indicated that there was any lake
there at all.

I remember that Brown and I, reclining at the foot of the tree, were
looking at the still and starry surface of the lake, over which numbers
of bats were darting after insects; and I recollect that I was just about
to speak, when, of a sudden, the silent and luminous surface of the water
was shattered as with a subterranean explosion; a geyser of scintillating
spray shot upward flashing, foaming, towering a hundred feet into the
air. And through it I seemed to catch a glimpse of a vast, quivering,
twisting mass of silver falling back with a crash into the lake, while
the huge fountain rained spray on every side and the little lake rocked
and heaved from shore to shore, sending great sheets of surf up over the
rocks so high that the very tree-tops dripped.

Petrified, dumb, our senses almost paralyzed by the shock, our ears still
deafened by the watery crash of that gigantic something that had fallen
into the lake, and our eyes starting from their sockets, we stared at the
darkness.

Slap--slash--slush went the waves, hitting the shore with a clashing
sound almost metallic. Vision and hearing told us that the water in the
lake was rocking like the contents of a bath-tub.

"G-g-good Lord!" whispered Brown. "Is there a v-volcano under that lake?"

"Did you see that huge, glittering shape that seemed to fall into the
water?" I gasped.

"Yes. What was it? A meteor?"

"No. It was something that first came out of the lake and fell back--the
way a trout leaps. Heavens! It couldn't have been alive, could it?"

"W-wh-what do you mean?" stammered Brown.

"It couldn't have been a f-f-fish, could it?" I asked with chattering
teeth.

"No! _No!_ It was as big as a Pullman car! It must have been a falling
star. Did you ever hear of a fish as big as a sleeping car?"

I was too thoroughly unnerved to reply. The roaring of the surf had
subsided somewhat, enough for another sound to reach our ears--a raucous,
gallinacious, squawking sound.

I sprang up and looked at the row of tents. White-robed figures loomed in
front of them. The heavy artillery was evidently frightened.

[Illustration: "The heavy artillery was evidently frightened."]

We went over to them, and when we got nearer they chastely scuttled
into their tents and thrust out a row of heads--heads hideous with
curl-papers.

"What was that awful noise? An earthquake?" shrilled the Reverend Dr.
Jones. "I think I'll