L\ GREAT PERIL. 



231 



aeatli. The whole certainly occuiTed in a less 

 Bpace of time than it takes to read two lines on this 

 page. I found myself safe— drew a long breath of 

 relief— thanked God it was well with me — and, kick- 

 ing away the loose stonea with my heels, turned 

 round and kept on climbing. Above this band of 

 loose stones the sui-face of the mountain was covered 

 with a cnist formed chiefly of the sulphur washed 

 down by the rains, which have also formed many 

 small grooves. Here we made better progress, 

 though it seemed the next thing to climbing the 

 side of a bricl; house; and I thought I should 

 certainly be eligible to the "Alpine Club" — if I 

 ever got down alive. At this moment the natives 

 above us gave a loud shout, and I supposed of coui-se 

 that some one had lost his footing and was going 

 do™ to certain death. " Looh out I Look out I — 

 Great rocks are coming I " was the order they gave 

 us ; and the next instant several small blocks, and 

 one great flake of lava two feet in diameter, bounded 

 by us with the speed of lightning. Mere is a7i- 

 otlierl'''* It is coming straight for ns, and it will 

 take out one of our nimiber to a certainty, I thought. 

 I had stood up in the front of battle when shot and 

 shell were flying, and men were falling ; but now to 

 see the danger coming, and to feel that I was per- 

 fectly hel]>less, I must confess, made me shudder, and 

 I crouched down in the groove where I was, hoping 

 it might bound over me : and at that instant, a frag, 

 ment of lava, a foot square, leaped up from the moun- 

 tain and passed directly over the head of a coolie a 

 few feet to my right, clearing him by not more than 



