the party, apparently
more eager than his companions.

"On this I heard the crackling of branches, as if the bushes were being
broken and pushed aside as the people forced their way into the thicket.
I could not now help feeling some apprehension that my place of retreat
should be discovered, for I fancied they had got into the very pathway
which led to it, and I feared that I might have been careless in my
hurry in drawing the brambles over the entrance to my burrow; or I might
have broken some of the twigs, which would clearly indicate my
whereabouts, should any woodman or hunter be among my pursuers.
Fortunately there was no dog with them, or he would speedily have
ferreted me out. I thought the time very long that they were hunting
about for me. At last one of them exclaimed--

"`Are you satisfied that he is not here?'

"`I suppose he is not,' was the answer.

"`Well, then, he must thank you for not finding that out sooner,'
replied the man who disbelieved in my taking shelter in the thicket.
`We have given him a good start, if he knows how to take advantage of
it; but let us have no more delay--so after him again, my men!'

"These words were a great relief to me. My pursuers apparently worked
their way out of the thicket as best they could, with torn clothes and
scratched hands, and, mounting their horses, galloped away through the
wood.

"I would not, however, venture to move out of my place of concealment
for some time, for I thought it very likely that somebody might be left
to watch the thicket by those who seemed convinced that I had taken
shelter within it. I, however, crawled farther in, and then found
myself in a chamber, hollowed out in the earth, sufficiently large to
hold several persons. It was lighted, though somewhat dimly, by two
apertures in the roof, grated over, and then covered with bushes, so
ingeniously placed that no one could suspect what was beneath.

"There was a table and some benches, and several raised places for
couches. Besides this, there was a sort of cupboard to hold provisions.
The place had evidently been formed with great care for the purpose of
concealment. Some parts had been hollowed out by art, though I
concluded from the appearance of the roof and sides that there had been
originally a cavern there formed by nature. Whether it had been
constructed by our brethren the Molokani, or at a period antecedent to
the persecutions they had suffered, I could not tell