d to
about Robinson Crusoe, and no ships ever come near us, and the sailors
don't want to quit the islands, so we can't even use the ship we have
got, and--and--O darling mother! and dear, _dear_ papa!"

If Queen Pina, who broke down at this point, had only known that, about
the time she was speaking, the _dear_ papa was running for his life,
covered with mud from head to foot, in the midst of thunder and fire and
smoke, she might have mingled horror with loving emphasis as she
mentioned his name.

At the time of which we write, the island of Java, in the Malay
Archipelago, was convulsed by one of those tremendous earthquakes which
have at irregular intervals, from time immemorial, shattered its
mountains, overwhelmed some of its fairest lands, and killed thousands
of its inhabitants. It is not our intention, however, to touch on this
subject more than will suffice to elucidate our tale.

Deeply interesting is it, at times, to note the intimate connection that
sometimes exists between places and events which seem exceedingly
remote. One would imagine that the eruption of a volcanic mountain in
Java could not have much influence on the life or fortunes of people
living on an island nearly a thousand miles distant from the same. Yet
so it was, in a double sense, too, as we shall see.

The great shock in Java, which overturned the bald little old
gentleman's chair, causing him to spring up and exclaim to his partner,
"Hallo, Brooks!" passed through the intervening earth, losing much of
its power on the way, caused Refuge Islands to tremble, and Pauline to
look up suddenly with the exclamation--

"What's that Dom?"

"It is marvellously like an earthquake, Pina."

Strange to say, Brooks in Java made precisely the same remark, at about
the same moment, to his senior partner.

Thereafter old Mr Rigonda, who didn't like earthquakes, said to
Brooks--who didn't mind earthquakes, being used to them--

"I'll start off for England immediately."

He did start off, even more immediately than he had intended, for the
neighbouring volcano, as if angered by his remark, sent up a shock that
shook the surrounding houses to their foundations. The senior partner
rushed out in terror, and was just in time to receive a shower of mud
and ashes while he fled away through fire and smoke, as already
mentioned.

The volcano went to sleep again for a short time after that little
indication of its power, and you may be sure that old