He set the example of climbing upward, and they reached a level spot again just as there was a sharp crack, a deafening roar, and from out of the vast chasm, which had opened, there was a rush of fire, and smoke rose suddenly towards where they clustered.
Chapter Eighteen.
Smith turns Turtle.
The rush of smoke and fire passed away as rapidly as it had come, but the slope newly made ran down to where the light of day was reflected back from a dim mist which bore somewhat the aspect of disturbed water, but the earth, being quiescent once more, no one displayed any desire to make an examination of the opening, but at once gave it what the mate called a wide berth.
“Let’s get back to the boat,” he said. “You must be pretty well done up, Mr Lane.”
“Well, I am stiff,” said Oliver, stooping to give one leg a rub, “but I feel refreshed now, and I was thinking—”
He stopped short and gazed back at the mountain with its glistening cloud cap and smooth slope of ashes dotted with blocks of lava and pumice, the latter flashing in the sunshine, and the whole having an alluring look which was tempting in the extreme.
“What were you thinking?” said Panton; “not of climbing up again?”