ly hewn from the utmost coast of the island
rose to a height of several hundred feet one scarcely deviating wall
of rock; and this apparently impregnable wall extended in either
direction as far as the sight could reach. Above the natural rampart
the land sloped upward still in steep declivities, but cut by
tortuous gorges, and afar inland rose the mountain upon whose summit
the light had been descried. There the glass revealed white towers
and columns rising from a mass of brilliant tropical green, and now
smitten by the late sun; but save these towers and columns not a
sign of life or habitation was discernible. No smoke arose, no
wharf or dock broke the serene outline of the black wall lapped by
the warm sea; and there was no sound save that of strong torrents
afar off. Lonely, inscrutable, the great mass stood, slightly
shelved here and there to harbour rank and blossomy growths of green
and presenting a rugged beauty of outline, but apparently as
uninhabitable as the land of the North Silences.

Consternation and amazement sat upon the faces of the owner of _The
Aloha_ and his guests as they realized the character of the
remarkable island. St. George and Amory had counted upon an
adventure calling for all diplomacy, but neither had expected the
delight of hazard that this strange, fairy-like place seemed about
to present. Each felt his blood stirring and singing in his veins at
the joy of the possibilities that lay folded before them.

"We shall be obliged to land upon the east coast then, Jarvo?"
observed St. George; "but how long will it take us to sail round the
island?"

"Very long," Jarvo responded, "but no, adon, we land on this coast."

"How is that possible?" St. George asked.

"Well, hi--you," said Little Cawthorne, "I'm a goat, but I'm no
mountain goat. See the little Swiss kid skipping from peak to peak
and from crag to crag--"

"Do we scale the wall?" inquired St. George, "or is there a passage
in the rock?"

Bennietod hugged himself in uncontrollable ecstasy.

"Hully Gee, a submarine passage, in under de sea, like Jules Werne,"
he said in a delight that was almost awe.

"There is a way over the rock," said Jarvo, "partly hewn, partly
natural, and this is known to the islanders alone. That way we must
take. It is marked by a White Blade blazoned on the rock over the
entrance of the submarines. The way is cunningly concealed--hardly
will the glass reveal it, adon."

Barnay shook his head.