The Secret of the Golden Pavillion (14 page)

“I have a friend in Hawaii who is a fine guide as well as taxi driver,” Moki told them. “When you arrive at the airport in Hilo, ask for Keaka.”

“We’ll do that,” said Ned. “Thanks, Moki.”

Upon their arrival at Hilo three-quarters of an hour later, Nancy and Ned questioned the taxi drivers until they found Keaka. He was a small, dark, pleasant man about forty years of age.

“Yes, I can take you for a trip at once and give you as much time as you like,” he said. “I am grateful to my friend Moki for sending you to me.”

Learning that they would be able to stay only until the following afternoon, he suggested a general sight-seeing tour at once. They could stay overnight at the Volcano House, and take a look at Mauna Loa the next morning.

Keaka’s car was a station wagon, so there was plenty of room for everyone. Part of the luggage was strapped to the roof. Then everyone got in.

“Have you ever heard of our Fern Forest?” Keaka asked.

Ned said that he had read that the ferns were really as high as trees.

Keaka laughed. “You shall judge for yourself,” he answered, and drove off.

The city of Hilo itself was a busy place, with a fine harbor where steamers unloaded all types of freight. One of the most interesting sections of the waterfront was the bulk-sugar storage plant.

Keaka suggested that they look around inside. He led the way into the building and up a twisting flight of iron steps. At the top was a catwalk from which one could look down into the huge sugar storage vats.

“This place can receive more than three hundred tons of sugar an hour and can load freighters at the rate of six hundred tons an hour,” their guide told them.

“Astounding!” remarked Hannah Gruen.

Two of the bins were filled with brown raw sugar which Keaka said would be refined in California. The other bins were empty.

“You could practically set the Empire State Building from New York City in one of these,” George remarked.

“You sure could,” Burt agreed. Then, grinning, he said, “I’d say this is the sweetest place on earth.”

The others smiled, and Bess commented, “Also one of the hottest. Let’s gol I’d prefer the cool Fern Forest.”

Keaka drove them through attractive residential sections, and finally out of town. Soon the car began to climb, and after a time reached a road running directly through a forest area made up almost exclusively of giant ferns.

“They really are as tall as trees!” Bess cried out excitedly. “Oh, let’s get out and take some pictures.”

“Watch out for snakes,” Mrs. Gruen warned.

“That won’t be necessary,” the guide spoke up. “There are no poisonous land snakes on these islands.”

Hannah sighed in relief and the sight-seers alighted. They walked a short distance into the forest. The giant ferns were surprisingly sturdy and George with a chuckle said, “Hypers, what a fan one of these would make!”

The group snapped some interesting pictures of the giant ferns, then Keaka suggested they go on. At times they passed through forests of trees and ferns and at other times through open country. Finally after a long, gradual climb the road brought them to a large green plateau.

“We are in the Kilauea Crater now,” the guide announced.

Presently he stopped the car at the side of the road and suggested that the passengers follow him. He headed for a spot where they could see steam issuing from the ground.

“I’ll show you some burning water,” he said mysteriously.

“Burning water?” Bess repeated. Keaka smiled but did not explain further.

Soon the group reached a circular pit in the ground about six feet in diameter. Through the drifting steam, the tourists could see water several feet below.

“O-oh, this smells horrid,” said Bess.

“Sure does,” Dave agreed.

Keaka smiled but made no comment. From his pocket he took a book of matches and lighted one.

“Here goes!” he called, still grinning. “Look out, everybody!”

He threw the match down into the water. Instead of being extinguished, the flame instantly caused a small explosion. The group fell back in dismay as yellow-and-red flames shot up a distance of some six inches above the ground.

“Why, that’s dangerous!” Hannah cried out.

Nancy laid an affectionate arm around the woman’s shoulders. “I’m sure Keaka wouldn’t do it if it were dangerous.” Turning to the guide, she saw that he was lighting another match. He threw this too down toward the water. Once more there was an explosion and flames shot up!

“What causes such a reaction?” Ned asked him.

Keaka explained that hydrogen sulfide gas was being formed continuously below the earth’s surface and found its escape with the steam. It ig nited when fire came in contact with the fumes.

“Is gas part of what starts an eruption?” Ned inquired.

“Yes. Gases are contained in the seething, boiling molten rock underground. After a while, if they cannot find any release, pressure is built up. When this becomes too great, an eruption occurs —which happens now and then over on Mauna Loa. But around here there are so many vents in the ground that the gas has no trouble getting out.”

Bess looked a little puzzled. “You mean that the pressure of the gases forces the molten rock to burst out of the earth and that’s how volcanoes erupt?”

“Exactly,” the guide replied. “If you’re lucky, you may see an eruption on Mauna Loa while you’re here.”

“Oh, I hope not,” said Bess fearfully. “We might be buried under that scorching lava!”

Keaka laughed and shook his head. “We have some of the world’s finest geologists here,” he said. “They have many ways of telling when there will be an eruption and nobody gets too close.”

Despite his reassuring words, Bess continued to worry that a volcano might expode right before her eyes. It was not until they reached the delightful Volcano House, and she had eaten a delicious meal, that she forgot her fear.

After supper the visitors from the mainland walked around the attractively planted grounds, marveling at the steam coming out of the ground in many spots.

“This is the most exciting place I’ve ever visited,” George remarked to Nancy. “I’m glad Bess is over her fright about volcanoes. I feel a little bit myself as if some trick might be played on the people around here by that goddess Pele.”

Ned, overhearing the remark, said he had been talking with a volcanologist from the Hawaiian National Park Service. The man had stated there was absolutely no danger.

