The noise ceased, though the dust still rose, tumultuously.
I reached the edge, and looked down; but could see nothing save a boil
of dust clouds swirling hither and thither. The air was so full of the
small particles, that they blinded and choked me; and, finally, I had to
run out from the smother, to breathe.
Gradually, the suspended matter sank, and hung in a panoply over the
mouth of the Pit.
I could only guess at what had happened.
That there had been a land-slip of some kind, I had little doubt; but
the cause was beyond my knowledge; and yet, even then, I had half
imaginings; for, already, the thought had come to me, of those falling
rocks, and that Thing in the bottom of the Pit; but, in the first
minutes of confusion, I failed to reach the natural conclusion, to which
the catastrophe pointed.
Slowly, the dust subsided, until, presently, I was able to approach the
edge, and look down.
For a while, I peered impotently, trying to see through the reek. At
first, it was impossible to make out anything.
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