OUTER DARKNESS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19567, 21 February 1927, Page 18

OUTER DARKNESS.

BY FRANK H. BODLE

SYNOPSIS. Professor Sherwin. who is a {anio "f,, eth " iSteV named Kitty. * Th«a Professor has {Halt In 'fvSyJgS Islands, accompanied by , d £" 8 recently one Brian Carroll. Whom he has recem y ji'iet. They finally land at an island that is enwrapped with mystery. j ' re ) llIK0 " B | a b amazed to find so m© script *■* of stone. ' •' CHAPTER lll.—(Continued). Witlii the picture of sun-ravs dancing through yellow tresses still before him, Brian swung joyfully across the plateau. From tho dark, the sun glare bad;, been more revealing than Kitty realised. Brian vas confident that the anxiety in' those blue eyes had not hcen caused: by the v mugful placing of a tent. "''.-fiw Rawiri came to meet him and; like a goou general,' anticipated the others attack. "Those inatives, iie won't corao : any-closer. He drop the tents an" the tucker, -an' I can't make him move any nearer,";R a f, Wiri whispered gloomily. " A the same, this very good place. That's good water in that spring there and—" Brian cut into the. panegyric of the camp site with a sharp-, order to the native crew. The meu£sWoo«i their heads doggedly, looking dumbly at Rawiri ioi Ml ''Hew o a't come," Rawiri aflirmed with a note of subdued joy in bis voice. Rle s frighten. Better way we camp here, tarry the dokita over in this." lie indicated an improvised litter. After all, Brian reflected, the campsite was the most likely place on the plateau and after one more effort to persuade the Rapa men to advance, he assentecf to the inevitable. Bearing tne litter between them, be ana the Maori returned to the old fort. , _ Again Rawiri, the strategist, took the offensive. " Those natives he won't coino any further," he explained to Kitty with the' air of one who had done everything except shed blood in her service, can't make them; Prian, he cant. Neyer mind, that's a good place there. Ihe dokita, lie catch the fever, you see, and he wantp plenty water to drink, ihats a verv gopd spring over there." „ '•'.And this the very bad place here, Kitty suggested ironically. • " Might be," tho Maori answered grumpily. " Anyway, bad place for a camp with sick man. Must have plenty water." . , . " Perhaps we had better go right down to the teach." Kitty's serious tone was belied by the laughter in her eyes. Rawiri's sombre face lit up, then as his eveS told him that lie :,was.-being mocked,this gloom lhat.s a very good place for camp over there, he asserted doggedly. " Plenty wood }> plenty water and get more stores easy. The emphasis upon the last statement made it "pretty clear that to Rawiri the chief charm of the site that he advocated, lay in its strategic position for a swift retreat. > . " Oh! I suppose so," said Kitty wearily. " Let's be done with it, if we must, and carry father across." Doctofi Sherwin protested weakly and sleepilyJbut, despite his remonstrances, lie was borne carefully over to the new camp. The crew had vanished long before the stretcher-bearers had arrived. Clearly they hH little liking for the place, for they had worked with savage intensity, and had disappeared *:bofoir,e. any further unwelcome upon them. 1 Toward evening,. ;the .professor grew feverish. He "I>e made up i,.tlxt};.ltt<^.itiiltl that .this, should beLying there, ~ plateau at thej) ® refused all jjGtod deal of weak brandy Mft .