All being ready, we waited impatiently for the
day upon which we had planned to set out upon our voyage.
During this time I observed a change upon the mountain in the centre of
the island. The smoke cloud, which always hovered over it, had
increased until it hung like a funeral pall over the top of the
volcano. Loud rumblings also were heard like distant thunder, while
earth tremors were constantly felt. I mentioned these matters to
Melannie, but she did not appear to attach any importance to them.
"The mountain was always like that," she said. "Perhaps the evil
spirits who live there are angry." But I knew from my reading and
experience that these signs and portents were such as heralded an
eruption. In the excitement of leaving the island, however, I forgot my
anxieties with regard to the volcano.
I now questioned Melannie with regard to the white stranger whose
coming had saved me from being offered as a sacrifice to the snake god.
At first she refused to tell me anything concerning him, but when I
pressed her she conducted me to a cavern in which the captive was
confined. The door of this dungeon was a swinging rock, which Melannie
caused to open by some means of which she knew the secret, when the
wretched man who was reserved for the sacrifice was seen crouching in
darkness at the farther end of the cave.
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