The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-01-31

4
he remained as steady as a rock, sheltering
me in his shadow. At intervals he turned
and looked at me, and once he whinnied
softly as IL out Of pure pity and comrade-
ship.
BY and by there came a change The
flaming sky was overcast, the shimmering
sand turned gray, and after awhile dark
clouds began to gather in the south. Then
a tepid, relaxing wind blew from the same
quarter, bringing an electric sultriness in
place of the white heat. After little the
wind ceased and dead calm fell.
The atmosphere seemed to have suddenly
grown solid and to be weighing upon the
world like canopy of molten lead. Breath
ing had been difficulty before-it was
positive pain now. My horse grew restive,
snorting, paving the ground and shifting at
the far darkness, now fast spreading and
deepening. u-.a
All at once out of the deathly stiffness
came little blast of wind that tossed the
sand spitefully in my face and passed on
with a weird, uneanny wall. Another and
another followed with low, hopeless moan
as of incurable sorrow, then silence again
so deep that to my beating senses it was
audible. 1t was as If great, invisible
host were treading the loose earth and fill
on into the inane. And let me tell you
that the awesome sound Of unshod silence
is thing to make the hair rise on the head
and tho flesh creep on the bones. spoke
to my horse for the sake Of company, and
my words were ghostly gibber. l was star
tied at the sound of my own voice
The darkness was soon an inky blsckness
The sullen heavens were descending, and
impenetrable clouds were marshaling in
forbidding ramparts along the kyline OF
the south. Then lambent fire began to
flicker about the outer edges of the dense
masses, and presently there was borne to
my ears the long roll OF incipient thunder
A few minutes later big drops of rain be-
gan to patter on the sand, sending up vol
umes of dusty steam.
| got to my feet with joy unspeakable.
Praise be to heaven, my cry for help had
been heard and answered. | was saved,
saved from the vnltures and the heaping
sands. Man is an insignificant atom in the
scale of the universe, yet easily believes
himself the object of special providence
Here We're the streams of water in the des.
ert sent for me and for me alone. / wept
with awe and gratitude
The rain came thicker and faster, first
shower and then deluge. The sun was
eclipsed, and the dome overhead seemed to
be cracking and rending as at the blast OF
the last trump. And indeed to me it was
little less than resurrection. Here was
water, and water was life. The thunder
roared ever nearer and louder till worlds Of
wrecked matter seemed to be crashing over
my head. My ears were stunned by the
exploding bolts, and on my face felt the
hot smack Of the forked lightning that
"a m rf Era Ilnt
through it all the benehcent rain came
down in sheets, drenching me not merely
TO the skin but to the very marrow, With
upturned face and open mouth slhked my
baking throat and as I drank, with ten
times the greediness of the fevered drunk
ard, l could see my horse with his nozzle
turned to the pouring skies, as II he, too
were having saving draft
Far into the night the storm doomed and
poured. While II lasted lay stretched
full length on the soaking sands, slowly
turning over and over so that the blessed
food might enter at every pore. 1t was
impossible to have too much of that heav-
ems gift, and would not miss drop of it,
Nor, while reveling in the shower bath, did
forget to fill my water skin against future
needs.
Now and again had glimpses Of crouch
ing forms, with eyes that matched the
lightning, ready TO pQunce upon me, but
somehow they never came to the spring.
In the air, too, were wheeling things that
would swoop down and then dart off with
cry Of disappointment at finding the
!, expected corpse living man.
In the early morning the storm died
away, and the stars came out in crystal
line, dewy azure that was as the cool blue
bosom of a summer lake. Not daring to
sleep, lay and looked up at them, medtat-
ing at the marvels they must have seen in
the course of the countless ages. But
though iny thoughts were serious enough
land with good reason they had not the
gloom of ght before
fr1 RE cos. MID