The Evening post. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1888-1889, 1889-01-04
THE CLOUD-BURST.
lCoNCLUDED.1


head, he said, sternly, II never could
be the mean fellow you think me, and
yet you may be right in disliking me. /
fancy never was loveable man; in
fact, never was much used to women
kind. having neither mother nor sisters.
Well. well-Olsen will look after you If
I'm not back tonight Goodbye"
He went out quickly aud jumped into
the wagon. l watched him out of sight;
then went into the bed room. put on
q stout dress and shoes, packed few
little things | cared for, and flung on my
un-bonnet. / told Olsen | was going
over to Mrs. Bohm's and might stay all
night, and started for her house When
| thought he could no longer see me l
left the path and struck across the coun-
try to trail that led to the public road
some miles beyond Mrs. Frances ranch.
Glenn often went by this trail to town
when he was on horseback.
kept steadily on, over level land,
through cactus and suge brush, then
further ahead | went over rolling
ground, hill-like mounds, and then de-
scended into valley, Dry Creek Canon.
l did not stop to eat or drink, in
luCb lncTt WIS no wafer LOT miles. III
was terribly hot, the air close and sitting,
and the few scorched willows along the
sandy creek bed afforded no shelter at
all. / noticed early in the afternoon
wagon tracks where q team had como
down the low banks into the creek bed.
] saw some one was ahead of me. There
was, l knew, farther on, an old, aban-
doned ranch where emigrants often
stopped. began to feel fear now, / re-
membered | was woman, and alone,
but / hoped they would have crossed the
canon and gone over the hills to this
place. l kept on, determined not tolgive
up so soon. Once when l looked back
timorously, frightened by the awful
stiffness of the canon, l saw the heavens
were dark and angry.
Soon dull thunder peals eciued from
the hills and sharp flash Of lightning
dazzled me for moment. L knew one
of those sudden and terrible thunder
storms peculiar to mountainous country
was upon me. ] believed half my I'M
happiness at the ranch was caused by
the fact that had to stay alone in thun-
der showers, and the terror they in
spired then will never leave ME. AS the
roar grew louder, the light more vivid, /
began TO long for human companions
ship. prayed / might find the wagon
and a woman in 1t, and | planned a
story to tell the people that would ex-
plain my strange appearance. | ran
faster, all the while with the energy of a
terrible despair.
The air grew close and murky, the sky
overcast, the clouds low-hanging, and q
strange, moaning wind swept down the
canon rustling the scattered willows. A
few raindrops battered on my shoulders
and wished for my shawl that in my
excitement / had forgotten to take.
heard the rattle of wheels and just ahead
as / turned bend in the creek, i saw a
wagon going rapidly down the canon.
The driver-a man-was sitting with
bowed head and did not heed my frantic
calls till was close to him. He refined
in his horses and looked back "MollyW
he,cried.
In my fright and haste ] had recog-
niZed neither team nor driver. / stood
and looked at him in miserable disap-
pointment, yet l was glad too, for the
thunder storm was very present and real,
and my running away was all in mis-
cradle future. At least Glenn would be
with me now If we never saw each other
again.
"Where were you goingH" he said
coldly.
A hasty answer rose to my lips, ar
rested at the instant by the strange ex.
preston on CLIENTS face. He was looking
up the cannon; ! turned and saw, far
above, q bark line like number of
cattle crossing n creek bed. The rain
was coming now in great swift sheets,
while the thunder reverberated over the
far.away hills and the lightning flung
ito rod CLARA oprnec orr w hita fapnu
Glen ran to the horses, cut their har-
ness and struck them with the whip.
''It'll give the poor beasts chance" he
said, as they galloped across the sand
Then he caught me by the arm.
run for your life" he cried, dragging
me along.
Above the roar of the tempest there
was another sound, steady and coming
nearer. A fearful crashing of waters, like
Niagara dropped suddenly down in a
quiet landscape. looked up the creek
and saw dark moving mass with Curl
GUS motion no one can describe. 1t had
not the smooth fullness and onward rush
of an ocean wave. but rather a mad
dance. 1t had no white crest nor shining
surface; II was black and oily, like mud
in waves, and came with tremendous We.
locity. Ahead of us, mid-stream, was a
little mound that had been part of the
eastern shore, probably separated
by just such flood, and thither we
ran. On the island were number
of cotton-woods, one old giant that must
have penetrated to some hidden spring,
for its foliage was green and bright.
The ground about its roots had been
washed away, leaving some of them ex-
posed, while the bank we climbed was 50
spongy and yielding that q great mass
of sandy earth fell after us as we strug-
gled up The island was four or five feet
higher than the creek bed and we reached
its shore just in time, for already there
was dirty scum, presage of the torrent,
kissing over the dry hot sand.
Glenn pulled me up into the big tree,
and just as he did so wave, all of ten
feet high, leaped upon us. 1t reared
straight up into the air, hurting timber,
trees, dead cows, pail from some
rancher's door, woman's hat and a
chair. / thought, as these things whirled
by, had any one.else been surprised, too.
and would we go floating in CHASTITY
gaiety down that black river2 Close be-
hind this wave came second one and
the two chased each other in diabolical
merriment they churned up the sand,
dug great black holows between each
other and went thmblihg along, followed
by foaming stretch of water, too swift
for waves in its pell-mell haste.
As the water rose Glenn dragged me
further mp the tree, both of us wet and
BhiVering.