"Oh yes," said Karlovic sombrely. "In fact it was, once. The Star shone
in their sky in midsummer, and the crops blackened and the rivers
froze, and men died where they stood in the fields. The Senyans won the
war. That was a thousand years ago, but the Nantans never quite forgot
it."
He got up and went morosely to the sink, carrying dishes. "I keep
telling Jubb he ought to get rid of the thing. It's a sore point. But--"
Somewhere below there was a very loud noise. The floor rose up and
then settled again. Almost at once the air was full of dust, and an
alarm bell began a strident ringing. Karlovic's mouth opened and closed
twice, as though he was trying to say something. He let the dishes fall
clattering around his feet, and then he ran with all his might out of
the room and along the hall.
Durham followed him. There was now no sound at all from below. The
pumps had stopped.