Now clasping hands, like children at play, Omega and Thalma approached the lake. They glided over the ground, merely touching their feet to the highest points, and finally stopped with their feet in the warm, still water.
Omega ran his cupped hand through the water, then drank eagerly.
"It is good," he said in a low, musical voice. "And there is much of it. Here we may live a long time."
Thalma laughed with sheer joy, her large, red-rimmed eyes aglow with mother light and love.
"I am glad," she cried. "I know that Alpha will be happy here."
"It is so, my love, and—"
Omega checked and stared out over the glassy lake. A spot in its center was stirring uneasily. Great bubbles rose to the surface and eddied to one side, then suddenly huge cascades of water shot into the air as if ejected by subterraneous pressure. As they stared in silent astonishment the commotion suddenly ceased and the surface of the lake became as tranquil as before.
"There is volcanic action out there," said Omega fearfully. "At any time the ground may open and engulf the lake in a pit of fire. But no, that cannot be," he added, staring at Thalma with an odd light in his eyes. For he suddenly recalled that no volcanic action or earth tremor had disturbed the surface crust for ages.
"What is it, Omega?" she whispered in accents of awe.
"Nothing to fear, my dear, I am sure," he replied, averting his eyes. "Likely some fissure in the rock has suddenly opened."