The light was shaded and dim. The heat was stifling. Not a word was spoken. Scarcely a muscle moved. All were painfully alert.
Every eleven minutes and six seconds the building was shaken by a subterranean shock. The windows rattled. The floor creaked. Even the chairs seemed to lift and heave. It had been that way for weeks. But would this night see the end?
With maddening slowness, the hands of the big clock on the wall—its face illuminated by a tiny electric lamp—drew toward the hour of twelve.
Suddenly there came one of the earthquakes, that, while no different from its predecessors, heightened the tension like the crack of a whip.
All eyes flew to the timepiece. It registered thirty-four seconds past 11:49 o’clock.
Therefore, the next tremor would occur at precisely forty seconds after midnight.
If the unknown “KWO” were an actual being, and kept his word—at that time the shocks would begin to subside!
The suspense became terrible. The faces of the scientists were drawn and pale. Beads of perspiration stood out on every brow. The minutes passed.
The electric correcting-device on the clock gave a sharp click, denoting midnight. Forty seconds more! The suffocating atmosphere seemed almost to turn cold under the pressure of anxiety.
Then, almost before anyone could realize it, the earthquake had come and gone! And not one particle of diminution in its violence had been felt!