Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-11-22
Pierce aessss ssss, a Cure.
WHILE THE SENTINEL SLEPT.


 Utterly Away.
 At o'clock of n summers afternoon the head wagon of the immigrant train 1 skirting the foothills of Bald mountain comes to n halt beside a little rivulet break ing out of n deep, dark gorge and losing | itself after quarter of n mile in the hills | to the west Here is n valley, or dip" mile long by half n mile broad, with a | narrow entrance on the north and the south. There are ten wagons in the train | ten wagons and 50 people. The Indian problem has been solved, and they arc seeking new homes nearer sunset. The men are hardy and the women brave, and | all day long us the train toilcd over the | rough country the children have raced aft CT flowers or called to each other from un- der the white topped wagons. There arc no hostile Indians, no wild beasts to fear, l no herds to stampede and leave death and destruction behind.
 ! The site of the camp is decided by water | and grass. Rivulet as 1t Is, hero Is an | abundance of water, and, though 1t has | not rained for many long days, the hungry animals will find plenty of forage. An | old hunter or veteran plainsman would 1 not have selected such n site. Had one come riding up even after the wagons | were parked and :he tired animals were 1 hobbled out he would have insisted on i'm mediate removal from that valley. The | stream coming down out of the gorge was scarcely foot wide, but the channel way ] was ten. On the rocky sides, higher than | the tallest man among them, were sticks and branches and punches of weeds and grass, left there when the last cloudburst | occurred. Under their feet and the wheels | of the wagons were signs not to be neglect ] ed but which no one observed. Water and l grass and fuel and good natJsc made 1t picnic ground. The women gossiped as they cooked at the campfires, the men whistlcd and joked as they turned out their horses, and while waiting for supper the children raced back and forth across the mouth of the dark gorge and tried to frightcn each other with cries of 'wolt' and bear"
 The sun went down on n scene of peace and tho first stars of evening never looked through the soft mist upon n camp which had less fear of the night. There were rhymes to Hull the young children to sleep, songs and choruses in which the older ones joined as the night came down and tho campfircs crackled merrily. At o'clock all the children werc tucked away | in the wagons; at 10 only n single sentinel was left awake. There were wolves prowl- ing about. Some of the horses might get loose Now and then the dry grass around the fires blazed up and must be stamped
 
 Tho men and women and children had said that to each other n dozen times over. | The sentinel would not even be lonely in a camp like that. The man selected to take the watch from 10 to 12 was past middle age. The sentinel who went on from 12 to was n young man. During the last 15 minutes of his watch the older man was silently watching the sky to the southwest. He made out flash or two of | lightning and n dark cloud stealing up. He could feel that there was rain down there. Some of the horses which were l down got up and snufTed the air and point | cd their ears and noses at the cloud.
 Watch that cloud!' was the old mans caution as the sentinels were changed. Ut may pass of over the plains to the south, but if it swings to the north you must give the alarm"
 For ten minutes tho young man kept his face to tho southwest. He caught faint flashes of lightning, but thero was no thunder. The cloud certainly grew larger, hut also remained stationary. By and by he replenishcd one of the fires, went among the horse;, threw n stick at n coyote sneak ing under one of the wagons and then sat down to watch and smoke and think. The cloud was not forgotten, but it would be time to alarm the camp when the thunder began to growl. At half past F the sen tinel sat down with his back to the wheel of a wagon. At o'clock he was wide awake. Fifteen minutes later he slept. There hnd been no thunder, no sharp flashes of lightning. Tho cloud was for gotten.
 At midnight ono who could have had q fair view of the cloud would have wit messed the formation of thunderstorm. At half past 12 1t had an ugly, manacing look and was inclined to float to the north. At o'clock it had a decided movs in that direction and was following n mar row valley which ended five or six miles away at the base of the mountain. Once the cloud was in motion 1t travelled rapid ly. At a quarter past 1t reached the far end of the valley. There were flashes of lightning and claps of thunder, but no one in camp was awake to see or hear. When the end of the valley was reached, the cloud lifted like a balloon. Half way to the peak 1t struck and was shattered, and its hundreds of thousands of gallons of water fell like a great wave. Up there was the beginning of the gorge and the rivulet. Ten seconds after the cloudburst the gorge was brim full and the waters sweeping along like wild locomotives. | Down in the camp the horses paved and pulled at their lariats and strained at their hobbies, but the sentinel slept-all slept One wild cry awoke man, woman and child. It was shout of alarm and n death shriek combined. It was uttered as the waters dashed out of the gorge at the camp. Nothing could stand before them. Wagons, horses, human belngs-every- thing except the hills was caught up and swept along and beaten about until 1t was 0 wreck or pulp. When day dawned and | the sun rose, there was nothing to be seen in the little valley but pool of muddy water, at which the wolves slaked their thirst. Nothing had lived; nothing had escaped annihilation. M. QUAD.
 The Chinese Lady of Mercy.