r very nearly all, the
deaths and injuries were due to it directly or indirectly, even those
who perished by fire owing their deaths to the fact of their being
pinned in buildings ruined by the earthquake shock, while others were
killed by falling walls weakened by the same cause.

On the night of April 23d the earth tremor returned with a slight shock,
only sufficient to cause a temporary alarm. On the afternoon of the 25th
came another and severer one, strong enough to shake down some tottering
walls and add another to the list of victims. This was a woman named
Annie Whitaker, who was at work in the kitchen of her home at the time.
The chimney, which had been weakened by the great shock, now fell,
crashing through the roof and fracturing her skull. Thus the earth
powers claimed a final human sacrifice before their dread visitation
ended.

CHAPTER II.

The Demon of Fire Invades the Stricken City.

The terrors of the earthquake are momentary. One fierce, levelling shock
and usually all is over. The torment within the earth has passed on and
the awakened forces of the earth's crust sink into rest again, after
having shaken the surface for many leagues. Rarely does the dread agent
of ruin leave behind it such a terrible follower to complete its work
as was the case in the doomed city of San Francisco. All seemed to lead
towards such a carnival of ruin as the earth has rarely seen. The demon
of fire followed close upon the heels of the unseen fiend of the earth's
hidden caverns, and ran red-handed through the metropolis of the West,
kindling a thousand unhurt buildings, while the horror-stricken people
stood aghast in terror, as helpless to combat this new enemy as they
were to check the ravages of the earthquake itself.

Why not quench the fire at its start with water? Alas! there was no
water, and this expedient was a hopeless one. The iron mains which
carried the precious fluid under the city streets were broken or injured
so that no quenching streams were to be had. In some cases the engine
houses had been so damaged that the fire-fighting apparatus could not be
taken out, though even if it had it would have been useless. A sweeping
conflagration and not an ounce of water to throw upon it! The situation
of the people was a maddening one. They were forced helplessly and
hopelessly to gaze upon the destruction of their all, and it is no
marvel if many of them grew frantic and lost their reason at the sight.