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The flais and froht as day, and now that the lightning had ceased to flash,their eyes, unblinded, were able to judge both perspective and detailThe heat of the burning house caused the iron doors to warp and collapseSeely of their own accord, they fell open, and exposed the interiorThe Saltons could now look through to the room beyond, where the well-hole yawned, a deep narrow circular chas ever more terrible with each second thatpassed
But it was not only the heart-rending sound that almost paralysed poorMimi with terror What she saas sufficient to fill her with evildreams for the remainder of her life The whole place looked as if a seaof blood had been beating against it Each of the explosions from belowhad thrown out from the well-hole, as if it had been the mouth of acannon, a mass of fine sand mixed with blood, and a horrible repulsiveslireat red masses of rent and torn flesh and fat Asthe explosions kept on, reat bulk of it falling back again Many of the awful frag which had lately been alive They quivered andtreh they were still in torave a horrible credence At h the narrow orifice, as thoughforced by ainfinitely sments were partially covered hite skinas of a huest and antic lizard or serpent Once, in a sort of lullor pause, the seething contents of the hole rose, after
the , and Adam saw part of the thin form of Lady Arabella,forced up to the top amid a mass of blood and slime, and what looked asif it had been the entrails of a monster torn into shreds Several tih the well-hole withinconceivable violence, and, suddenly expanding as they caerspace, disclosed sections of the White Wor over the trees with its enorale
At last the explosive pohich was not yet exhausted, evidentlyreached the main store of dynamite which had been lowered into the worround for far around quivered andopened in long deep chas upclouds of sand which fell back and hissed a water Theheavily built house shook to its foundations Great stones were thrownup as froreat ht by huh riven by some infernal power Trees nearthe house--and therefore presumably in some way above the hole, whichsent up clouds of dust and stea stench which sickened the spectators--were torn up by theroots and hurled into the air By now, flaerously that Adaht up his wife inhis arms, and ran with her from the proximity of the flames
Then alun, the whole cataclys continued intermittently for some time Thensilence brooded over all--silence so co--silence which seemed like incarnate darkness, andconveyed the sapeople who had suffered the long horror of that awful night, it broughtrelief--relief from the presence or the fear of all that washorrible--relief which seemed perfected when the red rays of sunrise shotup over the far eastern sea, bringing a pro day
His bed saw little of Adaht Heand Mi dawn round by the Brow toCastra Regis and on to Lesser Hill They did so deliberately, in anattempt to think as little as possible of the terrible experiences of thenight Theso storht no lingering idea of gloo contrast to the scenes of wreck anddevastation, the effects of obliterating fire and lasting ruin
The only evidence of the once stately pile of Castra Regis and itsinhabitants was a shapeless huddle of shattered architecture, dimly seenas the keen breeze swept aside the cloud of acrid smoke which marked thesite of the once lordly castle As for Diana's Grove, they looked invain for a sign which had a suggestion of permanence The oak trees ofthe Grove were still to be seen--soreat trunks solid and erect as ever, but the larger branchesbroken and twisted and rent, with bark stripped and chipped, and thes fro of the storm
Of the house as such, there was, even at the short distance from whichthey looked, no trace Adam resolutely turned his back on thedevastation and hurried on Mimi was not only upset and shocked inasleep on her feetAdaet into bed, takingcare that the roohted both by sunshine and lamps The onlyobstruction was frolare He sat beside her, holding her hand, well knowing that thecomfort of his presence was the best restorative for her He stayed withher till sleep had overmastered her wearied body Then he went softlyaway He found his uncle and Sir Nathaniel in the study, having an earlycup of tea, amplified to the dimensions of a possible breakfast Ada over thehorrible places again, lest it should frighten her, for the rest andsleep in ignorance would help her and ap of peacefulness betweenthe horrors
Sir Nathaniel agreed
"We know, my boy," he said, "that the unfortunate Lady Arabella is dead,and that the foul carcase of the Worm has been torn to pieces--pray Godthat its evil soul will never more escape from the nethermost hell"
They visited Diana's Grove first, not only because it was nearer, butalso because it was the place where most description was required, andAdam felt that he could tell his story best on the spot The absolutedestruction of the place and everything in it seen in the broad daylightwas almost inconceivable To Sir Nathaniel, it was as a story of horrorfull and coesHe kneas still to be seen when his friends had got over theknowledge of externals As yet, they had only seen the outside of thehouse--or rather, where the outside of the house once had been Thegreat horror lay within However, age--and the experience of age--counts
A strange, ale in the aspect had taken place in thetime which had elapsed since the dawn It would almost seens of what had occurredTrue, the utter ruin of the house was ht; but thedestruction which lay beneathwas not visible The rent, torn, and dislocated stonework looked worsethan before; the upheaved foundations, the piled-up fragments of masonry,the fissures in the torn earth--all were at the worst The Wor down into the verybowels of the earth But all the horridflesh and the sickening reone Either some of the later explosions had thrown up froh foul and corrupt itself, had stillsodown and obliterate the iterey dust, partly of fine sand, partly of the waste of the falling ruin,covered everything, and, though ghastly itself, helped to still worse
After a few , it became apparent to the three men thatthe turular intervalsthe hell-broth in the hole seeain and turned over, showing in fresh form much of the nauseous detailwhich had been visible earlier The worst parts were the great masses ofthe flesh of the h before, but now they were infinitelyworse Corruption cos whosedestruction has been due wholly or in part to lightning--the whole massseemed to have becoments, once alive, was covered with insects, worh, but, with the awful smell added,was simply unbearable The Worm's hole appeared to breathe forth deathin its most repulsive forms The friends, with one impulse, moved to thetop of the Brohere a fresh breeze fro up
At the top of the Brow, beneath the st suchwreckage as they had been viewing It appeared so strange that Adaht see it moreclosely
"We need not go down; I knohat it is," Sir Nathaniel said "Theexplosions of last night have blown off the outside of the cliffs--thatwhich we see is the vast bed of china clay through which the Worlint of thewater of the deep quags far down below Well, her ladyship didn'tdeserve such a funeral--or such a monument"
The horrors of the last few hours had played such havoc with Mie of scene was imperative--if a permanent breakdoas to be avoided
"I think," said old Mr Salton, "it is quite ti peopledeparted for that honeymoon of yours!" There was a twinkle in his eye ashe spoke
Milance at her stalwart husband, was sufficient answer