[COPYRIGHT.] WHO IS HE? OR The Indian Matahma in Australia.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 7386, 8 June 1895, Page 1 (Supplement)

[COPYRIGHT.] WHO IS HE? OR The Indian Matahma in Australia.

AN AUSTRALIAN STORY OF THE Natural & Supernatural, BY KENKETH HAMILTON, M.S., 1.E.0.8. CHAPTER X.—(Continued.) •'Oh, doctor, what -will become of mo ! My Geoff, is nearly killed! Oh, my friend, dc you think ho ■will die P" i "Certainly not, my dear madam. Pray, lie calm or I shall have to order you away," said a strange voice.

Starting to my feet I cried: "Pray, excuse me. I was expecting my old friend, Dr. Clarke."

"', "Dr. Clarke is my own old friend also, tnadaiu. Ho has been from home since early -morning attending a most critical case ; but I have already heard of the lady of ' Alington iHouse' and hastened to offer my services immediately, knowing Dr. Clarko would never forgive me for any delay in connection .with his young friend, Geoffry. I am a doctor also. My name is Hamilton. Now, may I request you to leave the room whilst I attend to your son. This good woman (pointing to Lettice) will do all that is needed."

"Oh, doctor, pray don't send me out. I ■will be perfectly calm and quiet and shall help my boy to bear all you have to do. I will hypnotize him for you so that he will not feel the setting of the bones."

"Indeed, madam! Can you use this power?"

, "Certainly, Dr. Hamilton. I havo used it for years to the benefit of my child. I trust you are not prejudiced against it."

i "Ah, Mrs. Barton, science has been too much for us. Dogmatic and arbitrary as we havo been, facts are more arbitrary. I can trust a woman who understands that power to calm and control her motions," he added .iji a singularly sweet and persuasive tone.

we walked for some half hour in Silence and I had tho satisfaction of seeing t my darling in a calm, magnetic sleep—his broken bones set and all pain, for the time, over, and then I hastened to ask my companion to another room and to press him to remain to dinner, hoping by this means to have him close at hand when my boy awoke.

I Dr. Hamilton was a man of about thirty five years, tall -with splendidly developed figure—the very picture of a graceful athlete : —a noble, white forehead crowned with ripples of brown hair, eyes of that peculiar hue raved over by poets as "violet," and most uncommon, reminding one of the calm

of a mountain lake in whoso slumbrous depths ■dwells the shadows of many great thoughts. But his greatest charm was in his low, rich voice which sounded sympathetic almost to tenderness in tho sick room; his gentle touch vied with a' woman's in delicacy. All this I had taken in almost unconsciously as I watched his treatment of my boy. How keen my mother-eyes wero to detect the smallest roughness likely to causo the idol one xininecessary pang. But no—with the strength of a man was combined the tenderness, the gentleness of a woman, and nvy heart was at rest.

When at last we adjourned to the diningroom along, strange look passed between us. Wo had ,mefe before. Where? Not in this life, hut somewhere in the dim infinity of the past ages— somewhere we had met.

These thoughts passed through my mind,

TjncH-lie color dyed my.face and neck as I remembered how rudely the doctor would think I was treating him; but that look bur-it itself into my soul. Something had Jvippened to me—a chord stirred which had never vibrated before. What was the matter with me ? I, a woman of thirty, was positively as embarrassed and awkward as a echool-girl of eighteen.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Barton. I feel as if we had met before in some remote past," said Kenneth. Hamilton in his rich, dreamy voice.

Startled at this echo of my own thought I certainly was, but with a nervous laugh, answered:

" Oh, doctor, you must have been reading some of the mystical books of the Sun angels!"

i "The what? madam."

"Sun angels, doctor —a sect whoso chief doctrino is that each human being has a twin soul, and these. twin creations live on the earth seven lives, attaining at the last a degree of perfection which warrants their final removal to a higher sphere."

