A VOYAGE WITH A SEA-GULL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4561, 6 December 1882, Page 4

A VOYAGE WITH A SEA-GULL.

A NEW ZEALAND EAIBY BTOBY. Bt Johv-a-Dbrams. £flmoiaily -wbittbn pob tub stab.] Ohaptbb IV. (Continuod.) 80 1 lay thinking, staring up at the vault of Uae overhead, and now and thon turning to look over the sea-gull's neck at the grey een, vhioh lay fairly weltering in tho hoat below. Not a spook of foam nor the •in. of a wave oould I see ; only smooth rolling undulationß moved the oily surface, imooth otherwise, bo it seemed at the height st whioh we were, as a lawn where the grnrß lias been olosely shavon. I noticed more than one Bhip becalmed, and oould see masts, •ails, and hull distinctly, but small ne though belonging to the fleet of Lilliput. Wo •passed right over one ond descended low enough to notioo it roll from aide to side, suid hear the flap of the ich suila against tbe maata. " I wish you could siog," said I suddenly " 80 1 expeoted of you," Baid she j " and thought of it when before coming to you I prayed to have tho full uae of my human Toioe. My request was granted, &a you shall hear." So she sang, first a bright rippling song, then a low gliding melody, then a olear full Strain of exquisite pathos. I felt tears welling into my eyes aa I thought of Asia' a •ong in Prometheus Yinetus — •* My soul is an enchanted boat, "Whioh, liko a sleeping swim, doth float Upon the silvor waves of thy sweet singing, And thine doth like an angel sit Beside the helm conducting it. "White all tho winds with melody are singing, It seems to float ever, for over, Upon that monj* winding rivor. Till, liko one in thunder bonnd. Borne to the ocean, I float down nmund Into a sea profound of ever-spreiuling sonnd. Meantime, the Bpirit lifts its pinions In music's most serene dominions', Catching tho winds that fan that lmppy heaven ; And we sail on away, afar, Withont a course, withont n. stnr, Bat by the instinct of sweot music driven." I had nothing more to wish for. I oould be no happier, so I wished for an hour's Bleep. O! happy, happy day, too soon ended! "O! Bose of May, too booh witherod ]" It was to be my laat. I waa never to know Bueh another. On Awaking again, I saw some tiny bluo islets to the westward. Tho bird eaid thoy were unknown to geographers. MWe are now," she added, "in that part of the Pacific least often traveled by civilised man. Southward of uo lies not a Seok of land for two thousand milee, excopt 0 island of tha Siren." " The island of what ?" « Of tho Siren." « The Birens of tho Greeks, of the Argonauts, of Ulysses." M No. _ JNot Sirens, Biren. There is but one. Either there never wore more, or tradition has trebled her; for aho dwells ■olitary and alone in an island out there beyond the eastern horizon." " Cannot we go there ?" I aeked eagerly. Xhe bird niado no answer. "O, take me there ! Let mo Bee thia strange beauty, and if poaaiblo hear her voico. Sorely all tho legonds of her dangerous treachery must bo false. " " Beauty may bo fatal without its possessor meaning or even wishing' it," sho replied at length. "Bo warned. Tho miriners of old were not wrong when thoy advised tho sailor to shun tbo Birons even moro oarefully than Scylla and Oharybdis." "But what posible harm can she do a disembodied spirit." " You forget. You have only to wißh for your body for it instantly to bo restored to yon* Nevertheless, if you insist on it, I muet give way." " I do aak you to take me thither if only for a moment's glimpae. Believe me lam capablo of a little self-control." At onoo she altored her course and turned from tho now descending aun towards the east. In spito of hor reluolanoe I waß full of exoitement and impatience. Always a worshipper of bonuty I was now at length to behold an ideal. Bub that wns nothing. I, alone of all living men ; alone of all men for three thousand years was to hour tho famous Bong of tbo Siren. I tried to recoil the worda in whioh the fancies of poets have tried to clothe it, from Thomas Daniel'B old ballad down to the modern translation of Homer's anoient version — Hithor