Before Isabel and Simon, sitting self-absorbed, had the least idea of what was happening, a frightful clamour, made up of a thousand shrieks, rose from all parts of the boat, from port and starboard, from stem to stern, even from below; from every side, as though the minds of all had been obsessed by the possibility of disaster, as though all eyes, from the moment of departure, had been watching for the slightest premonitory sign. A monstrous sight. Three hundred yards ahead, as though in the centre of a target at which the bows of the vessel were aimed, a hideous fountain had burst from the surface of the sea, bombarding the sky with masses of rock, blocks of lava and flying masses of spray, which fell back into a circle of foaming breakers and yawning whirlpools. And a wind of hurricane force gyrated above this chaos, bellowing like a bull. Suddenly silence fell upon the paralysed crowd, the deathly silence that precedes an inevitable catastrophe. Then, yonder, a rattle of thunder that rent the air. Then the voice of the captain at his post, roaring out his orders, trying to shout down the monster's myriad voices. For a moment there seemed some hope of salvation. The vessel put forth so great an effort that she appeared to be gliding along a tangent away from the infernal circle into which she was on the point of being drawn. But it was a vain hope! The circle seemed to be increasing in size. Its outer waves were approaching. A mass of rock crushed one of the funnels. And again there were shrieks, followed by a panic and an insane rush for the life-boats; already some of the passengers were fighting for places. . . . Simon did not hesitate. Isabel was a good swimmer. They must make the attempt. "Come!" he said. The girl, standing beside him, had flung her arms about him. "We can't stay here! Come!" And, when she struggled, instinctively resisting the course which he had proposed, he took a firmer hold of her. She entreated him: "Oh, it's horrible . . . all these children . . . the little girl crying! . . . Couldn't we save them?" "Come!" he repeated, in a masterful tone. She still resisted him. Then he took her head in his two hands and kissed her on the lips: "Come, my darling, come!" The girl fainted. He lifted her in his arms and threw one leg over the rail: "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I will answer for your life!" "I am not afraid," she said. "I am not afraid with you. . . ." They leapt into the water. CHAPTER III GOOD-BYE, SIMON