" Never heard of such things, Mrs. Barton, : but the idea is fascinating in a way. I, however, don't think I ever met my twin soul." . I felt as if from doing awkward things I Kid got to saying awkward things, and, and dismayed, I kept the dinner-talk B the most common-place trivialities. J After another look at my boy Dr. Hamilton 4pok leave of me. As he stood bare headed iiri w ffie" moonlight clasping my hand, once ' more his glorious eyes held mine, and then : thrilled his gentle-voice: r " Good-night. Do not worry over your "boy; he is blessed, indeed, to have such caro and love. My mother, alas, died when I was young, and never since has a' woman's love and tenderness crowned my life. But this cannot interest you;, Forgive my egotism. I will see your boy to-morrow. So farcweU.V

Some psychologic force had met in eyes and hands, for they spoke a language new to \ me; and, bewildered, half frightened, 1 re--1 cognised the strange fact that this man could j never be to me as others were. Somehow ! the very depths of my soul seemed disturbed. I hurried back to spend the night beside my son, but only to find my thoughts recalling ! each word, each look, and the strange mag- ! tietic holding of the most glorious eyes I had over seen. Day after day found Kenneth Hamilton with us—one excuse or another to sec tlio boy, to bring , a message from Dr. Clark or : accompany him afterwards to a tennis match, an excursion to plan for the time when my boy could go with him, poem to read— some trifle or other found him in our rooms or on the lawn lying idly on the grass reading or reciting, while Geoff, slumbered on a heap of cushions and I worked and listened. My boy, Geoff., just worshipped him. "He is a brick, mother, and no mistake. iKnows how to do things. Swim and shoot ■ and ride and row. with the best of them—and ;his stories about Africa and the prarics ef ' "America would fill a book. He knew scores m of men who travelled all over those eoun- '- tries. He is going to teach me everything He and Dr. Clarke are the two finest men in the whole wide world."

J Of course I sympathised with my boy in his enthusiasm, as I knew both the mon to bo gentlemen, in the highest sense of that elastic term, and my darling needed such friends. That might seem selfish on my part, but what accusation will not a mothoi bear for the sake of her precious ones ?

Frequently Grace Clarke, my very dear friend—the doctor's sister—came up with her brother, and then our conversation ranged through all subjects—artistic, and literary.

Dr. Hamilton had been impulsed with what I had told him of my hypnotic powers on the day of Geoff.'» accident and the peculiar influence I had over the lad's will nnd actions. He was hardly inclined to consider tho exercise of these powers generally beneficial, though, in particular cases, lie acknowledged the good they might do. The conversation on this subject gradually led to tho discussion of other occult mutters, nnd I confessed tha<i tho hypnotic force was cottfc« OJiiV trift with which I was endowed.

I possess tho power of clairvoyance in a marvellous degTco, and tho peculiarity is that this mysterious gift was not revealed to mo at once, and that for a long - time I dared net acknowledge even to myself that I possessed it—in fact, I was afraid of it.

Dr. Clarke knew something of my peculiar powers, and to his sister it was a constant subject of wonder; but as his friend was a novice in the subject, it was only after considerable hesitation that I allowed him to be acquainted with my psychic development. This development had been a matter af years, and it will not tako me long to give a short sketch of the process. I may say, too, that though the Greeks called the prophet by a word which signifies "madman," that I am regarded as very sane in other respects, and if I am "mad" in this I am convinced in my soul of its truth. The saying is very trite, but that does not make it less true that there are more things in nature than our philosophy dreams of."

I was led in a singular manner to a certain experience in these things. It was in this wise:

My darling Geoffry, over three years of age, lay in his little cot ill with a feverish cold. Tho fever ran very high —the skin hot as a burning coal; the eyes bright and shining with delirium; for, alas, my treasure did. not know me.

I had tried all the simple, childish remedies, which my dear mother had always used with me and my brother, all without any effect. For three nights my clothes had not boon off my back. All night I watched in a feverish agony of fear lest my darling should show symptoms of danger, and sadly I looked at the bright red cheeks, the restless, little hands and sparkling eyes, as my pet tried to pick the " pitty f owers " off the quilt in his delirium.

"What can I do! What can I do!" I thought, almost aloud, when, to my surprise, the answer seemed spoken into my soul's ear, if I can use such an expression:

" Place your right hand on his head, take bis hand in your left, hold it so for two minutes, then pass Loth hands down evenly. Tho gift of healing lies in your hands. The Christ of Nazareth gives to thee the power He gave to His disciples "

Without Ono moment's Hesitation, vti'Jh no shadow of a doubt at "what I had heard, I did as I had been commanded, and to my wonder in loss than three minutes my boy's eyes closed; the little form lay still breathing slowly and regularly, the feverish panting ceased. At first I felt alarmed. "'What have I done ! Can I have harmed my dear ono ?"

