Already the light of the sun shone slanting half-way down the hollow cone as the whirlpool of air caught the Flying Horse , and drew him swiftly down and down to the shadowy halls . There knelt and wept the nurses of the Earthquaker on the marble floor ; but Jaqueline stood a little apart , very pale , but not weeping . Ricardo had leaped off before the horse touched the ground , and rushed to Jaqueline , and embraced her in his arms ; and , oh ! how glad she was to see him , so that she quite forgot her danger and laughed for joy . `` Oh ! you have come , you have come ; I knew you would come ! '' she cried . Then King Prigio advanced , the mighty weight in his hand , to the verge of the dreadful gulf of the Earthquaker . The dim walls grew radiant ; a long slant arm of yellow light touched the black body of the Earthquaker , and a thrill went through him , and shook the world , so that , far away , the bells rang in Pantouflia . A moment more , and he would waken in his strength ; and once awake , he would shatter the city walls and ruin Manoa . Even now a great mass of rock fell from the roof deep down in the secret caves , and broke into flying fragments , and all the echoes roared and rang . King Prigio stood with the mighty mass poised in his hands . `` Die ! '' he cried ; and he uttered the words of power , the magic spell that the dark Moon Lady had taught him . Then all its invincible natural weight came into the mass which the king held , and down it shot full on the body of the Earthquaker ; and where that had been was nothing but a vast abyss , silent , empty , and blank , and bottomless . Far , far below , thousands of miles below , in the very centre of the earth , lay the dead Earthquaker , crushed flat as a sheet of paper , and the sun of midsummer-day shone straight down on the dreadful chasm , and could not waken him any more for ever . The king drew a long breath . `` Stupidity has saved the world , '' he said ; and , with only strength to draw back one step from the abyss , he fell down , hiding his face in his hands . But Jaqueline 's arms were round his neck , and the maidens brought him water from an ice-cold spring ; and soon King Prigio was himself again , and ready for anything . But afterwards he used to say that the moment when the Earthquaker stirred was the most dreadful in his life .
Now , in Manoa , where all the firm foundations of the city had trembled once , when the sun just touched the Earthquaker , the people , seeing that the shadow of the sacred column had crept to its foot , and yet Manoa stood firm again , and the Temple of the Sun was not overthrown , raised such a cry that it echoed even XXXXX the halls within the hollow hill .
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