"The two ladies, accompanied by Périères and the Doctor, followed Ali without hesitation, congratulating him on his discovery.
"'Are you not coming, too?' called out Périères to me.
"'No,' said I, 'I have no love for caverns. And, besides, I am wet through already, so why should I take shelter?'
"I remained on the ledge, some twenty yards from the cavern in which my friends had found refuge.
"The rain fell with redoubled force, the darkness increased, and the hurricane, which had apparently left us, came back upon us with more menacing and impetuous fury. Suddenly I heard a fearful crash, whole trunks of trees were carried past me down the mountain, and, at the same time, a huge volume of water, bursting through all the obstacles which had confined it to the higher level, rushed down with lightning speed, and poured itself headlong into the reservoir where my friends had taken shelter.
"You would have rushed to their assistance, would you not? I fell on my knees, hurled down by the tempest, crushed with grief, mad with despair."
CHAPTER XXXV.
"I soon recovered from my passing weakness, and, crawling on my hands and knees, I made my way, as quickly as possible, to the reservoir, and, as I feared, the grave of my friends.
"The flood, now that it had vanquished every obstacle, seemed to have abated its fury. A moment before, it had thrown me down to the ground and carried me away; now it drew me onwards and swept me along its granite bed, but I was master of it. I did not lose my breath, and I was no longer helpless.
"When I reached the reservoir I clung to the trunk of a tree which had been overthrown by the hurricane and I peered down into the whirlpool.