Again the answer to my soul canae most distinctly, " You have done well. A mother ought, at least, to ho ahle to help her dearest ones. The gift is a great one ; use it for the good of those who will ho sent to you." How anxiously I watched for an hour longer! But by that time my child was "slumbering apparently with perfect health—• cool, a soft moistness on his skin, tho feverish flush replaced by the tone of a healthy, sleeping child, and I, wonderstruck at what I had done and. .hoard, staggored to the open air faint a:^i^K^^^BSS Recovering quickly, I Lottice, the maid," arid' them and explained the AVO^^^^^B^^^J^fr fancying it; hut and looked at mother an: %^S^^^^^^^^ "No, no, my good Lcttice, ißmnO*"ujjSsS headed; but I have done a wonderful thing and have discovered a wonderful power, called by doctors of science and medicine, ' The hypnotic and magnetic force.' Don't you remember, mother, reading the experiments that have been made in Europe by scientists and the Hypnotic hospitals they have already established in.Paris, New York and London ?"

"I confess I did not pay much attention to it all, for I never (irearaed it could concern me in any way.''

"Mother!" I exclaimed, catching her hand. "Do you remember that dreadful Indian and his words to me : ' You carry the gift of healing in your hand.' Surely he must be a master in this art. Oh, mother dear, if I am able to help my child I may be ahle to help others who are sick and suffering ! Mother, what a grand thing ! What a God-given gift! How I must value and cherish it!"

"Yes, my child. God has sent it to you because your nature has been lifted and purified by the trials through which you have passed. My dear, always the highest gifts come out of tho greatest suffering. It brings out of men and women all that is best and noblest in them. Why this should be I know not; but that it is, 30 is a fact any student of human nature will toll you."

For the restsuffice it to say that I have always been ablo to lay my hand on my child and relieve all those ailments which he, in common with other children, from time to time contracted. Others, too, I have been able to soothe and relieve.

Stranger things have come to me all in the same accidental manner. Sitting one evening at my window, when all the household was in bed, I closed my eyes—the better to enjoy the reposeful hour and the soft, sweet air laden with garden fragrance which crept in through the open windows. Scarcely had my eyes shut when I beheld a light most intense, and, to my amazement, seemed to be looking on a picture at some distance from me. The moan and roar of waves sounded in vaj ears, pitiless rain dashed and swirled round my head; through the dark and hurrying clouds the. grim rocks towered to the sky; great waves dashed with pitile* , '.,' fury; breaker on breaker white with angry foam—and, oh, Heaven! —a ship drifting, drifting on the rocks powerless. I could neither move nor speak. On watch, in helplessness, the forms crowding the dock, the rockets sent up and none to answer. Suddenly a boat was launched in that awful sea—two men and a boy in it. What a battle! How the waves tossed and twirled the boat —-a mere play-thing—the men had no control. Suddenly the boy could no longer hold and was washed on the rocks, but landed high and dry on a shelf at some distance up where the waves rarely came, and there lay huddled up unconscious on the cold rock.

When exhausted by the scene I had witnessed I seemed to come out of the queer deeam-stato in which I found myself, and mother was standing , beside me.

" Alice, what is the matter, dear? Don't moan and sob so ; thero is no shipwreck hero, love—'tis a quiet night, though a bit cloudy and windy."

" Oh, mother, s.uch a queer, awful picture ! I feel as if I had been living through a bad time."

The next morning scarcely had I taken up the Mail at the breakfast table, when I rose to my feet—

" See mother, 'twas not a dream. 'Awful shipwreck last night; only one boy saved; boat with two men swept away, dashed on the iron-board clifEs.' That is the telegram I must have had a second sight or clairvoyant vision last night."

