The Globe-republican., 1890-02-05


bier was vacant-the dead monarch had
been spirited away! CONSERVATION
seized upon all, and they fed out OF the
crater. When day dawned, the multi
tude returned, and began the search for
the corpse. But not a footprint, not
sign was ever found. Day after day
the search was continued, and
every cave in the great walls,
and every chasm in the plain.
for miles around, was examined, but all
to no purpose-and from that day to
this the resting-place of the lion kings
bones is an unsolved mystery. But years
afterward, when the grim prophecies.
Wiahowakawak, lay on her death bed,
the goddess PeS appeared to her in a
vision and told her that eventually the
secret would be revealed. and in re-
markable manner, but not until the
great Rduhuhu, the Shark God, should
desert the sacred cavern Aua Puh1 is
the island of Molokai, and the waters of
the sea should no more visit it, and its
floors should become dry. Ever since
that time the simple, confiding natives
have watched for the sign: And now.
after many a summer has come and gone
and they who were in the flower of youth,
then, have waxed old and died, the day
is at hand! The great Shark God has de-
serted the Aua Publ; q month ago, for
the first time within the records of the
ancient legends, the waters of the sea
ceased to flow into the cavern, and its
stony pavement is become dry! AS you
may easily believe, the news OF this
event spread like wild fire through the
islands, and now the natives are looking
every hour for the miracle, which is to
unveil the mystery, and reveal the Sc
cret grave of the dead hero"
After had gone to bed, Igot to think
ing of the volcanic magnifcence we had
witnessed, and could not 60 to sleep. 1
hunted up book and concluded to pass
the time in reading. The first chapter
/ came upon related several instances
of remarkable revelations made to men
through the agency of dreams-of roads
and houses, trees, fences and all man
ner of landmarks, shown in visions and
recognized afterwards in waking hours,
and which served to point the way to
some dark mystery or other.
At length l fell asleep and dreamed
that was abroad in the great plain that
skirts the Hale mdu mdu. l stood in a
sort of twilight which softened the out
lines of surrounding objects, but still
left them tolerably distinct. A gaunt,
muffied figure stepped out from the
shadow of a rude column of lava. and
moved away with a slow and measured
step. beckoning me to follow. did so.
l marched down, down, down, hundreds
of feet, upon narrow trail which
wound its tOrtuOuS course through piles
and pyramids of scanned and blackened
lava, and under Over-hanging masses of
sulphur formed by the artist-hand of
Nature into an infinitude of fanciful
shapes. The thought crossed my mind
that possibly my phantom guide might
lead me down among the bowels of the
crater, then disappear and leave me to
grope my way through its mazes, and work
out my deliverance as best might, and
so, with an eye to such contingency, l
picked up a stone, and ''blazed'' my
course by breaking off a projecting
walls and festOons of sulphur. Finally
we turned into a cleft in the crater's
side. and pursued our way through its
intricate windings, for many fathom
down toward the home of the subter-
ranean fires, our course lighted all the
while by ruddy glow which filtered
up through innumerable cracks and
crevices, and which afforded me occa-
sional glimpses of the flood of molten
fire boiling and kissing in the profound
depths beneath u.s. The heat was in
tense, and the sulphurous atmosphere
suffOcating, but l toiled on in the foot
steps of my stately guide, and uttered
no complaint. At last we came to a
sort of rugged chamber whose somber
and blistered walls spake with mute
eloquence of some fiery tempest that had
spent its fury here in by-gone age.
The specter pointed to great bowlder
at the farther extremity-stood AMI
pointed, silent and mOtionless. for
few fieeting moments, and then disap-
peared! The grave of the last Kam-
ehameha" The word swept mournfully
by, from some unknown source. and
died away in the distant corridors of
my prison-house, and / was alone in the
bowels of the earth, in the home of
desolation. in the presence of death!
My first frightened Impulse was to fly.
but stronger impulse arrested me. and
impelled me to approach the massive
bowlder the spectre had pointed at
With hesitating step went forward and
stood beside it-nOthing there; 1 grew
bolder. and walked around and about it.
peering sbrewdly into the shadowy half
light that surrounded it-still nothing.
l paused to consider what to do next. |
While stood irresolute, chanced to |
brush the ponderous stone with my ell |
bow, and 10. it vibrated to my touch. |
would as soon have thought of starting |
a kiln of bricks with my feeble hand. |
My curiosity was excited. l bore against |
the bowlder. and it still Welded bore |
yet harder, and it yielded to the pressure |
Il gave sudden push with my whole |
strength, and it toppled from its founda-'
tion with a crash that sent the echoes