Page:The crater; or, Vulcan's peak.djvu/175

 OR, VULCAN S PEAK. 169 reached the apex of the rock, the smoke in that quarter of the horizon had, in a great measure, risen from the sea; though a column of it continued to ascend towards a vast, dun-coloured cloud that overhung the place. To Mark s astonishment he had seen some dark, dense body first looming through the rising vapour. When the last was sufficiently removed, a high, ragged mountain became distinctly visible. He thought it arose at least a thousand feet above the ocean, and that it could not be less than a league in extent. This exhibition of the power of nature filled the young man s soul with adoration and reverence for the mighty Being that could set such elements at work. It did not alarm him, but rather tended to quiet his long ings to quit the place; for he who lives amid such scenes feels that he is so much nearer to the arm of God than those who dwell in uniform security, as to think less of ordinary advantages than is common. Mark knew that there must have been a dislocation of the rocks, to produce such a change as that he saw. to the southward. It was well for him it occurred there at a dis tance, as he then thought, of ten or fifteen miles from the Reef, though in truth it was at quite fifty, instead of hap pening beneath him. It was possible, however, for one to have been on the top of that mountain, and to have lived through the late change, could the lungs of man have breathed the atmosphere. Not far from this mountain a column of smoke rose out of the sea, and Mark fancied that, at moments, he could discern the summit of an active crater at its base. After gazing at these astonishing changes for a long time, our young man descended from the height and re traced his steps homeward. Kitty gladly preceded him, and some time after the sun had set, they regained the Reef. About a mile short of home, Mark passed all the hogs, snugly deposited in a bed of mud, where they had esconced themselves for the night, as one draws himself beneath his blanket. VOL. I. 15