" The old Indian again, my dear. He's a very uncanny fellow. I wonder who ho was to qjeuk so bitterly of your poor father. The British took a fearful revenge after the Mutiny ; but they had fearful injuries to avenge —wives, sisters, daughters, little ones slaughtered and outraged. Oh, (she shuddered) how like yesterday it seems ! That man with the awful eyes ! Could he have been in it, too? The Indians, wo know, Alice, have fearful secrets. Might not this vision of yours bo sonic of their magic and sent to do us injury? But who would caro to injure us—two poor, frail women, who have had enough of the trials of life !"

This was not tho last of tho instances of my powers of clairvoyance. I had merely to concentrate my thoughts on one particular person or place or hold a letter in my hand, from a distant correspondent, and a clear picture of what was happening far away was displayed before my mental vision. It was .simply a reality, and not for a moment did I doubt its accuracy. Accuracy was often tested with results sufficient to convince the most sceptical.

It was not, however, a thing I cared about

discussing, except with most intimate friends —Buch as were the Clarices, and such as soon became Dr. Hamilton. With them and him it was an absorbing topic of conversation, of theorising and disputation.

Both of the gentlemen were scholars and thinkers, and they had studied tho fragments of old occultism, which have been left us

since tho time of Pythagoras. Thoy knew nothing, however, of Indian inyEtiwm, wlii;h I understand now is the source from which it all had its origin. • CHAPTER XI. TADMAXIA THE BEAUTIFUL. About this time some additional work nroso forme in tho management of my Tasisinniuu property. Poor father had bot-n vory fond of buying up property here, there and everywhere over tho colonies, and the vhok- ; :.'ir'j of it devolved on mo. When Will fell into disgrace in Melbourne, father, who had little sympathy with weakness of any sort, find none at all with criminal weakness, made his will and never even mentioned his son's narao in it. Of course I should Lave shored ray last penny with the poor boy, but he had as completely disappeared as bis father had. It often struck me how extraordinary these disappearances wore, and the most singulux , part of it all was that I could never concentrate my mind on either my father or brother for the exercise of my clairvoyant powers. I I knew nothing, and, in fact know nothing of the source of these, powers ; biit I was sensible that when I attempted to force my will in certain directions I encountered an opposing will superior to mine, and I had to submit.

Naturally, therefore, I had become quite a woman of business habits—and much worry it all occasioned mo, havingmy thoughts occupied with those mystical unci spiritual matters, which I considered of paramount importance. The dry details cf monetary affairs were only undertaken with any degree of interest when my little son had to be protected and his property rightly administered.

Ono of tho managers on an estate belonging to my father, near tho IST.W. coast, had written to say that he had discovered a valuable silver lodo. Showing this note to Dr. Hamilton, ho and Dr. Clarke laughingly asked me to give them a specimen of my power as a clairvoyant.

Although we had discussed the phenomena frequently, yet I was very chary of drawing ! any attention to this gift of mine for several 1 reasons—the chief one being that I was not yet sure myself whether what appeared to me was really there or was only a dream, and so ' many charlatans were mixed up in it, that all : the beauty and use of tho gift were lost sight of in the accumulation of heaped-up sneers and scornful incredulity with which their lies had been tho means of surrounding it; so that to say one believed in the possibility of clairvoyance (without declaring one's self to possess that power) was quite enough to ■ make the kindly, cultivated friend smile indulgently and tho coarser nature laugh aloud, or perhaps tap the forehead with a significant gesture " gone, decidedly a little gone, my dear sir." Let mo here say that Dr. Clarke, my good friend, was a quiet man—intensely reserved as a rule—a man of much originality of thought, deeply read, and when occasions demanded of very decided manner, as a doctor he needs to bo ; gentle in his treatment as a woman. Ho always tried to pass as a womansay or do," ho added in a lower to thrilled my inmost being. His gentle courtesy to all women was, in my eyes, one of his most winning qualities. With a rising color I replied :

""Well, well, since two medical and scientific people like you condescend to ask me in. all good faith I will try and sco what you want. Give me the man's letter that I may have some tangible article to travel on in this very intangible journey."

I continued smiling, and, taking it in my hand and closing my eyes, all was soon lost in darkness.

