crossed here and there by flashes of flame,—­the bare outline of its Titanic architecture was scarcely discernible!  Yet the thought of the dreadful end of Lysia, the loveliest woman he had ever seen, moved him now to no emotion whatever—­save..gladness!  Some deadly evil seemed burnt out of his life, . . moreover her command had slain Sah-luma! ...  Enough! ... no fate however horrible, could be more so than she in her wanton wickedness deserved! ...  But alas! her beauty! ...  He dared not think of its subtle, slumberous charm! ... and stung to a new sense of desperation, he plunged recklessly toward the dusky aperture he had seen, which appeared to enlarge itself mysteriously as he approached, like the opening gateway of some magic cavern.

Suddenly a faint groan at his feet startled him,—­and, looking down hastily, he perceived an unfortunate man lying half crushed under the ponderous fragment of a split column, which had fallen across his body in such manner that any attempt to extricate him would have been worse than useless.  By the bright light of the leaping flames, Theos had no difficulty in recognizing the pallid countenance of his late acquaintance, the learned Professor of Positivism, Mira-Khabur, who was evidently very near his woeful and most positive end!  Struck by an impulse of compassion he paused, . . yet what could he say? ..In such a case, where rescue was impossible, all comfort seemed mockery,—­and while he stood silent and irresolute, he fancied the Professor smiled!  It was a very ghastly smile,—­nevertheless it hid in it a curious touch of bland and scrupulous inquiry.

“Is not this...a very.. remarkable occurrence?” ... asked a voice so feeble and far away that it was difficult to believe it came from the lips of the suffering sage.  “Of course...it arises from...a volcanic eruption! ... and the mystery of the red river.. is.. solved!” Here an irrepressible moan of anguish broke through his heroic effort at equanimity;—­“It is not a phenomenon!".. and a gleam of obstinate self-assertion lit up his poor glazing eyes, “Nothing is phenonmenal! ... only I am not able...to explain. ...  I have no time...no time...to analyze.. my very ... singular...sensations!”

A rush of blood choked his utterance—­his throat rattled, ... he was dead! ... and the dreary speculative smile froze on his mouth in the likeness of a solemn sneer.  At that moment, a terrific swirling, surging noise, like the furious boiling of an underground whirlpool, rumbled heavily through the air, . . and lo! with a sudden, swift shock that sent Theos reeling forward and almost falling, under the burdensome weight he carried, the earth opened, . . disclosing a huge pit of black nothingness,—­an enormous chasm,—­into which, with an appalling clamor as of a hundred incessant peals of thunder, the whole main area of the Temple, together with its mass of dead and dying human beings, sank in less than five seconds!—­the ground closing instantaneously