He was a new-comer to the place and, for that
reason, rather a cheerful pessimist. He thought it quite possible that
before the second floors of the houses had been reached--granted, of
course, that none was higher or lower than the other--the wind might
change and carry the ashes elsewhere. His demonstration had a
depressing effect on the hearts of those who had lived longer on the
island. They rose from the table and sadly shook their heads, prepared
for the worst. They knew their sirocco.
As morning wore on other stragglers entered the premises, muffled up to
the ears; they scattered ashes from their cloaks and hastily closed the
door behind them. More lamps were lighted. The news was not inspiring.
It was dark as ever outside; you could not see your hand before your
face; the shower had accumulated to an alarming extent. Some roofs had
fallen in under the weight of ashes; telegraphic communication with the
mainland was interrupted owing, it was supposed, to the snapping of the
cable in some submarine convulsion; a man had stumbled in the
market-place over the dead body of a woman--choked, no doubt; two of the
judge's Russian prisoners, unaccustomed to volcanic phenomena, had gone
stark staring mad and disembowelled one another with a carving knife.
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