West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-10-23


lis not that a rather belligerent
specimen of a cloudP''
Nan did not apparently hear her; she
sat silent for perhaps half a minute,
the she turned to us and said quickly:
81 hope you can ride fast. We can't
get home; what good if we couldP There
is "A narrow gulch about a mile and a
half from here. It's the only place |
know"
She turned her horse sharply 10 the
right. and told him ~iicrcelv 10 40. We
followed, riding as | had never ridden
before. The horses caught fire from
us, and raced on i'm that wild way thcy
have, which is not like the manner of
horses IN the East In spite OF the fear
which now possessed Us all, there was
n certain glorious feeling i'm that ride.
After we had turned we could look Off
at our right at the cloud. which was
rushing on with terrible quickness. End
which now tancied was pursuing MS.
and MS alone.
Suddenly there was IA t~hundcrous
sound toward the west. and looking
that way | saw "A vast herd of cattle
sweeping on. n dark. surging mass,
with tossing horns ~glancing white i'm
the sunshine. for the sun was shining
brilliantly at this time. IL was "A STAN
pedo. l never knew whether they were
frightened by the cloud or had been
urged ON by the unexplained impulse
That sometimes comes to them to Zee
madly over the plains. At another time
this sight would have been of stirring
interest; now ! did not care to watch
the Hight OF the cattle. | was too in
ten on our own race against the cloud.
The lightning was playing through the
black vapOr necessarily. More clouds.
having the appearance of common
thunder heads rose and dispersed
themselves over the sky, and mt last OBJ
scured the sunlight. IL was a relief to
me when the sun ceased to shine. for
the scene seemed less abnormally ter
rifle.
Within a few rods Of the opening of
the gulch | heard "a oar, as of oncom-
ing wind Nan cried out again TO her
horse, the animals lurched forward yet
faster, n in "A moment we were all
entering the ravine. 1t was extremely
uneven ground and covered tbv broken
sharp stones. My sister and were
watching Nan; she slipped of the sad
die and hurriedly motioncd to us to do
the same. The instant we were dis
mounted the horses scrambled RAPIDLY
forward into the gulch, and we did the
same, Nan now in the rear and driving
us along. That night | found my shoes
cut and n cash in my foot, but | did
not feel the wound when | received il.
While we were thus hurrying to get to
the deepest shelter of the gully, the roar
above us was awful, and was increasing
every moment. 1t reverberated strange
ly through tho ravine. We could not
have heard n word had we spoken. We
all stopped simultaneously and looked
ut each other. They were two very
white faces that saw, with strained.
frightened eyes. Nan made a move
ment with her head that we were not to
30 on; and we crouched down against
the rocky sides of the earth. The next
instant Emma leaned heavily upon me
and silently pointed upward toward
the chasm's opening, where VIC
had entered. The black cloud
was lust going past our point
of vision; it had dilated TO twice its
former size, but still retained its cylin-
der shape. If it could be possible. it
was more dense than ever. and boiling
in its b%lackness. Balls of lire sped back
and forth in the air; or my SIGHT was
under an ha~llucination to that effect.
All the phenomena seemed to have
their center in that cone of black cloud.
The strangest, the most awful thing of
all that fearful experience was what |
saw now. Behind that black cloud.
whether followingi Gor drivingit | know
not, anne a tall cloud of intensest,
o dazzling white-a pillar of glory.
growing every instant more like a pillar
OF fire, and soon appearing to control
the lnky shape. The raving noise was
now at Its height. I'm a moment the
mysterious shapes had passed from
our contracted line Of vision; they
marched on, destroying as they went.
The crash of timber along a stream not
Tar OIL, the ~caunOnading of the thunder.
which had now opened its forces. and
above all the overwhelming roar of the
wind, made us shrink and cover closer
together. a icrcer blast caused US To
throw ourselves Hat on the stony
ground, grasping at each others hands.
SO ignorant was / that | believed ut the
time that we were in full power of the
tornado, instead Of being cOmparative-
ly sheltered by the walls Of the oulch.
Atterward ] knew that we could hardly
have saved our lives had we not been
able 10 reach this rayine.
D''' I i7it ~ LoWcl ON my mead. from
which my hat had long since gone.
found that DO was one of Che horses.
They had all come back from their first
run mp the gulch 10 be near us. the three
stood huddicd close by, when we had n
chance TO look. As / recall thing. i'm a
dream, so ! recall tho incidents OF the
time while we remained ir that refuge.
Once, in % glare Of the lightning. and
while my eyes were open and ms head
raised. ] saw several objects living over
the top Of the 1ulch. They were sheen.
and their dead, bruised bodies we're
found. as if they had been flung hard
against the ground. after the storm
Once something came down close bv
me, hitting my hand where / had duy
my fingers unconciously down into the
earth. it was q small prairie dog. and
ii lay still i'm death, near me Many
prairie hens. the noxi dag were found
dead, with almost al their feathers
stripped OF by The wind. While ila
terror lasted there wa hardly 70 luII i'm
Tho i.rDcitY of it ] thought we had
been hours hiding there. when at last
tnc rain began to come down heavily.
and 20 moment after The wind scusiblv
diminished to q hard gale We were d.
rccty soaked thoroughly. bat ] think
none of us cared for that. The hurlfnv
noise Of Che storm was siIl deafcnInv.
but "e lc.t chat Che worst. was over. for
us 800 least That demon cone Jf cloud
was living further Ou ifs road OF de-
~rfrurfpu Irf 81 had faU t.