Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-03-05

so deafcning ia their appalling loudness
as 10 shake the rickeiy tenement 60 rs
foundations. aud to hrgot n Che listener
mind sensation of confused anN
nwcl bcwilirrmonL The whole ai
m0snhcrc WINS one shco. of blind
ing flame. Harlly fraction of
a second seemed 10 intervene between
each stcely hnsh. and IN Tho unhrokn
roar and crash OF tlc thunder II was as
ii the very heavens wore about 20 roll
up in n scroll Thcn. 10 o hurricane
ruch the rain descended and. lit up by
the vivid electric stream more dazlling
than the brghtcst glow of MONDAY. the
whole siaco ia front OF the open door
way was rs y heayug. dancing sea.
At length there cauc hull The
lightning was hardly less vivid. but 1t
flashed nc longer intervals. and tue
hOarse booming Of the thunder rolled
mnjestcally from elf 10 cliff The rain
now fell In q soft gcgular downpour and
the rotten thatch was leaking like q
sieve. i'm the dazzling CLEAN of the
lightning Pugh could take Ia every de-
tail of Che room; the wOrm-cuten bC.unsi
the nails, rusty and crooked, hnlt inli.
ing from tho sometimes wAitcwashed
walls. the long cohwcbs trailing iu rag
grd gray fcstOons from the thatch: the
hlnckencl fireplace. holt filled With
fuiicn bricks An OH cooking pot. de-
legs brokcn of. lay ON the hearth. 0tifFf-
wise 20 remnant of any article OF dOmCs-
tie use. Chairs, tables everything OF the
kind. had long since been chopped up
Tor hrc-wOod.
And now as the wild ruving Of the
storm gave WY 10 silence and blachncs5,
intensified hundtedfold 10y the previous
strife of tlIc clements, some measure of
the weird associations of the place beam
90 obtrudC itself upon the mans mind.
Nor could 10 otherwise Strong
nervcd, mid-hcuded as lac was. the
influences of the grouesome tradition,
combined with darkness and the utter
solitude of this savage wilderness, were
bound 90 have their effect even upon
Carlton Pugh. II was one thug tO be-
skcptical in broad daylight while dis
GUESSING the pros aud cons in n cheer
fol circle OF his kind. it was quite
uu tlcr 90 find his sECpiicism uu-
CNpcctpdly put to the tcst, alone and
with the dirk dead hours of whole
night before him. And then. although
hc had brcathcd no word of it to living
soul, he was conscious in his heart OF
hearts that oven his sscpticism md boon
forced 10 acknowledge weak point
since thut extraordinary aud inexplicJ-
bic affair Of the liOtttntut uad lubOrcr
scared into luuucy frre. the follow
was only u Hottcntot, than which no
more childislly supcrstitiQus being
exists. still tho result remamcd-un
established fact-aud there was no get
thug round e.
'Ihow said Carlton To- himself. Am
/ going 10 funk the very thing / laughed
al those poor childish devils for fnhngy
Nul much
lie Gllcd his pipe, and taking out his
match box struck light The crack
Of the wax yesh iGiting was like the
report of pistol iu the dcuthly stiffness.
The bcst tonic for nerves Is action Ac-
coyliuply, with his pipe i'm FUN blast. hc
sirollcd forth. intent on seeing how his
horse had Jared.
The animal snuiIcd az lac approached.
glad of the sociabllity Of % second prcs-
once perhaps so was his Muster lie
was exactly where he had been left
beneath the shelter of the projecting