There
was certainly a tumult in the air, but I felt no quivering of the
earth."
"But in the reports sent to Mr. Ward --"
"Reports made under the impulse of the panic, "interrupted the mayor
of Morganton." I said nothing of any earth tremors in mine."
"But as to the flames which rose clearly above the crest?"
"Yes, as to those, Mr. Strock, that is different. I saw them; saw
them with my own eyes, and the clouds certainly reflected them for
miles around. Moreover noises certainly came from the crater of the
Great Eyrie, hissings, as if a great boiler were letting off steam."
"You have reliable testimony of this?"
"Yes, the evidence of my own ears."
"And in the midst of this noise, Mr. Smith, did you believe that you
heard that most remarkable of all the phenomena, a sound like the
flapping of great wings?"
"I thought so, Mr. Strock; but what mighty bird could this be, which
sped away after the flames had died down, and what wings could ever
make such tremendous sounds. I therefore seriously question, if this
must not have been a deception of my imagination. The Great Eyrie a
refuge for unknown monsters of the sky! Would they not have been seen
long since, soaring above their immense nest of stone? In short,
there is in all this a mystery which has not yet been solved."
"But we will solve it, Mr.
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