The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-12-22 00:00:00

[ALL RIGHTEc4,IOBIIRTED.]
EVE AT THE WHEEL.

LI. MANVILLE FENN.
Author of "Ship Ahoy," "Dutch, the Diver," 214
Foundry Belle," .fo., fo.

h.,•••••eo.-

CHAPTER 3E41.
SAVAGE CAPTOR 8.

Fon a moment Grace Monroe felt disposed to resist
—to strike at the hand that stopped her speech, and
to cry out for help; but the fierce, menacing couLtc-
ranee before her, and the threatening war-club, kept
her silent.

She had no doubt in her own mind that the savage
would strike her down on the instant without mercy;
so she sat listening, the blood flushing once to her
pale face, and her heart giving an exultant throb,
as she heard Helston's voice calling to the women
to change their direction.
Had she doubted the evidence of her own hear-
ing, there was Deborah Burrows who had heard it
too; and less reticent than herself, uttered a cry of
joy.
A heavy blow was the reply, and the poor crea-
ture fell back into the crevice of lava where she had
bcen thrust, half-stunned, while the savage who
guarded her followed, and hilin tbst same plug.
To her dismay, Grace saw that where she was
seemed to be thoroughly hidden from any one who
gave a casual glance into the little gorge; and so it
I,v.s that, a few minutes after, she caught glimpses
of half-a-dozen searchers—girls whose faces she re-
cognised, as they came to the edge, glanced down,
called to one another, arid passed on.
For the savages had been cunning enough to lie
close till the imminent danger was past, when from
where she lay Grace saw one lithe, dark form go
creeping up the side of the gorge, amongst the great
masses of black lava and slag—now progressing a
little, now stopping and lying behind some huge
stone so closely, and so resembling it in colour, that
if ahe took her eyes away for a moment, she had
some difficulty in making out the exact spot where
the savage lay.
At last, after a long and laborious climb, she saw
him peer over the edge and it was evident that what
he saw was unsatisfactory, for hurrying down the
steep side, he uttered a low cry,when his companions
joined him, and the next minute retreat vh, as the
order; for Deborah was seized by her guard, and
hurried towards the upper end of the rift, wh,le the
savage who had left Grace for a few moments came
hastily back, held his club menacingly over her head
as he pointed to his mouth, and then, catching her
by the wrist, dragged her off to follow his com-
panions.
The depths of the gorge were a very chaos of
rough, sharp masses of lava and Grace stumb'ed
again and ,vain as she was hastily dragged along,
each slip or ialse step producing a threatening eleva-
tion of the drib, so terrifying the poor girl that she
had hard work to keep from falling prostrate.
As they reached the end, there were crags of five
and six feet in height to surmount, the one rising
above the other like rough steps of gigantic size.
They were jagged and sharp, so that as Grace was
dragged up them she suffered terribly.
For there was evidently a panic amongst the
savages, and their sole thought seemed to be to
escape.
Every now and then, during their hurried flight,
Grace could hear cries or voices speaking loudly on
the other side of a ridge, which descended sheer from
the heights above them, and, as they climbed on, it
became evident to the poor girl that the intention of
her captors was to keep low down in the gully, which
narrowed almost to a ditch, and ran right up the
mountain side, evidently to the great cone like sum-
mit, whose top formed the crater.
here and there they had to climb over masses of
lava, which emitted a sensible heat; and at the end
of about a quarter of an hour they had to change
their direction, and climb the steep side, so as to
avoid a stream of water which crossed the gully at
right angles, emitting quite a cloud of steam, which
hung over it, showing that it was the overflow of a
hot spring higher up the mountain.
The voices still sounded near at hand, and the
savages wet e wonderfully cautious and cunning in
choosing their way; for, though Grace glanced
back again and ,again, she never once caught sight
of her friends.

Twice the savages paused to confer together, but
only to continue their course directly where the
mountain rose now so steeply that it seemed to frown
above their heads, apparently almost perpendicular,
to where the jagged edges of the cone seemed as if
they had been broken off by some horrible convul-
sion of Nature; and again over this hovered a thin
white cloud, indicating where the crater of the vol-
cano was at rest.

