Thecolonists,warnedbytheengineer,lefttheirworkandgazedinsilenceatthesummitofMountFranklin.

           Thevolcanohadawoke,andthevaporhadpenetratedtheminerallayerheapedatthebottomofthecrater.Butwouldthesubterraneanfiresprovokeanyviolenteruption?Thiswasaneventwhichcouldnotbeforeseen.However,evenwhileadmittingthepossibilityofaneruption,itwasnotprobablethatthewholeofLincolnIslandwouldsufferfromit.Theflowofvolcanicmatterisnotalwaysdisastrous,andtheislandhadalreadyundergonethistrial,aswasshownbythestreamsoflavahardenedonthenorthernslopesofthemountain.Besides,fromtheshapeofthecrater—theopeningbrokenintheupperedge—thematterwouldbethrowntothesideoppositethefertileregionsoftheisland.

           However,thepastdidnotnecessarilyanswerforthefuture.Often,atthesummitofvolcanoes,theoldcraterscloseandnewonesopen.Thishadoccurredinthetwohemispheres—atEtna,Popocatepetl,atOrizabaandontheeveofaneruptionthereiseverythingtobefeared.Infact,anearthquake—aphenomenonwhichoftenaccompaniesvolcaniceruption—isenoughtochangetheinteriorarrangementofamountain,andtoopennewoutletsfortheburninglava.

           CyrusHardingexplainedthesethingstohiscompanions,and,withoutexaggeratingthestateofthings,hetoldthemalltheprosandcons.Afterall,theycouldnotpreventit.ItdidnotappearlikelythatGraniteHousewouldbethreatenedunlessthegroundwasshakenbyanearthquake.