Presently the usual speck of light appeared far away, and on drawing near with my other self (that is the part of mo that goes away travelling in all directions) I : saw a tent, then two men washing dirt in a tin dish at a small stream, when from the washing gold, not silver, remained. I travelled for some few hundred yards and saw a reef wide, curiously so, and streaked throughout with gold. In a centre place some distance from the surface was a large mass of solid gold of curious shape. The masses of rock seemed to stifle mo as I passed through, and (they told me afterwards) I groaned heavily whilst describing this. A fine lode of purest porcelain clay lay a little to tho west, and farther away in a bed of rock I discovered a marvellous assortment of stones,»valuablo as I thought. This seemed to me the chief of what my second sight gave me, and with a sigh and a dazed feeling I awoke to find again the old home drawingroom, the lights and piano where we had been singing tiiosand enjoying that Andante inF of the great master some time previously, so soul stirring , with its plaintive refrain. Two kind faces were anxiously looking into mine, and even then one pair of violet eyes expressed a passionate tenderness which I, being a woman, could not not fail to reoo guise.

"All! you've told us wonderful things, my friend!" cried Dr. Clarke. "Wonderful places, too, you have described ; but the ques- j tion is, are they there?" :

"Well, for my part, I am glad you are back and look undisturbed. A short time ago I feared from the dismal groans which you uttered that you were hurt by what you were describing."

" Tell you what, Hamilton; we'll write a joint letter describing- this thing as a dream, tell these fellows what direction to look in, and sco if we can get any confirmation of this mysterious business. I feel—well, as if I must see if Mrs. Barton has really taken such a journey. If she has—why then it's a proof positive that there are laws to which our own bodies and spirits are subject, and concerning which we know absolutely nothing, , for it must be in obedience to anatural law that tho spirit can travel away to j a distance like that and return to the body j without injury to that dwelling place at will. | 'Tis marvellous, sir, that is what it is."

" All right, Clarke ; don't get so excited, old man. We will write and ascertain if wo can. Do not think," he added to me, "I doubt' for an instant your veracity; but a confirmation will prove of great value should you need to exercise this power for anyone else. ,.

They wrote their note, and, I may say, received an answer as soon as the ships could bring it. The miners were in a state of complete mystification as to how we could have received our information. Every detail had proved correct, and from the date of tho letter had evidently been "dreamt" some fortnight or so before the discovery of thej place,gold, clay, stones, &c, that had been described by me that night. !

This, then, came just as, for my boy's; sake, I had decided, with the advice of Dr. Clarke, that it would be wise and necessary for me to make a journey over to settle the business connected with my father's estates. My passage, in fact, had been secured, when the doctors came in after tea one evening with something evidently on their minds.

"Mrs. Barton, wo can think and speak of nothing but your wonderful mine. Now we have ii plan to lay before you. Have you any objection to our taking a trip with you —the more the merrier, we are all friends. I "While you settle your business at your oldj home we will go and see this wonderful I place, and if you do not object to camping out, perhaps some of the friends of your girlish days would join you, t and wo could make up a strong party and visit the Western Tiers 11 id those wonderful caves of which I remember you have spoken more than od' What do you say?"

" Yes ! all rests with you ; you win not refuse. Such a time with friends for company is, or ought to be, a memory for a life time. I know it will form a whito page in. my experiences if you will but consent."

"With two such persuasive people, and such substantial reasons to back them, how could I bo cruel enough to curtail your evidently planned pleasure excui'sions—nay, shall I not go a little farther and say that we, my boy and I, shall regard it as a delightful picnic, for, of course, I have enough frienda still in the vicinity of my old homo to re-

ceive ft warm welcome for you both as well as for myself, and amongst them the very people who will delight in a camping-out to tho caves—in fact I shall write by to-night's mail to three of them to be in my old home to meet us. A good house party is invaluable, if one wants thorough enjoyment. People get so free from the social conventionalities after a few days together in a country house where riding, driving, tennis, croquet and fishing fill the long summer days, and music, with an impromptu carpet-dance and billiards for the gentlemen, make the •jvenings fly swiftly. Oh, yes, and thanks to you both. I was expecting rather a dull lin'.o witli nothing , but dry business details to break the monotony. Such a** excursion never crossed my mind." " Well, that's settled. Tsotf we will leave yon to your notes, and will meet at the steamer next week if not before. I want to make certain arrangements about my practice and shall have much to do, but this lazy; foliow here will look after anything you may! want," said Dr. Clarko, laying an affection-' ate hand on Dr. Hamilton's shoulder. A few more words and wo parted. The '■oyago ever. Need I say what it was '.o me. A now life pervaded my whole baing. I dftrod not stop to think unspoken tho sympathy which now filled my Hfe. A glance, a half sentence seemed to express a volume—nothing , more vas needed. Surely if ever a friendship was i crfect it was this which suddenly had taken hold of the inmost fibres of my being.