It now became plain to Grace that they were far
above the search party, for the voices seemed to
float upwards at times so plainly that they were ap-
parently close at hand; while at another time they
sounded distant and faint, as if their owners had
given up the quest, and were now descending once
more.

The savages kept listening attentively, and
the voices sounded more distant, they were evi-
dently on the alert; for they kept on climbing till
it-became evident to them that their prisoners could
go no farther, and then they sulkily stopped to give
them breath, creeping themselves to the very edge
of the gully, to peer down on the watch.
At the end of a quarter of an hour Grace was again
seized; and, looking hastily up from the state of
stupor consequent upon the exhaustion into which
she had fallen, she saw that Deborah was being half
dragged, half led up the gully, whose steepness was
now excessive.
The poor girl shuddered as she glanced upwards,
for the way they had to go looked like a rugged fur-
row cut in the apparently perpendicular side of the
mountain, whose summit threatened to topple over
upon them and crush them.
But little time was given her for thought before
they were once more scaling the precipitous way;
and this toil once begun' the terrible exertion dulled
all thought, save that of the' desire for present
safety. -
Every now and then she was dragged sharply
aside in a way that threatened to dislocate her arms,
for a mass of lava would be loosened by those climb-
ing above them and descend with increasing impetus,
threatening to sweep them away.
Smaller stones' too, were constantly dislodged to
lacsen others, and come tearing down in quite an
rival nche.
Several of these struck the poor girl, so that at
last she continued the climb in great pain, bruised,
and with her hands bleeding.
Every minute her senses seemed to grow more
numl ed, and she only climbed or clung to the stones
mechanically, so that but for the efforts of the
savages she would have been crushed or swept away
by the falling fragments.
Panting, breathless, half fainting with the heat,
Grace was still toiling on, with her senses fast leav-
ing her, when a terrible cry and the shouting of a
name from some twenty yards above, brought back
consciousness with a flash; and she looked up,
appalled at what was enacted on a ledge to which
Deborah had half climbed, half been dragged.
For it seemed that, from where she stood, De.
borah had recovered herself sufficiently to look down
and seeing help far below, she had uttered a wild
shriek, followed by the name of Helston.
As Grace looked up, Deborah was struggling
fiercely with her captors, and then, throwing hei
arms up, she shrieked out Helston's name again.
when her cry was involuntarily echoed by Grace
for one of the savages, maddened by his ineffectua'
struggle to stop her, struck at her, and she fell head.
long into the gully, rolling twenty or thirty yardi
amid-t a perfect avalanche of loose stones, amidsl
which she lay motionless.
Put her cry for help had been heard; for a faint
shout was heard from below, and then a series oi
shrill cries in response, indicating that the quarry
had been seen, and those who sought were in fill'
pursuit.
Even as the cries rose up in the still solemn au
around her, Grace was being dragged on, lea N inp
Debo.ah bleeding where she had fallen; and ir
another minute the poor girl and her captors had
won their way to the ledge from which Deborah had
been hurled.
Thcre was a momentary conference amongst tht
savagcs, and then the ascent of the gully was eon-
tinned ; but in that pause Grace had looked dowr
from the great height to which they had climbed.
and with her dim, misty sight she made out moving
forms at a great distance below. _ _ _

though to

The next moment, she was seized and again
urged onward. The gully was now so steep that it
soon became one continuous climb from stone to
stone; but as the prisoner gazed up she saw that the
summit was not far above their heads.
As they climbed, there were fresh cries from be-
low, and it was evident that the pursuers we re
coming on fast, for the savages grew more and moi
excited.
The leader of the little party suddenly stopped,
uttered a few guttural words, and pointed downwards,
with the result that Grace was dragged up the side
of the gully, over a ridge, and then they descended
into a second gully, which ran in a tortuous way
down the mountain slope.
It was evident that by taking this route the
savages hoped to gain the plain once more, and so
elude, their pursuers; otherwise they seemed to be
threatened with capture by being hemmed in on the
summit.
Once, when Grace stumbled and fell, she hoped
that th-y would leave her and escape for their lives.
But no, they seemed to place too much value on
their captive, and they roughly dragged her up and
hurried her along.
They had not descended far before shouts from
below told that a party of searchers were ascending
this gully also.
To quit it by the sides was impossible, for it would
have been one precipitous climb, that the eleven( it
mountaineer could not have compassed; so the only

