A few minutes later we were making our way to the center of a gesticulating crowd of men. The majority seemed to think that the best thing to do was to take to the air and trust to luck that there would be no wind storms, as there had been during the previous calamity. I had done considerable writing on aeronautics and had a certain reputation as an expert. Both parties had agreed that my decision as to the best course of action would be accepted by all concerned. I stood there bracing my feet firmly as the trembling of the earth increased and the rumbling became louder. I looked at the sky which had become overcast with fast hurrying clouds. If any sky ever indicated wind, that one did. I made my decision. "Get the planes to sheltered valleys immediately. We won't be safe on land, but we'll be safer than we would be in the air, with the wind that's coming. Quick! There's no time to waste." The crowd scattered, some of them joyously and more with sullen resentment expressed in their gloomy faces. Jim and I hurried over to our place. The wind was rapidly rising as I started the motor, but it was a relief to get in the air away from the swaying earth. We flew over the town and followed a number of other planes to make a rather hazardous landing in a narrow transverse valley which was almost like a ravine. The precipitous sides rose perpendicularly and it would be a bad place to be in a cloud-burst, but it afforded almost perfect shelter from wind. There was a chance that the rocky walls might precipitate themselves on us if the earth tremblings became much more violent. The other aviators gathered around and we consulted as to the next thing to do. The planes were as safe as they could be anywhere, but none of us liked the idea of staying in the valley ourselves. Finally after considerable discussion, one of the men who had his wife and a ten-year-old youngster with him announced, "You fellows can do what you want to, but it looks to me as if hell was going to break loose any minute now. If I get killed, it's going to be on top of this mountain instead of underneath it." "There's nothing more we can do here now," I answered. "I guess we'd better all try to reach the top before things get any worse." It was a hard climb, especially for the women, most of whom were pretty badly frightened. Both men and women were a selected lot, but all had been through so much recently that nerves had gone back on them. Besides, it was a very terrifying situation. * * * * * A New World Arises We had got used to the constant light and heat of the sun. It was now covered by heavy clouds which were scurrying across the sky at hurricane speed. They had become so heavy and dark that we could hardly see one another a few feet apart. All heat from the sun seemed to have been shut off and the temperature had fallen so rapidly that we were suffering from the cold.