a little
moist, I suppose, sir?"

"Moist, Ned! I'm soaking; I can feel the water running down into my
boots."

"Oh, never mind, sir. We'll have a good wring out as soon as the
storm's over. But my word, I never saw lightning like this before, and
never felt it rain so hard."

"Nor thunder so loud," cried Jack. "It is terrible. Hush! hark at
that!"

"Water, sir, running down this way."

"Shan't be washed away from here, shall we, Ned?"

"No, sir, I think not. Seems to me that it's coming down that bit of a
ditch we crawled up."

It was: the dry, stony bed having been filled in a few minutes six feet
deep by a raging torrent, which was constantly being augmented by scores
of furious rills, the upper portions of the mountain having been struck
by what resembled a swirling water-spout.

"I say, Mr Jack, I hope the yacht won't get washed away. Which side of
that stony ditch were the niggers when you saw 'em last?"

"The other side."

"Then they won't come this. Now if they'd only take to thinking that
we'd been washed down the side and out to sea, what a blessing it would
be for us! They wouldn't come and hunt for us any more."

"Don't--pray don't talk," cried Jack. Then to himself,--"Oh, if the
storm would only keep on."

But, as has been shown, it did not. Its violence on their side of the
mountain was soon exhausted, and it swept on and out to sea, leaving the
fugitives standing where hundreds of rills came amongst the foot of the
trees on their way toward the stream overflowing the stony channel,
while the leaves and boughs poured down a constant shower of heavy
drops.

By degrees the force of the water abated, the slope being too steep for
it to continue long within the regular channels which scored the
mountain side; and leaving their temporary asylum, the fugitives pressed
on in the hope of reaching the ravine up which they had been making
their way that morning when they hung back and were left behind.

But it was in a bewildered way that they pushed on, till hours must have
passed, feeling that there was nothing for them but to try and find a
refuge in some rude shelter such as they had several times encountered
by the side of one of the lava-streams, where in cooling the volcanic
matter had split up and broken, and formed wildly curious, cavernous
places, any one of which would have been welcome.

Night was coming on fast; they dare not attempt to descend, and it began
to be plain th