upon him, and the very sight of the crucifix which olmedo wore filled him with fresh anger.
he felt that his treachery had brought this awful fate upon those of all the spanish race, who had never done him evil. this was a source of misery to him, but far weaker than that which sprung from having his hopes baffled by so unexpected and lingering a death, which in releasing his victims, consigned himself to the accumulated horrors of his own and the christian’s hell. oppressed by these thoughts, believing but contemning repentance; seeing that just retribution was seeking him out, yet bidding it defiance; sorrowing, not for his selfish passions, but for their defeat, he crept back despairing, and laying himself down close to the feet of beatriz, said to her, “we shall all burn together. you will go to the virgin mother and i to darkness,—to despair,—to any hell that shall release me from the sight of the hated white man—curses upon them all,” and covering his head with his mantle he shut out all outward objects, and remained as motionless as if turned to stone.
[180]
olmedo made no appeal to him, comprehending its uselessness, but turning to the warriors, spoke to them of a brighter world which awaited them if they would trust in the christian’s god and be baptized. “renounce your demon idols and call upon the saviour this represents,” said he, holding up his crucifix, and pointing to a calabash of water, added, “you can be baptized and saved even at the last hour.”
“we have offended pele,” one of them replied, “and she dooms us. no one can escape her anger. more powerful is she than your deity. you and your god will soon be but ashes. see how she rides the air, spouting fire in her anger! she comes, she comes!” “auwe! auwe!” and a mournful and prolonged wail, like the death-song of the indian, burst from their united lips, as a shower of hot cinders began to fall so thick and fast as to obscure the little light that had reached them through the smoke, which the wind had hitherto in a considerable degree kept off.
“the cave, olmedo, the cave,—quick, quick!” cried beatriz, grasping his hand to urge him forward. tolta started up at the call, like one retouched with life, and the three were soon under its shelter.
the warriors remained as olmedo last spoke to them, either not hearing the cry of beatriz, or preferring to meet their death like soldiers at their posts in the open air. their wail continued to be heard to the latest moment, rising from a low monotonous, tremulous note of suppressed suffering[181] into a prolonged chorus of muffled shrieks, that fell upon the ears of beatriz and olmedo like the last despairing cry of humanity, and thrilled their hearts with horror. for an instant it made them regardless of their own safety, and they turned back a step or two, calling upon the warriors to follow, but the burning ashes fell so fast that they were immediately driven still farther into the recesses of the cave. their ears were ringing with the dismal wail; the effect of which from sheer sympathetic force, is to enhance the bitterness of grief and paralyze joyous emotion, so that the listener is changed into the mourner, despite his own indifference to the cause. in this case, the sensibilities of the priest and maiden were the more acute from their own participation in the dangers which were bringing a lingering death upon so many of their number, added to their inability to render any assistance. doubtless the stupefaction from the poisonous gases, with which the atmosphere was laden, added to their own exhaustion from previous efforts, aided to make the warriors so indifferent to their fate. no one replied to the call of olmedo, or even to the authoritative voice of tolta, who had at last roused himself at the clearer perception of their situation, and with reawakened energies was prepared to continue his exertions to escape.
it was impossible for them to remain near the mouth of the cave, so they lighted some torches of the kukui nut, and proceeded to explore it. “we may find it deep enough to screen us from the lava and fatal air,” said olmedo. “here are the remains[182] too of our last night’s provisions, which those poor heathen left here this morning. alas! for their souls! come, beatriz, you shall yet see juan. eat a morsel to sustain your strength,” and he gave the example, more to persuade her than to appease his own hunger.
tolta scowled at the confiding smile beatriz gave to the priest as she complied with his advice, but he ate also, and the three found in the short respite from the sights and sounds of the outer air, helped as it was by much needed food, a renewal of mental and physical energies which surprised them. it seemed as if they were aroused from some oppressive dream.
