“Turn off the light!” commanded Justinian hastily.
Alexandros did so, and there on the cold peak, amid the luminous twilight, flamed the bonfire of the watch like a baneful star, telling of destruction, war, and death.
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE BATTLE OF TROGLODYTES.
I hear the noise of battle tumultuous!
It is not on the earth, nor do spectral hosts contend in the cloudy sky;
Under my feet it is raging, in the heart of the globe skirmish the struggling armies.
The cries of horror, the clash of weapons, the sharp crack of the deadly rifle,
Strike dully on my ear, as though the crust of the earth intervened between them fighting, and I listening.
Yes, the battle is subterranean! Do the gnomes assault one another
Over some new vein of gold but lately discovered?