masses of smoke were
ascending from its craters.

"I'm happy to find," said the hermit, soon after their arrival in the
town, "that the peak of Rakata, on the southern part of the island where
my cave lies, is still quiet and has shown no sign of breaking out. And
now I shall go and see after my canoe."

"Do you think it safe to venture to visit your cave?" asked Nigel.

"Well, not absolutely safe," returned the hermit with a peculiar smile,
"but, of course, if you think it unwise to run the risk of--"

"I asked a simple question, Van der Kemp, without any thought of
myself," interrupted the youth, as he flushed deeply.

"Forgive me, Nigel," returned the hermit quickly and gravely, "it is but
my duty to point out that we cannot go there without running _some_
risk."

"And it is _my_ duty to point out," retorted his hurt friend, "that when
any man, worthy of the name, agrees to follow another, he agrees to
accept all risks."

To this the hermit vouchsafed no further reply than a slight smile and
nod of intelligence. Thereafter he went off alone to inquire about his
canoe, which, it will be remembered, his friend, the captain of the
steamer, had promised to leave for him at this place.

Telok Betong, which was one of the severest sufferers by the eruption of
1883, is a small town at the head of Lampong Bay, opposite to the island
of Krakatoa, from which it is between forty and fifty miles distant. It
is built on a narrow strip of land at the base of a steep mountain, but
little above the sea, and is the chief town of the Lampong Residency,
which forms the most southerly province of Sumatra. At the time we write
of, the only European residents of the place were connected with
Government. The rest of the population was composed of a heterogeneous
mass of natives mingled with a number of Chinese, a few Arabs, and a
large fluctuating population of traders from Borneo, Celebes, New
Guinea, Siam, and the other innumerable isles of the archipelago. These
were more or less connected with praus laden with the rich and varied
merchandise of the eastern seas. As each man in the town had been
permitted to build his house according to his own fancy, picturesque
irregularity was the agreeable result. It may be added that, as each
man spoke his own language in his own tones, Babel and noise were the
consequence.

In a small hut by the waterside the hermit found the friend--a Malay--to
whom his canoe had been consigned, and, i