"Let no man, in his finite weakness, ever question the methods of
Infinite Wisdom, which is Infinite Goodness. At the very time when every
moment gained by Pym and Peters meant the saving of a hundred more
lives--at the very moment when two additional men, hardy and inured to
danger, would have doubled the life-saving force, four hundred of the
'Exiles of Olympus' arrived in the city. They had left behind them
warmth and safety, and sailing across thirty miles of tempestuous sea,
had come, headed by Medosus, to try to save their fellow-countrymen.
These four hundred men, young and vigorous, comprised the real
enterprise and daring of Hili-li. They had been promised their liberty,
and their visits, individually, to Hili-li had recently been not only
allowed but even encouraged by those in authority; but the final act
permitting them to return had been, by the formalities of state,
delayed.
"Pym, Peters, and Medosus consulted for a moment, and then the exiles
divided into a hundred parties of four each, and systematically
scattered through the city, doing the work of giants. Finally the exiles
established a hundred stations, selecting for the purpose large rooms,
in which they built hearths of lava-blocks taken from the streets, in
most of the houses the hearths being placed in the centre of an upper
room, and an opening directly above cut through the roof.
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