MY LADY OF THE CAVE. 'A NEW ZEALAND COAST. TALE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17889, 17 September 1921, Page 3 (Supplement)

MY LADY OF THE CAVE. 'A NEW ZEALAND COAST. TALE.

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(COPYRIGHT.)

SYNOPSIS. The etary opens with a description of the exciting passive •of a timber scow through a. dangerous pass at Aho side of a. reef. A sudden larch of the vessel precipitates the writer overboard, and alter a desperate swim ho is rescued "SI »- hug., shaggy dog, which, ! bough it growls mondcmgly -when, spoken :<-. eventually loads h.ui to a mysterious oa ve. Th*r» he is aniajw*i it find an inhabitant n the peraon of a beautiful young" girl, who rofc-arda him w;th the, utmost wonderment and appears U.rriSefl lit the sound of his rrv.je Whenever he «i>eab» to her. repeated efforts at conversation in various languages ail fail, though the girl has every appearance of being highly intelligent, the writer ■ximfs to the conclusion that, for some u«j» known reason she roust have been immured sure childhood in thiS lonely cave, and has therefore no understanding .of speech. His attempts to cive her a. language lesson, however, meet -with a quick and ready response.

> CHAPTER Hl.—(Continued). Presently her whole body quivered. She •I'irred a.startled cry, and suddenly -: retched" ou', her aTms,' her fingers at a cufion as if to clasp the vision conjured up in her mind. Her eyes stared at nothingness, and her features were conroiled with a wild expression of wonder .Hid dismay. Fofc a second or two she remain. 1 motionless, ri|;id, and her whole iitilmle denoted tho intense mental strain she "as undergoing. Presently .-'■>e lowered her hand?, and into her eyes •litre crept & far-away, reminiscent look .; yearning.

rhe problem of her strange behaviour h.ji-1 become more and more perplexing, :'i.'n like a flash a possible solution came •.> me, intuitively. At, a child she had '~'iv"'!. the same as any other child, but

. >i..>n<» extraordinary happening, she had '"»n immured in this silent cave, and had remained in it so long that disuse had • t repined her organs of speech and dulled iin- memory. By the light of this cim;r<iuie I could easily trace the struggles ,-f her mind and memory in the changing expression of tier eves, in the workings -{ her mobile features, and in the convulse movements of her hands and irtiv. *°" >'i a letaincd her altitude of tenseness for such a length of time, that I began !<3 fear I had awakened heir dormant faculties too suddenly, and was much re'icvcd when her arms slowly fell, and her r ,dy relaxed. . She gasped, as if in physical pain, auci clasped her hands across her breast. "Mother!'' she cried Again, and this time I kne,w that her mind had connected the reality of flesh ami blood with the significant word. " Mother,"' once a.jain she cried, as if pleading with the vision, and the soft radiant beauty of her face reminded me of Sant's exquisit*- conception of " The Soul's Awakening."

Determined to follow up my successful beginning, I tried what a change of suggestion would do., so I softly whispered, •Father!" She responded quite readily, but her utterance of the word was not so clear as her deliberate and correct pronunciation of " Mother." Evidently, then, the latter word was more familiar to her, and the conception of its meaning more distinct and definite. But I repeated "Father" again, much louder. She closed her eyes and put one hand over her forehead, ■while, as if to aid her searching memories, with her other hand she groped in an imaginary cloud before her face. " Father?" I said yet again, in a questioning tone. * "Father!'' she slowly repeated. Then suddenly and rapidly she cried "Father! Mother! Father ! Ah !" and with a bitter sob she sank down on the floor of the cave, and burst out crying. I .offered no consolation, nor could I have done so, even had I deemed it wise to stop the tinnd of tears, for our powers of conversation wrre still confined to the two words just then revived in her memory, i ireat sobs burst, from her, and the tears flowed free and fast. I felt myself to be a. brut-e, though I hardly knew why. I remembered an old saying, that " a "good cry" was the best cure for the relief of rwnt-up emotion, and the thought consoled my uneasiness at her distress. < 1 sat down before the fire, and began to whistle a. tune. I suppose I was behaving like an ass in so doing, but I had to relieve my reelings in some way or other, and this schoolboy way seemed to coin© naturally. To my surprise, the weeping lady gazed through her tears s.t me in undisguised astonishment, as if I had been guilty of f>r>me gross indiscretion, or as if I were performing some wonderful feat, which <"■/ the two i •Was' at a loss to decide. However, I continued my whistling, though m.v choice of a tune, "Pop goes the Weasel," did not strike me. when I thoueht, of it afterwards, as beine eminently suited to the' occasion. Whether from the effects of the whistling, or "from .'pent emotion, I do not know, but the sobbing soon ceased, and somewhat to my disgust th* lady wiped her tears away cri the folds of ber pretty blue gown. I smiled, and put out my hands to her. fiehtly she rose and came forward, and I toted the exquisite erace of her movements. I noted too that the gown, which hung loosely from her shoulders, had an "pening in the font which displayed a shapely tteok-. while a broad band, dV f>r.lt, draped in two pointed ends in front, was fattened around her waist with just tTifrJoirnt tightness to show the faultless contour of h'r figure. Her eyes closely scorched my face as kKe arote. She hesitated for a moment, •itid then slowly advanced towards me. Mi<; clasped her hands upon her bosom, »nd s:uzed into my eyes as if beseeching me to t-ay that magic word " Mother" onrn more.

