The skies were very dark; a faint moaning wind stirred the tops of the leafless trees; but there was no rain.

A dry volcanic heat pervaded the atmosphere--in fact we all felt the air so stifling, that Heliobas threw open the window altogether, saying, as he did so: "In a thunderstorm, it is safer to have the windows open than shut; besides, one cannot suffocate." A brilliant glare of light flashed suddenly upon our vision.

The heavens seemed torn open from end to end, and a broad lake of pale blue fire lay quivering in the heart of the mountainous black clouds--for a second only.

An on-rushing, ever-increasing, rattling roar of thunder ensued, that seemed to shake the very earth, and all was again darkness.
"This is magnificent!" cries Mrs.Challoner, who, with her family, had travelled a great deal, and was quite accustomed to hurricanes and other inconveniences caused by the unaccommodating behaviour of the elements.

"I don't think I ever saw anything like it, John dear, even that storm we saw at Chamounix was not any better than this." "Well," returned her husband meditatively, "you see we had the snow mountains there, and the effect was pretty lively.