Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1892-01-28

bodily into the tank. We were
afraid of staying anywhere near the
old tomb for fear it might be blown
down. So we felt our way to the
orange trees where our horses we're
picketed and waited for the storm
to blow over. Then the little ray
of light that was left vanished and
you could not see your hand before
your face.
The air was heavy with dust and
sand from the bed of the river, that
filed boots and pockets and drifted
down necks and coated eyebrows
and moustaches. It was one of the
worst dust storms of the year. We
we're ell haddled together close to
the trembling horses, with the thnn-
der clattering overhead and the
lightning squirting like water from
a sluice, all ways at once. There
was no danger of course, unless the
horses broke loose.
/ was standing with my head
downward and my hands over my
mouth, hearing the trees threshing
each other. / could not see who
was next me till the flashes came.
Then | found that / was packed
near Saumarez and the eldest Miss
Copleigh, because she had q pagri
round her helmet and the younger
had not. All the electricity in the
air had gone into my body and l
was quivering and tingling from
head to foot-exaetly as corn
shoots and tingles before rain. It
was a grand storm. The wind
seemed to be picking mp the earth
and pitching it to the leeward in
great heaps; and the heat beat up
from the ground like the heat of
the Day Of Judgement.
The storm lulled slightly after
the first half hour, and / heard
despairing voice close to my ear,
saying to itself, quietly and softly,
as if some lost soul were flying a.
bout with the wind: och! my
GodF' Then the younger Miss
Copleigh stumbled into my arms
saying: "Where is my horse? Get
my horse. L want to 60 home.
Take me home"
| thought that the lightning and
the black darkness had frightened
her; so said there was no danger,
but she must wait till the storm
blew over. She answered: cit is
not that! 1t is not that! 1 want
to go home! Oh, take me away
from here!'
/ said that she could not go till
the light came; but felt her brush
past me and go away. 1t was too
dark to see where. Then the whole
sky was split open with one tre-
mendous flash, as if the end of the
world were coming, and all the wo-
men shrieked.
Almost directly after this I felt
mans hand on my shoulder and
heard Saumarez believing in my
ear. Through the rattling of the
trees and bowling of the wind l did
not catch his words at once. At
last | heard him say; "I've pro-
posed to the wrong one! What
shall do?" Saumarez had no oc-
casion to make this confidence to
me. / was never a friend of his,
nor am | now; but / fancy neither
OF us we're ourselves just then. He
was shaking as he stood with ex-
citement, and was feeling queer
all over with the electricity. /
could not think of anything to say
except, "More fool for you propos-
ing in dust Storm" But / did
not see how that would improve the
mistake.
Then he shouted: "Where's
Edith-Edith Copleigh?" Edith
was the younger sister. answered
out of my astonishment: "What
do you want with herr" Would
you believe it, for the next two
hours he and l were shouting at
each other like maniacs, he VOW
ing that it was the younger sister
he had meant to propose to all
along, and / telling him till my
throat was hoarse that he must
have made q mistake! can't ac-
count for this except, again, by the
fact that we were neither of MS our
selves. Everything seemed to me
like bad dream-from the stamp
ing of the horses in the darkness to
Saumarez telling me the story of
his loving Edith Copleigh from the
first. He was still clawing INV