“By the way, he invited us to come over to headquarters tomorrow morning and see colored motion pictures of the most recent eruption at Mauna Loa.”

“Let’s go!” Nancy urged.

When Keaka appeared with the station wagon the next morning, Nancy told him of the invitation. The guide said by all means they must view the movie and drove them to the headquarters building.

For half an hour they were captivated by one of the most fantastic motion pictures they had ever seen. Fountains of red-and-yellow lava were shot high into the air, then came down to run as a burning river all the way to the sea. Upon reaching water, lava and ocean met in a hissing roar, sending up volumes of steam ten thousand feet into the air.

“No lives were lost during this eruption,” the narrator explained, “but a couple of dozen buildings were, and more than a mile of highway was buried. It is estimated that a billion tons of lava flowed from beneath the surface of the earth.”

Nancy and her friends left the headquarters building awestruck by the thought of what Mother Nature can do. Keaka drove them to the scene depicted in the movie. How different it seemed now! The site was gray and harmless looking. As they drove along, the guide pointed out where the streams of lava had run down to the sea. Directing their attention to the various scooped-out, cone-shaped hills, he said:

“Those bowllike depressions are called
caldera.”

Finally they came to the main crater of Mauna Loa. Standing on the edge, the group looked down into a blackish-gray depth, seamed with fissures, some narrow, some wide.

“And there are the angel birds!” Nancy cried out.

Swooping low one moment and disappearing the next were the little white birds. Nancy gazed at them intently. What was their secret which Grandfather Sakamaki was trying to indicate to his grandson to help him solve the mystery of Kaluakua?

“Those birds,” Keaka spoke up, “are man’s friends. It seems as if they have been put here for a real purpose. It’s said they can detect when there is going to be an eruption and fly far away.”

Nancy studied their motions for a long time. She was particularly fascinated by the way they fluttered, almost like butterflies, over one area, then swooped or rose, and fluttered again over another area.

Suddenly the young sleuth snapped her fingers. “I think I know what Grandfather Sakamaki meant!” she declared.

“YOU’VE guessed the mystery?” Bess asked, astounded.

“Oh, no,” Nancy answered, “but I think I know what the clue of the angel birds means. I believe that Nikkio Sakamaki was telling his grandson to fly over the estate.”

As Keaka strolled off toward the station wagon, Nancy quickly explained to her friends, “If we swoop down low over the Golden Pavilion, I’m sure that we will find either another clue or perhaps the answer to the riddle.”

“It sounds reasonable,” Bess remarked. “But what are you going to swoop down in?”

George answered. “A plane, of course, silly.”

Nancy was thoughtful for several moments, then suggested a plan. “I think I should return in secret to Kaluakua, perhaps with Ned, and see what we can find out. Suppose one of you phone there and say that the group has postponed their return until tomorrow morning. The Chatleys and their friends will assume that this includes Ned and me. In the meantime, we’ll do some quiet sleuthing.”

Ned was enthusiastic about the idea. He was eager to start at once, but Nancy reminded him that it would be far better to cruise slowly over the Golden Pavilion in a helicopter than to fly over it in a plane. They would have to make arrangements to charter one.

“Do you think Keaka could be trusted to help us?” Ned asked Nancy. “He probably knows some helicopter pilots.”

Nancy thought this was a good suggestion. But before taking up the matter with Keaka she went on to tell the others more of her plan. “After we get to Honolulu, Ned and I will stay with the Armstrongs. If anything comes up, phone me there. And I’ll call you at the Volcano House.”

Hannah was concerned about Nancy’s undertaking this bit of detective work, and made Nancy and Ned promise that they would be extremely careful. At that moment Keaka walked back to the group and Nancy asked about helicopter serv ice to Oahu.

The Hawaiian smiled. “I know just the man to take you,” he said. “We’ll drive back to Park Headquarters and I will phone him for you.”

When they reached the building, Keaka went inside and was gone so long that Nancy began to feel discouraged about the project. But presently the guide appeared, a broad grin on his face.

“Everything is arranged,” he announced. “Ken Brown will be waiting with his helicopter at four o’clock at the Hilo airport.”

“Thank you very much,” said Nancy, then suggested that they all return to the Volcano House for luncheon and to make arrangements for the others to spend the night there.

At three o’clock Nancy and Ned drove off with Keaka. When they reached the Hilo airport, he introduced them to Ken Brown. The pilot was a tall, slender mainlander with a blond crew cut and flashing blue eyes.

“A secret mission, eh?” he asked, grinning. “Sounds good. Climb in.”

Nancy and Ned shook hands with Keaka, thanked him again for all his help, and wished him well. Then they climbed aboard. The great rotors began to whirl and in a short time the helicopter was air-borne. As they neared the tip of Oahu, Ned told the pilot exactly where Kaluakua was located.

“Suppose we go past it first and then decide from which angle to approach the pavilion,” Ken suggested.

“Good idea,” Ned replied. “We can see if anyone is out in the gardens.”

“Yes,” Nancy agreed. “We’d prefer that nobody realize we’re purposely flying over the estate.”

Ken kept to the shore line. As they came opposite the Golden Pavilion, Nancy cried out, “Ned, look! I never noticed that the flower bed down there is in the shape of a plumiera blossom ! Also, one petal is a little longer than the others. It points directly to the secret doorway under the pavilion.”

No one was visible on the grounds and in a moment Nancy asked the pilot to turn around and this time fly as low as possible over the Golden Pavilion. He did so, and as he came back, Nancy and Ned watched intently. From the air, the golden roof, in the form of a plumiera flower, shone brilliantly in the sunlight.