resource was to return.
How the climb back was accomplished Grsco
hardly knew, for she became nearly stupefied with
exhaustion. She was fully aware, though, that the
cries of those in pursuit were ever on the increase,
and that, as they came nearer, the savages seemed
maddened with rage and fear.
At last they reaohed the end of the aullv. which

was a gap in the summit of the mounlain;thmugh
which Grace was dragged into a rugged depression
that seemed imp Issable. Crystals of sulphur
Crackled beneath their feet, a steamy heat arose, and
the place was scored and cracked in a thousand
directions, evidently by the heat, which was in-
sufferable.

Heedless of this, the savages hurried on,
rently, as they descended, rapidly making for a grefA:
:oemy depression in the centre of the crater, out of
\a'Aich slowly Imo a white, steamy cloud which was
broken from time to time, even as it was augm nted
by sharp puffs of steam, which darted up in rings, as
1.. w, muttering explosions seemed to occur in the
bowels of the mountain.

Traces of the late eruption were "everywhere
visible, and it seemed that at one time this vast de-
pression must have been full of liquid lava till it
burst for itself a way out on the opposite side to
that where the savages were, breaking down the wall
of the crater, and then deluging the island in several
fiery streams.
The savages came to a halt after a time, when
0.65- were about a quarter of a mile from the edge of
the crater, their path having taken them down a steep
elope, where they could now see that the apparent
depression was an awful gulf, some hundred yards or
so across, but of an irregular figure, with the sides
piled with loose masses of grey lava.
Here, as she recovered her breath, Grace became
more conscious of her position and its terrors, for
should the apparently quiescent volcano now belch
forth a-shower of-fiery stones and ashes,-their fate
must be sealed.

Such thoughts, however, did not seem to trouble
the savages, who, half concealed by the rough
masses of lava, crouched there, watching for the
corning of their pursuers.
Before many minutes were over, first one and
then another head appeared over the edge of tho
crater far above them, and it seemed as if the
searchers were eagerly scanning the misty depths
beneath them in search of Grace and her captors.
The savages lay motionless, while a club, held
ready and threateningly before the prisoner, told
her but too plainly what to expect if she attempted
to give warning of their position.
But it was not needed, for a quick movement
among those at the edge of the crater told that the
hiding-place was seen; and, calling upon his cam--
panions to follow him, Helston leaped down the
uteep slope, followed by Laurent, 'Thello, and a
dozen of the more adventurous women, who were
ready to bravo the passige over what might be
merely a crust of lava, separating them from some
terrible gulf of molten fire.
As soon as the savages saw that they were dis-
covered they rose hastily, and two oi them catching
Grace by the wrists, they hurried hor aleng, so as to
place the steaming entrance to the subterranean fires
between them and their pursuers.
These latter, after the hesitation of the first few
minutes, during which they went carefully over the
sulphur and jagged lava, became more bold, and
ran on, leaping from side to side of the great rifts
and cracks, whose depths would have caused a
shudder had they paused to consider.
The savages, however, in spite of their burclak,
were the more active, and they had the advantage
of so much distance, that they were able to get to
the other side of the depression, where the thin
grey steam and smoke that rose partially concealci
them

The pursuers were hindered by an accident to
'Mello, who, in leaping a crevice, slipped on the
smooth crystals of sulphur and fell, half the women
uttering a shriek of dismay as they saw him disap-
pear._ . .

"Hi, Mass' Helston, sah, help me," he cried.
And on the two men running to his aid, they found
him wedged in the crevice, with his feet against a
projection, and his shoulders against the opposing
side, while had he moved in the slightest degree he
must have fallen into the steamy depths of the
awful gulf below.
"Don't move," cried Laurent, going down on one
knee.

