CHAPTER XV

STORIES AT THE VOLCANO HOUSE

PETER LEE, proprietor of the Volcano House, keeps an old register in which are recorded some of the experiences, impressions, and adventures of his guests about the volcano. Some have gone so far as to write stories of it in the old book, one of which is credited to Mark Twain.

The

But stranger and more mysterious stories than are contained in that old book are told every night around the great fireplace in the cozy sitting-room. proprietor often joins his guests at the fireside, and his long knowledge of the volcano has enabled him to recount many thrilling adventures of that natural wonder, as well as to give accounts of its most mysterious phenomena.

One of the narrowest escapes from the volcano, he says, was made by a party of tourists whom he had guided to the great lake of fire. The volcano was very active, and they had erected a shed near the lake to accommodate those who wished to witness the phenomenon after dark. The whole party had been gathered about the brink of the crater gazing down

into its fiery depths for a long time, and turned to go, save five or six who still remained on a projecting crag that extended out over the raging storm of fire. Suddenly the guide cried:

"Run for your lives."

All eyes were turned to those standing on the brink of the crater. To their horror they saw that the great mass of the rock on which they had stood had broken off from the solid crust and was sliding down into the awful gulf. Flames and boiling lava sprang up through the cracks just broken between them and solid ground. They ran toward the guide and leaped the widening chasm to safety, just as the whole mass fell with a roar like thunder into the raging flames below. The lava was bursting out of the earth and rocks all about the tourists, and they hurried away to the cliff above. The great crater was overflowed, and the shed-house and telephone. wires and poles all buried beneath the flow.

Notwithstanding the many hairbreadth escapes from the volcano, no lives have been lost, save those sacrificed by the heathen before the advent of the missionaries.

The stories which came from that chimney-corner are not always of the volcano. Humorous narratives and thrilling adventures characteristic of the people and the islands are often told to while away the long evenings.

One of the most thrilling stories I heard at the Volcano House was told by a Mr. White, a gentleman who owned a large cattle-ranch on the side of Mauna Loa. Wild cattle and wild horses were both abundant on the plains of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. The cattle are often hunted and killed for their hides and horns.

"Sometimes one of the wild cattle will come down from the mountains and take up its temporary residence with our herds," said Mr. White. "They are often dangerous to a tenderfoot, but an old cowboy don't have much dread of them. A year ago a big blue bull came down from the mountains and was seen on the range with some of my cattle. Some of the boys told me of him, and I made up my mind to go and kill him some time, but being busy with other matters put that job off for a few days. One day I was riding up the valley with Joe Roberts, when we saw this bull standing right at the head of the valley in our path.

"Joe was frightened almost out of his wits and wanted to turn back. The old fellow had the devil his long, keen horns at us in a But I charged him with my

in his eye, and shook threatening manner.

whip and made him scamper away. Just as he plunged into the jungle I gave him a cut which started the blood from his flank, and brought forth a roar of pain. It was a mad, revengeful roar, and

seemed to tell me that he would some day get

even.

One

"I did not see him again for nearly a month. day, after a long, hard forenoon ride, I halted in the same valley, took off the saddle and let my horse graze, while I lay in the shade of an ohia-tree to rest. I had scarce got comfortably stretched out in the shade when the ground shook with a roar, and like a ball from a cannon that same bull charged right out from the lantana thicket and bore down upon me. My horse took fright, broke his lariat, and ran for life, leaving me alone to battle with the angry bull. There was no time even to climb the tree beneath which I reclined, nor to run away from it, so I leaped behind it, just as the horns of Taurus grazed the side opposite from me. The tree was no thicker than my waist, and I found it impossible to conceal my whole person behind it.

"The bull recovered himself and charged me again and again, chasing me around and around so fast that I had no time to climb, nor did I dare run away from it. My only hope was to dodge around the tree and keep out of reach of his horns until I wore him out. He actually seemed to wind himself about that tree in order to get at me, and his horns often grazed my left side while I touched his flank with my right hand. At the beginning of the attack his wild bellowing made the earth tremble; but after a few minutes he

ceased bellowing, and settled down to business, devoting all his energies to lunging at me with his head, and kicking at me with his heels.

"My only weapon was my knife, and I could have killed him with that, but my wife the day before had broken off the point of it, trying to open a coconut, and had kept the accident a secret from me, fearing that I would scold. When I drew my knife and I made a lunge at the side of the furious beast, I discovered for the first time that the point was broken, and my heart sank within me. Again and again I

slashed and lunged at his flank, but the most that I could do was to inflict some trifling wound which only increased the fury of the maddened beast.

"For hours we fought, twisted, and turned about the tree. My brain grew dizzy, and I was almost on the point of giving in a dozen times. I tried to cut the bull's throat, but came so near getting one of his keen horns in my shoulder that I threw my broken and useless blade away, and expended all my energies in keeping beyond reach of his horns.

"The sun was getting low in the heavens, and still the bull showed no