ead and puffing
meditatively at his pipe, he was startled back to a consciousness of his
surroundings by a violent shock that thrilled through the catamaran and
caused him to look anxiously over the stern, under the impression that
the craft had struck and run over a piece of floating wreckage. He
could see nothing, however, and was still staring and wondering when the
same thing occurred a second time; and Dick now noticed that the wind
had suddenly fallen almost calm, also that the surface of the ocean
appeared to be strangely agitated, the regular run of the sea out from
the south-east having in a moment given place to a most extraordinary
and dangerous cross-sea that seemed to be coming from all directions at
the same moment, the colliding seas meeting each other with a rush and
causing long walls of water to leap into the air to a height of from
twenty to thirty feet. These leaping walls or sheets of water were in a
moment flying into the air all round the catamaran, and falling back in
drenching showers of spray that instantly flooded her. They at once
awoke Flora, who started up in affright, crying to Dick to tell her what
fresh danger had arisen.

"Oh, nothing very serious this time," answered Leslie; "It is quite a
novel experience to me, I admit; but there can be only one possible
explanation of it, and that is that we have just sustained a shock of
earthquake. If I am right in my surmise, this extraordinary disturbance
of the sea will subside almost as rapidly as it has arisen, and that
will be an end of the whole business. But, by Jove, I am not so sure
that it will be, after all," he added in quite another tone of voice.
"Just look at that!"

And he pointed toward the island, over the peak of which there hovered a
faint glow, like the reflection upon smoke of a hidden fire.

"Why, what does that mean, Dick?" demanded Flora. "It looks as though
our volcano had become active again; but that is hardly likely, is it,
after remaining quiescent for so many years?"

"Well, as to that," answered Dick, "its long period of quiescence
constitutes no guarantee that it will not again break out into activity.
And, as a matter of fact, it certainly has done so; that ruddy,
luminous glow, hovering like a halo over the peak, can mean nothing
else. So long, however, as it is no more actively violent than it now
is, no very serious harm is likely to ensue; but, all the same, I would
very much rather it had not happ