CHAPTER XII. CHUDLEIGII OAVES. But as .Kingsley says, " Good times and .-ill times soon pass away," and our voyajje Qiidcd at last, and at Launccston we parted for a time to moot a week later at the old homo of my girlhood. A dear homo, in spite of its sad memories, every nook full of dead echoes of my old self, of N those so dear to mo now no longer in their old places. Alas! life plays sad havoc in a few years, but I had guests to entertain and a certain subtle joy pervaded my soul as one face and form rose before my mind's eyes; so I once moro sealed the chamber of my sacred dead and became the hostess, entertaining a merry party bent on pleasure.

Two young married couples, two engaged couples, out of whom scarce a word could bo got, so wrap23ed up in each other were they, two lively disengaged damsels, the two doctors, a young squatter from Queensland on a visit in tho neighborhood, Grace Clarke and myself completed our house-party. Most of them had ridden or driven in their own buggies, and by the third morning after our assembling at the "Sycamores" we were ready for our start to the caves.

Two large waggonettes, a buggy and a dogcart conveyed our party, tents and provisions; the rest of us riding, and off we set. How fresh, the air; how delicious the fragrant briar and hawthorn hedges as we merrily travelled along. A halt was made half way. The gentlemen made fires, and our first picnic luncheon took place amid much laughter and fun of all descriptions. Soon after we guuius aim screams, wnero tue light undergrowth reminded one of a fairy glen, so lovely 'was it all. And- over before us rose the mountains, nearer and nearer till at last we were in the midst, and travelling became difficult and slow; gloomy crags, giant trees in all their primeval glory surrounded us, and produced a hush even in our merry friends soon however to be dissipated by the bustle of unloading, pitching tents, picketing horses, whilst the married folks attended to the more solid comforts, without which the inner man and woman cannot well do, and soon a good, substantial, hot dinner was ready.

Ducks and fowls, boiled and roasted, amused our men folk, who only expected :old fare; but, after all, what man is there itnongst tho race to whom a good dinner loos not appeal with a happy and softeningresult?

Wo wandered away in twos and threes, leaving only the two servants who accompanied us iv charge of tho camp. Somo went tip tho mountains. By some chaiico I found myself at tho entrance of tho water cave, where over the gloomy rocks the water dashed and foamed, sparkling with light, which I soon found entered through crevices here and there in the roof. Wo picked our way through the gloomy recesses, stopping now and again to listen to the music of falling water, than which nothing is more fascinating, and found ourselves in a while ascending a narrow gorge fringed on either side with graceful, waving ferns or hanging lichens of giant growth. Coming , , after a stiff climb, to a natural moss-grown bridge thrown completely across the chasm, we had a view which, from this point, was magnificent, as there rose before us the rugged and grand range of the "Western Tiers behind a vast stretch of forest trees backed in the distance by tho blue mountain ranges. Huge, moss-grown, lichen - covered rocks rose in savage wildness around us, while at our feet we gazed some hundred and fifty feet down to where tho water stolo in a silver, trickling streamlet and lost itself in the yawning opening of the caves we had just passed through. Of my companions Geoff, and Dr. Clarke had wandered away. Dr. Hamilton and I stood alone and contemplated the varied scenery around. ! "It is too beaxitiful for speech," he said, his rich, mellow voice, grave with the emotion of the moment. "'Tis one of those times when silence is golden. Let us rest and I will repeat to you that gem of Mrs. Barrett Browning's collection, •He giveth is beloved sleep.' " >• Choosing a moss-covered stone, he threw himself at my feet, and, facing , the crimson [ west with the silent monuments of ages of past time surrounding me, I listened for tho first time to that j>erfect poem, given in a perfect place by the voice that had grown so resonant of earth's most perfect joy—the companionship of a refined and cultivated nature in harmony with my own. : The hour was not soon forgotten, but with the fading light the duties of hostess were again to the fore, and, having reached our camp, pleasant stories, catches and glees finished our pleasant day, and to rest wo all retired rest broken in my tent, at least, by ever-recurring exclamations from the chattering girls concerning the unwelcome visitations of bull-ants, centipedes, &c, which they saw or felt or fancied. At last gentle sleep had her reign, and nothing more disturbed the silence of the night till the cooiea and laughter of our men folk at the early 'dawn aroused us as they wended their way to '.the inner oaves, towels round their necks, for ;a morning bath in the icy waters of the Underground river. I We were not long in preparing our breakfast arrangements, and immediately after we equipped ourselves in the old garments and boots wo had taken the precaution to bring with us, and sallied forth to inspect tho dry caves —vast, solemn, long corridors opening into various huge chambers, where the stalachtites and stalagmites often meeting formed pillars whose beauty could not be surpassed by the carving of conventional artists.

