Then he proceeded to relate what had befallen him from the time he and the queen had disappeared from the magic chamber.
When he came to the point where their newly constructed cannon was fired off, in order to test it, he said:
“The report must have caused some disturbance among the gases and electric fluids in the underground country, for immediately afterward there came a terrible shock, and everything was in darkness.
“It seemed to be a veritable earthquake, and we were thrown to the ground with such force that it was several minutes before we regained our senses and rose to our feet.
“When we did so we knew that something awful had happened, so we put for the city with all possible speed.
“On arriving there, we discovered that it was but a mass of ruins.
“Every building in it was leveled to the ground, and all the combustible substances in the place had taken fire from the burning furnaces that had been in some of the houses.
“As the flames leaped upward it was a grand but terrible sight, and we could but look upon it with a feeling of awe.
“But we were sickened at heart when we learned, a few minutes later, that of all the inhabitants of the thriving little city, only twenty-nine were left.
“The others had all been crushed to death by the falling buildings.