The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1896-03-13

| great IdflH.
We gathered by the tank Som,
one had brought out a banjo, which i
a most sentimental instrument, anC
three or four of us sang. You mus
not laugh at this. Dnr amusement,
i'll out of the way stations are few in
deed. Then we talked III groups o.
together, lying under the trees viii
the sun baked roses dropping tEciI
petals on cur feet until supper wa,
| ready. 1t was Il beautiful supper. IL
cold and as iced as you could wish
and We staid long overiT.
| | had felt that the air was CROWNS
hotter and hotter, but nobody seemed
to notice it until the moon went gu
and burning hot y md began flashing
| the orange trees with u sound like tie
| noise Of the sea Before we kre%
| where we We're the dust storm WIS on
us and everything was roaring, whiri
ing darkness. The supper table was
| blown bodily into The tank We were
afraid of staying anywhere near the
| old tomb Tor fear 1t might be blown
| down. So we felt our way to the
orange trees where the horses were
| picketed and waited for the storm 10
blow over. Then the little light hat
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 dritted down
necks and coated eyebrows and mus
| taches. 1t was one of the worst dust
storms of the year. We We're I'LL mud
died together close TO the trembling
| horses, with the thunder chattering
overhead and the lightning squirting
| like water from II Sluice all WAYS az
once. There was no danger, of course,
unless the horses broke loose. | was
standing with my head down wind
and NV hands over my mouth, hear
ing the trees thraShing each other |
could not see who was next me tilt the
flashes came Then ! found that |
WAS packed near SaumareZ and the
elder Miss Copleigh, with my own
horses just in front of me. | recog-
nized the elder Miss Copleigh because
she had Il pagri round her helmet, and
the Younger had not. All the elec-
tricity iii the air had gone into my
body, and was quivering and ting
ling from head to foot, exactly us II
corn shoots and tingles before rain. 1t
was grand storm. The wind seemed
to be picking up earth and pitching it
to leeward i'll great heaps, and the
heat beat up from the ground like the
heat of the day of judgment.
The storm lulled slightly after the
first half hour, and | heard despair
ing little voice close to my ear saying
to itself, quietly and softly as il some
lost soul were flying about with the
wind "Oh, my God - Then the
young Miss Copleigh stumbled into
my arms. saying: Where is my
horse? Get my horse. want to 20
home. Take HE home -
| thought that the light and the
black darkness had frightened her, so
| said there was no danger, but she
must wait till the storm blew over
She answered 1t is not that 1t is
not that ! want to go home. Oh,
take me away from here ~
| said she could not 20 till the light
came, but felt her brush past Inc and
90 away 1t was too dark TO see
where Then the whole sky was split
open with one tremendous flash, us ii
the end OF the world We're coming, and
all the women shrieked.
Almost directly after that | felt Il
mans hand on my shoulder and heard
Saumarez believing in my ear
Through the rattling OF the trees and
bowling of the wind | did not catch
his words at once, but at last heard
him say g: I've proposed to the
wrong one What shall [ do?' Sau-
marez had no occasion to make this
confidence to me. l was never Il friend
of his. nor am | now, but | fancy
neither of us was ourself Just then.
He was shaking as he stooS with eX-
a. I faAIin,r .,l
over with the ele ctricity. | cOuld not
think of anything to say except
More fool you for proposing in a dust
storm" But | did not see how that
would improve the mistake.
Then he shouted. "Where's Edith,
Edith CopIeigh = Edith was the
younger sister. | answered out of my
astonishment, What do you want
with her = Would you believe it, for
the next two minutes he and | were
shouting at each other like maniacs
he vowing 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 to have made
Il mistake. can't account for this
except, again. by the fact that We
We're neither of us ourselves. Every
thing seemed to me like Il bad dream,
from the stamping of the horses in the
darkness to SaumareZ telling me the
story of his loving Edith COpleign
since the first. He was still ciawing
my shoulder and begging me to tell
him where Edith Copleigh was when
another lull came and brought Light
with it, and we saw the dust cloud
forming on the plain in front OF us
So we knew the worst was over. The
neon was low down, and there was
Just like the glimmer of the false dawn
that comes about an hour before the
real one But the light was very
faint, and the dun cloud roarcd like
Il bull | wondered where Edith Cop
leigh had gone. and as | was wonder
ing | saw three things together: First
Maud Copleigh's face came smiling
out of the darkness and moved toward
SaumareZ, who was standing by me
| heard the girl whisper, George,
and slide her arm through the arm
that was not ciawiug my shoulder and
| saw that look on her face which only
comes once or twice in lifetime, when
Il woman is perfectly happy and the
air is full of trumpets and gorgeous
coiored fire and the earth turns into
cloud because she loves and is loved
at the same time | saw Summaries
face as he heard Maud Copleigh's
voice. and fifty yards away from the
cIumD OF orange trees | saw Il brown
holland habit getting upon horse.
1t must have been my state Of over
excitement that made me so quick to
NEEDLE with what did not concern me.
SaumareZ was moving oil to the habit,
but | pushed him back and said:
stop here and explain. 'Ill fetch
her back" And | ran out to get ut
my own horse had Il perfectly I'M
necessary notion that everything
must be done decently and i'll order
and that SaumareZ's first care was to
wipe the happy look out OF Maud
Copleigh's face. All the time | was
| linking up the curb chain / wondered
how he would do it.
. cantered after Edith Copleigh,
| thinking to bring her back slowly on
some. pretense or another. But sue
| calloped away as soon as she saw me,
and 1 was forced to ride after her III
earnest. She called back over her
! shoulder: Go away I'm going home.
| oh, 90 away she said two or three
| times. but my business WAS to catch
! her and argue later. The ride just
fitted in with the rest of the evil
! dream. The ground was very bad
and how and again we rushed through
the whirling, choking dust devils III
the skirts of the flying storm. There
was burning hot wind blowing that
brought up stencil of stale brick
kilus with it, and through the hall
light and through the dust devils
across that desolate plain tlirkered
| the brown holland habit ON the GrnN