The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-10-27 00:00:00

EVE AT THE WHEEL,

G. MANVILLE PENN.
Author of "Ship Ahoy,' " Duteh, the Diver." The
Foundry Bells," fr., dr.

CHAPTER XXVII.
FINDING A TREAMIRE.
MARY uttered a shriek of dismay, and started in pur-
suit; but she could not have saved the poor fellow
from a fearfully sudden death.
He had not far to go, and, though he staggered,
he ran rapidly. In another moment he would have
Plunged into the fiery death that awaited him; but
he caught his foot against the hatchet, as it lay in
his way, and fell headlong, rolled over, and was
Within a couple ,of yards of the fire, when 'Thello
darted forward and ca ht him, dragging him back,
and thoroughly mastering him in his efforts to get
tree, till, utterly wearied out, Laurent sank into a
stupor-like sleep.
"He gone of him head, ma'am, Mary Dance," he
said to the weeping girL " Nriff make any white
man go off him chump. NW/ make colour genlum
lose him presence of mind--and him got Much
Sta*Onger style ob head.";
"Is he asleep, 'Thello * said Mary.
" Ah, ma'am, !Lary Danea,you bary fond of him,
There was no answer.
"No wonder at urn. Ho fine young man for white
Insul, and some lady prefer de pale skin. But you
say am him sleep or no P Wel4 ma'am, Ino say he
do such ting ; but if him not got de grog bottle
in um pocket, and drink till him so drunk he no
nuffin, I say he gone out, ob him mind for fear ob de
snake."

"Oh, don't say so," groaned poor Mary.
"But um hab say so, exclaimed 'Thello; "and
dis colour person seem to tink it no matter now
What happen, and what don't happen; for, if we
don't get burn to deff—cooked like urn chicken in de
galley—then we starve to doff, 'less we eat de
women all up, one at time. Oh, it's beay dreffie,
ma'am; bery dreffle, indeed."
"Awful I" groaned Mary.
"Yes ma'am, dreffle awful. I no 'mow what I
do bees, for poor lilly woman leff all in charge of
Thello now. Mass' Holston dead, and Mass' Lau-
rent mad as hatter. Well, it might been much worse:
die person might hab suffer too, and then what come
of_you all?'
Mary made no reply; and so the night wore on,
and their position became each moment more pain-
ful The heat was intense, and with it came the
consequent parching thirst, which they had no
Means of assuaging.
At times, wafts of hot air, laden with fine cinders,
made their position more Intolerable; but these
Passed over, or the 'difficulty of respiration must
nave resulted in death for some. The zone of fire
,Which surrounded them, and looked golden in the
narkness, began to pale in the light of the coming
day into a dull red, and, as day fully broke, the pale
was further softened by the grey ash that lay
Upon the surface..
The on the hill, too, became aware of the
awful party
that surrounded them, and, on a
tour of inspection being made as near to the molten
lan as they could bear to go, they found that there
was no escape for them at present; for a stone
thrown upon the lava in different places always
had the same result—that of sinking quickly out
of sight in the fierce liquid maskthat turned the hill
into an island.
Mary Dance sat watching with 'Thello beside
Laurent, who still lay in a stupor, when, thoroughly
satisfied that there were no means of present escape,
the women who were suffering painfully from
'longer and thirst came and surrounded them.
For in their need it seemed natural to them to fly
to the cook as the person to give them help.
4‘ What you hab to eat!" exclaimed 'Thello, start-
ing up angrily on being appealed to. "How de
dabble I know what you hab to eat? You bring urn
to me and I cook um, but I not speck to give de
wittlea and cook um too."
"But what en we bring, 'Thello?" said one
wonaan. piteously.
"How I know ? " cried 'Thello. "I no think why
de debble dat snake go and burn himself all up,when
if he only half cook, he capple eating."
One woman shuddered, but the others had only a
bad
look in their eyes; and if the huge serpent
tied been before them well dressed, it is doubtful
Whether some of them would not have tried the
But, 'Thello, what shall we do F" cried one.
"Yes, deer' good 'Thello, pray say what we are
to do ? e will try and bear the heat, only we
shall starve," cried another.
"I been dreffle wicked ole man," muttered 'Thello,
"but I try be better now. It very dreffle, though,
When de lubbly little woman come and make lub to
colour genlurn like dis, and call him dear, good
'Thello. Dah ! what de debble shall Ido1" " he
Cried aloud.
"Get us something to eat," cried a dozen.
Ah, berry easy say dat," !cried 'Thello; "but
how Ido it? Dere, wait lilly while," he continued,
grinning; for now that the immediate danger
seemed past 'Thello's spirits rose. " Dere plenty
fire round, and Mass' Laurent soon die, and I cook
A cry of horror rose from the little crowd.
"Oh !" cried 'Thello, "you no like Mass' Laurent?
Well, den, pick out nice tender little gal, and me
have her 'stead."
As the black showed his teeth and rolled his eyes,
flOme of the women evidently considered that he
was in earnest, and shrank away shuddering; several
_fleeing right to the other side of their fire-girded
wand, when the black rose up, and, walking to
where the hatchet lay, picked it up, and looked about

