The old people rose hastily.
They perceived at once that the waters of Loch Malcolm were rising.

A great wave, unfurling like a billow, swept up the bank and broke against the walls of the cottage.

Simon caught his wife in his arms, and carried her to the upper part of their dwelling.
At the same moment, cries arose from all parts of Coal Town, which was threatened by a sudden inundation.

The inhabitants fled for safety to the top of the schist rocks bordering the lake; terror spread in all directions; whole families in frantic haste rushed towards the tunnel in order to reach the upper regions of the pit.
It was feared that the sea had burst into the colliery, for its galleries and passages penetrated as far as the Caledonian Canal.

In that case the entire excavation, vast as it was, would be completely flooded.