"No, sah, Ino move," cried Thello, "or I 'speck
I go down to de bottom, sweep the debble's chimney.
0-, take care, sah, or I go slip, slip down to de
bottom."

Holston leaped back over the crevice which was
about four feet wide, and got hold of 'Thello's arm.
"Oh, sah, don't pull!" cried 'The
"Nonsense, man—loose yourself, and we can
drag you out."
f° eh, no, slh, I nebbah dare do dat ; I no tink
We able hold me up, an' if you can't, down I
go to de bottom, and dat's all. If Ino loose myself,
p'raps I able lib 'bout half-hour longer, which better
dan go to de kttom all to once."
"Quick, Laurent—a sudden jerk, cried Helston.
"I cannot stay here."
The two men, each holding an arm, planted their
feet firmly on the edge took a long breath, and
then, as 'Thello was about to utter a fresh protest,
they exerted their strength, and drew the unfortu-
nate black back into safety, when he exclaimed—
"Oh, lor', Mass' Laurent, sah, dat better. I 'gan
to tink I going to be cook down below dar' where
de fire all hot—same as roace de pig for us all, an'
nearly roace us all too."
Ilelston did not hear this; for, with a hasty cry
them to come on, he had bounded off to the rescue
of Grace, while I:.iirent followed. -

" Hyah, you somebody, lend me hand hyah," cried
'Thello.
But he was alone, and the latter part of his
remark had been uttered to space.
"What, ebberybody run away and leab di s chile ?"
cried 'Thello, after a moment or two.
And then, getting up slowly, he stood staring
after the pursuing party; tightened himself up,
took a good grip of his weapon, and went after them
at a good round pace.
Helston was leading; but he was soon compel:6,l,
by the nature of the ground, to check his headlong
Race and go °lrefully, now climbing round blocks
t.:4 lava, now leaping from side to side of apparently
(oottomless chasms, where a single false step would
have been fatal.

Still he would have pressed on, but for the sum-
mons of Laurent, who pointed out to him in a few
forcible words that, now they had pretty well come
face to face with the enemy, success depended on
their co-operation.
"If you dash on like that you will only lose your
own life, and weaken our chances of success."
" In Heaven's, name, then, come on I " cried
Holston, hoarsely.
"You must allow for the women," said Laurent.
And, as he spoke, a couple ran up flushed and
panting.
Helston unwillingly waited the coming of the
rest, who were closely followed by 'Thello, who
came up grumbling at having been left behind; and
then a forward movement was once more made.
It was a terrible task, though; for, as theyneared
the vast opening in the centre of the crater, strange
mutterings reached their ears; there was the low,
rumbling boom of some explosion far down in the
centre of the mountain, followed by a great puff of
smoke. Then came a few great stones, thrown up
some twenty or thirty yards in the air, to fall back
with a hollcw crash, and, like the whisper of some
great noise, heard miles away from its origin.
Then ther were flashes of light playing in the
midst of the clouds of steam. Some of the crevices
they crossed appalled them by the loud, hissing
rush of steam while others emitted the noise of
bubbling, rushing water, with strange moaning
sounds, that fell upon the ear like Mae cries of those
in misery and torment.
"Boy muss hab all tumble down here, Mass'
Helston, sah," whispered 'Thello, stopping short by
one of those terrible outlets of the mysteries of the
great volcano, and several of the women seemed to
believe in the possibility of such being the case.
At that moment, though, there came another ex-
plosion, which rent the mist hanging over the great
central cavity, and revealed for a moment the
savages and their prisoner making for the farther
side of the crater.
"Quick, Laurent; go round that way with six of
the party," cried Holston. "I will go this way with
the others."
"And whar I go ?" said 'Thello.
"With Mr. Laurent—quick !" cried Holston.
"Don't attack, but keep them in play till I come up,
if you are first."
"And will you do the same ?" said Laurent, in the
act of going.
"I can't say," replied Helston, drily.
And they parted.
TiNe way became more perilous as Holston and hie
party 1,3 roceeded, and, in spite of the terror of the
women, he persisted in going close to the edge of the
awful centre of the crater—the huge chimney run-
ning down to the central fires.
It was from no bravado, but from the fact that
when there he could command a better view of what
took plain on the other side, his sight being unin-
terrupted by the great crystal-covered blocks of
lava.
Consequently he was able to see that the savages
gave up their attempt to get out by the other side
of the crater, in consequence of the existence of a
vast crack, which they were unable to cross; and
therefore they made for the side where Laurent must
eoon make his appearance, evidently in ignorance of
the ruse Holston had practised.
This was as far as Helston could make out; for
sight was interrupted by the clouds of shifting
vapour, and the riven, rugged, and split-up masses
of volcanic cinder, which lay in a very chaos of
confusion as they had fallen after being hurled up
from the central funnel, perhaps a mile into the
air.
Every moment the path became more imprac-
ticable, and tba little party grew more familiar with
the vastness of the crater and its surroundings;
for what had seemed to them but a few hundred
yards was more likely a mile; and this, with the
dangers to be encountered, made their progress
slow.
A dozen times did their adventurous journey
nearly have a fatal termination, caused by some
woman slipping while crossing a perilous part—
a crag that had to be climbed, or a rift that had
to be leaped; but at last they were well round on
the other side of the central opening, finding that
they were shut in from further progress towards
the edge of the crater on that side by the rift, a
really vast chasm some thirty or forty yards
across—in fact, a huge crack in the floor of the
crater—which had kept the savages back from
escaping.
The enemy were net in airrht. and Halation now