" He's going to kill one of us,".shrieked one girl,
kriterically.
And her dread grew more intense as she saw the
black sit down and carefully scour the hatchet head
free of blood-stains with the volcanic dust.
"Now" said "Mello, when he had finished his
task to his satisfaction, "what I find? I wonder
',redder I able to dig up any roots good to eat."
Re went off prowling amongst the scorched
bushes and dead wood, but for a time his search
Was 'vain; till, beneath the remains of a tree, and
covered with volcanic dust, he stumbled upon some-
thing soft.
"What's dat P" he said to himself. "Oh, lor',
what find! Now what shall dis colour genlum do?
Keep him all for self and lib on it long time, or
share um wid de women? z tink this colour genlum
too great man to do dirty action. Here! hi! you
lilly gal, come here."
A dozen women ran to his side, and he pointed
in triumph to the scorched and blackened body of
a wild pig that had crawled away from the burning
flood, and then died, suffocated by the dust in which
It Was buried.
"What is it?" cried the women.
Dere will be roace pork for dinner to-day, ladies.
11117 bit apiece, and nothing else, if de fire don't
come down again 'fore de night."
'Thello's find proved the saving of their lives;
tad fortunately it 19118, a goodly sized animal. Ire
set to at once, had. it carried into a place he cleared,
arid after preparation and cutting up, ha soon had
it biasing and spluttering in half a dozen joints, in
$o many extemporised fireplaces in front of the
lava.
And the day rolled on slowly, with the fire begin-
/ling to glow more brightly as the sun went down:
While Laurent still lay in the state of stupor into
3°,2lich he had fallen, with Mary Dance never leaving
418 side.

CHAPTER .20i.vi1I.
MARY DAN Ceti PLAN.

14,-.2nr a feverish, tossing head was raised that
Itl,ight to look towards the volcano, dimly seen over
" glowing lava; but it stood up now, calm and
I,l9lemn, while a cool, pleasant breeze swept over
tile island, wafting away the heated vapours that
arose.
Portunately for the imprisoned women, the breee
came from their side, thus only passing over a few
3:.ards of moltenlava; had it come from the other
'ude of the island, that which was refreshing and
stren
eh-renewing, might have meant suffocation,
even death.
~.Mitry Dance kept a long, wee y vigil; and as she
Zed around from time to time she saw that the
"uand shone up with its dull, red glow from nearly
_erY Part.
in-Laurent lay perfectly passive, evidently sleep-
fl; Be that the trouble she had that night came
"1":"211 her own heart, as she sat with her chin upon
b
;...!* hands, thinking of the wreck by her side, and of
ue too certain deaths of Grace Monroe, Holston,
atid Deborah.
What next and next?" she wondered to herself;
,Bae sat sleepless, and yet weary; and then in her
"'lnd she began to make projects for the future.
Irow long would the lava take in cooling suffi-
ie
c0,5,14.3r to form a crust hard enough for them to pass
so as to escape from the horrible position in
cowm,h they were placed? It was a question she
,„111,1 not answer; but one which in its solution
`l4eant life to them or death
ith the coming day hope revived in all. The
riland wits desolated, it was true; but they had
how rapid vegetation was in these latitudes,
the desolate waste of ashes would probably
ina glow again with verdant life when the volcanic
meat died away.
Lailrent was one of the first awake, and he rose,
ing from one to the other in a vacant way;
itry, (I_, when 3lary Dance spoke to him, he turne
hiektuently away, and began to press his hand to
ry-Vettnred shoulder.
witti""4B,, was evidently very stiff, and he moved about
he ..._ma,f6calty, as if his side had been crushed; but
em:Potoito to nobody, only muttered to himself,
Mary's intense misery, she saw that not
croiresqui he not recognise her, but hie mind was Quito

37%
naa apparently oruy one thongnt upon his
ii-e'lll, and that was the serpent, in search of which
limped off, closely followed by
bent down, closely examining the
Bides, but keenine at a reasonable dis-
lava-

now

kar3,

painfi

'.ully

fta he
t,,,s'Quild on all
-.woe
thi

1