The Day of Resis

by Lillian Frances Mentor

“But come, we must be off,” said Onrai.

So the men-folk went to the terrace, where the only four elephants, which had been left, were awaiting them. Gip had entirely recovered, and was now with the three which had been left in the stable on that fateful morning. The five men mounted, and were soon making good time over the smooth surface of the bad lands. This new covering was of better soil than the old, and would some day become very productive. The elephants, heavy as they were, hardly made an impression in this, so solid had it become. They jogged along for nearly an hour, when they came on the body of an elephant lying on its side, nearly covered with the new soil. Digging away some of the dirt from his back the body of an Onian was disclosed to view. He had been one of three who had leaped to the elephant’s back when the eruption first broke forth. Further on they came across all of the one hundred elephants and a few of the zebras. Only one or two Onians were found with any part of their bodies above the soil. They were buried almost completely. It was thought at first that they would take these bodies back to the villa, and cremate them as was the custom this land, but Mr. Bruce had dissuaded Onrai from this, saying that as all of their companions were lying here in one common grave, there also might better be they. The King declared his intention of exhuming all of the many bodies which filled the immense graveyard, but his companions also made him change his mind in regard to this, saying that such an undertaking would take a great amount of time, and would be next to an impossibility.

At last the crevice was reached, but little of it remained. The hole in the ground was not even ten feet deep. It had been filled by the flowing lava up to that height. The party followed the crevice to the cliff, where a most unexpected scene met their astonished eyes. The crevice in the cliff was entirely filled, for the lava had run into the crevice until on a level with the surrounding country, after which it had still dropped its flinty substance into the hole and gradually cooled until the chasm had been entirely filled, when it had turned its stream into the country beyond, leaving the face of the cliff as straight and impregnable as it had been before the earthquake.

“It is more than I expected,” said Mr. Bruce.

“Yes, it is the handiwork of God,” answered Onrai.

“You need have no further fears about your country being again invaded, Onrai,” said Mr. Graham.

“It is as Enola has said,” replied the King. “A blessed assurance that we are safe from those who would molest us.”

“Come, let us move on up to the cliff,” said Mr. Bruce. “I would like to see where the stream of lava has ended in the cavern.”

“I wonder how it has affected that part of the Hunting Reserve which the storm has covered,” said Mr. Graham.

“It must have driven the animals farther back into the jungle,” said Onrai. “But there is plenty of room for them all. A few miles, as you would call it, cut off of this great tract, amounts to but little.”