Sim cain<». close, up to where I sat. and Jiniidlv and tentatively put out her hand arid touched me with her finger on the -hot. a deiicalp. inquiring sort of touch. --.he then put her hand on my head, and .•entlv drew hrr palm ever my untidy i.-iii. Every nerve in mv body thrilled .if. her touch, and my heart thumped so ■■ .nlpiitlv that I thought "he must hear :t.« >>f'H.tiriL'. I did rot know how to meet 'he situation- 1 could not, in the sense of •'■rniuoa honour toward? her lonely "•(-.manhood, ir.-ponrl in any way to h<?r ..Ivan' of confidence. So I sat there, ■IDel n.t'iclv smiled my appreciation of her A t i< 1 ■,

]'.nv pip?rimental touch had evidently tinned her other sTise- impressions of ■» Z'A ;...<) sound, but. she stood before me '-•r .< few moments in an attitude of hesitation, and then slowly retired to her •■;;'■!. and eat down. CHAPTER IV. THE BED. Ti ■•:■ fur. was rapidly drying my clothe?, ■••• Mint 1 began i" feel more comfortable ••J i■• n.-pqiient i v mere sit ease with my -•'•.i: .'■ r.ornpanio: . I could pee, too, that he I.i.Jv- as n'.ncoming Lei* emotion ■urn. . i ..)!>■ f. r ii'iother attempt to recall Irr i■.• a,.■ r ; .■.- a),. I| u stimulate her latent !"'•""> ■•« ' I--1 <..':!! ...'■. I il'.'v my 'ormer clues. ..■ -1 i.e.-;,i! \ .Mi t <■ words " mother " and !,,•; pi. ' .-!..>- v and emphatically ■I---:d. ' ,\f.:l.c ' FSTu" ' ' .-he repealed, and ■'• ir -h.-1.-c,:,.- '.< ii? hflp.d to shove up ■he length ai.d iicauty of her drooping ■■•• it he.-. And again the words must :a\e lOMjuied up in her mind the dim ... ■• distant ini«ifi'-«i| her parent8 A for once t. ■!!. v.'u'tii prompting, and this time ;'t f-o/ii'-uun.i of rapture and awe in 1 <•>■ uiiii'. une repeated the word.". ' Mother, father'" lit ) -a a 111' i to experiment, further, oid reM'ived to ti\ to make her laugh, -~■•■; to i.l,eel hci and f»<i cure her '!'.•■:-■ ent horri.v.-. and partly to see. if • . en capable of appreciating humour. •■■ if enough though it might be; and -.-. . - .114!: I e iicecded, though not in •;. i'-.,iiufi 1 had roril emulated. i >og '" [ began, p.,into.g t'i \f»rum. "•J: t !e|it. beside she fire Bo! she did not .»,.<pond.

. Do I said again, but with no better result. I pointed to the blazing logs, and touching my lips*uttered the word p< fire," and -placed my finger-on her dainty mouth. It was a liberty, I know, and the sensation that thrillecl through me as 1 touched her smooth skin was the same as _ when she had touched my face and hair. She looked straight into my eyes; a new light shone in her glorious orbs, a light that I cannot hope to describe. She did not resent the liberty, and at once understood what I wanted her to do, for she tried to say the word. After one or two attempts she succeeded, and I could see that she was pleased because I was satisfied. " Dog>" I tried again, and went- on all fours, pointing to Murum to show that my attitude was in representation of that animal. " Dog!" I repeated; " bow-wow-wow. Oh, damn!" The last part of my word-le3son was not m imitation of our canine friend, but was uttered, or rather shouted, in all sincerity by a burnt humanJieing, for, in my practical demonstration, I had placed my nand on a red-hot ember! The result was not dignified, for I sprang up and danced round, waving my hand and pulling a wry face. ,A soft silver laugh echoed - through the cave, and I instantly forgave both the ember for burning me and the lady for laughing at me, for the music of that laugh was the music of childhood's fairy dreams. Murum shook himself, and barked as if in annoyance at being disturbed from his sleep. I immediately saw my chance to complete the lesson. I -ceased ms- - and pointed to him and said, "DO2 —bark!" ' S

" One good thing," I said aloud. " it is evident that' you don't, know the colonial twang, and you'll never say "dawg!" " Dawg!" she faithfully repeated aftei me like an echo, and it was my turn to laugh, whereat she smiled as if in sympathy with my mirth. I sat down again, and so did she, and both of us quickly grew interested in what was surely the queerest languagelesson ever undertaken in the learning and I in the teaching of sound to represent the various articles touched or pointed _ to. >She soon learned to say " stick," " stool," and " fire," and in the recapitulation of her lesson the only mistake she made was to refer to Murum as " bark."