* [' The tropic dovfn. There would morning, and dull gtejv masses rcif cloud sivam up out of the iwaSi-eaSti tri blot out all the stars. pressed down, seeming warm gusts oi f Spe rising Jffind, moaning fitfully through;'■ thojlot^ftrees' near the tents, seemed surcharged*with age-old sor--rows. Rawifi's pine went outj' and with a muttered"" goingJio disappeared into th 6 tent. 0 "It's silly,# • coursey" Kitty said at length, " but there's something in what Rawiri says. ..There is an eerie feeling about the As if," she hesitated, searching right words to describe her feelings, " as if it had been the scene of some tremendous tragedy, ami-the torment arid sorrowi of it had left lasting impression ; in the very air'arotirid." A gust of wind sobbed through the stunted trees and Kitty, matter-of-fact | Kitty Sherwin, shivered unhappily. " I have a feeling that there is some sort of blight upon the island—it's stupid, I know—but honestly, I shah't'ibe " sorry'wheti we've finished here." " Nor shall,'!." Brian' admitted, "though I wouldn't tell...your father so." "Fiddlesticks'," cried the professor, with mi indignant snort. With a groan of pain ho struggled to a sitting position. "■ No, you didn't wake me;.l haven't been asleep for some time., And T M'ili'Viot lie down, madam, not till I'm .ready to. I'm quite Mine and perfectly sober. Seems to Die I'm the only sane persoh 1 here." 1 'HYou ! two are ns jumpv as Rawiri, without his excuse. There's nothing on this island but ourselves, some relics of an interesting and, possibly, distant past, and your foolish imaginings. I have long ceased to be surprised by anything yotfmay say or do, Kitty, but I will confess that ( I am disappointed in you, Brian.' Your scientific training should have exorcispd-that Celtic strain of superstition. That it wasn't simply shows that heredity is even stronger than we think." The professor altered his position a trifle. " Remember this, my bov, for every phenomenon in Nature, there is .1 reasonable and frequently quite simplo explanation. What's that. Kitty?" "Yes, what is it?" Kitty stnmmereed. fUp there—on the hill—near the altar—those lights. What's the simple explana-. tion of that phenomenon 1" All three stared wide-eyed. Up in the old fort, somewhere near the altar, three lights were glowing —and moving about. They were very bright, and yet they had a curious green quality, entirely different to anything- in u the -experience of the watchers. r . " Yes, sir; what is the simple and reasonable explanation of that phenomenon?" Brian asked quietly. .The professor swallowed—quite audibly. "They're lights." he answered weakly: then excitement swept over him. "They're lights, clearly and apparently carried by human beings. Yes. obviously; there" can l>e 110 other explanation'. Who the people are can only he determined after investigation. It's most curious, certainly, but ha! one of'thn tights has disappeared. Brian, yon and j Rawiri . must investigate this .Oh. if my leg were only fit 'to hobble. Another light gone—llo doubt into the cave. Get candles —and yes, perhaps-you should take revolvers. Hurry: there's-only one light left now." I'naccountably, Rawiri was very sound asleep. - It took "TTer'cu}ean efforts to nwaken him, and a still greater struggle to persuade him to sally forth. "Hurry up. Hurry up; the lights have all gone," the professor cried angrily.. It, was Kitty who turned the scale. " Rawiri," she,"called from the tent door, " if you don't go with Brian, 1 shall. Afterwards, I shall tell all your people that you were too cowardly to do what a ,woman did." » , In the candle-light Rawiri -visibly blanched. " I don't frighten, I tell you," he muttered morosely, pushing an automatic into his pocket and grabbing n handful of cartridges, " only I don't like that place. 'A' right. Come on." " Keipember," the professor called to the two investigators^-*"-there is a simple and reasonable explanation for every "phenomenon. . Eotixcly -eliminate the "supernatural from your inferences." Kitty impulsively placed her hand on JSrian's arm. " Take care of yourself,

