while he looked at them, and casting the shadows of himself
and his new friends on the floor.

There was the faintest semblance of a smile on the hermit's face as he
quietly observed his visitor, and waited till he should recover
self-possession. As for Moses--words are wanting to describe the fields
of teeth and gum which he displayed, but no sound was suffered to escape
his magnificent lips, which closed like the slide of a dark lantern when
the temptation to give way to feeling became too strong.

"My cave interests you," said the hermit at last.

"It amazes me," returned our hero, recovering himself and looking
earnestly at his host, "for you seem not only to have all the
necessaries of life around you in your strange abode, but many of the
luxuries; among them the cheering presence of sunshine--though how you
manage to get it is beyond my powers of conception."

"It is simple enough, as you shall see," returned the hermit. "You have
heard of the saying, no doubt, that `all things are possible to
well-directed labour?'"

"Yes, and that `nothing can be achieved without labour.'"

"Well, I have proved that to some extent," continued the hermit. "You
see, by the various and miscellaneous implements on my shelves, that I
am given to dabbling a little in science, and thus have made my lonely
home as pleasant as such a home can be--but let us not talk of these
matters just now. You must be hungry. Have you had breakfast?"

"No, we have not--unless, at least, you count a sea biscuit dipped in
salt water a breakfast. After all, that may well be the case, for
hermits are noted for the frugality of their fare."

"I am not a genuine hermit," remarked his host gravely. "Men do indeed
call me the Hermit of Rakata, because I dwell alone here under the
shadow of this particular cone of Krakatoa, but I do not ape the austere
life of the conventional hermit, as you see, either in my domestic
arrangements or food. Come, your breakfast is ready. From my outlook I
saw your boat approaching some hours ago, and knew that it was mine, so
I made ready for your arrival, though I did not guess that Moses was
bringing me a guest instead of a servant!"

So saying, he led the way through a short natural passage to an inner
cave, the entrance to which, like the outer one, was boarded. On
opening a small door, Nigel was again greeted as before with brilliant
rays of sunshine, and, in addition, with a gush of odours that were