The river, which flowed quietly in the dark places, now appearing a little streamlet and again hidden away in some unknown turn, became suddenly broad and very obtrusive.

"Must wade through this 'ere water, ladies, if yer wants to see the glow-worms an' ci'ystal caves." "Wade through! Oh, how. *readful!" chorused one and all.

J " Well, you girls may do as yuu like !" exclaimed one of our married lady friends. "I, for one, have a little sense left, and don't mean to kill myself getting cold in that deathly river!" i Several of the others joined her and turned back. Ugh! how deadly cold the first plunge! Tho exclamations were quick and sharp, and two or three more drew back frightened to continue so cold, so dark and uncanny a journey. Only a small number eventually decided to carry through the original plan and ex-

plore as far as tho guides would allow. I could not help a sharp cry as the black, sluggish, ice-old water touched my feet, but a gentle voice beside me whispered:

"Do not fear; tako mj hand and I will help you through."

Where would I not have gone supported thus ! Alas, too dear for my peace was that strong yet tender clasp—and how many things it spoke! Of friendship stedfast, true; of new and wonderful love, and of something else equally wonderful—l mean the sense which never left us, which first struck us on the day of our meeting; the sense that we bad been old friends, old lovers in tho ages that had gone—in' the days when the world was yet young. With the lightning-like rapidity of thought the=e fancies and many othci» flitted over me, but the cold of the water once again to be ciossed diew my moment. my grttefMtftt? I was too frightened to wonder what would be done next. At last one of the guides said that he would attempt to make his way out if the gentlemen went with him. Ho could not understand how the torches went o\it, as such a thing had never occurred before. Dr. Hamilton at once volunteered to be his companion, though I pressed his arm almost convulsively in dread of being left in such horrors.

It was only by conjecture that tlio direction of the passage could be imagined. The guides and the gentlemen —in fact everyone of us shouted to each other so as to keep our respective positions. Kenneth moved a little from my side, and then I heard a plunge followed by a gurgle. What was it ? I scream aloud and the huge cavernre-echoed the soun At once the whole scene became to me clear as noon-day. The grim, water-wo walls, the high, irregular, arched roof, tl jutting rock and the shivering people stanc ing in the dark water —and within a sho distance of me a white face with dam] straggling hair floating on the surface. A once my womanly fears were gone. To m only was given the power of sight. To th rest it still remained utter darkness. "Quick! Quick!" I cried. "Let m have the rope!"

Luckily there had been a rope broughil and, taking it whilst my friends marvelled al what I was doing, I walked confidently tol wards the place where I had seen the whitf face gleaming as if lighted up by the uncertain beams of a new moon.

I cannot analyze my. sensations at this time. I really do not know -whether I walkec on the water or through it. I have a dim re collection that the fluid seemed more buoy ant than it had been when we were shiver ing through the cold and solitary arches. At any rate I walked on with confidenc and without hesitation until I clasped in my hands what for a moment I took for the life i.._i..j_ -vi "— J *■ : -ithe worig! Juick, fol t to be lost yarm,raise turned tost followec jeside them „„„„„, OiiCii. ua.vj.ug mo DtniuiesG intimation of it, and wondering how I had the power to direct them. I called Dr. Clarke to my side,and having been told what had occurred, he aided me with the body of his friend. But what was our astonishment to perceive Kenneth recover himself almo !; immediately. I could see distinctly the pale face recall its color, and Dr. Clarke felt his pulse renew their beating.

