The Red Cloud chief., 1885-10-09

voice. ] did not speak. but my sister.
who did not see Mans face. said. in .
commonplace voice:
..ls moi that q rather b~elligerent
specimen Of a cloud?'
Nan did not apparently hear her: she
sat silent for perhaps half n minute,
then she turned 10 Us and said quickly:
Il hope You can ride fas:. We can't
get home; what good if We could? There
is a narrow gulch about a mile AM a
half from here. It's the only place |
know"
She turned her horse sharply to the
| right. and told him ~iicrc.ly ~ 90. We
followed, riding as | had never ridden
before. The horses caught ire from
us. and raced On in that wild way they
have, which j. not like the manner Of
hor-cs in the East. In spite OF the g a
which now possessed u, all, there was
| a certain glorious feeling in tat de
| After We had turned We could look off
| at our right at the cloud, whlch was
rushing on with terrible ~quickness. and
which ] now fancied was pursuing US.
and Us alone.
Suddenly there was a t~hunderouS
| sound toward the west, and looking
| that way ! saw a vast herd Of cattle
sweeping on. a dark. surging mas.
with tossing horns glancing white in
| the sunshine. for the sun was shining
brilliantly al this time. 1t was a stam-
pcde. never knew whether thy were
frightened by the cloud or had been
urged on by the uncxpla ned impulse
that oomeiimcs zones to them 10 flee
madlv over the plains. AT another time
this sight would have been Of stirring
interest: now | did not care TO watch
| the light of the cattle. ] was too III
tent on orr 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 at last OBJ
scurcd the sunlight. 1t wa 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 n roar, rs Of Oncom-
ing wind. Nan cried cut again TO her
horse, the animals lurched forward Yet
faster. and in Il moment we were al
entering the ravinr. Ii was extremely
uneven ground AMI covered by broken
sharp stones. Ny sister and ! Were
watching Nan; she slipped OF the sad
die and hurricdly motioncd to us to do
the same. The instant we We're 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 nv shoes
cut and Il cash in my foot, but ] did
not feel the wound when | received it.
While We were thus hurrying 10 get to
the deepest shelter of tn" gully. the o
above us was awful, and was increasing
every moment. IL rcvcrbcratrd strange
" through the ravine. We could not
have heard word had we spoken. We
al stopped simultaneously and looked
"a: each o;hcr. They were two vcrr
white faces that | saw. with strained,
frightened eyes. Nan made n V
mcnt with her head that we were not to
20 on; and we crouchcd down against
the rocky sides of the earth. The next
instant Emma leaned hea.ily upon me
! and silently pointed upward toward
the chasin's opening. where We
had entered. The black cloud
was IuSt going past our point
of vision: it had dilatrd To twice its
former size, but still retained lis cvlin-
der shape. If it could b. poSs BILE. il
wa5 more dense han ever. and boiling
in its blackncSS. Balls of ire sped back
and forth in the air; or my sight was
under an hallucination To that effect.
! All the phenomena seemed Ia have
| tt,,r ..,,.A -, .l,.. .n,n .f Il,,l- .'n,
The stranCn~t. the most awful thing of
all that fearful cXper cnce WAS what |
saw now. Behind that black cloud.
whether following tor driy ngit | know
not, came Il tall cloud of intcnsest.
most dazzling white II pillar of glory.
growing every instant more iik L pillar
of fire. and soon appearing To control
the inky shape. The ravinr noise was
now nj Its he ght. I'm a moment the
two mysterious shapes had passed from
u contracted line of vision; they
marched on. destroying rs they went.
The crash of timber along Il stream Mt
far oil. the ~cannonad NJ oi the thunder.
winch had now opened its forces. and
above nj the overwhelming roar of the
wind. made uS shrink and COVER closer
together. 4 iicrccr blast caused us To
throw ourselves Hat on the stony
ground. grasping at each Others hands.
SO ignorant WA, l that | believed at the
time tiia; We were in full power OF the
tornado. instead of being comparative
ly sheltered by the walls OF the gulrh.
Afterwari | knew that we could hardly
have saved our lives had We not been
able tn reach this ravine.
Once | felt 4 touch on my head. from
which nv hat had long since gone. |
found that i was one of tn. horses.
| They had all come back from their first
run up the gulch To Toe nea us: the three
stood huddied close by. when we had 4
chance TO look. As | recall things in \
dream. so | recall the incidents of the
tine while we remained in that refuge.
Once. in a care of the lIg timing. and
while my eyes were open and my head
raised. | saw several objects flying over
the top OF the gulch. They We're shee,.
and their dead. bruised bodies were
found. AS if they had been lung hard
ara INST the ground. after the stoim.
Once something came down close by
me. hitting my hand where | had dug
my fingers ANONYMOUSLY down into the
earth. 1t was a small prairie dog. and
il lay still in death. near me. Many
prairie hens. the next day. were found
dead. with almost AL their feathers
stripped of by the wind. While the
terror lasted there was hardly n lull in
the ~ferocity of il. | thought we had
been hours hiding there. when At last
the rain began t. come down heavily.
and a moment after the wind senSibly
diminished 10 = hard gale. We were d.
rcctly soaked thoroughly. but | hnk
none of us cared Tor that. The hurting