“Come on. Hurry up,” urged Ned, as Herc came out of a store where he
had purchased a long coil of rope. The rope was to be used to restrain
the pernicious activities of Blue Lightning, for the boys were rather
afraid that he might get them into trouble if they did not confine him
in some way.
“Hurry up where?”
“I’ve got a plan in my head.”
“What is it?”
“There’s no sense in our hanging about this hot town which, so far as I
can see, is very much like any other town.”
“I agree with you, Ned. What’s your idea?”
“We ought to take a look at that volcano while we are here. They say
the crater is wonderful. The Hawaiian word for it is ‘Sea of Fire.’”
“Humph! What guarantee have we that the thing won’t blow up while we’re
there?”
“That’s very unlikely to happen. We won’t be taking any more of a
chance than the people who go to see Mount Vesuvius all the time.”
“How do we get up there?”
“We go by rail to a place called Glenwood, near the foot of the
volcano.”
“And then?”
“I’ve been making inquiries. For a reasonable sum we can get ponies and
a guide.”
“All right. Let’s start. I’m ready.”
A short trip on a wheezy train landed them in Glenwood and then the
boys set off for the place where Ned had been told that guides could
be procured. They soon found it and discovered that the men who made a
business of taking parties up the volcano were not so moderate in their
prices as Ned had been led to believe. However, they managed to strike
a bargain with an old Kanaka named Okeechee and soon after they rode
out of the town in high spirits.
Behind Herc’s pony trailed Blue Lightning. He was at first unwilling
to accompany the tourists, but a few yanks on the long rope to which
Herc had him hitched soon persuaded him to follow. The boys shouted
greetings to pedestrians as they passed, in great good humor. They felt
like two school boys off on a picnic.
The road soon began to climb the mountain side. It hung on the edge of
the steep hills behind the town like an eyebrow. All sorts of luxuriant
tropical fruits and flowers overhung the dizzy path. Below them was
spread a magnificent panorama,--the American fleet at anchor in the
bay with smoke lazily drifting from the banked fires. The flags made
brilliant spots of color as ship signaled to ship along the line,
transmitting the orders spelled out in bunting by the flag-ship.
“Doesn’t that make you proud you are an American, Herc?” asked
Ned, pointing to the inspiring panorama of sea, sky and grim, drab
fighting-ships.
“It makes me think I’m glad we don’t have to work for forty-eight
hours,” rejoined Herc, thumping his pony with his heels.
Up and up they climbed till they surmounted that ridge. Then they
dipped into a valley of rare beauty, above which towered the frowning
sides of the smoking mountain in majestic splendor. As they descended
the trail, they came upon an odd picture. In a patch below the road
some native men and women, who had been working in a cocoanut grove,
were seated on the ground eating out of gourd dishes a native food
called _poi_.
“Hullo, there’s a picnic party!” cried Herc, as he saw the group, the
women of which were begarlanded with flowers after the pretty custom of
the South Seas.
Ned had not time to reply before a yell and whoop from Herc cut him
short.
“Oh, glory! Look at that, will you!”
Blue Lightning had broken loose from Herc’s grip, which had relaxed
as he gazed on the Arcadian scene. With a grunt and a jump the goat,
trailing several yards of rope behind him, dashed straight down on the
unconscious diners. Maybe the sight of food had excited his appetite,
or maybe he was actuated just by pure goatishness. Anyhow, like a
torpedo-boat bearing down on a squadron, he dashed at the group below.
“Hey! Wow! Look out! Jump! Scat! Vamoose! Beat it!” howled Herc.
But no attention was paid to him. In another instant pandemonium
burst into that peaceful scene. Herc had thrown himself off his pony
and managed to grab the end of the rope, but the impetus of Blue
Lightning’s rush had jerked him off his feet. He rolled down the
embankment, landing with a crash in the midst of the luncheon party
at just about the same instant that the _Manhattan’s_ mascot made his
presence known by butting a dignified old gentleman into a big bowl of
the soft sticky _poi_.
The islanders yelled in terror at the sudden apparition, Herc shouted
as he went rolling and crashing among a variety of dishes, and above
them Ned and the guide shouted advice and directions. Recovering from
their first surprise, the islanders massed angrily and made a concerted
rush for Herc. Some of them wielded clubs and stones.
“It’s all a mistake. Don’t hit me. I’ll make it all right!” cried the
Dreadnought Boy, trying to brush the sticky remnants of _poi_ and
custard-apples from his uniform.
The islanders buzzed like a hive of angry bees. They did not understand
him. All they knew was that a peaceful meal had been rudely interrupted
by a red-headed sailor and a goat with a butt like an eight-inch shell.
“See here----” shouted Herc.
A stone struck him on the forehead. Another and another began to whiz
about him.
He dodged them as best he could and began running for the road. But he
had reckoned without Blue Lightning. The animal had been hit by a rock
and had faced straight about. With lowered head it began rushing at the
Hawaiians. Behind it trailed the rope.
“Biff! Bang! Hurray!” yelled Herc as he saw the _Manhattan’s_ mascot
rushing into the fray.
Down went one of the men in a heap as the goat collided with him. The
rope tangled into many loops, and convolutions caught the ankles of two
more and down they went with a yell.
“Wow! Charge ’em! Never say die! Good for you!” roared Herc
enthusiastically.
Blue Lightning needed no urging. Right and left he sped with lowered
horns, spreading disaster whenever he encountered a solid body. The
women had fled screaming, and only the men were in the danger zone. At
last the men all took to their heels, too, and Herc, running forward,
grabbed the goat’s rope and began hauling the creature up the slope.
“Whee! Whoop!” he yelled, as he clambered back to the road. “Didn’t
that beat any circus you ever saw? Wasn’t it fun?”
“I’m afraid it may have serious consequences,” commented Ned, who,
however, couldn’t keep from laughing. “The guide tells me that he heard
one of the men shouting in Hawaiian that they would have us arrested.”
“In that case, we’d better stay up by the volcano,” said the
irrepressible Herc. “Under such circumstances I’d rather face it than
the old man.”