The old priest of Mauna Loa, the great Hawaiian volcano, is to all outward appearance a good, civilised Christian man, who has discarded his old beliefs and has heartily accepted the more excellent way offered him. All the while he keeps the old priest's mask in his closet and the old faith in his heart. His contact with the scientific explorers who come to pry into the secrets of his great goddess works out into a decidedly interesting tale, a little too full, perhaps, of hairbreadth escapes in situations from which escape seems impossible, and is found only at the very last possible moment, when all hope has been given up…
Charles Grant Blairfindie Allen (February 24, 1848 – October 25, 1899) was a Canadian science writer and novelist, and a proponent of the theory of evolution. (Wikipedia)