Page:The Strand Magazine (Volume 2).djvu/609

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OTTO'S FOLLY.

figures, her lovely tresses hanging loose and dishevelled on her shoulders, a few leaves and flowers from the bridal wreath still clinging to her damp hair. High up among the jagged peaks the fire-ball burst asunder into thousands of gleaming sheaves and stars, pouring down a rain of fire into the depths below. Some sparks clung to the walls and shone brightly for a few brief moments; others fell and went out behind the demon-like shapes which stood grinning threateningly like so many visitors from the Inferno.


"High up among the jagged peaks the fire-ball burst asunder."

Then again all was darkness, thicker and blacker than before. A suffocating smoke and smell alone remained.

"This is heaven and hell together," said Otto. He could not hear a single word he