The Gold Brick

The Gold Brick by Ann S. Stephens is about a ship that boards a harbor where a fiery massacre is sweeping from house to house. Excerpt: "A low coast burdened in every foot of its soil with the luxuriant growth of a tropical climate; a large town, straggling and flat, swarming like a hive of bees with a turbulent life. Lights flickering wildly from the windows and dancing with a fantastic red glare up and down the streets. A dull, hollow sound rolling constantly out upon the stillness of the waters, broken now and then with sharp shrieks as lightning cleaves the thunder gust."