Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1888-05-18

increasingly, appearing anu disappearing III
needles of fire, and twisting and writhing ser
pentwse round about its outer edges.
The distant muttering of thunder that they |
had heard had died away, and now the great
storm swept on in silent majesty, like the
passage Of ghostly host, from which there
arose no sound of feet or rolling of wheels. |
Only before it sped the swift angels OF the
wind, and behind it swung the curtain of the
rain.
Even as Muller spoke a gust Of icy air
caught the cart and tilted it, and the light
ming needles began to play more dreadfully
than ever. The storm was breaking upon
them.
Come, get on, get on" he shouted, you
will be killed here; the lightning always
strikes along the water" and as he said it he
struck one of the wheelers sharply with his
whip.
"Climb over the back Of the seat, Mouti,
and stand by to help me with the reins!" sung
out John to The Zulu, who obeyed, getting be-
tween him and jess.
snow jess, hang on, and say your prayers,
for it strikes me we shall have need Of them.
So, horses, So"
The horses backed and plunged, but Muller
on the one side and the smooth faced Boer on
the other dashed them without mercy, and at
last they went into the river with rush.
The gust had passed now, and for a moment
Or two there was renewed silence, except for
the whirl of the water and the snakeiike hiss
of the coming rain
For few yards, ten or fifteen perhaps, all
went we'll and then John suddenly discovered
that they were getting into deep water; the
two leaders were evidently almost of their
legs, and could scarcely stand against the cur
rent of the flooded river.
wheeiers reared straight up into the air with
a shrek Of agony and came down with
splash into the river.
And then followed scene the horrors Of
which battles my poor pen. Overhead the
storm burst in fury, and flash after flash of
fork, or rather of chain, lightning fell into
the river. The thunder, too, began to crack
like the trump OF doom; the wind rushed
down, tearing the surface Of the water into
foam, and catching under the tent Of the
cart, lifted it clean of the wheels, SO that it
began to float Then the two leaders, mad
with fear by the fury of the storm and the
dying struggles Of the of wheeler, plunged
and tore at the traces till they actually rent
themselves loose and vanished between the
darkness overhead and the boiling water be-
meath. Away foated the cart, now touching
the bottom and now riding on the water like
Q boat, oscillating this way and that, alHl
slowly turning round and round. With it
foated the dead horse, dragging down the
/ other wheeler beneath the water. 1t was aw-
full to zee his struggles in the glare of the
lightning, but at last he sank and choked.
And meanwhile, sounding sharp and clear
across the din and hubbub of the storm, came
| the cracking of the three rifles whenever the
flashes showed the whereabouts of the cart to
tho murderers on the bank. Mouti was lying
still in the bottom OH the bed plank, bullet
between his broad shoulders and another in
his skull: hut John felt that his life was vet
whole in him, though something had Kissed
past his face and stung it Instinctively he
reached across the cart and drew Jess on to
his knee, and covered over her, thinking
dimly that perhaps his body would protect
her from the bullets.
Ripl rip! through the wood and canvas;
phutl phut! through the air; but some mer
ciful power protected them. and though one
cut Johns coat and two passed through the
skirt Of Jess dress, not bullet struck them
And very soon the shooting began to grow
Wild and then that dense vail of rain came
down and wrapped them so close that even the
lightning could not show their whereabouts
to the assassns on the bank.
"Stop shooting" said Frank Muller; "the
cart has sunk, and there is an end Of them.
No human being can have lived through that
fire and the Vaal in flood"
The two Beers ceased firing, and the Uni
corn shook his head softly and remarked to
his companion that the damned English peo-
pie in the water could not be much wetter
than they were OH the bank. It was O curl
GUS thing to say at such moment, but prob
ably the spirit that animated the remark was
not so much calOusness as that which ani-
mated Cromwell, who Tipped the ink in his
neighbOr's face when he signed the death
| warrant of his king
Muller was also thinking Of the warrant
which he had forged. He must get it back
somehow, even if
"Lct us take shelter under the bank there.
There is a fiat place, about fifty yards up,
/ where the bank lies over. This rain is
drowning us. We can't upsaddle till it
clears. l must hive a nip OF brandy, too.
Almighty! 1 aan see that girls face nowl
tho lightning shone on it just as / shot. Well,
she will DO in heaven now, poor thing, il
English people ever go to heaven"
1t was the Unicorn who spokc, and the
Vilderbeeste made no reply, but advanced
with him to where tho horses stood. They
took the patient brutes that were waiting for
their masters, their heads well down and the
water streaming from them, and led them
along with them. Frank Muller stood by his
own horse thinking. and watched them
vanish into the gloom. How was he to get
that warrant back without dyeing his hands
even redder than they werel
As he thought, an answer came For at
that moment, accompanied by a fearful
thunderclap, tLero shot from the storm over
head, which had now nearly passed away,
one of those awful flashes that sometimes end
an African tempest 1t lit up tho whole
scene round as light as day, and right in the
white heart of it Muller saw his two COM
panions in crime and their horses rs the great
king saw the men III the furnace They were
about forty PAGES from him, on the crest of
the bank He saw them one moment erect;
the next-mcn and horses falling this way
and that, prone to the earth And then it
was all dark again. He staggered with the
shock, and when it had passed rushed to the
spot, calling the men by name; but no an
swer came, except the echo Of his voice. He
was there now, and the moonlight began to
struggle family through the rain Its pale
beams lit upon two outstretched forms-one
lying ON its back, its distorted features gazing
up to heaven, the other on its face. By them,
the legs OF the nearest sticking straight into
the air. lay the two horses They had gone
to their account. The lightning had killed
them, as it kills many an innocent man in
Africa.
Frank Muller looked; and then, forgetting
about the warrant and everything else in the
horror Of what he took to be O visible judr-
ment, rushed to his horse and galloped wildly
away, pursued by all the terrors of hell
l