I will bring the chairs and wraps." The house being timber built and one storied, I had little fear that it would collapse; but anything may happen in an earthquake, and in the garden we were safe from anything short of the ground on which we stood actually gaping or slipping bodily down the mountain-side.
The second shock was followed by a third, more violent than either of its predecessors.

The earth trembled and heaved so that we could scarcely stand.

The underground thunder became louder and continuous and, what was even more appalling, we could distinctly see the mountain-tops move and shake, as if they were going to fall and overwhelm us.
But even this shock passed off without doing any material mischief, and I was beginning to think the worst was over when one of the servants drew my attention to the great reservoir.

It smoked and though there was no wind the water was white with foam and running over the banks.
This went on several minutes, and then the water, as if yielding to some irresistible force, left the sides, and there shot out of it a gigantic jet nearly as thick as the crater was wide and hundreds of feet high.

It broke in the form of a rose and fell in a fine spray, which the setting sun hued with all the colors of the rainbow.
It was the most splendid sight I had ever seen and the most portentous--for I knew that the crater had become active, and remembering how long it had taken to fill I feared the worst.
The jet went on rising and falling for nearly an hour, but as the mass of the water returned to the crater, very little going over the sides, no great harm was done.
"Thank Heaven for the respite!" exclaimed Angela, who had been clinging to me all the time, trembling yet courageous.