that Lola comes near me I'll shoot him on the spot."
"If Delverez sees us he'll be astonished," I said. "That is, unless he has heard of the Viscount's return."
"The chances are he has heard of it, for it's being talked about everywhere," rejoined Oliver. "And he'll try to keep out of our way, too, you can be sure of that."
On and on we went, up a steady rise, through the jungle and then out upon a broad plain composed for the most part of half-decomposed lava beds. The brush had given way to cactus and prickly vines, and once again it grew hot.
"What is that?!" questioned Dan, as he brought his horse to a halt. "Smoke and fire, I declare!"
"We are in sight of the volcano!" I cried. "See, there is the Volcano House in the distance."
We were now six thousand feet above sea level, and in some spots the vast mountain appeared to meet the clouds, which rolled away to the south and west. "It's magnificent!" murmured Oliver. "I never saw anything like it!" Yet a still more magnificent sight was still in store for us—the sight of the vast volcano crater itself, choked up with lava and spouting fire in this direction and that. The basin is shaped like an