In a short time Kenneth stood up between his friend and myself. He shook Dr. Clarke's hand and thanked him, but to me he whispered: " To you I owe my life. May it be granted that I should devote it to you. I have no idea why I fainted, and I am glad none of these folk knows my weakness. But we shall not go back. Are you not brave enough to venture?"

I said I was brave enough, but the torches, as ho saw, were quenced and there was re light to proceed. J ust then from the summit of the cave anc round a column where an. almost ceptible ledge jutted out two men descended with torches glowing and flickering. Where they came from even our guides did not know. But I at once recognised the features of the leader. It was the Indian.

My feelings with respect to him were of the most mingled character, and I could not account for it. I felt that he had an immense influence on mj life, but whether for good or evil I could not determine. The torch he carried in his hand flung its ruddy glare on the faces of the wet and shivering group ho overlooked. What brought Mm there ?

It took him only a few minutes to reach me. "It was brave. You deserve and have conquered." Not one word more. Our guides meanwhile had relighted their torches, and we proceeded on our way—one at least of the wanderers with little courage. *

The Indian disappeared as he came. He •was well known, our guides said, around there, and was considered to have a more exact knowledge of those caves than anyone efee in the country. ; After a dismal journey through the chill water we reached the cathedral cave, whose dim recesses and arched dome fully justified the name it bore. O, mysterious freak of nature to hide in the dark womb of the earth —a place of-such grand beauty where human feet seldom tn?M, But may it not be the entrance to the swelling-place of some longforgotten race, or more wierd still, the abode of those whose life begun on another world, is continued and developed on this in its hidden places, tho glorious beauties of which are hidden forever from mortal eyes. With such fancies did the ancients people their grottos and caves, making them the temporary dwelling-places of heavenly beings. Soon after we returned, and tired, torn and bruised found ourselves in the welcome camp where hot tea, coffee and cakes awaited

I have given you an account of these caves, for they are one of the things once seen never forgotten, -which'live in the memory a lifetime, and were to mo the cause of much pleasure also much perplexity. Whither was I drifting, or what influence surrounded me ? I could not misunderstand the tones, the looks, respectful and tender as they were, which my friend bestowed on me. Did he know that I was ignorant of the fate of George Barton ? Was I wife or -widow ? Miserable were the hours passed in these thoughts, but with the desperation of a drowning man I determined to thrust aside the misery that I might be forced to face later on and wrest from life ono, bright period on which to live, if the after years should prove even more sad and dreary, for the possible might have been which would then forever bo the after math of life to me. Besides, no declaration of love had passed between us. Wo had our present and it seemed sufficient to both.

With all my woman's wit and skill I warded off all approach made by the doctor to subjects lying too close to the core of life, and, after a pleasant month with our friends, Several smaller picnics, rides, drives and dances I once more found myself in my New Zealand home.

CHAPTER XIII. BACK IN NEW ZEALAND. Alone with my memories of the past, my forebodings of the future, and alas ! tho dread and suspense were harder to bear than I had supposed. My boy could not help seeing my palor and the sadness of my looks, and eagerly besought me to seek the society of my Dunedin friends, which I did for a few weeks to give myself breathing space and decide upon a course of action. Alas! I could not speak of my twmble to anyone, and returned home more unsettled than before. But things could not gp on in this stylo, aiid I found another mind stronger than my own. I forgot to say that tho doctors were fully satisfied and delighted with their visit to the mountain reefs, and found all as I had dcs-

mL^^^^^J aut^^^^^H like^^^H of m^^^^| it India &c, The mid, is ■wide. The last 100 dicrs in f>^H Tiieke 1894 a.b.,H lioved to bH To remote them with fl minutes, thl warm watee In thenel are three hi mcd's beard! tan, and arq From ISGI persons to Si prisoners lial their own fra