the extent of the cave tempted them on. it descended at first somewhat abruptly. at the distance of a hundred rods from the entrance the passage grew narrow, and was partially choked with stones, which had fallen from overhead. by some labor the two men cleared the way for beatriz to follow, and they found themselves in a large chamber, where the air was quite fresh in contrast with what they had been breathing for hours past. this revived them still more. the roof was covered with stalactites of great size, and had the appearance of having been long undisturbed. occasionally a slight jar was perceptible in the ground, and a low warning sound of disturbed elements was heard. they were encouraged to go on by finding both decreased as they advanced. once, only, there was a shock so severe that they paused in stupor, fancying that the rock above them was being crushed[183] in. but, with the exception of a few loose stones that rattled down, no harm was done. evidently the eruption was either abating, or they were get-away from it. still to wander at random in an intricate cave, which might at any moment bury them in its ruins, or become a living sepulchre by tempting them away from one danger to meet the still more horrible fate of starvation in utter darkness, for their food and lights could not last much longer, were not thoughts at all calculated to raise their courage.
something, however, tempted them to keep on. so long as they were in action, hope buoyed them up. owing to the frequent turnings of the cave, it was impossible to have a clue as to their real direction. it was a series of halls or rooms, some of which were lofty and spacious, joined by long, tortuous and low passages, at times so barricaded by rocky debris as to almost arrest further progress. tolta, however, was indefatigable in clearing a way through them, as he was the first to explore, while olmedo and beatriz waited his report.
upon emerging into a larger hall than the others, they thought they heard the noise of running water. it grew louder as they approached the farther end, where the torches showed to them a stream, which directly crossed their path. it appeared to issue from the solid rock, but their light was so faint it was impossible to discern anything clearly, except the quick flow of the black waters before them, while not far below they heard a roar and dash[184] as of a cascade or a rapid descent among rocks and chasms.
here, indeed, was an obstacle undreamed of. fire cut off their retreat on one side, and water their progress on the other. beatriz, already well nigh exhausted, said to olmedo, “we can go no farther. tell tolta to save himself if it be possible. he can swim and may find his way out, but we must remain here and await our fate. let us by prayer prepare to resign ourselves to what must now soon come. with you i shall have no fear of death in any shape.”
beatriz no more thought of the possibility of olmedo’s leaving her, even if he could escape, than she would have consented to have left him to perish by himself. it never occurred to her, therefore, to urge him to an effort without her.
“beatriz, my long loved one, my more than daughter in faith, if die we now must, we will be one in death as we have ever been in our lives. but take courage, we are not to perish so. god has not brought us thus far, to abandon us. i hail this water as a happy omen. what say you, tolta?”
“when water comes it must go. rivers do not long flow underground. they love light as do the trees and flowers. i will see how the other side looks,” replied the mexican.
holding his torch above his head, he waded in. the water was warm and sulphurous and refreshed him; but it soon became so rapid and deep as to require all his skill as a swimmer to prevent being[185] drawn too near the gulf, whose warning roar was heard not far below. beatriz and olmedo watched his progress anxiously, for fear he might be drifted into the rapids, but his light soon showed by its steadiness that he had reached ground on the farther side. a few minutes of suspense ensued, when suddenly he shouted, “we are saved! we shall soon see daylight!” and plunging into the water again, pushing something before him, he was quickly back. “see,” said he, “here is a log hollowed out into a rough canoe. this cave must have an outlet near by, for i see that the natives come here to bath and sport by torch-light. hurry, and you shall see for yourselves the traces of their presence.”
beatriz, at the direction of olmedo, who could swim, placed herself on the log with her feet in the water. it had scarcely buoyancy enough to support her weight, but with tolta on one side and the priest on the other keeping it upright, she was ferried safely over.
it was as tolta had said. fragments of food and other tokens of a recent visit were strewed about. the air also was purer. with lighter spirits they went on, over an easier path than the one they had traversed, and in about twenty minutes began to see glimmerings of light. after climbing a steep and narrow ascent, the mouth of the cave came in sight, and they shortly found themselves in the open air.
for a few minutes they were unable to discern objects distinctly, but as they became able to look[186] about, they saw that they were some distance from the line of the eruption which was still active, but the wind now blew its smoke and gases from them. the country was wooded, and for this region fertile. it had suffered much from the vicinity of the lava stream, the vegetation being either killed or wilted by the heat.
hawaiian girl.
