To add to their delays it began to rain, and by the time they had got to the smoother ground beyond, a fog set in, so dense as to obscure the landmarks by which they had hitherto been guided. The oldest warriors were now at fault. After wandering for some time at random, the fruitlessness of such exertions compelled them to stop. So many hours had been consumed in disentangling themselves from the clinkers, that it was nigh dark. There was no remedy but to seek the best camping spot the locality offered. Tolta ordered several couples of the men to explore about them in different directions, keeping within hail of the main party. In a half hour they returned, and reported having found a cave on the edge of a dwarf Ohia wood. To this they went, and with a fire made themselves tolerably comfortable. With the refinement, in which the Aztec nobility were bred, Tolta screened a portion of the cave for the sole use of Beatriz, and with tapa mantles made for her not an unwelcome retreat from the storm without and the rude men within. Olmedo was permitted to remain near by, but Tolta kept beside him. The rain poured in torrents and made its way through the roof, wetting the floor, while the smoke from the fire with difficulty escaped into the open air. Yet, amid all this discomfort, Olmedo offered up his evening prayer, Beatriz joining in the usual hymn, with a voice that seemed to the stilled warriors to come from another world, so melodious was it even to their dull ears, in contrast with the barbarous chants of their own women.
The captives found it difficult to sleep in the confined air of the cave, which grew more hot and stifling as the fire died out. Occasionally fatigue overpowered them and they dozed; but they were oftener awake, from a restlessness they could not account for, and which kept their senses in that dreamy, vague condition, which neither admits of perfect consciousness nor salutary rest. At intervals a hoarse blast, and a dull heavy roar, like the sudden escape of vast volumes of ignited gases, startled their ears. Several times the cave trembled as if in an ague fit; once so violently that a loosened rock fell near the guards and caused them all to start up. For a few seconds they staggered like sea-sick men, but recognizing the breathings of the volcano, with which they were familiar, they merely ejaculated, “Pele is sporting to-night in the fire-surf,” and laid themselves down again to sleep.