The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-11-10 00:00:00

[ALL SIGHTS RBURvIID.j

EVE AT THE IVifEtL,

HT
G. MANVILLE FENN.
duthor of "Ship Ahoy," "Dutch, the Diver," "The
Foundry Belle," #O., *c.

CHAPTER XXX.—( Continued).
The fatigue he had felt in the early part of the
night had now quite passed away, and he tramped
steadily on, hour after hour, with the step of one de-
termined to proceed to the end; and so it was that
as the stars slowly paled, and a faint light began to
appear in the east, he was apparently unwearied in
I.is search.

But as the day fully broke, and then the sun
rolled up and illumined the whole of the black
stretch of land, there was no sign of her he sought;
and he sank down desolate, unnerved, and com-
pletely prostrate.
last he rose' and selecting the highest point
ne could find, he took another long-continued git Le.
But no, Grace had disappeared from the se ne;
and, in a slow, mechanical way, he began to trudge
back towards the place where he had left Debof ah
Bleeping.
He had traversed many, many miles during the
night in his zigzag course; but in a direct line he
was but a short distance from the causeway that
was in progress, and on reaching the spot, he fouee
that Deborah was still sleeping, but the women
were already, under the guidance of 'Thello, hard at
work.
As he came opposite to them, and received their
salutations, he, for the first time, saw Laurent wtek-
ing slowly about in a helpless way, apparently con-
tinuing his search for something, while Mary Dan e
was close behine, ready to turn away as soon as she
sew that she was noticed.
Weary as he wa , Holston set himself to help in
the task of making the causeway; but before they
had been busy an hour, and long before it was time
to cease for some of the scant refreshment that
they still had, it was evident that the clouds that
had been gathering for so long above their heads
portended rain; and this soon began to fall, givil.g
warning first with a few heavy drops.
These were hardly heeded at first, save that they
made the lava hiss where . they fell, and send up a
few tiny puffs of steam.
All at once, however, there was a strange sti lness
in the air—not a breath of wind could be heard;
but in the distance there was a low, dull fo ;ring,
and over the sea, as Helston glanced at it, there
was a dense black bank of clouds, and below this
a long low line of grey mist sweeping the sea, and
it was from there that the dull, ever-increasing rear
came.
There was but a few minutes' roaring, and then
the rain was upon them, accompanied by thew! r,
that seemed to make the heavens rock, even as th y
were laced and netted by the vivid violet aid labo
blue lightning. As for the rain, it Caine down in
sheets, making those who were exposed to
violence cower on the earth, where it seen.ed
beat and flog them savagely.
It was terrible in its violence, and there was no
shelter, the women only cowering and clinging
together to avoid its fury; while in a moment t:eey
were doubly hidden from Helston's sight, the 1-fin
forming a veil that no vision could pierce; while
from every spot where the lava had spread came a
furious, hissing sound, and the dense clouds of steam
rose up to meet the falling flood.
- Helston crouched like the rest beneath the pitiless,
blinding storm, which the sand drank up as it fell;
and as he lay cowering there, beaten and flogged
by the great spouts, watching the dense, white co id
that rose from the island, he could not hel ) se..ing
that if this rain continued for any length of time
the lava would soon be so hardened on the surface
as to bear the weight of a human being.
At times the clouds would extend—beaten clown
as they were by the incessant downfall—as far fl, the
Spot where he was lying; but, for the most part, tit y
were carried across the island.
It was fortunate that this was the case, for already
the women were suffering terribly from the stel ng
steam and heat.
The hissing roar continued, deafening them : and
even when the thunder ceased as quickly as it came
on, the rain still tereamed down in cataracts; ;,nd
the lava, apparently unquenchable, spat and le d
forth hydrogenous vapours as the water smote its
surface, and was decomposed.
As soon as he could stand up against the bl;ii I.ne
rain Helston rose, to see that steaming torrents of
heated water were pouring off the lava every he e
and there, charged with grey, frothy mud, wl,l'eh
was the finer part of the volcanic ash, and this w s
being deposited in every crack and crevice.
The steam was so dense that he could not see
those who were on the island; but he shout d,
and a reply came back tellng him that all were s
but greatly distressed by the heat and horrible
vapours.
He had hardly had his answer, when, as he steed
wondering what was Grace's fate a wretched,
draggled object object crawled up to him on her hands and
knees, drenched, piteous-looking, and cowe
Deborah.
He could do nothing for her but say a few werdp
of ;comfort; and with these she seemed conter._,
cowering down, with her hands embracinvs
knees, and her chin resting upon them. holtel
there was none; so, in a kind of remoi se for her
suffefings, he stood between her and the quail r
from which the rain beat, keeping sonic of its
violence from her.
The rain continued all that day, and far let° the
evening, when it ceased as suddenly as it hed
Thenced ; and all who suffered from it were glad,
regardless of the steam, to creep close to the
heated lava' which soon lent warmti to thu
Shivering frames, but gave nothing to appease thnit
hunger.
Before morning the storm, which seem° I to have
made a circle, came back again, deluging the is!and
for many hours, during which it seemed to i
turned into one vast volcano, emitting steamhi
enormous clouds; and when, at last, this storm
Passed over, to be succeeded at midday by
clear sky and brilliant, sunshine, the steam still
ascended.
To the great joy of all, this downpour of icy rain
had done that which many days of incessant toil
would hardly have accomplished, for Helston
that he could now approach the lava stream with
no inconvenience; and, as he tried the dry, hard
Surface with caution, to see if the crust would It at'
him without treacherously giving way to let lii
through into the awful molten flood beneath, be w•is
etartled by a cry from Mary Dance, and saw I a 1-
rent tear himself away from her, bound towards the
lava, and before he could be arrested, he had taken
half a dozen steps across it; and Helston felt an
agonising pang at his heart as ho heard a shary
crack, and saw that tlie crust had given way, I,mi-
rent falling headlong on the hot, dry surface, which
seemed to be yielding beneath his weight.