The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1910-01-27
JOHN ANDREWS
THE COWARD.
The Way He Acted When the
Fearful Cyclone Came.
BY MARVIN DANA.

N'uttHag1ut Hkin III SlfaNNiinR ndF
nllelogram stood the ungainly woodel
houses Of q cyclone district count,
seat. Beyond lay the level brown O
prairies, shot with the ocher of ripen
Ing grain, grny blue where It merged
Into horizons sky Of appanin,
bronze. His sight was blurred Is
dancing currents on hot air. In thl
shade Of the hotel porch the thermom
eter registered ITO degrees. and ther,
yet remained two sweltering hour
before sunset.
THANK heaven, I've inspected the
last acre and can start for New YorI
In the morning" was his thought In
stinctively bis hand touched his peck
Ct and her letter. He smiled, Their
frowned.
sam / cowardT
A paragraph III her letter had start
ed the self inquisition.
4 shall be so glad when you are
safe home again. II ran, seven
though | have no real cause foI
alarm. You are so big and strong and
brave, and ! love you for 1t. could
never love a coward"
Was he one7 Yes-noi A flush not
born Of the sun flooded his face. His
mind travelled back twenty-four hours,
and he cursed bis weakness. his timid-
ity, which he had never realized until
that awful storm had broken. It was
when the terrific lightning peculiar to
this region had played about him that
he had suddenly found himself trem.
bling, gasping with horror The mem
DRY Of those moments still siekened
him and filled him with contemptuous
self hate
The proprietor OF the hotel came out
and balanced on two legs or a chair
beside bis guest
Reckon wen have another bit Of q
shower tonight" he drawled amiably.
The careless words filed his listener
with dumb anguish. half fear. half
shame Must he again endure that
raclsing torment-the blue glare Of
electricity, the deadly cracking Of the
bolts. tle horrible realization that
multiple death Knocked him from every
side?
II don't see any clouds,T he ven
turod.
you can tell weather same as you
can cloth, more by feelln than by
looks. I've been forty years In these
parts, an ! calclate we'll have it ham
mer an tongs before midnight Lucky
If a regular cyclone don't blow along
with It"
Does lightning do much damage
around hereT
Burns d lot Of barns mostly; but
takln' 1t one time an another, we've
had quite 3 few folks killed, bout
twenty ID my time It's a nice easy
DEATH but I don't like cyclones One
hit me. an that was enough The
burned thing killed or half the town.
includin' al my best friends an four
mules. which was all I was worth.
Cyclones. blast 'em. always come il
the night. when you can't See EN-
The listener drew Ills breath sharply
but how Do you ten cyclone. even
III daytimefs
''Well, Mr. Andrews, you can always
tell it because the sky looks like moth
In you've ever seen before yellow,
green an ornery. An if It's comm
your way you'n see what the papers
call a funnel shaped cloud. but what
looks more like big balloon, dancia
along When the gale raises AM TINT
balloon seems 70 stop bouncln', but
stands stiil. gettin bigger am bigger.
you dust for a cellar It's close
do all the places here have cyclone /
cavesg
Everybody in town amt got one.
but there's enough to go round. Want
to see miner
Any diversion from his mental an
guish ana self pity was welcome to
Andrews. ana he followed bis host to
the middle be the back yard, where he
saw a mound If earth III the end
nearest them was 4 swinging shutter,
which the landlord raised Within was
space for perhaps six persons com
fortably placed by crowding compact +
". Twice or even thrice chat number
might seek refuge Tor a limited time
The odor Of damp earth suggested the
grave, and again Andrews shuddered.
By the time he sought his room at 10I
O'Clock that night Andrews had argued
himself into believing that this new
terror of storm mid wind was q con
stitutional peculiarly for which be
was bot morally culDable and, ex
hausted By heat and mental strain, be
quickly dropned asleep.
He awoEe with the trump Of doom
lis eaFdrums. TIE crash Of
8 falling thHnderbolt brought him 70
his feet, and he stood dazed amid the
mrid radiance Of the lightning u 81
ecstasy Of fear be sprang To the Win
dow and closed IL Then he drew tine
shade and struck d match. Two dick
cred and died III his trembling band
before he could Light the lamp. -
very spasm Of horror he sat hudaled
GA his bed He thought Of no one and /
save himself and death!
But there remained another note yet +
60 be sounded TN the gamut Of his ter