Argosy, Vol. 1 (1882) — page 336: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

BEYOND THE GREAT SOUTH WALL. ledge of rock that screened us from the others. | And he took with him my unstinted admiration and esteem. My future mother in law was in no condition for the exchanping of ideas or reproaches. The horrors of the sit- uation crowded her understanding, leaving no room.for such trivialities as the arrangement of her daughter’s wel- fare. Apathetically she took the plain statement I thought it only my duty to°- render to her, making no remark thereon save that “Nothing mattered when we should all be dead before the day was out.” And to this pessimistic view of the situation we had perforce to leave her, while we all waited for what should be- tide us at the hand of fate. In the corner apart Gwen and I held each the other’s hand, and sought each other’s eyes. And in the bliss that was mine I thanked God, nearly sparing a blessing for the great Beast who still prowled below, for how but for him should I have come into my kingdom of delight. So in happiness that even the great smoke pall could not overshadow we sat to watch the day die, and the blood red glow of the mountain wax scarlet on the dark cloud above us, while the pulse of the undying fires vi- brated across the heavens, after each succeeding roar and shudder of the melting rocks. As we watched the travail of the hills, across the edge of the crater where it was lowest in the lap of the peak, a thin line showed. Faint it was at first, then thickening to a broad scarlet, where the range of ringing rocks dipped lowest. For seconds it hung there, a red bar of palpitating, blood-like flame. Then with a roar it broke over the barrier and swept on headlong down the spur of the hill, ingulfing the smaller rocks, and faving the bases of the larger ones that stemmed its current island-like. 327 s\iter the first mad burst the roaring spate of fire slowed ona slighter slope; . then rolled massively, grimly down upon the glacier head through the vale of granite. As the lava drained to the bottom. level of the rent in the crater the flow lessened. Finally it ceased. Ere half a mile of the distance between the ori- fice and the glacier had been covered, the crimson glow began to fade. The surface of the flood dulled to a dark crimson, then to a living black- ness as of velvet. The crest of the ad- vancing flood sank downsluggishly and stayed, its bosom curving menacingly, the advance of an army irresistible. A flaring pillar of flame dyed, gutter- ing stone shot skywards again, the splashes of it thudding about us heav- ily. One molten lump, stiffening as it fell, smote on our tarpaulin roof, slash- ing through it to the stone floor. A shriek went up from Lady Dela- hay as she shrank back from its still living glow, and the tarpaulin burstinto sudden flame. A dozen willing hands tore it down and wrapped it together, smothering the frre in the folds. Poor little Fidget—utterly cowed by terror fast following on terror—came slinking towards me, and nestling in between Gwen and myself, hid her lit- tle nose deferentially in my sleeve. My darling gave her a little friendly pat, and I cuddled the little dog gratefully myself. But a shudder followed fast on the caress as I thought of what might have been when she had been kicking and screaming in that death trap in the cleft. | ‘We peered down at the Beast. He was still rambling restlessly about, snuf- fling now and again at the cliff foot, aimlessly pawing and snatching at the boulders that banked the rock face. Once just below us, where the sheer crag melted into a more slanting angle, he rose clumsily upon his hind limbs, leaned forward and stretched his head towards us, pricking out his long COMIC AOOLK CO