Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1890-11-20
DOROTHEA INGRAM.
A Story of Early Colo
NAL Days.
BY CHARLES G. HAHN.
CHAPTER In-GContinued.)

CHAPTER In.-(COntinued1
From this day on the minister had no
doubt of Hillary's league with the evil
one, and, Just as he meant to be, for he
was man of honest conviction, or preju-
dice, he would have had his enemy
brought up for trial, had not his value in
the settlement been so great that his
neighbors counseled patience. But the
silent influence of the minister had its
effect and after a short sojourn in the
village, Hillary, as We have seen, had
built a cabin in the woods and removed
there with his daughter.
On the very day of Che trial, the minis
ter had another manifestation of the
strange power which was being exercised
over his daughter, then about ten years
old During the day the air had become
sultry, surely portending a thunder storm
The leaves upon the fruit trees scarcely
seemed to move. Towards noon a dark
cloud had drifted over them from the
south, but it passed away and was seen
to break up in the north. This advance
guard of the storm, however, was followed
In less than half an hour by an army of
smaller clouds, which came slowly up
wards, and at length after much blowing
about In the upper air, Joined together
and began to settle down over Sagnauck.
A deep rumbling was heard among them,
and then, as if the thunder had broken
the water barriers, few large drops of
rain fell pattering upon the forest leaves
and on the cabin roofs. A gust of wind
followed, partially relieving the pioneers
or the sultriness and then the refreshing
water began 10 fall in a steady shower
Flashes of light appeared in the sky, and
the crash and boom of the disturbed eIe-
ments were heard. That sharp rafting,
SO terrible because of the indefiniteness
OF the hghtning's course, followed rap
IDLY, and to an imaginative mind it
seemed as though heaven had opened up
for a magnificent battle with the tail
giants of the forest. A dash here, q
streak of light. a crash, a dull rumble
above, and the tall oak which had held
Its head aloft for half a century was rent
In twain, never in its pride to look down
upon its smaller brothers again. TIE
wind forces. too were reused, and rushed
through the forest, tearing away great
limbs, scattering the colored autumn
leaves and bowling great trees before them.
After half an hour the force of the
storm was broken, the sharp crash of the
thunderbolt was heard no more, the wind
went down and IA fell copiously in a
steady yet gentle shower, which lasted
until nearly evening. But after that the
sky for an hour or more was lighted now
and then with those zigzag streaks of
lightning which frequently follow a
storm.
A thunder storm is always a grand
sight, but to the simple Puritans it meant
knuch more than 1t does to their descend
ants now. To their simple minds the
fury of the elements was q display of the
power of God, and they listened reVer1
emily to His voice as if they were indeed
at the foot of a second Sinai.
But in the case of the Rev. Henry
Granville. the storm brought him ont in
the weakest part of his character. There
was something SO terribly positive in the
descent of a thunderbolt that he covered
and cringed before it. The roar of the
wind through the forest seemed so re-
CARELESS of his weakness, that he trem-
bled vet more when he heard il; and the
lightning flash and the falling rain were
so far beyond his power to stay them, that,
humbled and weak. his only recourse
was to gather his family about him-and
pray
An hour after the trial he was seated
In his chair at home, his thin lips moving
in prayer, his eyes turned fearfully, vet
with fascination of fear that he could
not resist toward the window, and his
form cringing and shrinking back at
every crash.
Aohsah was the only one who was not
terrified at the storm. She had refused
to 90 to her father, and had lain down
upon a rude couch where she could watch
the play of the lightning. When her
father tried to sink deeper into his arm
chair st some vivid fash of light, she
laughed and clapped her hand6-
WAS not that good stroke2" she
would say to the minister. Some tall
tree in the forest was shattered then, I
doubt not" And her father imagined
that her smile had an air of fendish
As the slorm increased, she became
even more gay, and the poor faith saw
unmistakable signs that the ga ETY. was
the effect of some nervous or mental ex-
citement which he could neither compre-
bend nor a1lny. But suddenly he heard a
cry of pain, and, turning to his child, saw
her " ing back upon the couch, with pale
face Ia which fear and bodily suffering
were both plainly marked
What is it, Achsah2" the minister
asked
Some one is sticking me with thOrns.
The child was hastily undressed. and
upon her body were found several places
where the blood was starting through the
skin. Nausea followed, and then the girl
fsllback upon her pillow, exhausted
-Oh, I see him, papa, see him, she
said, after time.
See who, Achsah?"
The girl did not answer, but soon cried
out again:
He has hurt my arm.
The now thoroughly frightened man
uncovered her arms. and sure enough,
amen go a. them Wsre-to be discerned