Of course I realized immediately that it was the moon, which must now be approaching the earth at a terrific velocity. Why the reflected light from it was so dazzling I have never been able to determine. As far as I know, in other parts of the world persons advantageously placed were able to observe it without difficulty, almost to the moment of impact. The only possible explanation seems to be that there was a vast amount of light reflected from the snow-covered surface of the ground, and even that explanation is not quite satisfactory. The fact remains that neither Jim nor I was able to observe the surface of the moon as it passed above us. It would have been as easy to look at the sun. From the moment of this first earthquake, time in the ordinary sense of the word had no meaning for us. We stayed as close to each other and the plane as we could. There was now no distinction between night and day. The sky was a burnished copper color, when it was not being traversed by the brilliantly blazing moon, and, each time the moon appeared over our rocky horizon, it nearly filled the heavens. I think we ate from time to time. I know we became extraordinarily thirsty and were continually drinking. I assume that the wind exhausted all the moisture in the air around us, and the air exhausted it from our bodies. I do not even know whether that is a possible explanation, but I give it for what it is worth. I am not quite sure what we would have done for water if there had not been an abundance of snow in our rocky valley. We knew enough not to try to eat it, but we melted it over our little primus stove. We could tell when the moon was going to appear by the increasing intensity of the earthquakes. They became nearly continuous, and we adjusted ourselves to them as people do to the motion of a ship. We would not have been able to accept them so philosophically if we had not been on top of a mountain where there was nothing to fall on us. The intervals between the moon's appearances became shorter and shorter. CHAPTER III The Moon "Falls" There came, finally, the thing I had been dreading, and if we had been even a few feet nearer the sea level, we should have perished. The moon filled the sky above us and we felt moisture falling on us. "Rain!" exclaimed Jim. "No, it can't be. It's salt!" "Tidal wave," I said, "and it's reached almost to the tops of the mountains. We'll get more of it the next time the moon comes around." A few hours later there was a new sound added to the roaring and screeching of the wind. We looked at each other. "It's come," I said. "Let's get inside the cabin. We'll be as safe there as anywhere."