The Home advocate. (Farmerville, La.) 1885-1???, 1885-10-30


er closer together. A fiercer blast
caused us to throw ourselves fiat
on the stony ground, grasping at
each others hands. So ignorant
was | that believed at the time
that we were in the full power of
the tornado, instead of being COM
parativcly sheltered by the walls of
the sulch. Afterwa1d | knew that
we could hardly have saved our
lives had we not reached the rayine.
Once | felt touch on my head,
from which my hat had long since
gone. | found that it was one of
The horses. They had all come back
from their first run up the gulch to
be near us. They stood huddled
close 10y, when we had a chance to
look. AS !recall things in a dream:
so recall the incidents of the time
while we remained in that refuge.
O"ce, in the glare of the Ii ghtning,
and while my eyes were open and
my head raised, saw several OBJ
.jects flying over the top of the
aulch. They were sheep, and their
dead, bruised bodies were found,
as if they had been flung hard
against the ground, after the storm.
Once something came down close
by me, hitting my hand where
had dug my fingers uDconsciously
down into the earth. 1t was a
small prairie dog, and it lay still in
death near me. Many prairie hens,
the neS: day: were found dead,
with almost all their feathers strip.
ped eff by the wind. While the
terror lasted there was hardly q
Iull in the ferocity Oft. l thought
we had been hours hiding there,
when at last the rain began to
come down heavily, and moment
after the wind sensibly diminished.
We were directly soaked thorough,
ly, but l think none of US cared for
that. The hurting noise of the
storm was still deafening, but we
felt that the worst was over. That
demon cone of cloud was flying on
it's road of destruction, but it had
left us.
We Immediately got upon our
feet, our horses keeping their heads
close to our shoulders. By the time
we had groped and stumbled our
way to the entrance of the gulch
there was blue sky in the north,
and the rain had dwindled to few
heavy drops.
We stood a moment breathless.
looking about us with scared eyes.
1t was a wide plain, and all the de.
we saw at first was that
the row of cottonwoods was lying,
torn up, some of them halfway q.
cross the stream they had bordered..
81 am afraid of what l shall find
at home," said Nan.
AS she spoke, she turned to her
horse and swung herself up into the
saddle. We both followed her ex.
and the horses gladly turn
ed hOmeward. Our soggy, dripping
clothes hung clammily to us, and
the heavy skirts tapped dull a..
gainst the horses sides.
While we were within a mile of
the house we saw man riding at
a furious gait toward us. Weknew
that it could not be Colonel Stew.
art, for he had gone away in the
morning not to return until the fol-
owing day. AS we looked, the sun
burst out splendidly. The man
,ook off his hat, and waived it with
1nmistakable joyousness. A few
yards more, ard we saw that this
vas Valverde. He rode up, and
'nrned his horse to go with us. ex
81 don't think / was ever much
,ladder in all my days than l be to
zee you. Folks at the house are
bout crazy bout We. That was az
liable a tornado as we seldom if
'ver git in these diggin's."
care they safe ?" asked Nan.
Vas the house in the path of it,
''It warn't," he replied, "but it
Eas full nigh enough. The big
ew barn was in the way, and is
pread all over the plains. Cows
nd calves killed, corrals busted.
rees turned over, and that greasr's
on" he added, in a more solemn
one, ''killed dead by a timber. I
My hope there. amt no more
eaths to hear Off