“See!” she exclaimed, pointing upward, “the clouds are thinning over the sun, and yet there is no light. What can be the matter?”
At that juncture they heard soft steps on the roof and a voice calling:
“It is Tradmos,” she ejaculated gladly, then she called out softly:
“Here!” the voice said, and a figure loomed up before them. It was the captain. He was panting violently, as if he had been running.
“What is it?” she asked, clasping his arm.
A groan escaped her lips and she swayed into Thorndyke's arms.
“The clouds are thinning over the sun, yet there is no light. The king is excited; he fears a panic!”
“Has such a thing never happened?” asked Thorndyke.
“An hundred years ago; then thousands lost their lives. As soon as the people suspect the cause of the delay they will go mad with fear.”
“What can we do?” asked the princess, recovering her self-possession.
“Nothing, wait!” replied Tradmos. “This is as safe a place as you could find. Perhaps the trouble may be averted. Look!”
The disk of the veiled sun was aglow with a faintly trembling light; but it went out. The silence was profound. The populace seemed unable to grasp the situation, but when the light had flickered over the black face of the sun once more and again expired, a sullen murmur rose and grew as it passed from lip to lip.
It became a threatening roar, broken by an occasional cry of pain and a dismal groan of terror. There was a crash as if a mountain had been burst by explosives.
“The swinging bridge has been thrown down!” said Tradmos.
Light after light flashed up in different parts of the city, but they were so small and so far apart that they seemed to add to the darkness rather than to lessen it.
“The moon, it will rise!” cried the princess.
“It cannot,” said Tradmos in his beard, “at least not for several hours.”
“They will kill my father,” she said despondently, “they always hold him responsible for any accident.”
“They cannot reach him,” consoled Tradmos. “He is safe for the present at least.”
“Is it possible to make the repairs needed?”
“I don't know. When the accident happened long ago the sun was just rising.”
“I think not; it has simply gone out; the electric connection has, in some way, been cut off.”
The tumult seemed to have extended to the very limits of the city, and was constantly increasing. The smashing of timber and the falling of heavy stones were heard near by.