A PACIFIC ADVENTURE.

(COPYRIGHT.)

Brian," slio whispered; "we'll be anxious til! you return." The darkness lay around them like an enveloping pall. An irresistible impulse, a prcmonitioi of parting, perhaps for ever, surged over Brian. Trembling himself, his arm crept round the girl's waist. He drew her, unresisting, closer. Their lips met, and the lights on tlie bill and all else grew nebulous'and unimportant. VDon't waste- time there talking, the professor called irritablv out of the kindly darkness: "1 tell you s»ll the lights have gone." , , " Goodbye., dear," Brian whispered, and slipped off into the night to overtake Rawiri. It was a queer quest, this search .or the simple explanation of ghostly lights on an uninhabited island, yet Brian was joyous and carefree as he caught up to his brown comrade. * "You very long time, Prian, the Maori remarked tartly, as the white man came up. " Was I? Well, we'll make up time now. I'll race you up the hill " CHAPTER IV. UNDERGROUND. The workings of the brown man's mind are not always obvious to the more phlegmatic whites: it contains depths of fatalism no European has ever plumbed. Rawiri had an intense distaste for his present errand, but there was no possibility of avoiding it, so that lie bad resigned himself to the inevitable. He was fully certain that he and his _ white companion were about to engage in a contest with the Powers of 111—with little prospect of anything save evil fortune. The outcome was altogether uncertain, yet having- decided that the path must be trodden, he faced the immediate future with determination, even cheerfulness. Since there was no escape, he had resolved to explore the Unknown in the same spirit that prompted Maui, the legendary hero of his race, to raid the Underworld and steal the fire from the Nether Gods. In a smartly run race, he reached the altar a clear three yards ahead of his companion. Lighting candles, they descended the ;tone stairway. Rawiri, who led the way, suddently stopped and picked up something. "What you think of this?" lie asked, holding it out to Brian. It was a single grain of some cereal, not unlike maize* in shape, but as white as mountain snow. " Grain of some sort and it wasn't here when I came down this morning. Those fellows, whoever they are, have gone down below, all right." "He placed the grain in his pocket for future examination. " 'Nother piece here," Rawiri re.marked, when they had gone on a few paces, " Ijon't touch it, Rawiri. Count your steps from it.'. I've notion it's been used as a trail-guide and if so, you'll find more of it at regular intervals." " Eight, nine, ten; that's right. Here's another piece . . . and another. Those fellow with the light, he coine here and mark the track a'right." They passed the wall inscription that Brian had noted in the morning. It was quite a lengthy affair, but they did riot stop to examine it: the problems of the lights and of the trail of grain demanded more urgent attention. They plodded on in silence, walking along a smooth, sharply-sloping grade. Twice the gallery forked,■ but the grain-trail was plain and they followed it without hesitation. The cavern roof, which for most of the way lihd been about two feet above their heads, began to recede from them and the \valls to spread out. . Rawiri. stopped suddenly. "Put out •the>candles," he whispered. "There's lights'ahead. Round the corner." In darkness themselves, the two explorers stared down a branching corridor into a distant green glare. Come on/' Brian said, grasping his pistol; "we can't" make, out anything from here." Silently they stole toward the light, which appeared to come from • something ktanding on'the floor. "It's a Lantern," Brian whispered. "A ■stone lantern." "An', by korri, there's a man lying beside' it," Rawiri exclaimed. It was a man, an old, old man, very tall and almost naked. So terribly emaciated was he that the skin hardly seemed to cover the bony frame. He was a skeleton—the wrinkled lips moved slowly—yes, a living skeleton, though the tide of life ebbed slowly out. " He's a white man," Rawiri muttered in blank amazement. Brian knelt down beside the old man and gently raised hs head. Ho was so thin, so very feeble, thai pity chased away every other emotion. The old eves, deeply sunken below the wrinkled lofty forehead, fluttered open and stared dully around. There was something indescribably pathetic, Brian thought, in the misery of thase weary, lustreless eyes. J. lie brow it as the noble brow ot a philosopher, a, great thinker, but the eyes were the eyes of a man without hope, whose dreams have all been shattered and whose soul has plumbed the deeps ot the sea of despair. As the two watched, the lips framed whispered words, then, with a last flicker of strength, the old man half raised himself 011 a bony elbow and poured out a torrent of words. Rawiri held up his hand to Brian for silence and listened intently. The spate of speech spent itself; the old man struggled pitifully for breath between each sobbed word. lie gasped and fell back into Brian's arms. He s dead, poor old chap," Brian said quietly. " Exhaustion, I should ; 'think; all his strength gone and he just 1 snuftcd out like the flame of a candle in the wind. . . . Could von make anything of what he said, Rawiri ? It was all a jumble to me." " Yes, 1 <?et, some a'right an' it's a very funny thing, you know. He's white man, very old white man, eh ?" es, lies the whitest-skinned man I ever saw. . ' ?. l « ' le talks Maori, Brian—only a bit different. Some words I can't know. hat I can make out, he says something like this: At the end of life comes death an He is very kind. This is a very cruel place. He's verv sad; very sad indeed, and Jus heart's gone dead. Ihe priests were right an' it's all just an old woman s ta c. Then just before he's dead, he called: 1 es, the priests' were right. Jnere is no suit; there is no light, no hope; we from darkness into darkness. It was all nukarau, all nonsense; the foolish dream of a sick mind. There's more than that, but J can't know all the words!" Brian examined the dead man carefuNv then stared at Rawiri. Allowing for the difference in age, the features of the two were not dissimilar. It was borne in upon him, with the shock of certaintv, that the dead man, though Ins skin was whiter than any North European's and ' lis . c .V<?s were a curious light green, was a full-blooded Polynesian, a snow-white Polynesian. Brian picked up the lantern. It was a hollowed stone, shaped after the fashion of a largo bottle, with a green metal ring, evidently a handle, at the thin end. One face of the bottle was made of the same metal as the ring and it was through tin's face that the bright light seemed to flow. Brian touched it: it was quite cold and. lattled loosely. Finding that it was r a i f Utt ' r ' through which ihe ini r n 'V'- Was lf! . Soll]e manner diffused. ! e 1111I 111 '* 't li p. 1 here was a how! of pain IriZ I,a T"' " Turn nvra >"' quick," cried the brown man, on whom the naked rays _ shone directly; "[ t hums like a y * f had tfen taken across the Pacific 4000 years ato. t£> China at Sharland's Magnesia prevents flatulence. Sold everywhere Is 3d per bottle. The most beautiful photos are obtained by using Ulmgworth's famous British .? S "T„ ry calnera should be loaded with Rhngvorth s famous British Film* for the Royal visit. Sold by chemists