spread out his little force, so as to be sure they did
not escape. He took the edge of the central open-
ing himself, and with his companions about six
yards apart, they kept in line as well as the nature
of the ground would permit.

Every now and the Helston had glimpses of the
awful road on his right—a vast cavity going straight
down into the earth, the sides perfectly perpen-
dicular and worn, and polished by the constant pas-
sage of the volcanic stones. It was not without
a shiver of dread that he glanced down into the
awful blaclmess; but, turning his face away, be
pressed on.

Thcy 1-. ad been going forward like this for about
•,,iinutes, when a shout and a shrill cry rose
ahead, cries which Holston answered, for he knew
they were uttered by Laurent and 'Thello; while on
mssing—into a more open- space, he found that
Laurent and his party were advancing in a similar
way to that adooted by himself, and were drivir g
the savages back—these latter retreating towards
him.

As soon, though, as they became aware of his
proximity they came to a stop, and menacingly pre-
pared to fight.
"Close in at the ends, and cut them off," roared
el ston.

And the right of Laurent's line and the left of his
own executed the manceuvre with almost military
precision, closing up as they completed the half-
circle which cut oft all retreat for the savages, the
chord of the half-circle which enclosed them being
the edge of the awful gulf.
Kcep closing in, and narrow the circle," cried
Ilelston and Laurent, almost in a breath.

And this was done, the women drawing closer
)gether as the half-circle contracted, with Helston
and Laurent at the two ends, and 'Thello at the
point farthest from the volcano.
The savages made a rush, first in one direction,
then in the other, but they were met by so firm a
front that they drew back; while, when they made
a third attempt towards the point guarded by the
black, he in turn, with the brave women right and
left, made so determined an advance that the enemy
fell back, and retreated right to the edge of the gulf.
"They must give up now," cried Helston. "Close
up quickly. Grace Monroe, throw yourself flat on
the ground."
The poor girl tried to execute the order which she
had heard; but it was a useless effort, for now, seeing
that they were thoroughly outnumbered and trapped
by a daring body who had routed them before, the
savages in despair felt that the object of the advance
was to drive them headlong into the frightful gulf
behind them, and as Helston and Laurent moved
forward, axe and sword in hand, one of the most
powerful of the savages uttered something in a
commanding tone, as one would say, "Advance a
step farther at your peril I " and catching up Grace
Monroe, he twisted his hands in her garments, swung
her , and hold her suspended over the abyss.

(To be continued.)