I Encouraged by success and inspired by I new-born zeal. I continued my role of j schoolmaster. I determined to venture J further afield, but was puzzled how to ' begin and exactly what to do. " While casting round in my mind for the best move, I noticed that the darkness outside made the entrance to the cave look like a grim black arch. I noticed, too, that the lady follows' my glance and was also looking toward me "blackness of the night. This gave me an idea how to*go on. I pointed to the mouth of the cave and said, " Dark!" and then, indicating the glow of the fire, said ''Light!" At first she did not understand what I meant, but when I showed her the difference between helpless groping with my eyes closed and the freedom of movement with my eyes open she gradually began to understand, and to my surprise went to a packing-case cupboard fastened to the wall and brought out .some matches, with which she lit a kerosene swing lamp hanging from the roof of the cave. I rose tc help her, whereat she seemed surprised, and, I thought, a little offended. The mystery of her existence became more inexplicable than ever. I wondered how she had obtained the matches, the lamp, and the supply of kerosene. Here were the facts, the stubborn facts: That she was dressed, serviceably and well; that she had fire, lights, and food. But I could find no solution of the difficultyI had to confess myself completely at a loss. No vessels ever called in here. "Bark! Murum! Dog!" she suddenly | cried, as if in delight at her newly-ac-quired powers of speech. _ I pointed to the fire by way of prompting further efforts. "Tire!" she said immediately, and then to my surprise she imitated my practical lesson by falling on to her hands and knees. . She stretched out her arm, placed her open palm close He a hot cinder, and loudly called out, 'Damn!" with exactly my energy and emphasis! I felt myself blush, for the exclamation, coming as it did from those pure unstained lip, seemed like blasphemy. " No, no! ' I cried, " you mustn't say that! I can say it, but you must net! It's, —er, cussing, you know!" What a fool I had made of myself, and what an explanation I had blurted out! \ 1 felt a thrill of thankfulness for her

ignorance of language and words. But she looked perplexed, seeming to know tiiat something was wrong. I hurriedly passed on to some new words, increasing her vocabulary with monosyllables, such as " hand " and " head," and. as I touched her blue gown to demonstrate the meaning of " dress " she tried to show me that she understood what I meant by touching the knee of my corduroys. And how could I correct her? " Damn" was bad enough in all conscience for my first attempt at amateur school-teaching, without blending the sublime with the ridiculous by telling her that my homely garments were "pants!" Moreover. I fancied that she was growing a littleweary of the unaccustomed mental exercise, and decided to cease my delightful tutorship, at least for that occasion, though I found myself earnestly hoping that the pleasant talk would not end with that first and all too brief lesson of instruction. However,' I rose and said " Goodnight!" She repeated " Good-night " in an expressionless manner and without,any sign that she understood the meaning of what she said. I pointed to the far side of the fire where there was a space on the floor next the wall, and suggested that I might "Lie down and sleep," and closed my eyes in explanation. Again the glorious creature betokened an awakened cognisance of the connection between sound and understanding, be- • ween words and things. Clearly she was beginning to understand language as an I instrument of thought, for her face lit i up as she arose from her seat and her lips softly echoed " Sleep. "Yes, sleep!". I returned, almost •startled by her quickness of comprehenj sion and by her rapidly-acquired powers ■ of correct utterance. j She turned and beckoned me to follow her; I did so, wonderingly. She took I a caudle from a rough board shelf, lit it at the fire; and led on to the inner recesses of the cavern. ■ The way was smooth underfoot, as if worn with years of walking, but the roof was uneven and low, sq*that in many places I had to i stoop. I noted, too, the well-cut gutters I along the bottom of both walls, for carry- | ing away dhe moisture as it. percolated ; from above. I followed my silent hostess I closely, so that I might take advantage ! of the light to help me in my observai tion of the cave. Presently an abrupt j turning in the passage brought us to a rough cut chamber fashioned into a bedroom, instinctively I drew back, but the I lady signed to me to stay, and I remained iat the entrance. The chamber, some 10ft. |by 12ft., with fairly high walls and a i well-arched roof, had been cut from the I solid rock, and in the dim light of the i candle had the appearance of a vault. ; My guide apprpachcd--a slab table and lit another* candle. A -looking wooden ! bedstead, furnished with the whitest of i bed-clothes, lay stretched along the wall, and a rough, though serviceable wardrobe 'of kauri uprights, with nail-pegs driven ■ into the crossbeams, occupied one corner. Dresses hung from the pegs, and above the table was fixed an ordinary mirror, proving that this adjunct of feminine lore was as necessary in the caves of the seashore as in the jjoudoirs of the manMori. So far as [ could see, these were the only articles of furniture in the chamber, though part of the floor was covered by large mohair mats of excellent quality. Where, I wondered, had <the lady obtained all these things, and who had been her architect, her mason, and carpenter ? It was quite evident that she could not have carved out the room for herself, nor could she have made the furnishings. She must have a keeper or guardian, and this guardian, a man! But if he lived with lui in the cave, how was it that she had Inst the power of speech bv disuse? And whence her extraordinary display of wonder and curiosity at the .si*ht. iof me. an ordinary mortal? .Mystery ! upon m;. .-iters ' i (To be continued on SaturcUj next.)