At last Caetani spun the wheel. Heavens! what a din ensued! The
mountain seemed to be shaken to its very base. A hellish roar burst
forth and rolled like thunder over the vast wastes of the Dolomites,
and a terrific blast of air smote upon us even in our shelter.
Out we rushed, to find that the gallant forty, marshalled at the
entrance to the main gallery, had been struck full in the face by a
mighty ice-cold blast, due to the displacement of air, and that for a
few moments they were held up by a series of after-explosions, caused
by the ignition of the mines which the hapless Austrians had prepared.