Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 1.djvu/331

 "It is nothing but an active volcano, after all," he said.

"But the wind will carry us right over it," said Joe.

"Well, we will clear it at a safe distance."

Three hours afterwards the "Victoria" was amongst mountains; the exact position was 24° 15′ long., and 4° 42′ lat. In front a fiery crater poured molten lava and belched forth large rocks to an immense height, while streams of liquid fire ran down in cascades of dazzling beauty. It was a grand and fearful sight, for the wind, with a fixed direction, carried the balloon towards the burning mountain.

This obstacle, which they could not avoid, they must pass over. The blow-pipe was warmed to full pressure, and the "Victoria" ascended to 6,000 feet, leaving a distance of 300 fathoms between it and the volcano.

From his bed of pain the dying priest was able to watch the crater from which a thousand sheaves of fire were scintillating with a roar.

"How splendid it is!" he said, "and the power of God is infinite, even in these terrible manifestations."

This outpouring of burning lava clothed the sides of the mountain in a veritable carpet of fire. The lower part of the balloon shone brightly in the darkness, a tremendous heat reached even to the car, and Doctor Ferguson hastened to escape from this perilous position.

Towards ten o'clock in the evening the mountain was only a red spot on the horizon, and the "Victoria" peacefully continued her journey in a less elevated zone.

night was splendid. The priest continued to sleep in a prostrate condition.

"He will never wake again," said Joe. "Poor young man! scarcely thirty years old."

"He will die in your arms," said the doctor, in despair. "His already feeble breathing has grown weaker still. I can do nothing to save him."

"Those infamous rascals," cried Joe, upon whom these sudden fits of anger occasionally seized, "and to think that