vanished, story by story. A great cavity in the earth appeared,
and then another building became visible, a smaller, brown-stone,
unimpressive structure.

With bulging eyes Arthur stared across the city. Except for the
flickering, he could see almost clearly now.

He no longer saw the sun rise and set. There was merely a streak of
unpleasantly brilliant light across the sky. Bit by bit, building
by building, the city began to disintegrate and become replaced
by smaller, dingier buildings. In a little while those began to
disappear and leave gaps where they vanished.

Arthur strained his eyes and looked far down-town. He saw a forest
of masts and spars along the waterfront for a moment and when
he turned his eyes again to the scenery near him it was almost
barren of houses, and what few showed were mean, small residences,
apparently set in the midst of farms and plantations.

Estelle was sobbing.

"Oh, Mr. Chamberlain," she cried. "What is the matter? What has
happened?"

Arthur had lost his fear of what their fate would be in his
absorbing interest in what he saw. He was staring out of the window,
wide-eyed, lost in the sight before him. At Estelle's cry, however,
he reluctantly left the window and patted her shoulder awkwardly.

"I don't know how to explain it," he said uncomfortably, "but it's