Ulysses, great Achaian name, Turn thy swift keel and listen to our lay, Since novor pilgrim to theso regions came, kc, kc Did she know all my toils and vain regrets P Bhould I pass on with ampler mind ? One of the three puzzling questions put hy tho Emperor Tiberius to the grammarians, waa whether they oould tell him what thia eong had been; at any rate I should solve this puzzle. It was now noaring evening. Ahoad of us appeared a dense bank of clouds, into which we entered, and whioh must have extended many miloa. Emorging frora this the contrast was dazzling. Bohind, the dark mass of mist was edged and tinted with gold by the setting sun. Above, a law wandering olouds wore resting like orimson islets in the lea of heaven. To right and left, and far beyond, was tho mist lying in a huge circle. But right in front, and but a few leagues off, was tho island of tho Siren. It roso high from a Bea which eeomod to know neither wind nor tide, and though only a few milps ■quare was broken into hill and valley ; cliff and dell ; foreßt, and opon sward. All thia I noted as we noared, tit. flying speed, and whila my heart beat loud. Yes! Thore sho waß. A white speck on tho gross, at the edge of a thicket of trees. Now we were olose above her, and tho sea gull stopped and hung in tho air. She was sitting perfeotly motionless, gazing into tho sea. Her faoe, regular aa tbat of a marble statue, ond almost ao pale, roated on one hand. Her jet black hair was gathered ab tho baok of her head in a eimple knot, suoh as we soe in the coatumca of a classio raoe. A white robo flowing to hor feet left nevertholeao her boautiful arms baro from the shoulder. Close beside her lay a atringed inatrument, whioh I took to be a lyre. Ab I gazed she looked up, and her dark eyea dazzled mino. " Ah whito bird" she mtv-Tnrod, as if to herself, "you do nob bolor.. .this desolate rook. You are not condemn Ito pine away an immortality in lonelincw Tou come from the earth and tho kiudly ehil.i 1 -n of men, from plaoes where hands and voices minglo in friendship, whoro manhood still whispers love, and maidens tromblo as they listen." Then taking up her lyre she bogan to Bing. I am almoat aahamod to write what her words now seem to me. Divorced from the lingering pathos of her voico, they seem simplo and commonplace onough ; with its accompaniment they appearod exquisitoly lovoly. As far us I can recall thorn they wore something to this effect: — Wandering spirit, why away P "Wherefore dread a littlo stay ? "Why so eager toil to hnvo 'i Ccasoless wind anil restless wave. Hero aro slopes whoro sunliirlit glides, Cavos whoro duck from daylight hides, Pillared forests, nestling bowers, Waving grasses sown with flowers. Swept with mo to sit and dream, Oazing on come murmuring stream. Swoet to listless lio and hear, Ocean's surges moaning near. Lifo 'tis but a Bballow brook, Tumbled o'er a course mistook. Host, the deep untroubled pool, Still and tranquil, dark and cool." Ending, I could hoar her breathe a sigh. But my watchful guido was already moving. "Stay, Btay," I cried, as wa sheered off. "No; Btay, and you aro lost. Alroady Bhe has enthralled you," suid tlie bird, without ceasing hor flight. "Oh, for my body for ono moment, " I cried, forgetting evorythiug excopt that I was boing carried holplcesly away. Fatal wish! In tho noxt instant I was falling throngh the air ; in anothor I found myself in my human shape onco moro Struggling with tho waveo. Vainly I strovo to reaoh the island, lhe wind and tido, whioh soomod to havo Buddr-nly risen, swept me away. My poor bird fl.itterod round mo for a minuto, then gave a Ions;, molaucholy cry, and iled *way over the durkoning waste of wators. Yet oven then hor lovo availed mo somowlmt, and I was not quite forsaken, for, just 0.1 my strongth was failing mo, I struck againit something hard, ond found that I hivl encountered tho floating mast; of a chip. It hail been brokon off a, littlo below tho crosfltrrcs. On to these I climbed, nud instinct made me lush ••■lysolf faat by a dangling pioco of ropo. liien 1 fancy I must havo fainted away. [To bo continuod.]