Let them wait till next morning. If there was a
deep fall like last time, the experiment might be worth trying. But not
just yet! While admitting that something ought to be done, it struck
him as a hazardous proceeding to play fast and loose, in this fashion,
with the reputation of a Saint.
His Reverence, duly impressed, waited for half an hour. It was then
seen that the Nicaraguan Representative had once more given the
soundest of advice. The downpour of ashes ceased abruptly, at the
moment when the sun sank into the sea. No mischief was done.
Late at night another phenomenon became visible. The volcano was
observed to be in violent eruption. It blazed forth like a gigantic
torch held into the heavens. Streams of lava poured down the mountain
flanks, reddening sky and sea.
Nepenthe was consoled by the spectacle. The demon had at last found an
outlet--a method of relief. There would be no more showers of ashes. The
fact that villages were being overwhelmed under a deluge of flame,
vineyards scorched and hundreds of innocent folks, their retreat cut
off by fiery torrents, were even then being roasted to death, was no
concern to the islanders.
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